Austin Powers with Atsuko Okatsuka

This week, Jamie and Caitlin invite very groovy guest Atsuko Okatsuka to chat about Austin Powers.

(This episode contains spoilers)

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
On the beck Dol Cast, the questions asked if movies
have women in um, are all their discussions just boyfriends
and husbands or do they have individualism? The patriarchy? Zef
invest start changing it with the Bechdel Cast. Oh yeah, baby, groovy?
Do I make you Horney? I'm the girl that gets horny? Hello,

(00:25):
and welcome to the Bechtel Cast. My name is Caitlin Darante.
My name is Jamie loft Tost, and we have a
podcast about the representation of women in movies, and we
use the Bechdel test as a jumping off point. And that,
of course, is a media metric created by cartoonist Alison Bechtel,

(00:47):
sometimes called the Bechtel Wallace test, and it requires that
two female identifying characters with names talk to each other
about something other than a man. Can we test it
really quick? Yeah? Baby? Okay, this question will maybe not
seem immediately relevant, but maybe we'll a little later in

(01:07):
the show. Okay, Hey, Caitlin, Yeah, Jamie, have you seen Bombshell? Yes?
I have seen Bombshell and I know what the connection is,
but I won't spoil it. Stan passes yes, Yes, so
today this movie is not about bombshell. Today's movie is

(01:30):
about a man, an international man of mystery. If you will. Um,
we're covering the Austin Powers movie, focusing on the first one.
Although I embarrassingly watched the entire trilogy and have some
things to say. But why we're in a quarantine. We

(01:52):
I have What else am I gonna do? Here's the thing.
I feel like bad movies in the quarantine. We still
we don't have to watch them. That's true, I do.
I mean I'm excited to talk about it though, because
I I it's my general understanding and vague knowledge that
they get worse as they go on. Is that true? Yes,
I definitely think the third one is the worst one.

(02:15):
Although none of them are good now, I mean, none
of them are well, especially especially for our purposes. Uh,
they're bad, bad, bad, bad bad bad bad spoiler alert.
But as I was doing some reading, I was reading
through the plots, I was like, oh, these do see
them too? Uh to slip from a slippery place in

(02:35):
the first place. Oh? Yes, indeed. Well, we've got a guest.
You know where your lover quarantine guest. She's all cord out.
She is a comedian. She's the host of Let's go
ots Go, which is a weekly podcast and also sometimes
a live show when we're not in a quarantine and

(02:58):
you remember her from our Shrek episode, Never forget Shrek.
It's Otsko Okotska. Hi, why do you keep giving me
Mike Myers? Isn't it fun? It's we just did Wayne's World,
or we would have brought you on to do that
one next. Dang, well, we're not doing love Gurus so hard,

(03:22):
too hard to know what else we're gonna do. Thanks
for letting me miss out on that one. I don't
I don't get it. I thought it was me for
the longest time with Mike Myers. For the longest time
it was I was like, it's me, it's it's it's
because I didn't grow up here. It's because I don't
get American humor. You know, something's wrong with me. But no, no,

(03:44):
it's something's wrong with Mike Myers, and something's wrong with
the culture. Yeah, because there's just so many movies. There's
so many pop culture things that you just grow up
with like an elementary school, like everyone doing at one point,
like so good, you know, from wrestling, or like everyone
doing you know, like a Jim carey voice, everyone doing

(04:07):
sucking baby from you know, uh what we're about to
talk about? What's that movie called Austin Powers and me
being like I never laughed, I never even gave like
a nice you know, being being polite kind of laughed
to it. So I'm glad you made you had me
rewatch it. Yes, sorry, I think you bring the freshest

(04:30):
possible perspective. And also we're so sorry, no, no problem.
It's good to review what you know, human beings were
capable of doing and the progress that we've made. Exactly.
What's your experience with the Austin Powers, I mean this movie,
but the fran tries in general. I think I watched

(04:51):
it once, like a long time ago. I remember seeing
vague like I remember seeing clips of like the one
Beyonce was in which everyone that was gold member gold member. Yeah,
Kitten's like, I watched it yesterday, that's right. Caitlin also
recently watched both National Treasures, which actually sounds like it

(05:14):
was a more fun task than this, right it was
for sure. Yeah, well, God bless National Treasure. I'm going
to need to see that map. That's That's my only
impression of Nicolas Cage spot on. But yeah, back to
Austin Powers, Jamie, what's your relationship with the franchise. I

(05:39):
have not really much of a relationship with this franchise.
I'd never seen this first movie. I have no love
or attachment to not to Brat, I have no lover
attachment to this era of SNL and like all the
over the top nineties guys, I just it's never I
wasn't there really for it or was like too young

(06:00):
for it, and then it just has never done anything
for me. I did see gold Member at a drive
through with my cousins because I really liked Beyonce, and
I remember it being one of the first movies I've
ever seen that like as a kid, you're like, this
movie is not good, you know, which is kind of

(06:20):
like a jarring you feel like of like an intellectual
master because you're like, wait, every it's like that John
mulaney sketch where it's like every movie is the best
movie it kid has ever seen. This was maybe my
first movie where I'm like, this was not my favorite movie,
and just like the first time, I actively remember like

(06:43):
recognizing that Beyonce deserved better. Um. So I have no
attachment to this franchise. I don't really give a funk
about Mike Myers outside of Shrek, and that's on me.
So Caitlyn, what's your history with this franchise? I embarrassingly
used to love these movies, No shame, thank you. I

(07:04):
saw the first two when they came out. So when
I was eleven in and the first Austin Powers movie
came out like the demo, like I was the and
then the second one came out two years later, I
was thirteen. I still did not have very refined taste
in cinema, so I also loved that movie. By the

(07:27):
time the third one came out, I feel like I
had outgrown the franchise. And I did not see that
one ever until I watched it like two days ago.
But I saw the first two multiple times. I used
to quote them constantly. My mom and I to each
other would say, um, how about no Scott, like times

(07:51):
a day. These were a big part of my you know,
tween years. I guess, yeah, I didn't even realize that
Green is in this movie. I didn't. He's every like
he's my boss, and I was like, oh, he's every
movie that came out in this span of five years.

