The Stories We Tell Podcast

In conclusion, Bell Hooks suggests that the only way we can change the world is when we all learn to love men in all of their complexity, but especially men learning to love ourselves. This episode, I take a look at what I consider to be the perfect film that delivers this message, When a Man Loves a Woman. I use the structure and story in that film as a template and apply it to another well-known text, Die Hard, to prove once and for all that you can make really great movies (of all genres) about whole, complex men.  Thank you to all of my guests this season, and to my beloved creative producer, Eric Wolfe. You pointed out that I might have more to say about Die Hard. As it turns out, you were right. So, this one’s for you. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

Trigger warning: This episode contains discussions of rape and incest survival, sexual assault, and repressed memories. Listen with caution. This episode centers around the stories movies tell men about boundaries. Consent is a very real issue in our society, and movies do no one a favor by constantly reinforcing the narratives that, for real men, no boundary is too strict to cross, provided that you have a purpose. Christopher Nolan's visual masterpiece Inception is a perfect example of how deep this myth runs. A very special thank you to Elizabeth McConaghy, PhD. Your continued work to help other survivors of sexual assault tell their stories is inspiring, and I want to personally thank you for helping me tell mine.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

This episodes delves into the stories movies and TV shows about what makes a dad. Since I am lucky enough to share a love of movies and TV shows with my own dad, I figured I'd go straight to the source and interview him. So, you get two Boccumini's this episode. Happy New Year! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

In 1989, When Harry Met Sally was released, and said out loud one of the biggest and most harmful myths in American culture: Men and women cannot be friends, because sex always gets in the way.  We take a look at this myth and what it means for men, and the stories it tells them about friendship, equality, and community. This episode includes conversations related to gender-based inequalities in society. Listen with caution. A very special thank you to Eric Wolfe, for his candid interview and for co-producing this episode, and this season. You are the gift that keeps giving, every day of my life. I love you, friend. Merry Christmas, SWT nation. You are also the gift that keeps me making these episodes.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

DISCLAIMER -- This episode deals with discussions of growing up in mental illness. Please feel free to skip it if it's too much, too close to home, or just too heavy for the already heavy burden of a holiday season. This episode delves into movies about sex. The 90s were really big into telling stories about sex that stood in stark contrast to those about love. There are men you fall in love with and men you have great sex with. Those were not the same man. Nor could they be.  Academics have spent lifetimes deconstructing the dichotomy of the "virgin/whore" concept that constrain women, but few have investigated the same damage that stasis has waged against men in the stories we tell. This is my attempt to look at the ways in which men have been divided and thus disconnected from themselves through messages and codes in mass media about sex and love.  I focus specifically on the films of Adrian Lyne and support my findings with critical analysis from Bell Hooks', The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

This episode looks at Pretty Woman, a film about a man. I am joined by writer Grant Cohen, as we delve into the depths of love and the many pitfalls of assumptions and unspoken rules of heteronormative love in movies.  Pretty Woman Re-enactment Cast: Edward: Kacy Boccumini Vivian: Natasha Foster-Owens Music by Lexin_Music from Pixabay --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

In her book, The Will to Change, Bell Hooks describes how the lack of feminist discourse surrounding boyhood is a key factor in how Patriarchy continues to flourish. Mass Media is the perfect vehicle for Patriarchy, because it's a driving force in men's formulations of their own personalities, regardless if they admit it or not. In order to unravel how this works, I do a deep dive on Robert Downey Jr. and trace his fall from grace through his meteoric rise to Marvel infamy.  Interview with Comedian and host James "Handsome" Sanders. Voice Notes in order of appearance: Brandon Galbraith, Petey Gibson, Felix Mack, Joseph Gonzales, and James Hogan. A special thanks to Natasha Foster-Owens for help in devising this episode.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

We look at the film Poltergeist and what Steven Spielberg movies tell boys about the supernatural, trauma, and their own connection to spirits. This is part 1 of this conversation. References: "The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love" by Bell Hooks.   --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

