Podcasts
[Horror Queers Podcast] The Predatory Lesbian at the Center of Alfred Hitchcock’s ‘Rebecca’
Maxim suuuuuuucks.
After kicking off October proper with a discussion of the meta horror comedy The Final Girls last week, we’re classing things up with a look at Alfred Hitchcock‘s original adaptation of Daphne du Maurier‘s classic novel Rebecca and its villainous lesbian housekeeper Mrs. Danvers (just in time for Ben Wheatley’s new Netflix adaptation).
The film is the story of a young woman (Joan Fontaine) who marries fascinating widower Maxim de Winter (Laurence Olivier) only to find out that she must live in the shadow of his former wife, Rebecca, who died mysteriously one year earlier. She must also deal with the jealous, obsessed Mrs. Danvers (Judith Anderson), the housekeeper, who will not accept her as the mistress of the house while simultaneously coming to grips with Maxim’s terrible secret.
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Episode 95 – Rebecca (1940)
Last night, we dreamt we went to Manderley again, but today we’re actually going there! We’re going to be discussing lesbian housekeepers and spousal abuse in Alfred Hitchcock’s only Best Picture-winning film: Rebecca!
Join us as we discuss all the drama behind the tense relationship between Hitch and producer David O. Selznick before looking at how the Hays Code affected the film (bye bye, Maxim the Murderer!). Plus, a queer reading of the villainous housekeeper Mrs. Danvers and how she may be a reflection of Rebecca author Daphne du Maurier’s internalized homophobia.
Also, why does Maxim suck so much? How does Rebecca, a character we never see, make such a huge impression? And is Mrs Danvers actually a tragic figure?
Cross out Rebecca!
Coming up on Wednesday: We’re really getting in the Halloween spirit now as we revisit Michael Dougherty’s seminal horror anthology Trick ‘r Treat!
– Joe & Trace
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for tons of additional content! This month we’ll have episodes on Ratched, Books of Blood, The Haunting of Bly Manor and Rebecca, as well as an audio commentary on Halloween: H20!
After kicking off July with discussions of Joe Dante’s seminal werewolf film The Howling (listen) and Ken Russell’s controversial erotic thriller Crimes of Passion (listen), we’re heading to Maine to dissect one of Stephen King‘s most misguided adaptations in Lawrence Kasdan‘s 2003 misfire Dreamcatcher!
Dreamcatcher sees friends Henry (Thomas Jane), Jonesy (Damian Lewis), Pete (Timothy Olyphant) and Beaver (Jason Lee) reunite for their annual hunting trip in Maine. Their reunion is cut short when they find themselves caught in the middle of a war between a hostile race of farty-farty aliens and an elite US military unit led by Colonel Abraham Curtis (Morgan Freeman), who has been driven mad after spending decades tracking the extraterrestrials. When Jonesy is possessed by one of the aliens, the remaining friends seek out their disabled childhood friend Duddits (Donnie Wahlberg), who they believe has powers that can save Jonesy…and the world.
Be sure to subscribe to the podcast to get a new episode every Wednesday. You can subscribe on iTunes/Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify, iHeartRadio, SoundCloud, TuneIn, Amazon Music, and RSS.
Episode 396: Dreamcatcher (2003)
Watch out for “ister gay” (oof), take some Gas-X and bite our bags because we’re talking Lawrence Kasdan’s baffling 2003 adaptation of Stephen King’s equally baffling novel Dreamcatcher.
Join us as we go all in on the farty-farty aliens populating this hilarious misfire that often feels like a bad Kevin Smith script. It’s a film filled with characters who get a single defining trait (if they’re lucky), played by respectable actors who are here for the paycheck (looking at you, Morgan Freeman).
Plus: blown-out assholes, using guns as telephones, pitying poor Donnie Wahlberg, and wondering why the hell this movie is called Dreamcatcher.
Cross out Dreamcatcher!
Coming Up Next: We’re going to be lounging around a posh Greenwich Village apartment as we check in on Jimmy Stewart and Grace Kelly in Alfred Hitchcock’s Rear Window (1954).
P.S. Subscribe to our Patreon for over 513 hours of Patreon content including this month’s new episodes on Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Forbidden Fruits, Saccharine, Evil Dead Burn, an audio commentary on Howling II: Your Sister is a Werewolf (aka Howling II: Stirba – Werewolf Bitch), and the conclusion of our coverage of AMC’s The Vampire Lestat on the Requel Tier.