(08:12):
And it's so funny, Like there the doctor Evil Scott scenes.
They work for me still for the most part. Yeah,
there there's some funny stuff there. And ultimately, I mean
and that for me like ticks the box of all movies,
which is that ultimately this is a movie about fathers
and sons, and so this movie is no exception. He

(08:34):
might have been the only one that was close to
how the viewers are feeling. Yea, his character, his character
being like the outside voice being like you suck, I
hate you. You know. I do love that scene where
he's like, why don't you just shoot him? Like like
that's pretty funny. Yeah, I resented this movie for making

(08:55):
me laugh a little bit. I did an l O
L once. I I was, I just I still didn't
get it. I was just like why and why three?
Why three is a good question, you know what I
mean that that's so much money. It's so so so
much money, and I know I get it. It's very quotable.
I can see it. It's very catchy. You know, it's

(09:16):
very like the brand. They know the brand very well.
But yeah, I wasn't I wasn't mad. I was more
just like I don't get it. I didn't and I
didn't get like the ace venturas and stuff. So again
maybe it's me. I don't get it. I don't get masked.
I don't know. But well, like I grew up on

(09:36):
a lot of slapstick, you know, but it was when
it came to like Western slapstick, it was like I
love Lucy, you know, Charlie Chaplin, like you know, things
that were like a hundred years old. But even with
like Japanese comedy, you know, the slapstick, I feel like
it was still like sticking to the old formula. So

(09:57):
it was more reminiscent of like Charlie Chaplin type or
Buster Keaton instead of you know whatever, like like wacky
for wacky sake, Do I make you honey baby? Yeah?
A lot of me two situations, you know. It was
also like I don't know, It's like even if like

(10:17):
I hadn't seen this movie, but as I was watching it,
like I just it was so huge that like I
feel like I had taken up a lot of it
through cultural osmosis, and then most of the details that
I didn't know were um, you know, horrifying. Ye can't
wait to talk about it. I do remember I wonder
if any listeners will remember there was an a I

(10:39):
M chat bot that was Austin Powers themed that I
think it was released as a promotion for the third movie.
But I was in like I don't know, like maybe
fourth or fifth grade, and I was at a sleepover
all night where like me and the other girls at
the sleepover would write like dirty things to the Austin
Powers and his it would just auto reply yeah baby,

(11:04):
and we'd be like, Ah'd be like, You'd be like,
my mom is a beach and it would be like
shag Adelic class remember that right? It was. Yeah. I
liked chat bots. They always knew their character. It was
always consistent. It was the only consistent thing about the

(11:25):
Internet at that time, you know, was chat bots would
always like say three things invitation. Everything else was scary.
You didn't even know when you would connect to the internet,
you know, Oh yeah, I could take hours, you don't know. Yeah, yeah, totally,
but that you could count on. Speaking of Austin Powers
themed things, have either of you been to that Austin

(11:47):
Power's theme pop up bar in Glendale that is still there,
like over a year later. No, I've I've almost gone
a couple of times and then I'm like, wait, I
don't know what that is. I'm not going to go
what Austin Power was themed bar in Glendale. What I've
never heard this. This is a real thing. It was
supposed to be a pop up but it I guess
it was popular enough that people just kept going and

(12:09):
that it stayed around. Obviously, it's closed now because of
all the lockdowns and everything. But it's called like the
Electric Pussycat or something, and it's themed after the club
in the first movie called the Electric Psychedelic Pussycat Swingers Club.
And I went to it, and they have various Austin
Powers like actors dressed up as Austin Powers characters. They

(12:34):
have a bunch of Austin Powers themed cocktails. Um, I
think I drank one called like Horny something something Horny,
I don't know, shag something. But apparently Austin Powers is
still relevant enough that people were like, yeah, let's make

(12:55):
a pop up bar in twenty nineteen for sure. I
mean it's like all the movies I've been to, I
guess the embarrassing pop up bars I've been to, or
beetlejuice them. Because I wanted to see what the Scabs.
Sitch was Yeah, that's fun. That that was fun. And
then I went to a Big Lebowski themed bar many

(13:17):
years ago where they only served white Russians, which is
a funny idea but in practice very gross. R They
have one in Iceland for Big Lebowski they do. Yeah,
my friend went to in Rakovic and it was like
white Russians too. Um it's so funny to see like
what other cultures like really like about, like you know,

(13:39):
which movies really spoke to them or whatever, to the
point they make whole themed bar like that. Um. I Okay.
One time I did have to do like a benefit
where they hired a bunch of like actors who could dance,
so like we had to dress up in like groovy
ware or whatever sixties like we were like, what does

(13:59):
that go go? Girls? We had to learn dance moves
and it was like rich people that we were performing
for two it was like Austin Powers theme and uh
so in Austin Powers and impersonator kind of led us
the whole time. And I remember at the end of
the gig we got like twenty bucks for doing it.

(14:20):
I remember at the end of the gig, I was
like talking to the impersonator and he was like, okay,
well I gotta go, and he valid his car but
he had the same exact car as Austin powers to
oh my god and my mind being blown, and yeah,
his license plate was off. It was like swingers, like
twelve or something, you know what I mean. But yeah,

(14:43):
not all spelled out. Yeah, but I was like, oh
my god. The level of commitment as an impersonator, you know, like,
how far does it go? I love a good committed impersonator.
There's nothing like him in the world. Yeah. And how
do you feel as an personator about other impersonators you know,
of like the character that you do? How Yeah, how

(15:05):
intense is the competition? How intense is the demand? I
mean you don't really know. Yeah, I don't know. Well,
should we get into the recap and go from there?
I suppose ha ha, let's do it. Okay. So the
film opens, It's nineteen sixty seven. We meet Dr Evil.

(15:27):
He has a very cute cat named Mr Bigglesworth and
that cat, of course, has eight nipples, and that's cafex
with Caitlin. He is trying to have a Dr Evil,
not Mr Bigglesworth. Dr Evil is trying to have Britain's
top secret agent assassinated. And this man is Austin Powers.

(15:52):
And Austin is groovy. He's Randy. All the women love him,
keep keep going. He's horny, baby, and he and Randy. Yes,
he's horny, and he makes everyone else horny. I guess, um,

(16:12):
all the women love him. He meets up with Mrs Kensington,
his like spy partner, and they receive a message from
Basil exposition. Um hilarious. I guess that is pretty I mean,
that's pretty funny. The message says that Dr Evil plans
to go after Austin Powers at the club tonight. So

(16:36):
Austin and Mrs Kensington try to stop Dr Evil there,
but he gets away and then cryogenically freezes himself and
shoots himself into space. Right. We cut to thirty years
later and Dr Evil returns, and Austin Powers had also

(16:57):
offered to freeze himself if Dr Evil should ever return,
so they thought out Austin Powers and partner him up
with Mrs Kensington's daughter, Miss Kensington a k a Vanessa
a k a. Elizabeth Hurley. Right, he proceeds to sexually

(17:18):
harass her relentlessly and almost Yes, it's cute, it's hilarious.
You can tell that sexual harassment is actually really awesome
when he does it for two straight minutes and then
she turns around. It's like me right, She's like, oh,
maybe I do like that. He's wearing me down. Meanwhile,

(17:45):
Dr Evil and his cronies, including this guy named Number
two who And then this is the point in the
movie where you're like, what happened to Natalie would? Wait?
What why was he? Yes, he was Natalie Wood's husband
and he was on the boat and he knows more
than he's saying, even more than Christopher Walkin does. Interesting,

(18:10):
every movie to me is ultimately about what happened to
Natalie Wood. This is why you all have this podcast.
This is why you do so good. That's what we've
been trying to figure out. That's all time, and we
have not gotten any closer. Um, so that's what I
But yes, he plays Number two, but also he's he's
you know, you can see in his eyes he's got
a secret or want his one eye right. So his

(18:33):
character Number two and Dr Evil, they all are forming
a plan to hijack some nuclear weapons and hold the
world ransom for one hundred billion dollar. I'm so sorry
for that. Then Dr Evil is introduced to his son

