bottoms: not ugly, not untalented, very gay

Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri are comical geniuses. We would like to sign up for their lesbian fight club please. 

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Theme Song by Patrick Dunnevant, (https://www.youtube.com/c/AcappellaVGM)
Artwork by Dawn Wheeler (https://www.instagram.com/wool_and_stone) 

Chapters

• 0:00 intro
• 7:43 bottoms background
• 14:11 cast
• 26:13 summary
• 41:44 overall impressions
• 46:52 what we love
• 1:18:36 what we didn't love so much
• 1:25:22 fun facts
• 1:29:31 quotes
• 1:34:56 outro

Transcript

Get home from school turn on my TV, who are these friends staring right back at me, now that we're older-

Hi, I'm Amanda.

And I'm Jessica, and this is 90s Babies Nostalgia, where two 90s babies are having some fun.

Just to be clear, we're not sponsored by nor affiliated with any of the studios, distribution companies, actors, production companies, anything that we're talking about. We just really like talking about TV and movies and music. And today we are talking about...

Bottoms.

It's the 2023 Campy Lesbian Fight Club. I know you know about it because it was, I feel like, the biggest gay movie talk of the town, of the town, and by the town I mean the internet, until Challengers.

Yeah.

You know? 

Agreed

Ih feel like it was 2023's Challengers, but, like, very different.

Very different with like, I feel like a lot less hype, but like people who knew knew.

Yeah, and in terms of hype, I really think that just has to do with like the amount of money that went into it and the the players

Money and names behind it for sure.

Absolutely, yeah.

Both back and front um of production. But anyway, before we get into all of that, it is Pride season. And now I do have a lovely question for for you, Jess, which unfortunately I couldn't ask a gay question for our XO Kitty episode because we recorded that in February and didn't realize it would be a Pride release. 

Mhmm

But I've been having a mental breakdown that...is truly unfounded and unlike any I've had before.

Yeah, Amanda and I are having really, really hard 2025s. Thanks for asking. We're not okay. We hope that you're doing better than we are.

Absolutely. And if you're not, watch this movie because it's funny 

Oh, it's so good.

and it's a good distraction.

Yep.

um Spoiler alert on our views. So anyway, we didn't have a gay question, but our gay question for this episode, because we are intentionally recording it for Pride, is what are the three gayest things about you other than the fact that you like girls?

Okay. um The first one I said, which was like kind of obvious, and I know a lot of people hate this stereotype, but I am very flirty.

Okay, no.

And I always have been. And I feel like that works, you know?

As a fellow flirt, I love that.

Okay. My other one is my music choices, because I feel like Obscure music and bisexuality go together. Also, like, queerness is so intermixed with the punk scene that was like, okay, I have to say this.

Yeah, and I feel like gay people like love to listen to music about being misunderstood

Mhmm

but then they also love like a club anthem. And guys, yes, we are generalizing. It's our community. Let us have this.

Yep. Yep. And then the last one, I wrote a question, which is, can I say my nose piercing? And if I'm not allowed to say my nose piercing, I do have a backup.

I think you're allowed to say your nose piercing. i think a septum is definitely gayer than a stud 

Agreed.

because the stud like is very popular in like South Asian culture as well

Mm-hmm. 

which is definitively not gay in that context.

Mm-hmm.

However, i i do think it counts in our context. I would still like to hear your back up.

Um, so my backup was that I love reptiles because I know frogs is a thing, but I was like, I do love a frog, but I love a reptile. So I was like, that's what I'm going to count.

Okay.

Like a weird animal. You know what I mean? i feel like the bisexuals are all into like the obscure slash like the thing that no one else is really interested in. Mm-hmm.

Okay, yeah. Yeah, the unicorns, as one might say.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

What are your three?

Well, you know, but um so I made Jess answer this question because I was like, I'm hilarious. So number one is that one of my best friends is someone I used to date. Huge cliche. Look, we dated for two months, but it was very casual and we only hooked up once. um Number two is that I've spent literally the last year thinking that I might be a lesbian instead of bisexual, but I also still think I'm bisexual, but I don't know. And I, like, think about this at least weekly, if not daily, and I haven't dated anyone since said girl over two years ago.

Yep

Haven't even kissed anyone, haven't, like, sought anyone out, and yet I think about this daily. Probably a sign.

yeah. Yep

If you look at any of the lists, they're like, if you think you might be a lesbian instead of bisexual, here's the clues. Number one, you think you might be a lesbian. and

yep, yep. 

And then the third gayest thing about me is that I love building furniture. Like, nothing few things give me more satisfaction than building a piece of flat pack furniture. i have built and unbuilt my bed, like, three times. I love installing things. And I'm convinced I could do just about anything with my hands.

Yeah, it makes me wish I had you at my job because the amount of sh1t I have to build in this job and you know I hate building furniture has nothing to do with my bisexuality, everything to do with my dyslexia and just like it does not work with building things.

and your physical disability.

yeah, yeah, my hands don't work. Like, ah it's just me and building furniture are not meant to mix. So I wish that you could like teleport to me whenever I have to build furniture at work.

Yeah, no, guys, Jess will text me and be like, ah because she like does office management stuff as part of her tasks. So she'll be like, I have to build a dozen chairs today and I'm dying.

And I'm like, I wish I could fly to Los Angeles and build these chairs, not just to save my friend. Like that would be a bonus. I would just genuinely enjoy building the chairs. Like it's very satisfying to me that like these four pieces became one. And I was trying to even help you from over here.
 
Yeah. Oh, yeah. Between you and my friend Justine, the amount of times I like text photos and I'm like, what is wrong here and how do I fix it? Because I don't know what I did wrong.

My fourth one that ah is my shout out that I told you is but less gay, more bisexuals that I can never sit normal in a chair. i am doing it right now. But you guys know within the hour, my knee is going to be up. And by ah you guys, I mean whatever small amount of people consistently watch our videos because it's captured in video that I have never sat normally in this podcast.

Mm-hmm. I also have that one. I'm always like, because i film where you can't see my legs, but if you saw my legs, they're like completely under me, one sticking out, one knees up, one knees down. Like I'm constantly moving them.

I am as well, but you can sometimes see my bottom half. kind of The video typically cuts around my waist. And then because of like the way the chair is, sometimes if I'm like moving a leg up so I can sit on my foot, you can see my foot. So then I have to debate, like, am I going to try to be normal or do I need to wear socks so that my feet aren't on the internet?

Mhmm Socks.

And like not that I care about my feet being on the internet, but I don't want them on the internet for free.

Free. Correct.

Yeah.

Yes.

No feet for free, guys.

Yep.

Monetize what you have.

Yep.

Now, with that, we're going to get into the topic at hand, bottoms. Just beforehand, I want to give a little trigger warning if you don't know what this movie is about. It is a lesbian fight club, and it's very satirical black comedy. And so there's a lot of violence, a lot of sexism, and discussions of sexual assault. So if those are things that you will find particularly upsetting, not for you, but the rest of you, let's get into it.

Yep. So as Amanda mentioned, this is a 2023 American satirical black comedy film. It premiered at South by Southwest on March 11th and then later was released still in 2023, but um on August 25th theatrical in the U.S. It was filmed a year prior in 2022 in different locations in New Orleans.

It was directed, EP'd, and written by Emma so Seligman. um Really only works on bottoms. And then a 2020 film um that was a short film that then also they did like a full release of the film too called Shiva Baby that won a lot of awards.

I'm not familiar with it, but I know that it like did its rounds in the different like film festivals.

I know of it. It's been on my to watch for like the last two, three years. But I know that Emma and Rachel, Rachel Sennott also starred in Shiva Baby and the two of them usually collaborate together.

Yep.

I think they have something else coming out too. Mm-hmm.

Yeah. Yep. um And perfectly leads into um she co-wrote it with Rachel Sennott, who also acts in the film, which we'll get down to later when we talk about the cast and characters. um And ah Rachel was also an EP on the film. I did want to touch by because I was reading kind of their story about like pitching this film and they had a really challenging time, which makes sense based on the script. um But they faced like numerous rejections and in certain scenarios, they weren't allowed to like properly even pitch the film and its context and the reason behind it in front of um executives.

What's screwed up is I think that has more to do with it being about like very horny lesbian teenagers than it does the violence.

Mhmm

I think

oh absolutely

Yeah, I think both were an issue, but I also think it was like, oh, well, why are these teenage girls doing violence? Like just a lot of like people just didn't want to touch it because it's too controversial more than actual reasons to not produce this film.

Correct. Yeah, I think it was more like taking the tactic of avoidance. We would rather just not have our name associated with that than because they didn't think that the film wouldn't be um hilarious or do well. Also, the other thing that they struggled with with funding was once they had a production studio sign on and they got the money to do the film and started filming different scenes, many brands turned down features of their products because of the content of the movie. So that additional money that they would have got, they didn't necessarily get in this case because they couldn't get a lot of product placements like other films do.

stupid
 
I know. Agreed. Also struggled to find a high school campus that would allow them to film the movie there. So they ended up filming it at an abandoned elementary school and a college and gymnasium. The college gymnasium was not abandoned, just the elementary school.

i do feel lowkey like that's like partially because they filmed in new orleans like you could have chosen a less conservative town to film

I, yeah, but I also think it makes sense because when I was watching it, I was thinking, i'm like, what school are they filming at? I think it kind of adds to, like, the nature and the vibe of the school. So I actually think it was good that it ended up being an abandoned elementary school because I think it did have, like, the scenes had, like, a little bit of spookiness to them. Okay. And last like big touch here is that the original film score was composed by Charlie XCX and Leo Berenberg, who he's a composer that has done a lot of things. i wouldn't say like super, super well-known. I didn't recognize him by name, but he's done the Hangover part three, Frozen, Ant-Man, Hot Tub Time Machine, two.