After watching the movie Tar, I needed to take a detour on the regular episode schedule to address a really key story being told in Hollywood.  In 1921, Virginia Rappe, a model and actress, died after attending a party with actor Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. He was accused of manslaughter and rape in connection with her death, though he was ultimately exonerated in the third trial. The first two ended in hung juries. At his third trial, after fellow thespian Buster Keaton testified on his behalf, he was acquitted. Thus began the long history in Hollywood of men not holding other men accountable for their misdoings. Enter Todd Field, in 2022, who uses a lesbian conductor to testify on behalf of Woody Allen, so that he may one day direct again. This podcast is dedicated to decoding the symbols, structures, and narratives in Hollywood movies to illustrate the myths they tell. We look for the truth. The truth is, men need to hold men accountable. Full stop. There is no pass for talent. There is no time for excuses. There is better moment than now to start getting this right.  --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

To kick off the second season of The Stories We Tell, we're looking at the Renaissance period of Disney movies from 1989-1999 and decode lessons they teach little boys. I also untangle the subtext of queer longing that lives beneath the surface of three iconic films: The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, and Aladdin. The powerhouse creative team of Howard Ashman and Alan Menken created these masterpieces of animated cinematic history, but the story they tell obscures a much deeper, more painful reality about kids who don't feel "part of this world." Last but not least, I interviewed my friend and fellow writer, AJ Nseir, to talk about lived experience as a Syrian/Greek boy living in semi-rural Pennsylvania, and seeing Aladdin for the first time. This episode was written by Kacy Boccumini and co-produced with the impeccably thoughtful Eric Wolfe. He has joined the crew of The Stories We Tell for this season, and we couldn't be more grateful.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

Season 2 of The Stories We Tell is back!  This season we will be diving into what movies teach men about being men. We're looking at masculinity, and not just the toxic kind. Featuring more guests and personal anecdotes, this season is a love letter to the little boy that was me. I watched movies to learn how to be the man I always wanted to be. The problem is, now that I can be him, what kind of man does that make me?  Episodes release Thursday October 6th.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

In this bonus episode, we take a look at the most complicated of all the Universal Monsters: The Wolf Man. From his roots in Nazi Germany to his modern day American interpretation which fetishizes transformation, understanding the truth behind the Wolf Man forces us to confront the most basic aspects of being human: That we all have the capacity for change.  --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

In the final episode, we look at the film The Lost Boys and discuss how post-modernist theory explains why everything feels slippery and hard to define fact from fiction. How do we unravel the stories we're telling when everything is self-referential and there is no truth behind anything, including our own personal narratives? References: The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge by Jean-Francois Lyotard (1979) Symbolic Exchange and Death by Jean Baudrillard (1976) Simulacra and Simulation (The Body, In Theory: Histories of Cultural Materialism) by Jean Baudrillard (1981) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

This episode, I uncover the dangerous legacy of transphobia in the slasher film to reveal the true monsters behind the knives and chainsaws. References: Behind the Horror: The True Stories That Inspired Horror Movies by Dr. Lee Mellor Dead Blondes and Bad Moms: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power by Jude Ellison Sady Doyle (you will find the book under Sady Doyle) (2019) Men, Women, and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film by Carol J. Clover (2015) --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