(18:53):
that was made from the sperm sample that he had
left behind before he cried genically freezes himself, and this
son is Scott Uh and that's Seth Green's character, of course.
Then Austin Powers and Vanessa go to Vegas to try
to get some intel on Dr Evil and whatever scheme
he's cooking up, and they play blackjack with Number two,

(19:18):
And then there's a scene in the bathroom where we
realized that the character was named number two to set
up a very long, extended poop joke with um, what's
his name, Tom Arnold? Yes, he is in the stall
next to him, and we're like, al right, well, I

(19:39):
guess you can't say they didn't think about things when
they were making the movie. There's actually quite a bit
of thought. It's actually all very clever and good wink wink,
nudge nudge to it. The jokes had to come first.
They were like, okay, poop joke, how do we make
this work with the rest of the plot, you know? Yeah,

(20:03):
then they like reverse engineer it totally, totally, this is
what I want a poop joke and okay, well his
name is number two. That's it. We solved it. I
guess it wasn't a lot of thinking. Possibly it was
cut it printed, I mean, screenwriting at its best. So
then nothing happens for a while except that Austin Powers

(20:25):
relentlessly and repeatedly sexually harasses Vanessa, which she seems to
become more and more receptive to. And then Austin Powers
is tasked with getting information about something called Project Vulcan
from a character named A Lot of China. And now
we're like, now this, Now that's why I call feminism.

(20:50):
Oh boy, there for I mean this, I don't. This
isn't a compliment. It's just an observation. There's far more
women in this movie than I expected there to be.
But that is where that's where it's just, that's where
it ends. It's not like and the representation is incredible.
There's more female characters than I thought there'd be. Well,

(21:13):
and we're we're coming to some of them, including one
of the Dr Evil's Hench people, Hench. Women. Women can
be Hench. Now, yes, women can be Hench. And that's feminism. Yes, Hench.
She's so evil she could hang out with the boys. Yeah. Yeah,

(21:34):
it's from a big Sheryl Samberg energy. And this is
of course Frau Forbissena, played by Mindy Sterling, is amazing.
She's been in like everything ever. She's like one of
the great character actors. I am indeed, I wonder I
bet you. I bet I would bet five Quarantine bucks

(21:57):
five hundred one dollars Squaringen bucks that Mindy Sterling and
Alfred Molina know each other. Oh. I thought the all
care directors know each other and they're all friends, and
this is maybe just my fantasy world, but I feel
like they know each other. No, I think that's true.

(22:18):
I I want to believe that as well. Yeah. So anyway,
feminist icon Fraul Farbissona unveils her latest weapon because she's
a woman in stem and she developed the fembots. They
are these killer robots who look like hot women. So
even more women introduced into the narratiora. This is I

(22:39):
feel like that was a pretty to me. It was
like a very cut and dry, like Barbararella parody reference
which I have not seen. But is it just bos
and they attack Barbara Ella somehow portrays women even worse,
it's like one of Jane Fonda's earliest movies, Jane Fonda,
who who truly is a feminist icon. But she, you know,

(23:02):
she she really grew into it. And maybe it wasn't
all the way there at Barbaralla, but like, yeah, it's
a movie about like a sexy space android lady. I mean,
it's not satire, but it looks like it. Sure, sure,
and at least we can give credit to Austin Powers
for that is that they are satire. I think I

(23:25):
don't know, I can't tell it's definitely satire, but I
feel like it makes that like the thing that some
like satires do where they just are like, oh, well,
we're just gonna say it's satire, and then we're going
to assume that we're absolved of anything even to the
term of like satire theoretically is supposed to make commentary,

(23:45):
which for As and Powers, that's shaky. Well, that's why
I don't think it is satire. I think it just
as closer to parody, which is not making any sort
of commentary. There's like one angle that I feel like
it could be considered satire. And then but as as
it pretends to its treatment of women. I think it's
like total parody, oh for sure. So what happens next

(24:07):
is Austin and Vanessa sneak into Virticon, which is Dr
Evil's company or something, and they but they are captured
and brought to Dr Evil's secret layer, and he's about
to use this giant drill to burrow to the Earth's
center and release his nuclear weapons. He's fracking, He's like, RuPaul,

(24:32):
he's fracking. Wait is RuPaul pro fracking? RuPaul literally? Okay,
I'm just breaking all sorts of news. RuPaul and his
husband own a large ranch in Wyoming where there is
active fracking, and he just like said it recently out
of nowhere on fucking fresh air. He was just like

(24:55):
he described fracking in the longest way. He's like, well,
we contract out so of the land for purposes related
to PETRELLI embased so and You're like, it's fracking. We
can't have anything in this world. RuPaul's literally fracking. He's
like a Republican, isn't he. I feel like all rich

(25:17):
people just are chaotic evil and like we can't have anything. Well,
speaking of evil, Dr Evil, thank you, thank you, Caitlin
Hey anytime he tries to kill Austin and Vanessa with
mutated sea bass, but it doesn't work and they escape

(25:38):
and Vanessa goes to find help and Austin stays behind
to go find Dr Evil and he comes across this
group of fembots who try to seduce and kill him,
but he starts dancing around and making them so horny
that they all malfunction and explode. Meanwhile, Dr Evil starts

(25:59):
his drill up and Austin and Vanessa burst in and
they stop him, but Dr Evil gets away shoots himself
back out into space, and then Austin and Vanessa have
to escape the layer right before it self destructs. And
then we cut to three months later. Austin and Vanessa
have gotten married, and Dr Evil and his cat are

(26:21):
in space and they're all cold, and he's like, I'm
gonna get to Austin Powers. And then they're like, all right,
there's gonna be a sequel. I guess, I guess no
way around it. So that's the end of the movie.
Let's take a quick break and then we'll come right back,

(26:47):
and we're back. Uh feminism in Austin Powers. Where do
we begin? I mean, just some quick observations off the
off the top. We've got Will Farrell in brown face
in the first several minutes of this movie, and I
believe that this is not the only time that Will
Farrell has seen in brown face. I think that there's

(27:08):
also an SNL sketch where he uh did that again,
which is like, you're not talking about the Native American one,
the Thanksgiving one recently or no? I oh no, there's more. No,
I wasn't thinking of that one. Wait, let me pull
up the one I was thinking of, Well, the one

(27:30):
I'm talking about. They are they tried, they acknowledge it,
they try to be like different about it. It was
just this past Thanksgiving. Okay. Then I then that's probably
what that was a response to, was the fact that
he had done brown face, um in like the early
two thousand's, like probably around or after this movie came out,

(27:51):
makes sense? Makes sense? Yeah, yeah, yeah, so there was
you know, there's self awareness going on. That's the thing about,
you know, self awareness and fear of canceled cancelations. I
was like, is it is it growth or is it fear?
You know? Sometimes totally fin line, you saying brown face
made me think about also the U N characters which

(28:13):
were just like very it's a small world type like that.
Oh yeah, right, the German guy literally I think had
a kill on and maybe a bagpipe. Oh yeah, the
Scottish guy. And then they're yeah, there's Scottish. I'm so sorry,
not Germany. I'm getting here. I am being racist. There's
a lot of broad stereotypes in every possible way in