I mean, frozen.

Frozen is crazy, yeah.

Yeah. And also this was Charlie XCX just before she blew up Just to say like she's always been known in the gay world.

Yeah.

She's always been good. But it was before Brat Summer for putting it in context that she did this ah film, which I think I don't know. I was like, yay.

Yeah

Anyway, I also wanted to shout out that one of the main other producers and EPs was Elizabeth Banks, who is known – she's an actress, producer, director, most known as an actress for playing Effie Trinket in The Hunger Games.  She started when she was younger in Wet Hot American Summer, which – Emma Seligman had described when pitching this movie as like wet hot American summer for Gen Z queers.

Yeah.

And also as a producer, Elizabeth Banks has done a few things, but her most notable is she did all of the Pitch Perfect movies, which she also was in as one of the like announcers at the acapella competition. Yeah. But considering she produced the Pitch Perfect movies, which were so successful, it makes it even, I think, more telling that other companies and studios were reluctant to back this film with her attached even.

Yeah. Yeah. i also think it shines big on like the time that they were trying to pitch this and sell this during too. i would imagine honestly that they would have a harder time in 2025 than they did in like probably 2020, 2021 when they were trying to sell this.

I was going to say, in Biden's America, it wasn't that bad. And it was at least post-big pandemic.

Yeah, yeah, it's true, true. Okay, do we want to get into our main characters?

Yes. First, we have PJ, played by Rachel Sennott. As we mentioned, PJ is a loser, right? She's gay and she's an asshole. And that I will talk about more later, but it makes me comfortable to know that as much as of of an asshole she is, she's portrayed by one of the co-writers of the film.

Mm-hmm.

She was like, I'm goinnna write a deeply unlikable character and then I'm going to play her.

Yeah.

Played by Rachel Senett, known for her role in Shiva Baby, as we said, which earned her a Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor, supporting role in The Idol. She starred in Charlie XCX's music video for 260 that had like a lot of people

Yep. 360.

360, sorry, Jess's Dyslexia got me again. knew that was wrong. I was like, I've never heard of that song. um No, it's the one that has like everyone in it, I think, like Julia Fox and all of them.

yeah

Also, she's a frequent collaborator with Ayo Edebiri, who we're going to talk about next. They met at and NYU when they were both going to the Tisch School. And on their credits, they as jess noticed in 2020, they did do a series for Comedy Central.

And and this is called, what was it? Ayo and Rachel are single.

Ayo and Rachel are single.

Yes.

And I was like, this sounds like something I need to watch.

Yeah, I've never seen it, but it does sound hilarious. And I would like to see something they did before they started to get bigger.

Yeah. Yeah. yeah Because they started out, both of them started out as standup comedians, which I think is very interesting.

Yeah, but also kind of started working like really quickly after graduating, which isn't that common.

Mm-hmm.

Next up, we have Josie, played by Ayo Edebiri. She's also a loser. Best friends with PJ. They've been best friends for years and years.

The more masc of the the pair, kind of.

yeah, yeah. They really, it's like them against everyone else who is not very nice to them nor likes them at the school.

Ayo is known for playing chef sydney adamu in the bear you guys all know this but for the bear she's won a golden globe two screen actor guild awards and a prime time emmy for her role um she also is a writer and voice actor in big mouth writer for what we do in the shadows and recently voiced envy in inside out 2

Do you know the meme about or the running joke about Ayo being Irish?

Mm-mm

This is a very specific internet thing that happened for like a year when she was doing like really – when her star was really rising on the bear and was getting nominated for Emmys and stuff. I know she studied abroad in Ireland during her time at and NYU. And at some point, I think she joked on the red carpet that she was Irish and

Okay.

and And, like, she does a good Irish accent. I think it like, kept spiraling. She kept committing to the bit so much that, like, when she won her Emmy, I want to say, the, like, an official account for...I want to say Cork, like somewhere in Ireland was like, congrats to our local Ayo Edebiri or whatever.

Oh my God.

It was like, most like and multiple Irish people. she was like, oh yeah, Paul Mescal, my Irish brother. Like they keep like, they kept spinning the joke so big. It was so ridiculous that like some of us were a little convinced she might actually be Irish.

Be Irish.

Yeah.

That's really funny.

And it was purely just a bit.

Yeah. Yeah. She was just, it came up and she just went with it.

Yeah.

I love that.

Next, we have Hazel Callahan played by Ruby Cruz. Hazel is like um ah

Yep.

deeply autistic and very charming. And when I first left this movie, I was afraid to use any pronouns because I thought that she might be non-binary. This is Ruby Cruz's feature-length movie debut. She also starred in Castle Rock.  mayor of Easttown, Willow, and most recently, as we discussed, she was in the sex lives of college girls.

Up next, we have Isabel, played by Havana Rose Liu. I found out in my research that she's the daughter of the people who founded The Knot, like the really, really popular wedding blog, wedding magazine, wedding website.

This is a really specific jess fact because when I read this, when putting my notes in this morning, I had to Google what the knot was because I was pretty sure I knew, but I wasn't 100% sure.

How did you not know what The Knot was?

When would I ever be involved in wedding planning anything?

I guess.

i i have no ah no dreams to marry. I've never been involved. I haven't been involved in a wedding since I was nine.

ah This is all fair. This is all valid. I just feel like you should, I don't know. Everyone knows the knot.

I don't follow the, like, lifestyle influencers that much. Why would I? Why should I know about the knot?

I don't know. It just felt like,

It won't impact my life at all.

Yeah, impacts mine. um She's, 

I had heard of it.

yeah, that's fair.

She's mostly known for her modeling career and starring in Bottoms, but she's also had features in The Chair and American Horror Stories and recently was an off-Broadway play called All Nighter.

with all of our favorite TV actresses, which I saw last month on her final day, and she blew me away. um She was so fantastic. I first learned of her from Bottoms and I remember leaving the theater like, oh my god, that girl is so pretty. And then, yeah, I went to see All Nighter, which also has the actress that plays Whitney in Sex Lives of College Girls.

Mhmm

You remember because I texted you after I left the theater and I was like, Aliyah's ass is impeccable.

yep

Was like better than Sex Lives could ever do justice.

Mhmm

Yes. And Kristin Forseth, who was Alaska in the Looking for Alaska series and was in Sierra Burgess as a big fat loser. And then one Broadway actress um who's a Nepo baby, ah Gallagher. um Anyway, Havana and Kristin's last night was last month, so I went to see it finally. And oh, and it has Julie Lester, who's from High School Musical, the musical, the series.

Okay.

And they were replaced with like Anna Sophia Rob is on it now.

Wow.

um Yeah. But Havana was so good. Like her performance was so physical and she had the most lines and was like just on it. was incredible.

Love. Another model, we have Brittany, played by Kaia Gerber, who's the daughter of Cindy Crawford and Rand Gerber. She's an American model, started when she was super, super young with Versace at age 10, won Model of the Year at the British Fashion Awards in 2018. She has a few random TV credits here and there, but like really has a lot of modeling credits, like all of the modeling credits in the world but has starred in American Horror Stories and American Horror Story double feature.

Yeah, Kaia Gerber's a nepobaby I don't mind because she looks like a model. She looks like she should be a model, like even more than Kendall Jenner.

Yeah.

And when she is in movies, like I'm not disappointed by her performance at all.

Yeah.

And she't she doesn't do it that often anyway.

Yeah. Yeah. I wasn't upset by her in this. I was like, okay, this is fine. And it makes sense for the casting why they picked those two characters to be played by people who are typically models, not actors Because that was like more necessary for the character, I would say.

Next, we have Jeff, who is the quarterback of the high school football team. He is a god. They literally have painted the Sistine Chapel as Jeff in the cafeteria. And he is played by Nicholas Galitzine, who is the gayest straight man to ever exist, known for his roles in Red, White, and Royal Blue and The Idea of You. And he also starred in the TV series Chambers and Mary and George.

Also, we didn't mention, but Isabel and Brittany are like the popular girls at the school. They're both cheerleaders. um They're both very, very traditionally beautiful. And Isabel is dating Jeff, the quarterback. Then we have Mr. G played by Marshawn Lynch. He's like the teacher who's trying, but not that hard.

He's one of the funniest characters for so many reasons. He's, like, the stereotype of a big black man with tattoos. in that he, like, doesn't respect women and he speaks with more of, like, AAVE and he's, like, very sexual. But he's still – but he's, like, a history teacher and he's trying. It's done in a way where they're like satirizing that character.

yeah

It's not to be racist, even though the way I described it sounds kind of like it is.