In 1992, the world was introduced to the scariest monster yet: a fully actualized sexual woman. Boy oh boy was the backlash swift. In this episode of The Stories We Tell, we look at Basic Instinct, the Film Noir sex thriller that set the debate over 3rd wave feminism on fire and nearly scorched the career of Sharon Stone for her portrayal of Catherine Tramell. The performance was so good in fact that people couldn't separate her from her character. Not unlike Jaws, her filmic incarnation gave the world justification to demonize her in the form of slut-shaming. But also, not unlike Jaws, Catherine Tramell isn't real. She's the sum of Nick Curan's fantasies and projections of a woman. Therein lies the rub in Film Noir. The only thing that matters, the only thing that's real, is the opinion of the most unreliable of sources: the male protagonist. Thus, the stories we tell ourselves about this hugely popular genre is that our anxieties, fears, tensions, and worst nightmares have a brith place: women. In Basic Instinct, our protagonist faces that fear quite literally head on, and we look at what that story says about us, about men, and about the very stories we tell ourselves about the order of the world. For this episode, I called on the help of TV comedy writer Doni Muransky. She took on the brave task of analyzing a lesser known scene in the film, and the conversation that ensued revealed how modern day incarnations of these tensions function. We also laugh a lot, which helps to keep from crying. You can find Doni on Twitter and IG @donatellasays. References: Film Noir: The Dark Side of the Screen by Foster Hirsch (1938) Film Noir Reader by Alain Silver and James Ursini (2004) Dead Blondes and Bad Moms: Monstrosity, Patriarchy, and the Fear of Female Power by Jude Ellison Sady Doyle (you will find the book under Sady Doyle) (2019) Books and Edited Collections by Professor Shelley Stamp: Lois Weber in Early Hollywood (University of California Press, 2015) Movie-Struck Girls: Women and Motion Picture Culture after the Nickelodeon (Princeton University Press, 2000). "Women and the Silent Screen." A special issue of Film History 18, no. 2 (2006), co-edited with Amelie Hastie. American Cinema's Transitional Era: Audiences, Institutions, Practices, co-edited with Charlie Keil (University of California Press, 2004). --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

This weeks episode looks at the 1975 classic JAWS and breaks down the stories we tell ourselves about staying on top of the food chain. By looking at the film through marxist literary theory, post-modern feminist psychoanalytic theory, and sociology we can start to uncover our anxieties about human's most innate fear: not beating nature.  References: Behind the Horror: The True Stories That Inspired Horror Movies by Dr. Lee Mellor Sexual Personae: Art and Decadence from Nefertiti to Emily Dickinson by Camille Paglia On the Sexual Theories of Children by Sigmund Freud --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

The origins of the monster was born in the year 1931, when prohibition had created criminals out of citizens, marginalized communities were forming under the cover of speakeasies, and the depression had depleted faith in the federal government. Hollywood's answer: the Universal Monsters. By looking at the real stories behind these spine-tingling tales, we reveal the darker truth about how we are taught to place blame, and on who.  This episode, we look at the lineage of Frakenstein, and how the subtext of anti-LBGT anxieties and fears are used to mask the real story being told - that those in power are the true monsters.  This episode contains spoilers for the TV show Succession. Listen with caution. References: The White Album by Joan Didion Monsters in the Closet: Homosexuality and the Horror Film by Harry M. Benshoff The Monster Show: A Cultural History of Horror by David J. Skal Too Much, Never Enough by Mary Trump --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

Season one of The Stories We Tell kicks off January 2022. Like and follow on Spotify for bonus episodes and tie bits to tied you over until then. Have a safe and happy holiday season. This is Kacy Boccumini reminding you: please watch carefully. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support

Welcome Watchers to The Stories We Tell, a podcast about storytelling in movies and TV show. In each episode, we’re going to break down the stories they’ve told you about you. More specifically, the “you” you’ve constructed through years of watching movies and TV shows that were feeding you fantasies disguised as fundamental truths.  The Stories We Tell is the podcast where we uncover the stories we’ve been told (and taken up as our own) and investigate the unspoken truth behind them that the stories themselves are used to conceal.  This inaugural season of The Stories We Tell will focus on a central, and most misunderstood, figure in the stories we tell ourselves: The Monster. From Norman Bates to Jaws to Catherine Trammel, we are going to look at the world from the perspective of the Monsters we’ve been made to fear. This podcast will function like a typical film school class. I will present a use case and position and will layer in numerous discourses to analyze the presented stories and what they could reveal. I will use the theoretical underpinnings of linguistics, semiology, critical race theory, gender studies, queer theory, semiotics, literary criticism, psychoanalysis, and more. We will also dig into film historiography – which is like film history, but with a critical lens.  Class begins in January 6, 2022. Like and follow on Spotify or subscribe on iTunes to be notified when new content is available.  Until then, this is Kacy Boccumini asking please, watch carefully. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/thestorieswetellpodcast/support