(28:36):
this movie, where like, I think that Frau what's her name,
Mindy Sterling is almost supposed to be like this stern
like Nazish German woman. Right, So there's definitely a lot
of broad stereotypes that play. But like and then in
the u N scene that you're talking about Otsco, when
they cut to like the group of people and there's

(28:57):
I mean there's only like it seems like twenty different
countries represented, but one of them. Did you notice the
people that they have there to represent Japan? She's like
they sent a geisha, Yes, there's a geisha. And then
as sumo wrestler, and those are like that trend continues,

(29:18):
believe it or not, into the sequels, where it seems
like Japan specifically. I don't know if Mike Myers or
the director or someone has a fixation on Japanese culture,
and it gets referred to more and more and increasingly
more racist jokes are made in the sequels. There's one
in particular about Japanese twin sisters in the third movie

(29:39):
that is just excruciating to watch. I mean, and like this,
I mean, this entire generation of SNL men are guilty
of this thing. I mean, we see Will Farrell in
this movie, Mike Myers, the Love Guru, I mean, say
no more that whole the promises, Dana Carvey is in

(30:00):
brown Face and The Master of Disguise five years after this,
Like it's bigger than Mike Myers, but he's a big
offender of it too, especially in a movie that is
like so painfully white that it's like you really had
to put Will Ferrell in brown face, like it just yeah,
it couldn't be. But but no one thought anything of it.
And I like to the point where Will Ferrell did

(30:21):
brown face again, No totally, yeah, I mean I did
laugh for a second when you mentioned the sumo wrestler again,
and I had to track the laugh like in my
laughing because it was funny or was it because I
don't know. I mean, I think you have to take
a step further if it's like parody or satire or whatever.

(30:43):
Maybe I don't know the difference between the language. Um well,
actually parody is more like if you don't necessarily have
a comment, right, it's more like I'm doing a similar version,
doesn't remind you of that thing? Uh. And the satire
is like actual, like possible social commentary behind way of
making okay cool. So I do know the definitions. Um,

(31:07):
sometimes I don't know. I mean, this isn't my first language. Um,
but like if they took it a step further and
like the people representing the u N was like I
don't know, like a literal like sushi fish or something,
you know what I mean? And like, uh, maybe that's
not funny that that's why I would never be hired

(31:27):
in the writing room for you know, Austin Powers. But
well that's a compliment to you as well. I'm like,
what if it was just a little little bagpipe, you know,
and that was Scotland's leader. I don't know, this is bad,
so anyway, there's no way I can fix the movie either.
So what am I talking about? Well, speaking of the

(31:48):
whole satire and parody thing, so obviously the Austin Powers
trilogy is a parody of a few different things, that seems,
but it seems to be merrily the James Bond franchise,
especially the earlier ones from the sixties and seventies, and
this is a franchise that is ripe for satire and parody.

(32:14):
But Austin Powers is not really doing anything to meaningfully
comment or critique this franchise. It's really just portraying a
lot of the same problematic tropes that the Bond franchise does,
especially as we already hinted at it, when it comes
to female characters. There's no you know, intelligent commentary happening.

(32:36):
There's no meaningful subversions of of anything. It's just like,
and hey, remember how horribly the Bond films treated women.
Let's do the same exact thing thirty years later. Yeah,
Well that's the thing is that. Yeah. I think that
the one point that I could see this movie attempting
parody on is the masculinity aspect of these characters that

(33:03):
I feel like Austin Powers himself, in some ways is
somewhat satirical with and it's not like smart satire or
even good satire, but I think that the fact that
like they make references to like, oh, he's this like
ladies man that you would see in the seventies, and
we didn't. None of us grew up with this, so
it's kind of like we're basing this on sort of

(33:25):
secondhand knowledge, but that's who he's based on, like a
James Bond type of like a character like that. And
then to give him like, oh, he he uses a
penis pump or like somehow sexually like quote unquote impotent. Um.
I feel like that's at least an attempt at some
satire of saying like, oh, well, maybe these hyper masculine

(33:46):
characters were not as like that's an unrealistic standard. I
don't think it's done smartly, but that's that was the
place where I saw like an attempt. But then but
even so, a lot of the out of the movie
undermines that were it's hard to make the argument that like, oh,
like Austin Powers is this like unconventional looking sex icon,

(34:10):
but he still only surrounds himself with like young, conventionally
hot white girls. So like you can't really give the
movie any credit for that because it doesn't extend the
same the same for women in any way where even
like it's so it is wildly ridiculous to be and
doesn't seem based and satire at all. Just like what

(34:32):
the writing is that we only see like Austin Powers
is partner originally in the seventies, is Vanessa's mother, And theoretically,
like I have, like a better version of this movie
is to like see her come back and them have
to like reconnect as she has like age, she's had
a family, she's done all this stuff, and then she

(34:55):
has to like reconnect with this guy she used to
work with in the seventies, Like that is more interesting
to me than like, and now she's got a hot
daughter and her mother and daughter are going to bond
over both inexplicably liking this guy. Like I just I was,
I thought it really sucked at that they just completely
wrote Vanessa's mother out immediately like that just the only

(35:20):
the only three line was that Austin possibly sucked her too.
It sounds like you definitely did, and that he loved her. Yeah,
he like really loved her. It was like a weird
it's like a weird Mrs Robinson kind of like, yeah,
I loved her, but she's not available anymore. But then
they dropped that entirely, and he's like, well, I guess
I'm just in love with her daughter. Now you're like, yeah, yeah,

(35:44):
they're different like they I mean, I feel like that
the logic of the movie extends as far as like
mothers and daughters are pretty much the same person, which
is fun, which is like, Okay, that's a new level
of not writing a female character has just been well,
they're related, so like you can actually have sex with either,
and it's basically the same thing. And they have the

(36:04):
same jobs, and they have the same spy partner, like
they you know, they do everything the same. The only
thing was different was I guess that you know, the
mom was married to someone else. It's it's just so
like lazy and just bizarre, I mean, and that like
reinforces the whole like the way that this movie views women,

(36:27):
which is that if they're over a certain age or
they don't look a certain way, then there's no point
in having them on screen. Yeah, but the guy got
to keep his hots because he was frozen or whatever.
But he's not even hot. Like it's just like like men,
men are allowed to look a lot like it's It
almost reminds me of like what we see an animation

(36:48):
a lot, because this is a very cartoony movie of
like male characters are allowed to look a lot of
different ways, and there's different body types, and there's like
Mike Myers has more body diversity in this movie all
of the female characters. Like, it's just it's very true
that well, the only thing he was body shamed about
was his teeth, and he got to fix that at

(37:10):
the end, he and and he still got the girl.
So like, I don't feel bad. It's he felt bad
about his teeth one time, ye, but I do you also,
I also don't remember, and correct me if I'm wrong.
But the moment where Vanessa did flip and she's like,
I do like him what happened? That was confusing to

(37:33):
me as well. Okay, yeah, I have this whole thing
beat by beat kind of mapped out because it barely
makes sense. But here's very good. Yeah, the story beats
as they relate to Miss Kensington. So she's introduced with
a very male gaze panning shot starting at her feet,

(37:53):
slow pan up her entire figure, objectifying to the extreme.
Austin powers then sexual harasses her for a few minutes,
she finally says, like, do me a favor and stop
calling me baby. You can address me as Agent Kensington.
Except she's going to backtrack on it in two seconds
exactly because he's like, oh, come on, and she's like,

(38:15):
all right, then, Vanessa, you can call me Vanessa. So
then we cut to a scene on Austin's private jet,
and this conversation is very frustrating, and it goes like this.
Austin says, how does a hot chick like you end
up working at the Ministry of Defense? And she's like, well,
I went to Oxford and I excelled in several subjects.