Yeah. Yep. Marshawn Lynch is a former professional football player. He played 12 seasons with the NFL, but is most known for playing with the Seattle Seahawks. He has like a really small acting career with like quite a few features um in TV shows, including Westworld, Murderville, and Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Him starring in a couple episodes of Murderville is actually how they ended up requesting for to send him the script for this role. um Because they heard he did a lot of improv and was really great to work with on that set. And so that's kind of how they decided to reach out to him. Apparently, they were like not expecting him to go for this role, though. They were like, he absolutely is going to turn this down. But I guess he accepted it. because he wanted to right some of his wrongs. So I was reading in some interviews that like he spoke a lot about taking this role to like heal some of his past and that his sister came out to him as a lesbian when he was 16 and he like did not handle it well. So when he got this script, he was like, oh, I think this is a good like role for me to take on. And he spoke to his sister a lot about it when he chose to take on this role. So I thought that was very interesting.

I did as well.

especially because professionals, that world is so masculine and like reinforcing a lot of those...just homophobia that like, I think it is actually really important that they got someone like him to star in this role and that he openly spoke about like healing his past with his sister who is queer.

I agree. Between being a black man and being in the NFL, there's layers and layers of homophobia on that sort of a cultural context. So I think having someone like that in this role is, like you said, important to like open people's minds more. And then also, yeah, I find it endearing that he could have just taken the role. and not said anything about his sister. But when people can get past their own egos and admit to faults that they have or things mistakes that they've made that they're no longer making, he's not happily saying, I didn't take it well. He's saying, that's something that I didn't, I'm ashamed of

yep 

and I'm like i'm trying to do better like That, I think, is a good example of a human, is when you have the grace to grow and admit fault.

Yeah. And then to like also be afforded this public stage and not be afraid to talk about it either.

Yeah, people are too fvcking defensive these days. 

Mhmm mhmm

Okay, we've been talking for half an hour, and now we gotta get into the summary.

Yep.

Guys, look, it's just a good movie, okay? Let's get into it. So, as we said, we got two best friends, Josie and PJ, and they're talking in Josie's bedroom about their crushes on the school cheerleaders, Isabel and Brittany, and how they're massive losers. But tonight is the fair and the fair could turn it all around. Why? i don't know. That's the kind of world that this movie takes place in. So it doesn't though. They try to talk to Isabel and Brittany and it turns out like they keep talking about how like they're you can't be gay, untalented, and ugly. And like it's really funny because neither of them obviously are ugly and we know that they're talented but in the movie they're untalented. But like No, you're losers because you just like can't talk to people.

Yep

Like you're so awkward.

Yep.

They literally tell them, tell the girls they're so skinny they should eat. at the fair, Hazel is asking how the summer was and Josie has a broken arm. So PJ sarcastically was like, oh, we hit and yeah, we got in a fight in juvie. And Hazel doesn't understand sarcasm. We learn shortly thereafter, this is important to note. This is why I referred to her as deeply autistic. That's not confirmed. That's just...She does not understand sarcasm.

No

they, they, they swing and they miss hard with Brittany and Isabel. So they're headed to their car and they're like, we're fvcked. Life is fvcked. And they hear Isabel and Jeff fighting. And so they just like randomly are like, Isabel, do you want a safe ride? Which is so funny. So she gets in their car and Jeff stands in front of their car and they can't move because he's he won't leave. So Josie just like very lightly rolls the car forward and it kind of barely touches his kneecap.

Barely

And he falls down in just incredible pain. The whole football team comes over and is like trying to help him up. And Isabel just gets out of the car and walks away. So the next day they get to school and Jeff is fully in a cast walking with crutches. They get called to the principal's office and are threatened to be expelled. And Josie makes up this lie, like, clearly just trying to find something while speaking, not knowing what she's going to say. And is like, way we were practicing self-defense because we heard over the school intercom right before they got called to the principal's office that there's a big football game between wherever the fvck they go to school. It's like Rockwood or something And huntington and the huntington people have literally punched a girl in the face and it always gets less safe for them during this time of year so she was like we need a self-defense lesson club thing so we were practicing and so he lets them leave and pj's like light bulb moment we should make that a real thing

yeah

we should make a club, a self-defense club. And it's PJ and Josie and Hazel on the bleachers talking about it. And Hazel's like, yeah, this club, this school could really benefit from female solidarity. And PJ's like, no, this is about getting laid. We should start this club so that we can sleep with Brittany and Isabel. Oh, and then they like trick Mr. G to sign on as the club advisor.

Yep, because they're like they have to have a signature and they're like, he's going be the easiest get. At the first meeting, they actually have people show up The girls arrive. a few people are late. So PJ is like you yelling at the entire group to kind of intimidate them, but also be like, this club starts right on time. Do not show up late. And of course, at this moment, Brittany and Isabel show up.

I feel it's important to note that the main reason that girls showed up to this club is because by this point, Hazel has spread the rumor that these two girls went to juvie over the summer and the whole school believes that they beat up Jeff.

yeah

So these girls really think that, like, they can learn something from PJ and Josie.

Yes.

And on the bleachers when they're talking about starting the club is when they tell Hazel, no, we didn't fvcking go to juvie. We just didn't. like tell you we didn't go so but like the other girls don't know that and that's why they're showing up to the club led by these by two losers

Yep. Then we get a big montage of all of the girls getting together day after day. Fight club's going great. They're beating the crap out of beach each other. And everyone at school is kind of like, okay, maybe PJ and Josie are not as bad as we thought they were. um Maybe they're a little badass. So after days of them fighting each other and continuing the fight club, Hazel suggests that they have one day where instead of fighting, they just all talk and get to know one another. And so they all trauma dump. But Josie just lies about being in juvie. Like her whole like, oh, let me share something with you is just a lie. Which Amanda says by using the literal plot of Hunger Games, which I did not realize while watching, but yes, she did.

Yes, she did. There were tributes. They had to fight to the death. They were given shanks and shivs. Yeah.
 
Then when Hazel gets home from Fight Club one day, she finds her mom having sex with Jeff, her quarterback. so Hazel tells Josie and PJ this in like the funniest way possible, squatted on the ground, unable to comprehend what's happening in her life, like fully 12 hours later at a fundraiser they're having for the club, which we'll talk about later.

So then Josie and Isabel have a study date at a diner, which was Isabel's idea. And Isabel thanks Josie for starting the club. And she's, like, talking about how great it's been for her life. And Josie's, like, about – she's clearly feeling uncomfortable. And you think for a second she's going to admit that she didn't go to juvie. And then instead she says that Jeff is cheating on her. And Isabel has the most incredible meltdown I've ever seen 

Yeah

and just like literally bangs her head on the table and cries and laughs at the same time. And it's so funny.

Yeah. At school the next day, Isabel storms into the cafeteria, like full on big giant steps towards Jeff and the football players table. um She confronts him and breaks up with him. And then the fight club girls walk out together. We learn that that evening they egg and TP Jeff's house and And while all this is happening, Josie is like the getaway car. So she's still in the van. And then Isabel's also there. And they have like an almost kissed moment. But Hazel misread what they were doing with egging and TPing. And instead sets a bomb that blows up Jeff's car. And so everyone runs into the van to interrupt them.

Tim, parentheses, Jeff's bitch. He's the number two football player. I often wrote him in my notes as Jeff two. He's his best friend.

I didn't even know his name. i had no idea who. I was like, i don't know this guy's name. i don't know how to look him up. i know who you're talking about. But I was like, this guy, he's around.

I know

But no one knows his name.

you never wrote his name down and I thought that was deeply funny. I only knew by the last half of the movie what it was. and The first half I just kept writing Jeff 2 until eventually they used his name so much that I was aware. So anyway, Tim, parentheses Jeff's bitch, threatens to shut down the club because he's pissed that they blew up Jeff's car and he's Jeff's bitch. they, like, are in the gym, the fight club, and they're having this moment where they're like, oh, no, we're going to get shut down because, like, Tim's football and football is everything at this school. So they're sad, but it's, like, bittersweet because, like, they made friends and they got what they wanted out of this club. But PJ's, like... no, like, we can fight this. We can keep the club up. And so she keeps it insisting it won't get shut down. And it culminates in her and Hazel yelling at each other. And Hazel calls PJ and Josie liars, which is implying the juvie thing, but hasn't actually admitted it yet. It's just alluding. And PJ says, well, you have no friends and your mom's a skank, which is really mean. So Hazel leaves and Fight Club ends in a bad way. Isabel goes over to Josie's house, though, after that, and they hook up.

Mhmm

And on the same night, PJ goes to Brittany's house, and they're studying. And I would say in PJ's defense, it is quite flirty.

It's very flirty.

Yeah, but then PJ kisses Brittany, and Brittany's like, so sorry I'm straight.

At the pep rally, Josie tells PJ that she hooked up with Isabel And during the pep rally, they have like the cheerleaders come out, do a little performance. And then for the second performance, Tim is like announcing everything. And he has Hazel come out as an example of what the girls in the fight club have learned, except that he told Hazel that he would be fighting PJ, which she had motive to do because she was really upset at PJ because she said really mean things. um But instead makes her fight Tucker, who's the school's number one boxer. and literally this guy is terrifying like all muscle

He's a monster.

