Feminist Frequency Radio is coming for your media. Each week, Kat Spada invites you to listen in on entertaining and stimulating conversations about films, games, and TV... from the latest blockbusters to classic hidden gems, and more. With special guests bringing their distinctly different feminist perspectives to the mix as they celebrate and critique it all—including media critics, entertainers, academics, and everyone in between—Feminist Frequency Radio is there to help you dig deeper into the things you love. Warning: Feminist Frequency Radio may significantly enhance your media experience. Created by Anita Sarkeesian, Feminist Frequency ran as an organization from 2009–2023, providing video commentaries exploring gender representations, myths, and messages in popular culture media. Now, host Kat Spada continues Feminist Frequency Radio's legacy as an independent podcast, with fun new conversations about entertainment that asks you to be critical of the media you love.
http://www.feministfrequency.com
episode 60: FFR 60: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
FFR #60: What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
This week on FFR, we take on a Hollywood classic in the 1962 psychological thriller What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, a film whose title character was, at the time, one of the most shocking women ever seen onscreen. Played by cinematic legend Bette Davis, Baby Jane is an aging former child star who mentally and physically abuses her sister Blanche, played by another giant of 30s and 40s cinema, Joan Crawford. It’s a complex and extremely effective film, and we discuss about how it spawned the psychobiddy genre centered on the unsettling spectre of the mad older woman, the power of Davis’ performance, the effectiveness of the tension and discomfort the film generates, and how there was a very public rivalry between the two leads during and following the making of the movie.
SEGMENT TIMESTAMPS:
3:05 Entertainment News: celebs apologizing for having worked with R. Kelly, Green Book co-writer’s racist tweet, Megan Kelly parts ways with NBC
13:30 What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
46:30 WYFO: Carolyn’s concerns about Oscar nominations, Ebony on scholar Dan-el Padilla Peralta's response to the racism with the Society for Classical Studies, Anita on My Brilliant Friend
RELEVANT LINKS:
Angelica Bastien's story on Vulture on the feud between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford: https://www.vulture.com/2017/03/joan-crawford-and-bette-daviss-feud-explained.html
Inside Higher Ed's report on the racism encountered by scholar Dan-el Padilla Peralta at a Society for Classical Studies conference: https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2019/01/07/racist-comments-directed-classics-scholar-disciplinary-meeting-floor-classicists
Padilla Peralta's post on Medium: https://medium.com/@danelpadillaperalta/some-thoughts-on-aia-scs-2019-d6a480a1812a