(38:37):
I ended up specializing in foreign languages. I really wanted
to travel, you know, see the world. He interrupts her,
and he says, that's fascinating, Vanessa, listen, why don't we
go in the back and shag amazing hilarious. She says, no,
please concentrate on the mission, like give your libido arrest.
And then he's like, okay, well let me show you
something and he beckons her over to his head. Then

(39:01):
he kind of springs this whole thing on her where
he's like, do I make you honey, baby? Do I
make you randy blah blah blah um. He pretends to
fall on top of her. She's like screaming and being like,
get off me, get away. She then jumps up and says,
I will never have sex with you, Mr. Powers. Ever,
if you were the last man on earth and I
was the last woman on Earth and the future of

(39:23):
the human race depended on our having sex simply for procreation,
I would still not have sex with you. And he's
like but then the scene ends with her like kind
of giggling at him and his antics, and it's it's like, yeah,
I guess foreshadowing of what's to come, which is him
wearing her down and her changing her mind. So a

(39:45):
little bit later, they arrive at a hotel in Vegas
and again Austin Powers is like, when are you going
to have sex with me? And she's like stop it,
and he's like, oh, I was just kidding. I'm just
trying to get a rise out of you. Then she's
like oh you and it's like no, he is like
sexually harassing you within an inch of your life right now,

(40:07):
Like well, that was yeah, that was like something that
really stood out to me of like a major failing
of the movie. Where I read UM was it was
a g Q piece that came out on the twentieth anniversary,
so like three years ago it came out and the
um let me see the author of the piece made

(40:28):
I think a pretty like smart comparison writer named Tom
Philip who's great um. He draws a line from Austin
Powers to mcgrouper and basically says that mcgrouber succeeds as
a satire where Austin Powers failed because mcgrouber, if I mean,
I like that movie a lot, it's like at least

(40:48):
holds the character accountable for fucking up at least some
of the time. Where Austin Powers, it's almost like a
boomer uncle attitude towards him, where they're like, well, he
doesn't understand, so it's fine. He can't be held accountable
for his actions because he doesn't understand what things are
like and and and that like the movie does not

(41:11):
extend the logic any further where like Vanessa has to
forgive him for these things because he doesn't get it,
and like there's no onus on Awesome Powers to have
to grow as a person, right exactly except to accept
monogamy into his life. That's the one thing he has
to do right, and that comes pretty much next where
the next major thing that happens between them is um,

(41:34):
we see Vanessa on the phone with her mom, who
also does not seem to have really aged at all
in thirty years, so like even though she would be
thirty years older, like she's not visibly thirty years older,
because heaven forbid we have a woman like in her
sixties on screen. Um. And when we do have a
woman in her sixties on screen, it's basil expositions mother

(41:57):
and she gets the face, gets called a man. Yeah,
there's so much. God, I'm just being reminded of so much.
That was so upsetting because, just to sidetrack a little bit,
there's that moment in the beginning of the movie where
like they're still in like sixty seven, they're in that
club and there's a woman who approaches Austin Powers and
he punches her in the face and everyone's like, oh

(42:20):
my god, what just happened? And then it cuts to
this woman is now suddenly a man, and you know,
Austin Powers pulls the wig off and it's like, see
he was a man. He's trying to kill me, which is,
I mean, what the like, that's horrible obviously, and then
the same thing happens later in the movie, except this

(42:40):
time he just thought that an older woman was a man,
punches this woman in the face and then everyone's like,
oh my god, why did you punch Basil's mother And
he's like, ah, I thought she was a man. That's
the worst part is it's a callback. It's uh. Anyway,
So Vanessa is talking to her mother. She says something like,

(43:03):
oh wow, I can't believe you were able to resist
Austin Powers charms like you should want to have sex
with him because he's the most charming man alive, and
Vanessa is like, um, I don't see it. I don't
know what you're talking about. Blah blah blah. Then there's
a very quick scene where they're actually doing some work.
They're trying to find dr evil, but it lasts for

(43:24):
like thirty seconds, and then suddenly Austin Powers is like, Wow,
you're so beautiful. I'm going to take you out for
a night on the town. And then we cut to
this like romantic date that they're on. They're drinking champagne
bert back Iraq is serenading them, they're dancing, cut to
them playing twister in their hotel room, and then all
of a sudden, she's like, t he Austin, you're awesome,

(43:47):
You're so funny, Come have champagne with me. And then
there's this scene where, like the moment where she's trying
to come onto him because I guess her mother convinced
her that she should like him, Like that's my best
guess for why she has suddenly made this shift, because
she's she's like, kiss me, blah blah blah, and he's like, no,
you're you're smashed. It wouldn't be right. I'm not going

(44:09):
to kiss you when you're drunk. Why that he became
a gentleman right there, all of a sudden, right even
though he's been sexually harassing her NonStop for every moment
up till this point. And she's like, no, I finally
see what my mom was talking about. You're so funny,
you're so charming. And it's like, where is this coming from?
Like the choice to make her make this shift after

(44:33):
he's sexually harassed her NonStop, it's so frustrating. It's almost
like oh maybe, It's like, oh maybe she needed to
be told she was beautiful, because that's what set it off.
It was so weird, you know, in broad daylights, Like
he saw her in broad daylight for once outside and
he was just like, oh my god, you're so beautiful,
and she was like, yes, nine out on town. I

(44:56):
don't care. Can't make sense of it. And there's a
little bit of time where like Austin has sex with
a lot of vagina, which how could we not have
brought that up? I mean, that's an obvious like parody
for the pussy Galore character from whatever bad film that is.
But like, but again it's like, what is the commentary

(45:19):
I think it's just kind of doing it again. She's
like the she's the fem fatale, but her name is
even somehow goofier than pussy Galore. Like they're just there's
no commentary there. It just is you've got to be
smarter than what you're trying to make fun of exactly,
and this movie is not. But you know, he has

(45:39):
sex with her and then Vanessa's like, well, gee whiz,
if you want us to have a relationship, you gotta
get it through your head at the times have change.
This is the nineties because I guess now she wants
a relationship. But it's like, Okay, all of a sudden,
they're in a relationship. That wasn't I thought I had
missed something too. I was like, because she didn't, I

(46:03):
was like, wait, did I like black? Like what? And
then she it's that classic move that movies do, and
by classic I mean bad where they're they're like, oh,
she's at the top of her field. She's really good
at her job. And then we kind of see that
happen like one time. But then for the most part,
she just becomes the love interest and she is like

(46:24):
I'm a little bit jealous, and you're like, oh, my
fucking guy, like the bad look for everyone, like she
they're not in a relationship, but then when she says
that they are, he's like, oh, we are. And then
it just gets confusing. You almost feel like there's like
a missing scene there or something totally where like she
has completely come around, which like why would she? But
of course the movie makes her make the choice to