Yeah, literally. Hazel honestly tries really hard, puts up a great fight, but does lose. And Tim tells the school that Hazel lost because PJ and Josie didn't know what they were doing and that they never went to juvie. And the whole reason they started the fight club was so that they could fvck cheerleaders.

all of... also wait, sorry, asterisk. When you said the cheerleaders put on a performance, they walked up into like the standard arrow formation and then threw water on a wet shirt of the person in the center. That was it.

Yep.

That was the performance.

Mhmm

After Tim's big announcement, the pep rally's over, all of the Fight Club girls come over to help Hazel, who, by the way, Tucker kicked in the face while she was down. So fvcked up.
 
Yep.

They come over to Hazel, and they're also pissed at PJ and Josie and her self-interest. They leave with Hazel. It's just PJ and Josie in the gym now. Man, that school cleared out fast. I totally would have lingered for the drama. And they have a big fight going back and forth blaming each other for... Sort of the whole thing, like for the club existing, for the club falling apart. Well, if you hadn't been mad at or like mean to Hazel. Well, if you hadn't told Isabel about Jeff, which led to the bombing and then Tim wanting to take us down, all of that.

So after this big fight, Josie goes to see her mentor, Rosie, who's played by Punky Johnson, and also was mentioned earlier in the film that ah Rose, I said Rosie, Rose, Rose was PJ and Josie's babysitter in the first grade, and they refer to her as Gay Yoda. And she's trying to get advice about PJ, but... Rose has like no real friendships and like really is not giving great advice at all. I don't know why this um person is your mentor. But what advice Rose does give is to not go to the Huntington game that night and to stay inside because this is the 50 year rivalry game. And Huntington always murders a member of the school football team. And she like even references a few of them. And they're always like really like one of them was like drawn and quartered, like really terrible.

Yeah, you were like, I think in your notes you were like, she says that someone might get murdered or like alludes to maybe murder happened. And I was like, no, she literally was like, someone was set on fire.

Yes 

Someone was drowned and someone was quartered.

Yeah. 

Terrible.

I meant more like alluding that a murder may happen at the 50th anniversary, not alluding to past murders. So after this, Josie's like, no, I can't stay in. If I know that someone's going to get hurt, we have to get the fight club back together. We have to save whatever football player is going to get killed And so she convinces PJ to help her get it back together, redeem the club's reputation, and then maybe they can keep doing the club. But they need a distraction to keep the game from starting. So Hazel sets a bomb, but she like sets the timer wrong and doesn't really know when it's going to go off. So does it doesn't. And then they shout at the cheerleaders to make out, but the cheerleaders are just confused. So instead, Hazel and PJ start making out. While all of this is happening, Josie's like running around the back of the field trying to figure out like what they're going to do to murder this player, and she ends up smelling pineapple juice and finding like big barrels that are covered with a ripped up sign that says pineapple juice. And Jeff is like deathly allergic to pineapples. also guys, these are like oil barrels of pineapple juice, like giant ass barrels.

that have no label other than the words pineapple juice.

Yes, correct correct. On like a piece of paper that was like printed out and made in Microsoft Word.

Mhmm.

And so they realize that they're going to spray the field with the pineapple juice. So the club runs onto the field right as the game is starting to drag Jeff off to make sure he's safe. And then the Huntington team squares up against the fight club in this like really dramatic scene And then we have like a graphic fight sequence in which the fight club ends up killing every single member of the Huntington football team. Every single one. And then the whole school in town is just like staring in disbelief. They cannot believe what is happening. They're just like doing nothing. They're not cheering. They're not helping out. They're just in the stands.

They're in shock.

Yeah. When the sprinklers go off - you would think some people would get involved - when the sprinklers go off, it's confirmed it's pineapple juice. Everyone realizes why they went out on the field and killed all the Huntington members. And they all clap and cheer them on.

And then Josie apologizes to Isabel. They make out. Everyone is celebrating on the field. And then with perfect timing, Hazel's bomb goes off.

Yep.

And roll credits and bloopers.

Yep.

That's bottoms, baby.

Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

I've been describing to Jess that this movie has the momentum of a concrete wheel rolling downhill, that it just keeps like picking up speed and getting crazier and crazier. Then the final act is like the wheel has now gone into a lake. It's like underwater. I didn't see that coming.

Yeah.

It's just like the silliest movie.

Yeah, it's so silly. I didn't really know what to expect, which we'll get into after our overall thoughts, because I was conflating two movies in my brain together. And so therefore I didn't really know what I was getting into at all. I watched the movie in two parts. So I watched the first half two nights ago and then the second half last night. And after watching the first half, I was kind of like, okay, this movie is kind of weird. I don't really know what it's building up to. Clearly they're planting like a lot of seeds, but I don't know like what the payoff for these different seeds are going to be. And like, if it's actually going to end up being good or is it just going to continue with this kind of like weird slowness to it? um Because I feel like they did have a lot of story to kind of build up to then like go off the walls bonkers. But the second half is so perfectly hilarious and it escalates to places where you're not expecting, as Amanda said, like when they all go out and just start like killing all the football members. I was like, okay, I knew there this was going to be violence, but I literally didn't know they were out to like kill 10 men right now. Like it was so funny and dark and like went off the rails, but also in a way that they set it up already in the first half to go off the rails. So it didn't feel so out of left field. It was just great. I really, really loved it. Like probably one of the best movies I've seen in a while. It was really hilarious. I would definitely watch it again.

Oh, I'm so glad. 

Yeah

I'm so glad I made you watch this.

Yeah.

My overall thoughts is like, similarly, i had no idea where it was going. I saw this in theaters and I had no expectations at that time. Like I'd heard quite a bit of hype and it was described as like lesbian fight club. And that's all I really knew other than like it would be a comedy. and It was so nuts that I truly wasn't even sure if I liked it when I initially left the theater because I was i myself was kind of in shock.

And it's so dumb. It's so deeply dumb, but it's so 

It's really dumb 

but it's so funny.

Yeah.

And I think like I very quickly, like once I processed within 12 hours, but even within the first hour, kind of realized like this is like one of those dumb comedy movies like Shaun of the Dead

Mhmm

which we've already talked about on this podcast. And I'm... I'm never the biggest fan of comedies. Sometimes I like them. I tend to not gravitate towards them. But so many of them are made for and by men. And it's such a, like, male-dominated field the understanding I came to was like, this is a dumb comedy movie, but for lesbians. And we deserve that. Like, this is what represent what good representation is, is we get to have our dramatic portrait of a lady on fire. And we get to have our, like, very romantic, unrealistic red, white, and royal blue. And we get to have our safe heart stopper. And we get to have our, like, dark comedy murder movie bottoms. Like, representation is having all different types of it.

you know

Yep. Yeah. And I feel like as you, I thought about Shaun of the Dead too, while I was watching it and like those movies are so obviously made for men to be enjoyed by men. The humor is very catered towards men that like, To have that this style of film that was like so silly and so gory and so off the rails in like all of the ways that Shaun of the Dead is, but clearly made for and written by queer women was like amazing.

Oh oh

It made it very good because we don't have that.

And we liked Shaun of the Dead. 

Yeah

Like, we're not saying that it's a bad movie 

No

or any other similar movies. I think there's a lot of male comedies that do make derogatory jokes that make it harder to enjoy as a woman and as a queer person.

yeah
 
I don't recall Shaun of the Dead being that way. i think there's plenty of them that aren't that cheap. But yes, this is, to me, Bottoms is like, I know they said wet hot American summer a lot. I've never seen that, so i can't attest to that. But to me, it's like if Shaun of the Dead was made by the people who made But I'm a Cheerleader.

Yes, yes, yes. Exactly.

Yeah, because it's like overly graphic to the point that it's like not even scary. It's just stupid.

yep

And also super camp.

Very camp. Very camp. And I think that was part of the reason once it got to the point that I was like, oh, this is all camp. Like, this is now hilarious and I love it. Like, I was unsure and then I was like, oh, I get it. I get it. 

our favorite moments and things we got to talk about. Let's get into details that we love.

So Amanda and I were trying to get our lives together. As we mentioned, we've not had the easiest 2025s. Amanda, for mental health reasons, me for just everything in my life is actively falling apart. And I'm just trying to keep it together. Because of this, the podcast has been slacking, but we have that XO Kitty episode that we recorded together. And we were like, you know, we love Pride. Let's do something fun. So we're trying to brainstorm. And she was like, um I really want you to watch Bottoms. I know you've never seen it. Let's do it. and I'm like, oh, she's briefly talked about it. I think I know what it is, but not really. but i was like, yeah, if that's what she wants to do, we don't have anything else planned. And movie episodes are a little bit easier on us than some of the other episodes we do. So I was like, this sounds perfect. I was trying to get Chris to watch it with me because normally our remixed episodes or anything we watch with cartoons, which this was not a cartoon, but those are the two things that I can get him to watch with me. and I was trying to sell him on it and he was like... Well, what's it about? and I was like, I couldn't tell you. i was like, Ruby Cruz is in it and Nicholas Galitzine's in it. And that's all I know.

Does he know those people?

Nope. I was like, also, I think there's like this like well-known scene where there's like cum sucked out of a bathtub, but I think that's all I know about it. And then he was like, well, what genre is it? And I was like, well, I think it's psychological thriller, but like, again, i don't, I don't know. I can't provide you these answers. Then i remembered while I was watching it, I'm pretty sure Amanda said this as one of your what I'm enjoying this week on the podcast.

I don't remember. 

Okay

i thought it was really funny you noted that because I'm like goldfish memory over here.

Because when I started to watch it, I was like, oh, I remember her telling like a loose summary about like a lesbian fight club. And then as I was watching it about, you know, it took me way too long in. Okay. Within the first 20 minutes, I was like, this is not a psychological thriller. This is a comedy. Okay. But probably like 50 minutes in, i was like, I do not think this is the cvm scene movie. So then I Googled it. Guys, that's Saltburn. I was confusing Saltburn and Bottoms in my brain. They were the same movie. In my defense, I think they did both come out in 2023. Maybe Saltburn was last year.

No, it was 2023.

It was 2023. Okay.

Yeah, they were out in theaters around the same time. Bottoms was out probably like six months before Saltburn, but I'll give that you that.

I just thought it was funny when I came to that realization. I was like, these are not the same movie.

This was great that you noted this because I was going to ask you before we got into the plot what you thought this movie was going to be about. And then I saw this note and i was like, great. So Jess had no clue.

Nope.

But my question from this story is, did Chris watch it in the end?

No.

Damn.

No. But he did know...

I feel like he would have enjoyed it.

I do think he would have. And even yesterday after I finished it, he was like, you really liked that one, huh? Like he even could tell. And I was like, yeah, I did really, really like it.

I think it's so funny you conflated it with saltburn.

In my brain, they were the same movie. And yeah, about 15 minutes in, I was like, this cannot be the movie in which that also happens. Like, I don't see how it's getting there.

my little, about when I first saw it, like I said, I saw it in theaters. We were late to the theater. Not my fault. It was my friend's fault. I hate, I love being early. I love watching previews, okay? My friend doesn't care about previews. And also she was like, let's take this bus that I've always wanted to take that should take us to the theater instead of walking the 10 minutes. And then it went in the wrong direction.

oh

Anyway, we came in, like, around the time that Isabel was getting into their car, I think. And so I missed the important context that when they told Hazel that they went to Juvie. But also, I don't know if this has to do with, like, the production or sound mixing. I found... Like, I remembered watching it this time that I, the first time, there were a lot of, like, lines of dialogue that I just did not catch in theaters. That when watching it at home last night, I was like, oh! Like, Jess, you keep pointing out that there were so many little seeds that they planted.

Yeah.

I truly did not hear those in theaters. I was not hearing, like, the overhead announcements about, this girl got punched in the face. Or the at the fair, you hear Isabel being like, I hate when you flirt with other girls and Jeff's like Mrs. whatever not Callahan but it's like Riley or something isn't a girl it doesn't count if they're married and like 

Yeah

there's like all these little foreshadowing details like I was not picking up on in theaters but it's a it's a really good movie um regardless so it's it's better when you understand it a little better and you have those bits of context

Yeah, did you watch it with captions when you rewatched it?

No, 

Oh

because I was watching it on a bootleg YouTube version,

oh 

which, by the way, has been up for over a year, guys. You can watch the entire movie on YouTube if you don't have Prime. It's not official, but it it's correct. But I did occasionally, if I didn't hear something, I rewound and watched again.

I was wondering, I was like, I wonder if it was that you watched with captions and that's why you picked up more. But no, it also makes sense. Like, I feel like in a theater, it's like the screen is so big. The sound is so loud that like, sometimes you really do need a rewatch to catch all the like little subtleties that like you would have not seen while you're taking everything else in.

Yeah

That's just easier to take in at home, I think.

Yeah, and some of the auditory mixing isn't the cleanest, I think. Like, the the overhead announcements are a bit, like, hard to discern. And some of the annunciations on the actors' parts aren't very clear. Also, they're talking really fast, so...

Yeah.

Getting into more details, less about our experiences, more of the details. Hazel being so unable to understand sarcasm is so funny to me because it's literally like the reason that every plot escalation happens. Like, she doesn't realize that PJ – and PJ is deeply, deeply sarcastic. And so, but she did yeah, we went to juvie. Like, that's kind of how she says it. So, Hazel thinks they really went to juvie. And then when Hazel says, maybe we should – I could make a bomb, PJ's like, yeah, Hazel, let's just do terrorism. So, she literally brings a bomb because she thinks they're going to do – like, it's just so funny that, like, everything builds because this one girl just, like – Never learned.

Yeah, she needs like clear boundaries and she's not getting them.

There's this moment where after they hit Jeff and Isabel has left the car, Josie's like freaking out because she just hit Jeff, even though it was so lightly, but he did like dramatically fall to the floor that she like cannot process what she needs to do to drive away. So PJ like leans over and buckles her seat for her. And I just thought it was very cute. Like it just feels like something that friends would do in that moment where it's like, okay, let me help you out.

I don't think I've ever noticed that. That's cute. I really appreciate shape the absurd details of this world even when they're not contributing to the plot. They're contributing to the world building in which this plot is capable of happening.

Yeah.

Which I do also think is kind of Shaun of the Dead or But I'm a Cheerleader coded because it's like...it Like it's we said, it's filmed in a real school. They dress pretty normal. And it's like a high school setting where there's the typical like social status. So it feels like it could be real life or like it's setting up to be real life. But then they go into class and there's a kid in a cage in the back corner that no one's acknowledging. then when they're talking to Mr. G, he's straight up flipping through porn while talking to them.

Yep. For like wayy too long. Like way too long.

Yeah, he is not he doesn't put it down when they start talking. He keeps looking at it while talking to them.

Yep.

There's just like so many details that are like, okay, this is not real life. This is actually a crazy town. And I really appreciate that because I think it sets the tone.

Yeah, because this is one of those movies which I sometimes struggle with. Like, in what world would this happen? um so you do have to, like, suspend your disbelief to an extent where you're like, oh, they are creating a world that is kind of, like, kooky and camp and weird and strange that, like, this would happen in that world. And I did believe it. By the end, I was like, yeah, this would happen there. Like, this checks out.

There is this line towards the beginning that um Josie says, and I don't remember specifically what it's referring to, but 

to Mr. G to get him to sign on the club

Oh, yes, yes. But I just really enjoyed it and it resonated with like our current climate political climate. But she's talking about how like, oh, my favorite way to be an ally is to say you're doing something, but then to not do any of those things.

Yeah, because they're convincing him that he could be a feminist ally by supporting their women's club.

but don't go to the club.

But then they like but they don't actually want him to show up. So they like but just like never show up.

Yep.

Yeah, it's it. It's one of those jokes that hits really hard. Like as much as we're saying this movie is really dumb, it's also really smart.

Yep. Yes.

And it is making fun of itself the whole time.

Yes.

And a black woman saying that is also, i feel, extra pointed or impactful.

Yep.

I just really enjoy consistently how Hazel is like, yeah, we really need female solidarity at this school. This is more of the like this film being smart and like making fun of itself and society. all of the girls in the club also want female solidarity. And consistently pj is like, this is not the point, Hazel. The point is that we want to fvck these cheerleaders.

Yep.

They're like... the stereotype of, like, the gross jock or something or a frat boy. 

Yes, totally.

this is a detail that's like unimportant, but it made me laugh so much that I rewound and watched it again because I wanted to see if there was like any purpose to it. And there's not. They're like, when we're in the montage of them, like going through Fight Club, which by the way, guys, like Fight Club is not like a good idea. Like literally none of them know how to fight. They're just shoving each other around and then like backyard fighting, like or schoolyard fighting, like it's bad.

And there's no one like advising them or teaching them skills. No one has martial arts background. Like it's just all bad.

Hazel, I think, says she has Taekwondo, but then does not use it.

No, no.

They have crash pads, but then they're like pushing each other on the gym floor while they're just sitting on the crash pads.

Yep.

Mr. G's around. But anyway, So they, while the fight club got cool and like now Josie and PJ are getting cooler at school and they're walking through the halls with Hazel and Hazel's talking about we could have like a feeling session sharing club. But Hazel is mostly talking to PJ and Josie is just like high-fiving the janitor and dapping people up and then just like very randomly jumps and like chest bumps the tallest extra in the hallway. Doesn't say a word about it or him and it's just so funny to me. yeah

I did not catch that, but I bet that was improv and I bet whatever extra that was, was like, whoa.

I do want to talk a bit about the trauma dump circle because that scene is another one of those like really smart comments on society, right?

Where they literally, PJ goes, who's been raped?

Yep. 

And no one raises their hand. And then PJ says, gray area stuff counts too. And everyone raises their hand. they share, like, very real traumas. They also share some less than real traumas, like, depending on the character. But talking about, like, there's one girl who we haven't talked about, but she has a stalker, and she's had this stalker for ages and she goes and he keeps saying that he's gonna kill her but he doesn't and so she's gone to the police and they say that they can't do anything until he does something to her and like that's a real thing it's just all being shared very casually and none of them are even responding to each other they're all just like dumping out whatever is going on in their life and it's kind of crazy to watch that scene like did you feel any type of way watching it

I don't know that I felt any particular way watching it because it all also felt like... obviously dramatized for the point of the show where it's like they're not responding to one another but like this also all felt like real things that like women who have had life experience that are like trying to sit in a room with other girls their age and also like be like okay are you as fvcked up as me because like life is hard you know like it felt very real

Yeah, I think that's why i that scene makes me a little uncomfortable in a good way. I think that's where the movie shines is when the absurdism is grounded in reality.