(46:47):
come around, and then suddenly they're in a relationship, and
then cut to the end and they are married. Um,
and then cut to the following movie, The Spy Who
Shagged me. That movie opens with Austin Powers discovering that
his his wife Vanessa, was a fembot the whole time,

(47:11):
who tries to kill him and then she explodes. You know,
it's this whole thing where he's like, oh wow, I
can't believe my beautiful wife, the love of my life,
was a fembott all along. And then he's like, wait
a minute, that means I'm single again. Yaya what that's
how they saw That's how they solve getting rid of her, Yes, exactly,

(47:35):
which okay, So I was like, maybe again it's I
guess it's sort of parody in terms of maybe it's satire.
I don't know, it's I think the acknowledgement that, like
the Bond franchise and similar like action spy franchises, treat
women as though they are expendable and disposable, because at

(47:56):
the beginning of this movie, the main female character from
the first movie is made to be evil for no
reason and then killed off immediately. But again, there's no
commentary being offered here. It's just again participating in the
same sex as trope. I have. I have a question
about that. Does that mean that Mrs Kensington is also
an evil person. She was in on it, and that's

(48:18):
not really her daughter that was. It makes no sense
that wasn't. And then I'm also like, why wouldn't they
have frozen Mrs Kensington Like, yeah, it doesn't make sense
to me because she was like in theory Austin Powers
is equal. I don't get it that. And after this
happens in the sequel, basil exposition is like, yeah, we

(48:38):
knew she was a fembot the whole time, and then
like Austin Powers gives this weird look and I guess
that excuses the lack of narrative justification for why they
killed her off. But it's just like, are you fucking
kidding me? Right right? You're just like what? Um? But anyway,
so back to the first movie, Um, yes, the way

(48:59):
that she is, I mean, it was just deplorable to
see her be sexually harassed by him NonStop, but then
to also see her like secretly be like t he
I actually kind of like this, right, I mean, it
just sets up every bad precedent that like movies, especially
especially at a movie that like realistically was targeted at

(49:22):
young men, Like that is just every irresponsible thing you
can do with the movie for young men is like
tell them it's okay to sectually her ask people that
this is what women actually want, that women are to
be viewed a certain way, like like it's it comes
down again to like the responsibility of like I think

(49:43):
Mike Myers thinks this is satire for them. I think, like,
and if that's the case, then it's like you carry
your responsibility with that you have, like you. It drives
me like up a wall when people suggest like, well,
I don't actually need to take my audience into account
when I make things. I make whatever I want and
blah blah blah, where it's like Mike Myers, you know,

(50:05):
your audience is like preteen, Like it's kids and like
and young people and like, you know, movies like this
definitely have like a lasting impact, even though it seems
goofy and stupid and mostly just something that annoying people
quote still for some reason, but it does have elastic

(50:25):
effect on people. And it's like, yeah, if you that
was so that little giggle shot really killed me. I
hate you know it has it has a lasting effect
on people because there are people out there who go,
I am going to make money dressing up like him,
driving a car just like him and doing and doing

(50:46):
weird dinner parties because I mean, I guess you kind
of have to look like the person. You have to
be practical about that too. You can't just want to
impersonate anybody, right, You have to have at least similar features.
So maybe you don't have a choice, but you know, maybe, yeah,
maybe he was just he just looked already exactly like
Austin Powers, and he's like, well, I can make a

(51:07):
career out of this. And for the people who don't
look like him, they set up a pop up bar
in Glendale, California. I liked seeing Carrie Fisher. I she's
deserved so much better. But it was like a bright spot.
You're like, oh, there's someone here. I like, this is good. Uh,

(51:29):
We've got to take a groovy little break, but we'll
be right back, baby. There is a chunk at the
end that went a little better than I expected. It's
not to say that it's good at all, but I
was like, oh, this isn't as horrible as I was

(51:50):
expecting it to be, considering everything that's happened up till
this point. But um, at the end, both Vanessa and
Austin are there like near dr evils secret layer, and
they get captured and they are largely able to escape.
This is when they're like surrounded by the like mutated
sea bass or whatever. They're able to escape largely because

(52:12):
of all the dental equipment that she brought with her.
Then she goes and gets help and brings back an army,
so she was more active than I was thinking. I
was like, Oh, she's probably just gonna get like tied
up and damseled and infringed, and that does happen a
moment later, when um a lot of vagina is holding

(52:34):
her hostage, but then Vanessa chops her and escapes on
her own. She does not need to be saved by
Austin powers. So I was like, Okay, that's a little
better than what I was expecting. I was, yeah, I
was like. The other thing I noticed about that scene too,
is like it was almost I don't know how intentional
it was, but it was a bit of an inversion

(52:54):
of like how you would normally expect this seems to
go because she was actively the action hero of the
scene while Austin is trying to use his sexual whiles
to get out of a situation and I feel like
normally you would see that dynamic in the reverse where
like a woman has to seduce someone to get out

(53:15):
of a compromising situation. We've seen that a billion, a
hundred billion times one hundred billion. I mean, in that scene,
at least Austin is the person that has to use
his like sexual whiles to get out of a compromising situation.
So it's not much, but it was better than like
you're saying, it was like slightly better than what I

(53:37):
was expected for it. But then that just means that
all those fembots have to die. We see like, oh, yes,
we love to see a woman get punched or explode
in this yes, because they couldn't handle a man, you know,
being so sexy. And with the fembots, it's like, I mean, honestly,
like I still think the aesthetic of the fembots is

(53:58):
like kind of iconic, but that's just because that it's
barbarella um and I you can draw a direct line
from do you remember that Katy Perry music video where
she shoots out of her booth? Thought of that, Well,
that's a brilliant commentary anyway, the but the fem bats
are ultimately like this, um you know, they're they're carrying

(54:20):
out I mean, I guess that Frau far Bisina did
invent them, but they're ultimately like these sexy ladies that
don't have names, who are meant to carry out the
wishes of Doctor Evil. So not feminist icons. Fraul far Bisina,
I think is the best female character of the franchise.
She's pretty much the only consistent one. She and all

(54:43):
of them. She's in all of them. Oh that's fine,
but she's not necessarily you know, treated I think the
second movie a joke has made at her expense. Where
so Dr Evil and Austin Powers go back in time too,
I think nineteen sixty nine, and that's where most of
the movie takes place. So Dr Evil he's like, oh wow,

(55:06):
number two, you look so young and handsome in nineteen
sixty nine. And he's literally played by Rob Low, you know,
one of the handsomest mental A deleted scene from the
first movie too, I saw really interested. So I guess
he was there from the jump, I guess. I mean,
but he was in Wayne's world too, So maybe him
and Mike Myers are just like they're best friends. Maybe,

(55:28):
but anyway, so he so number two gets to be
played like the young version of number two gets to
be played by a very handsome actor. Whereas the joke
is made that she looks the same, exact same, she
doesn't get to be I guess the joke is like, oh,
she's you know, pretty average looking, no matter what decade
it is. I mean, there is the good thing there,