Mhmm

Because the reality is like one in four women will be – it's either raped or sexually assaulted in their lifetime. Yeah. So to have a circle of teenage girls talk about their traumas is very real

Yeah

even when they're that dangerous. But it's done in such an absurdist way that it's making it seem like that should be absurd or that is absurd, but it could happen. 

Yeah

I know I'm talking in circles now, but I appreciate it.

Yeah. And they do the thing where then they pull you out of it because right, they end on Josie like lying. So then they like pull you.

With the Hunger Games.

Yes. They pull you out of the seriousness of the situation.

I also want to say um Josie's lying about the with the Hunger Games plot is sort of her biggest and first major offense. Like, she has been lying and complicit this whole time. But every time that it happens, PJ is really pushing her. And this is the first time where she makes a choice. She very seriously...reenacts the plot as if it happened to her and no one made her do that 

Nope

like she's listening to these girls share their their sh1t and she's like i'm gonna lie

Yeah. Yep. Yep.

and then the next scene i wanted to talk about is that i didn't catch in the first time that the fundraiser is cars but also selling their used panties to guys which is so funny and so real

Yeah Also, like, way that would ever fly out of high school. Like, never.

No, you'd have to mail them.

Yeah.

I mean, also, I don't think that they ran that by the high school.

No, no, no. They definitely did not get permission.

Isabel with her whole box, and she's like, I don't know what they want with my used underwear, but okay, if it helps the club.

Yeah.

More on Isabel, as I mentioned, I love the way she cries. And then I also love the the cafeteria scene and the power she brings to it. I think Havana makes some like very smart and interesting choices with her physical representation of the character in both of those scenes.

Yep. Yeah. Especially the cafeteria scene. Like I didn't necessarily see her as this like very strong, powerful character until that scene.

Mm-hmm. But she kind of is because, like, all the stuff with Isabel and Josie, even though she's the one presumed to be straight, she's the one that makes the moves.

Yeah, it's true.

During the pep rally where they bring the Hazel out to fight with the boxer, there is this point where she is like full on with her whole being punching the abs of this boxer.

And he is just standing with her head at arm's length, like holding her away. and there's nothing she can do. And she's like full force punching him. And it was just so funny. I was dying watching it. It was really funny.

It was really funny.

Yeah.

That whole fight sequence is pretty funny.

Yeah. There were certain, I think the whole thing was funny, but yeah, there were certain specific moments where I was like, oh, this choice and the way it was edited in was like so smart.

What I appreciate about that one is that I actually feel like it has more stakes than the final one because we love Hazel and Hazel's all alone and this one guy is so big. And I feel like at the beginning, she trips him but then, like, gets thrown across the floor and, like, they make it hard to know how it's going to end. She's consistently, like, scrappy fighting against him and also getting her ass kicked and also kicking ass.

Yeah, yes. Yeah, you don't really know where it's going the whole time, so you're very invested in continuing to watch it. After the pep rally, PJ...storms off like so after the pep rally everyone clears out and then pj and josie have that big fight and pj storms off and immediately cut to we're playing complicated by avril lavigne and i there are just times that music is like so perfect and someone made the right choice and whoever chose to cut to that song and get the rights to include the song in the film that was the right choice Like it was so perfect. i couldn't think of a better musical choice for that moment.

There's two really strong song choices in this film in particular. I think the whole song soundtrack is good, but complicated. and then when they're egging and TPing and blowing up Jeff's car, what are they playing? um Something of the heart.

The turnaround.

Oh, every now and then.

yeah

Yeah, I know what you're talking about. I don't know what it's called.

anyway they're playing that because Jeff's dancing to it with his Walkman and it's like those two song choices are so funny but yes complicated when you hear that chord and then uh-huh because life's like this man nothing hits harder

Yep. Yep.

it was so good

It was really good. All throughout the film, one of the like running bits is that because they are the losers, almost every single day they show up to school with like new things written on their locker, like untalented gay number one, untalented gay number two, like different things.

F slur.

Yeah. um And the janitor is like ready right there to paint over them every single day. And after the pep rally, um when it comes out that they started the fight club just to have sex with the cheerleaders, they someone writes horny freak number one and horny freak number two. And the janitor just shakes his head and walks on by. He's like, nope, not fixing that for you this time.

What I'm sure was improvised and I cannot get clarity on is when he won't paint over it. Josie shouts at him and I can't tell if she's shouting Ted or dad.

oh

She's like, Ted or dad, like repeatedly shouting at him as he walks away. But the janitor role on IMDb is uncredited. So I have no idea. And like, I'm sure Ayo was just improvising something. But i really want to think that it's dad because that would also be really funny.

Yeah. That would.
 
Because I don't we ever know what Josie's parents do, so

No, we don't. When PJ and Josie make up and decide to get the fight back, fight club back together to fight back against Huntington, they have this little scene where Josie picks up, she pulls out her necklace and it's a friendship necklace and she holds it up. And then PJ's like, not the necklace and pulls out hers and they like tap them together. And it just like, don't know, there are moments of like, in this film where it makes it very obvious that they have been friends, even though like they both have parts of their personality that are unlikable and PJ is generally unlikable for the most part. you can tell that they're like very, very good friends and do care about each other. And just this like friendship tap, like necklace tapping scene was just like very cute. It's like a secret handshake, but a like, we're going to move past this and do the right thing. i liked it a lot.

That's what I was just thinking. It's like a secret handshake. Yeah.

Mm-hmm.

I thought it was so cute. Also because I never had anyone to have the friendship necklace with. That was like the two halves of the heart. and i And I was like, what's the point? Cause then it's just half a heart, but then to have them like make the heart compete. It was so cute.

It was so cute. Yeah.

The Fight Club shouting at all of the cheerleaders to make out is the funniest thing. And also so funny that like as soon as Hazel's bomb doesn't detonate, what the the girl that's in charge, I think her name might be Annie, that's like making up the plan immediately pivots to the cheerleaders need to make out. And they're all shouting. And then Hazel gets up in the stands and is like, make out. And it's just so funny. And like, it's so weird.

It was funny, but also I was like, this would be a distraction that would work. Like, especially in this world.

Yes, I think what was extra funny is that it feels like something guys would do.

Yep.

Like, guys would shout at cheerleaders to make out.

Yep.

this leads to hazel and pj making out which i wanted to talk about next because it's the most ridiculous start of a make out ever pj fully like mouth open tongue like does not know what to do and then hazel like guides her into like actually making out And it's so uncomfortable to watch it first. But I also wanted to ask you, Jess, did you see this coming at all? How do you feel about the two of them making out?

No, I did not see it coming at all. Do you think that it was like foreshadowing to like a different sort of relationship between them? I couldn't tell.

Oh, like like, do you think they're going to have a relationship after?

Yeah. Like, do you think it was?

Yes, I do.

You do. Okay. I couldn't tell because they don't like close up any bows on that. It kind of just like happens and then we move on.

Yeah, but then when they're on the field after the big fight, everyone's around PJ and Hazel like runs up and asks if she's okay specifically.

Yeah.

And they're kind of looking at each other awkwardly. Yeah, I feel like there's been so – I did not see it coming at all. And at first I felt kind of weird. I do think that PJ had ah good apology to Hazel, which we didn't mention yet. um But she does apologize to Hazel in, like, a very genuine way once she gets past her own bullsh1t. And I do feel like, yeah, I feel like there could be something there.

Yeah. I feel like they're a bad pairing because she's way too sarcastic and it's going to get them both in too much trouble because Hazel will never learn.

Yeah, but that... I would like to watch that show.

Sure. Yeah. Yeah, me too, me too.
  
I also wanted to touch on the them making out because it comes with some of the funniest lines. while they're making out, we see the girl who had the stalker who also, like, works – she models for a car company on the weekends. Anyway, she's like, oh, wait, I'm gay. And then Kaia Gerber's like, okay, yeah, I'm not. I just like gay porn. And then Jeff's like, this is nothing like porn at all. Is porn even real? 

Yeah

And it's just really funny, all of the reactions.

Yep. Yep.

Like the commentary from the ah field and stands.

All real commentary, kind of.
  
Yeah. Yes. No, totally. um This is a really throwaway comment, but it made me laugh. It was a smart... I guess you would say writing choice or like costuming choice, but Huntington's mascot. So whatever school we're at, Rockbridge, Rockwell, whatever

I wrote it somewhere.

whatever school we're at, their mascot is...

Rock Bridge Falls.

Okay, is the Vikings. And Huntington's mascot, which we don't see their actual mascot, but it is written, like, on their jersey, is the Golden Ferrets. And I was like, this was a silly choice. I like whoever made this. Yes.

You mean because it's just like a little animal versus a Viking?

Yes.

Yet they're the scarier one?

Except they're the scarier ones that like kill someone. And like a ferret is like, have you ever seen ferrets play? They like roll around with their little bodies. It's just funny. Like to associate that with this like big, scary, like killer football team.

it's also very real though that like that's really how sports teams and high school teams mascots be like that like some of us get silly little animals and some of us get full-on vikings or in our case colonizers 

Yes. Yes. Correct.

We had an Uncle Sam parody and then in our last year they also added in a freaking eagle.