(55:51):
which is that Mindy Sterling is getting paid. Yes, there's
no one in the second movie. It sounds like that
knows what happened to Natalie Wood. That's true, that's true.
And just while we're on the second movie, a couple
things to say about that real quick that Heather Graham
Um plays a character named Felicity Shaguell. She is the

(56:13):
main female character, and like Um ally to Austin Powers,
she is shown as being extremely horny for Austin right
from the jump. But the big obstacle of that movie
is that he can't do anything about it because he's
lost his mojo, which again might be slight commentary on

(56:34):
what you were talking about earlier, Jamie, with like the
masculinity aspect of this type of like you know, British superspy,
but like again I don't I don't know what they're
trying to say with this the commentary, it's the audience
of this movie is like I think a little bit
jarring and confusing, because it's like most people see this

(56:55):
movie are and like quoting this movie are kids and
teenagers who just based on the time the movie came out,
would have no like life understanding of what the movie
is parodying. But then it's making all these references that
seem to be for their parents. But that's not like
I'm sure parents are watching the movie, but not in
the same like what. It's just weird. It's just like

(57:17):
it's just kind of Uncanny Valley, and like I think
Mike Myers is not making it for kids, but that's
who's watching it, and so for the intended commentary just
gets completely lost. If there is any I don't know.
I wasn't alive in the sixties in England, I was.
It is so interesting with that said, is that like

(57:37):
the audience you weren't making it for or the fans,
and because they don't get the references, that means they're
taking it at face value and actually liking that. I
mean no, I mean not as a read at all.
On people who did watch it as kids and they
liked it, Caitlin, thank you, you know, but um, it's
it's so weird to It's kind of like some Sasha

(57:57):
Bear and Cohen movies where people who he's making fun
of like it and they have no idea he's making
fun of them, you know, right right, because they're just like, oh,
sex jokes, homo jokes or whatever, you know, and so
they don't get that there he's making fun of homo phobia. Right. Wait,

(58:20):
so how do he lose his mojo? Is it because
he lost his wife and he's sad about oh? He Oh,
I'd love to tell you. Nope, nothing like that. It
is that the character Fat Bastard steals it from him.
So of course we have Fat Bastard. This is one
long fat shaming joke. One of the worst, if not

(58:42):
the worst offender of a fat joke in movie history,
is the character Fat Bastard. He shows up again in
the third movie as well. It is despicable. Similarly, I
would argue that the mini Me character, many many jokes
are made at the pens of Verne Troyer and his

(59:03):
size and his body rest in power. Um so you
have all these This doesn't happen to a large degree
in the first movie, but starting with the second movie
of this trilogy, there is all these jokes made at
the expense of various people's bodies and and looks and
things like that, so that is obviously unacceptable. The most

(59:27):
important thing though about Austin Powers too, is that when
they're tracking Fat Bastard, at one point Austin's like the
signals come through. He's at Paddington Station. So it's forgiven
it's for you. No, but there is the Paddington reference. Um.

(59:50):
And if only this movie about a British person wearing
a blue jacket was not about Austin Powers and it
was instead about Paddington Bear. If I may, I think
that maybe this I don't know, if this is this
isn't really an Alpha Molina type movie. No, No, he
would not set foot on that set. I don't think so.
And even if he was offered a part um, he

(01:00:12):
was probably busy shooting his iconic part in Boogie Nights,
which comes out the same year. True interesting, y'all know there.
I just have his Wikipedia page open at all times.
And then as far as like Austin Powers three, this
is the one I'm least familiar with. I only saw

(01:00:33):
it once, but there's just the Beyonce one. There's a
whole slew of racist jokes throughout the movie. Is she
his love interest? Um, she's like his like spy partner.
I don't think they ever have any sort of I
don't remember. I think they do kiss at the end.

(01:00:53):
I think yeah, but it's not quite it's not quite
framed the same way as it is in the first
two movies. I hate that B and I had to
kiss Mike Myers, But then I would also be pissed
if he had no interest in Beyonce at all, you
know right, That would also be racist, right, Like, oh,
is it because she's black? You know right? Well, yeah,

(01:01:15):
we've talked about that a lot in recent episodes of
like this, especially in this era, like a resistance to
showing any interracial couples on screen, and how like it
sometimes gets confused even by us at certain points of like, oh,
that's cool that they didn't force a love interest, and
and then like, I mean it was when we were

(01:01:36):
talking about bad boys, but it was like, oh, well
that was because in this time, it wasn't that they
were doing something feminists, is that they were doing something racist.
Oh totally yes, if if memory serves, they do share
They are like flirting a lot throughout the movie, and
they do share a kiss at the end, but he

(01:01:57):
is not trying to shag the time, not trying to
shag her relentlessly in a harassing way. Again, as far
as I was like watching like in the middle of
the night. So who knows what my memory is doing.
But either way, none of these movies are good and
they're all treat women terribly. Also, I mean, just because

(01:02:23):
we referenced it at the top of the episode, this
movie this true. I mean they are all three directed
by Jay Roach Caitlin. Oh I believe they are. Yes,
so j ro okay. So this is like one of
my least favorite trends in recent movie history. I hate
it so much. We've talked about it before on the
Mate Treon, But this whole like trend of men who

(01:02:47):
directed incredibly offensive broad nineties and early two thousands comedies
getting this second act now directing movies that are supposed
to be feminist or like or I guess progressive in general.
Where you have the Fairly Brothers with Green Book, which
is a trash movie that want a ton of oscars,

(01:03:08):
Eric you have, I mean for but in Jay Roach
directed Bombshell, which was supposed to be the feminist movie
of the movie season. It wasn't. It didn't make any
fucking sense and it wasn't very good. But this is
the fact that like these prestige projects that are about
women and people of color, and they're just being given

(01:03:29):
to these guys that did these outwardly, like their whole
resume is like across the board. J roaches resume is sexist, sexist, sexist.
What I didn't say that right any of the three
times understood, but like but but then that they're like, yeah,
you know what, he should get an opportunity to direct

(01:03:50):
a movie about misogyny in the workplace, Like on what
fucking grounds? It's just whoa, you're blowing my mind right now.
I had no idea. That's wow, that this is the
this is how the system gets recycled over and over.
Of course it's the people who were here first, and
it's dudes like him, and of course they wore in
the times. That was what that's so fucked up. He's

(01:04:13):
the one who directed bomb Yeah, I mean, they're not
getting you talent. No, it's like of all the I mean,
of all the stories that needed to be directed by
a woman, and then also like why we are like, oh,
the first Me Too movie is about like women on
Fox News, Like all right, but so it's like shitty

(01:04:33):
on a number of levels. But if you want to
tell that story, why hand that to the director of
all three Austin Powers? Just like, on what fucking grounds
does that make sense? Well, Jamie, because he also directed
Meet the Parents and Meet the Fockers. I like, I
don't I've every I mean, I I don't know anything

(01:04:56):
about this man personally, but you just like on on
paper and on like the resume translating to that, it
just makes no sense. And it just it's like it
seems like a slap in the face to female filmmakers
as a whole. Yes, oh my god. I wonder what
side by side the scenes from Fembots, if there are
any scenes and bombshell that kind of like side by side.

(01:05:16):
I'm just thinking it's like three three blonde women, you know,
three blonde women. There were six blond fembots, you know,
like if if it's like there's some like shot the
shot storyboard like similar. I don't know, I wonder if
he used that as a pitch, you know, like, oh,
this is a scene from Austin Powers. Okay, so I'm picturing,
you know, how the fembots were like this, this is
how the girls and Bombshell are going to be standing.

(01:05:37):
It's kind of like this. Yeah, so that's a not
very fun fact. My, my. The only fun fact I
could find about this movie that was fun was that scene.
I mean, there's like those two scenes that have those
extended visual jokes about dicks and boobies because movies for

(01:05:58):
nine year olds, Um, but whatever, And what if they're okay, hilarious?
Saw Jamie had while watching the movie. What if you
watched the end and it was like cinematography Roger Deakins.
Just what if Roger Deakins literally orchestrated those boobies and

(01:06:18):
PP shots anyways? Um, well it's not him, but that
would be really funny if that was Roger Deakins. Anyways, Um,
that scene, that last scene with all the melons and
the boobies and all the whole booby thing that was
shot at the Scientology Celebrity Center, what weird? What? Okay?
Hold on, there's just too many things. My mind needs

(01:06:40):
to calm down. Yeah, you're gonna you're gonna explode like
like one of the thumbs. Wait okay, wait, everything's wrong
with everything, Everything's very wrong. Hold on, I need to um,
I need to calm down. Wait okay, So everything about
this movie is remind me of just everything wrong with

(01:07:02):
like the nineties, not just nineties. It's like very in
cell from like the Judo Chop to now Scientology. It's
this is all very like toxic in cell shit, you
know what. Well, also because for some reason, like every
guy loser who's like who gets toxic about not getting

(01:07:23):
um laid gets really into like martial arts too, and
so every time no for real, it's like um uh
you know, Putin is like a black belt, you know
what I mean. It's always like weird evil people. It's
always like evil dudes like who are like not getting
laid and like you know, are angry about it. Um

(01:07:47):
that gets really so like the references to Judo freaked
me out, to like Judo chop, you know, in Awesome Powers,
because I was like everything like the obsession with Japan,
you know, obsession with boobies, dumb sex oaks, and poop
jokes and uh, I mean the scientology I can't explain
right now, but like did they just offer it? I

(01:08:08):
don't know, I guess yeah, it was a free Everything
else seemed kind of like they could shoot it for
pretty low budge. I mean the u n was just
like a dark room, right, Like the background was just
black right. I think the first movie had a sixteen
point five million dollar budget, which is yeah, not pretty
low for a studio comedy at like action comedy. Yeah. Yeah,

(01:08:34):
I wonder how much that budget goes up between the
first and the second one. Oh, I have it right here.
It uh pretty much doubles for The Spy Who Shagged Me,
and then that again nearly doubles for the third movie. Um,
these movies grossed. The first one didn't do super well.
It was a success, but I read that part of

(01:08:55):
the reason it didn't do well is it didn't do
well in England because it came out right after Prince
us Die passed away and no one was fucking with
it at that time, because I think that they were
really banking on it being very successful in England as well,
but everyone in England was bummed out. Um, I'm seeing
two different figures here, and I don't know exactly which

(01:09:15):
one is which, so I'll just stay the lower one
to be safe. But worldwide these movies, the trilogy grossed
about six hundred and seventy five million dollars um as
a trilogy across the world. So you're like, You're like,
the people were sad about Princess Diana's death and they

(01:09:37):
knew watching the movie would not make them feel better,
and so they just avoided it pretty much. I don't know,
does anyone have any other final thoughts? I can't wait
to do another Mike Myers movie? Oh yeah, you got
what do you do? You want to come back for? Um?

(01:09:59):
So I marry an axe murderer or whatever the book
that movie is? Sure? I haven't seen that our our
number one request. Most people haven't. Um yeah, Well, next
time we'll have you on for a movie that you
actually want to talk. We've punished you long enough. No, no, no,
it's fine. Look, I have we have time right now.

(01:10:20):
I have time right now. It's like, yeah, we visit
awesome powers, we appreciate it. Yes, Uh, let's figure out
if the movie passes the Bechtel test. No it doesn't.
I had my fingers crossed for when Vanessa and her
mother were talking, but they always talked about fucking Austin Powers.

(01:10:40):
So yeah, I think that's the only time women interact
in the entire movie, because like frail Farbistina does not
interact with her femboss. They don't have names and they
don't have names. Um yeah, maybe a lot of Vagina
when she's like kidnapping Vanessa, but I don't know if

(01:11:01):
they talk either. We didn't see that conversation. Yeah. No,
I don't think this movie passes the Bechtel test, and
if it does, it shouldn't write unless the sea bass
the mutated sea beasts were all female fish and they talked,
but we didn't see it. There better be a deleted
scene where that happens. And if not pissed, let's rate

(01:11:24):
it on our nipple scale zero to five nipples based
on its representation of women. I think I'm gonna just
go ahead and give this zero nipples. Give it a
zero as well. I'm going to give it a concaved nipple. Yeah.
I mean, everything about it is despicable. It does not
get any better as the franchise goes forward. There was

(01:11:48):
an opportunity to provide meaningful commentary on this type of
like spy action franchise, because I mean, we talked about
one of the Bond movies so far on the podcast, um,
and it was one of the more recent ones, and
it's still do we have to talk about another one? No? Well,

(01:12:10):
so I was like, oh, we can do Austin Powers.
Because originally, um, the newest Bond installment was supposed to
come out in early April, but everything, you know, not
being released in theaters. So that's why I was like, Oh,
let's do an Austin Powers movie instead. So that's why
we're releasing this episode. Now you know all of our

(01:12:31):
plans that fall into ship. But it's actually fine. Mulan
didn't come out, but our episode did, so basically it
came out basically Mulan came, yeah and look whatever. Oh
by the way, I wanted to before we leave, I
said concave nipple, not to body shame, but because it's
like a negative nipple. Oh so yeah, what I meant was,

(01:12:55):
it's a it's a negative one. Got it. God, I
think I've lost ability to really like swarm sentences because no, honestly,
I haven't seen people and I know anyways, thank you
for having me on that would be that's my last thought. Uh,
we're we're so glad to have had you. Thank you
so much for being here. And a natsco. What would

(01:13:16):
you like to plug? And where can people follow you
online and check out your stuff? You can just define
me at Outsco Comedy a T s uk O Comedy.
That's where I'm at. Yeah, and check out let's go
outs Go the podcast and the live show and the
future Quimby Show. Yes since the future equip Yes coming

(01:13:39):
to your phone so we'll see you know, yeah, we'll
see what happens. It's coming, It's coming. Yes, I can't
wait on. You can follow us on all the places, Twitter, Instagram, Patreon, ak.
Matreon is five dollars a month and it gets you
too bonus episodes of the podcast every single that's at

(01:14:00):
patreon dot com, slash Bechdel Cast and our t Public
store te public dot com slash. The Bechdel Cast has
all of your merch needs and um without much further ado. Yeah,
baby Shagdelic or something Harney Harney that horny Bye bye