Eagle.

oh

No idea why we needed two.

No.

I died of just laughter every time that they had to run across the field in the final scene because like when they realized that Jeff was in danger...the girl in charge is like, girls, we're gonna have to run. Like, as if it's like this big thing. and they're all immediately like, oh my god, I think I have asthma. I don't know. Like, they're just like the biggest dweebs.

Yes.

Oh my god, this is the hardest thing ever.

Yep. Yeah. So funny. Getting to our final fight scene. It just in general was so camp and so hilarious and perfect. And I just loved it. But at the beginning, like Josie's original goal. So all the girls are running out and Josie's goal is to get Jeff off the field away from the pineapple juice. So it's almost like the world is moving around her and Josie is carrying Jeff like over her shoulder and is like spinning and dodging things. And like they're in slow-mo and it was just really funny and like such a good editing choice um to add to like the overall like dramatization of the fight scene. 

yes, this the the fight scene, the slow-mo part is funny because I'm like, how long did all of this take? like It's actually a lot of fighting. And also when it got to the end, i was like, wait a second.

01:24:37.26
Nineties Babies
All that happened and all Josie did was carry Jeff across the field the whole time.

Mhmm

How long did it take her to carry him across the field?

Yep.

Which also he could have walked, but okay. 

Yeah.

They didn't know when the sprinklers would go off.

But also the way the sprinklers spray, even if she was carrying him, realistically pineapple juice would have ended up on him.

probably
 
it goes on for so long that she's carrying him and then i also felt bad that she didn't get to kill anyone but then she gets to right at the end because someone's coming after them with their backs turned so that was satisfying because if she didn't get to kill anyone it wouldn't have been satisfying for me i think

oh Fair, fair. 

It's also really funny that as she carries, she drops him down on the side of the field and they have this moment where she's on top of him and he like is going in for the kiss and she's like, oh, no, no, no.

Yeah. She's like, I helped you, but not for that. Like

Mhmm

one of the ways that one of the players dies is, the sword from the Viking mascot, like falls off the mascot or one of the girls pulls it out, but then it, they like pull it over their head and try to like use it. Except it's so heavy that it like falls backwards into the ground, which then a player falls on top of the sword. And that is the moment where to me it really screams Shaun of the Dead. Like this is something that would happen in that movie.

that part is very camp, but for some reason, the part, like, what the detail that makes it the least realistic to me is why does the Viking mascot have a full real sword 

Yeah

that is so heavy a girl of, like, 17 can't hold it
 
Yeah, I have no idea. Also, like, those mascot suits are heavy. Like, there's no way that that's just a casual accessory.

But also, like, I guess a 17-year-old boy would have a sword. I feel like the mascot could have just got, like... Maybe just got super into it and was like, I'm a real Viking. I need to have a real sword.

Yeah.

As if the school would allow that. But also, they have a kid in a cage. I don't think the school gives a sh1t. Also, before I get into my other detail, I wanted to point out during the fight scene, it's really funny. There's, like, a shot of the Rockbridge football team all getting sick on the other end of the field just watching the girls beat their asses. Because they're, like, they can't handle it. Anyway... I love that you love this final scene and that it was the big payoff for you because i knew when i I first saw this movie that I liked it and that-I mean, I wasn't sure exactly how much I liked it, but like I knew I liked it, but it was crazy and I knew that I wanted it on our on our um pod at some point. So it's been on our list. And I don't know if I've brought it up in a recording or if you just kind of knew about it because I've talked to you about it. Like, I've put it on our list actively. But I put off watching it for over a year because I assumed that fight scene and the fight club montage, but especially that fight scene, would be way too much for you because you don't like gory stuff.

Mm-hmm.

So for that to be like the big payoff for you

Mm-hmm. Yeah. No, it wasn't. it is gory. But I think because the whole movie is not gory. like there are moments, but it's not, like, consistently full of gore. Also, i do think that, like, funny gore is less gross. I still don't love it, but it's less gross than, like, gory gore.

that's fair it is quite like you see blood everywhere all the time 

Yeah

when they're when they are fighting it's mostly the fight scene montage and then the this final scene

Yep. Yeah.

But yeah, like that's pretty much the whole reason that I didn't have us watch this sooner. So good to know, Amanda.

Yeah. It's not, yeah. I would say the gore of things like suspense and horror, I hate more than gore. 

fair enough. I think I have learned that from when we did our Halloween stuff as well.

My last of like things that I loved was the end credit scene is just all like cut scenes and cut lines that they didn't end up including. um So like you could say kind of bloopers, but not really bloopers. It's more just like cut lines. And it's just like really funny to see like, the additional improv and probably written lines that they had to cut from the script because some of them were like really hilarious. i'm like, Oh, if this was in the scene, it would have been funny, but they just had so much funny stuff.

Yeah, I love a movie that ends like that.

Yeah. it was a good choice. 

Things that we don't love as much.

I put this here because I was like, what is this? I think this is either a sponsor of the Fight Club, a sponsor of the pep rally, 

No, I know exactly what this is if you want. 

a sponsor of the fair.

It's not a sponsor. It's when we first see Hazel and she comes up and asks how their summers were. 

Oh

PJ says, how was your – did you spend like the summer with your uncle at the National Meat Association?

Yes.

and she says, if you mean blah, blah, blah. And I don't remember what she clarified. Or maybe actually PJ says the pig farm or something like that.

Yes.

And then Hazel says, you mean the National Meat Association.

Meat association, which I'm like, what is that?

I don't know.

I didn't love it. 

Why?

Like, what is it? What do they do? What is their purpose? It's gross.

and anything, Hazel gives PETA energy to me 

Yeah

more than pro-meat

Oh, I put this under things I didn't like. I did think it was cute, but also just like made me sad. When Isabel is over at Josie's house, she holds up like a hoodie that Josie has like laying over the back of a chair and is like, I've always wanted one of these. Josie's like, you can have it. She's like, no. And it just made me sad because clearly like her choices are influenced so much by like the way she was raised that like she can't be comfortable

She says that her mom has never let her have one because it hides her curves and makes her look ugly.

Yeah.

Yeah. Or hides her figure.

Yeah.

Yes. And I also thought it was funny you put this in things you didn't like because this would have gone in things that I liked because it felt very realistic. Not that I had a mom like that at all. I don't. But I definitely, like, still struggle with even, like – Like, i commend Billie Eillish for how she dresses because as a woman with curves, I find it really hard to dress in, like, a baggy style and go out.

Mmm

Like, I feel like things need to be, quote-unquote, flattering.

Yeah. But that's just because society like has taught us that our position in the world is like to allow other people's eyes and gaze to be on us. And it's like, no, you're like, your clothes should be something that you're confident and that you like to wear. doesn't matter if it's flattering or not.

Well, that's why you put the line in because you hear it and it's real

Yeah. 

but it's so absurd that that's real.

Yeah.

Like the trauma dump.

Yeah. yeah. Oh, we already kind of touched on this, but it did make me, and I understand this is part of like the world building, like the world we were in, like things happened. And then two scenes later, it didn't matter anymore. And that was just like part of this world. Like they would have fully bloody noses and then a scene later they would be fine. but, But Jeff, after he got barely tapped, full on is like using crutches and can't walk. And like, yes, part of it feels dramatized, but also part of it feels like he really was injured. And then the next scene, he's like finding in his football jersey. And it kind of made me upset. I was like, isn't he supposed to be hurt?

I've always assumed he was faking, but he 

But he was so...

also seems too too dumb to fake.

Yeah, agreed.

You could also look at it, like you said, of this world where he's like magic and can't be touched because he heals so quickly versus the fight club injuries don't all heal immediately. Like the very first one, Josie punches PJ in the face. And for the next couple of days, there's like pretty realistic bruising around her eyes that like slowly goes away.

Yep.

So you could look at it as his magic, but also... Either i i guess I typically either think of it as he was faking or the football team is being overly precautious. Being like

Mmh fair

you need to be cast and you need to use crutches and like make sure that you don't make it worse.

Fair. Fair.

But he did fall on the ground going, ah!

Yeah.

So...

There's part of me that felt like he was really injured and I was how is he not injured anymore? don't understand.

Maybe he was. i don't know. I can't take anything he does seriously because he's playing a straight man and he is a straight man, but he's also so gay.

Yeah.

Things I think don't love. Jeff sleeping with Mrs. Callahan. 

Yep

That made me really uncomfortable the first time I watched it. I don't know that his age has ever said. i guess you'd presume 18. So that makes it a little better but still gross.

It is mentioned that I think Josie says this, but that it's really gross, but I guess not illegal. Like there is a line thrown out there. So like, yes, you would assume he's 18 based on that line, but yeah, it's still not okay.

I do think that that's intentionally like these other things we've mentioned where you're like, this is disgusting but could happen. 

Yep.

Like the the hoodie comment, like the trauma dump circle. Because as he comes out, first of all, he's in he's in a jockstrap and his shoulder pads from football when he comes out of the bedroom, which I just think is really funny that he's like in his shoulder pads. But he says, Mrs. Callahan, can I have a snack? Like a little kid.

Mhmm

After having sex with her.

yeah

So I do think it's intentional to make you uncomfortable. But I don't love it.

Yeah. Yeah.

PJ is so deeply annoying. I've mentioned it. You've mentioned it. She's so deeply annoying and unlikable. And i love it because it's so real. But I also hate it because sometimes I see a lot of myself in her.

Mmmm

Because like she can't get vulnerable. Instead, she just lashes out at people and is like sarcastic to make it seem okay. Because it's like I'm not being mean. I'm just being funny. I'm like stop it. That's how I was raised to be. But I do like that Like I said, her apology is good.

Yeah.

Because she like struggles. You see her struggle and suck. And then she comes back around and apologizes for real about what she did. Acknowledges what she did. And then also says what she appreciates about Hazel. It was three step apology.

She is definitely, I think, of the entire cast written to be the most deeply unlikable. But I think it probably is for that redemption moment with the apology. Like, they do give her a little bit of like, okay, maybe she's not as bad as we thought.

Yeah, and I think also those moments with Josie where you're like, oh, these are two best friends. you still kind of want to root for her in some context because you see that humanity in her through that friendship.

yeah

Some fun facts and accolades for this movie. 

Yeah. Bottoms was nominated for like many, many, many awards, but won the feature film award at sidewalk film festival and the outstanding film award at the glaad media awards.

Yeah, it was mostly nominated in the indie film circuit, in the festival circuit I wanted to tell you fun fact. I don't know you found this in your research or not, those of you who have watched Bottoms who enjoy it probably know this. There's a monologue at the beginning of the film after the fair, which PJ is saying we're fvcked. The rest of our high school experience suck is going to suck because we like because they messed up with Brittany and Isabel. And Ayo gives this incredible long monologue about how she's going to have to fvck Matthew, who's clearly gay, and then He's going to become a pastor and everyone's going to know he's fvcking fruity and they're going to have a kid named Hezekiah and he's going to get bullied because his parents are both in the closet, but everyone knows. But they're going to try to make it work for him and all of this. And you have to come see me on Sundays. I can't live like this. 

Mhmm

That whole monologue was improvised.

Whoa, whoa, that's impressive.

Yeah, it the writer has said that Emma said on the page it was like supposed to be more of Josie just reiterating that they're fvcked. And that's kind of what Ayo did. And they did some takes with that. And then she just like embedded that energy of we're fvcked into a full deep spiral that was improvised. 

Yeah

And you can kind of tell when you know that and you watch the scene. There's a point when they're in the car where Rachel's face is like she's losing it. She kind of is just like... also in shock at like where's this story going

Going. Yeah. Yeah. And there are some, like, now that you're saying that, there were some, like, longer pauses that were left in, in the monologue. And I wonder if, like, they felt natural like two friends talking, especially if you have one friend spiraling that there would be natural pauses. But it also makes sense if she was like using that time in the pause to like improvise her next few lines, you know?

Emma also mentioned that because Ayo and Rachel have been working together so long and they've done a lot of improv together, they have a really natural improv banter where they know like where the other one's going to go and how to pick up off of each other so it like flows very comfortably.

Mhmm

Yeah. The other fun fact that's not fun for me and I feel totally chill about is that Emma, our co-writer, Rachel Sennott, and Ayo Edebiri were all born in 1995

Yeah, crazy.

the year after us

Yeah, it's wild.

Being of the age where people our age are doing really cool professional sh1t that 20 years ago we were kids looking at saying, I want to do that someday, but that's what adults do. We can't do that. And now what we we, but not us, but other people our age and younger are doing professionally 

Yep

is not at all making me currently spiral.

yeah yeah it is um yeah it's wild I feel that way with some of the concerts I go to now where I'm like, this kid is 19 and he's singing to a sold out show. And like, what am I doing?

Yeah, this one hit more for me because I am an aspiring writer.

yeah

And that's fine. But also there is a part of me that watches something like this and feels like proud of like that people our age or a year younger are so talented and doing things that are so cool.

Yeah. Yeah.

I'm like, look at us.

Yeah. yeah And something that needed- as we mentioned up top, like there was a market for this sort of film and this sort of representation. So like go them for making it and like working hard to sell it. Cause they did not have an easy time.

Okay, you want to get into our quotes?

Quotes. Yes. 

Okay, I have way more than you. um and Not to brag, I just wrote down so many lines because honestly, every line in this movie is hilarious.

Yep

At the top, we get the the fun, we're planting this in Gen Z territory line because They're not hated because they're gay. This school isn't homophobic. Everyone hates us for being gay, untalented, and ugly. You can only be two, says PJ And also, Josie is like, you can only be two in unison. And that's the whole premise then. Like, it gets repeated throughout. you can't be gay, untalented, and ugly.

And ugly, yeah.

Mm-hmm. Also, right in the beginning, when they're in the classroom, I don't even remember what PJ says. i don't even know if I hear what PJ says, but she says something to, I think her name is Annie, but I have credited her as Black Republican. and She's one of the characters in the Fight Club. but She goes, nice job, PJ, but my vagina belongs to the government.

Mm-hmm.

Which is so odd but so Also because she's religious, you'd think she would say my vagina belongs to Jesus.

to god yeah

So when she says the government, I'm always like, what the fvck does she mean? 

Yeah

but also low-key kind of.

yeah it kind of does when they get called into the principal's office up top on the loud speaker it goes could the ugly untalented gays come to the principal's office

you can't be all three

Mhmm Brittany says this to Isabel and I don't remember in what context but it just like was hilarious especially given that these are like the two popular cheerleaders of the school and she goes my identity is kind of attached to hers so I just go wherever she goes

And honestly, you gave it more inflection than Kaia did.

yeah

She says it so just monotone. My identity is kind of attached to her, so i just go wherever she goes.

Yeah.

And I think it's when they join the fight club.

Yeah, it was great.

When they're like telling the girls we should have this, we need this self-defense club. PJ or Josie, one of the, they they say these two lines. I don't remember which one says which line, but they say it to one of the girls in the club who never really gets more screen time. But they say, you are never going to get assaulted on your birthday again. Lucky number seven.

so sad.

But God, it's so fvcking crazy, this movie.

Yeah.

And then when Hazel's trying to tell Josie and PJ that Jeff and her mom are having sex, She's crouched on the ground. And she says that her mom was having sex with the guy. and they're like, what guy? And she goes, like you know, like the guy. It's like the crybaby with the balls. He catches them and he throws them. he's like the main guy you mean Jeff? I just thought Jeff might be his safe word. Jeff is his name, idiot. I just get the hot people confused. And like the whole thing is so funny.

Yeah, I forgot about that scene, but it was funny. Yeah, it's so good.

Like the way she describes a football player and then also I get the hot people confused and just, yeah.

yep. 

so when they're tp-ing and egging jeff's house isabel's the lookout in the van which i always find interesting because i don't think they say why she's not committing these acts you'd think it would be cathartic she's the lookout in the van josie goes back to hang out with her and they're talking about how great it is that everyone came together and josie says or i mean isabel says i really value when people use violence and raise their voices for me it's actually one of my love languages

Yeah. Too funny.

when they find out that josie and pj never went to juvie and they just want to get laid black republican says i thought this club was for sisterhood but it was for your own selfish interests this is the second wave all over again 

Yep

referring to the second wave of feminism like how much it was just about white ladies It's just like such a smart line that kind of went over my head because I had to check that I knew what she meant with second wave. 

Yeah, a lot of these lines are very cleverly written as well.

Mhmm. And then the reason that I call her what she is is because of this line that Josie says 

Yep, I almost wrote down this one.

when she's trying to get the whole group together. Yeah. Even though you are a black Republican, you are the smartest out of all of us. which also just like so many things feel screwed up because they're true 

Yep

not to say the black republicans are true are are are the smartest out of all of us 

No

but to say that there are black republicans and that's kind of messed up

yeah 

and then also they can be smart 

Yeah

and that's confusing 

Correct

this life is complicated

Yeah. Towards the end when they're trying to do the distraction on the football field for the final fight scene, um i think PJ says this and goes, Hazel, we need a distraction. And she goes, oh, now you want a bomb.

The delivery is really satisfying. 

it's really good. And then Isabel says this to Josie at the end and says, you didn't have to start a whole fight club to date me. You could have just talked to me.

It's cute. And Josie's like, I'm not sure that's true. And then they kiss. Yeah. It's cute. And that's Bottoms. That was Bottoms. It's like the most ridiculous ride. It's a little too real and also very unreal.
 
Yeah. It's really, really, really silly. But if you want like a silly satirical comedy that's queer focused to watch this Pride Month, I highly recommend it. It was a blast. I had so much fun.

I'm glad. I'm so glad I made you watch this.

Yeah, it was good.

I just think, yeah, it's worth rewatching. Also, if you've seen it, because it's so clever that you're going to catch stuff. It's kind of like Gilmore Girls, for those of you who have seen it, which is like everyone except Jess

Yeah

because the writing and dialogue is really quick and has a lot of jokes and references that I feel like you just couldn't catch all of them with one watch through. You're going to get more and more each time.

Well, with that, we will be continuing Pride Month. go follow us on all of our social media, nineties Babies Nostalgia, on Instagram and YouTube, spell out the word nineties. We're also on TikTok, but use the numbers there. um Please rate and review us wherever you listen to your podcasts. And with that, we'll see you in the next one.

Stay gay. Bye.

Bye.

90s babies nostalgia