In & Out: Deep Thoughts About Toxic Masculinity, Barbra Streisand, and Coming Out in the 1990s

Deep Thoughts About Stupid Sh*t: A Pop-Culture Comedy Podcast

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Does anybody here know how many times I had to watch Funny Lady?

The 1997 film In & Out, directed by Frank Oz (yes, the one who voices Miss Piggy) and starring Kevin Kline, Joan Cusack, and Tom Selleck, has mostly been forgotten–but this feel-good comedy had a lasting impact on Emily. When she saw it in the theater as an undiagnosed neurodivergent 18-year-old, she was confused as all hell when Kline’s character comes out at his wedding (to a woman) about three-quarters of the way into the movie, despite his protestations of heterosexuality up until that point.

Baby Emily understood something that may have been unclear to the intended audience: that the stereotypical characteristics of “masculinity” have approximately jack-all to do with sexual orientation. Although Oz created a lovely story about acceptance (and one that was likely an important stepping stone for straight Americans to embrace LGBTQ rights), the reliance on stereotypes for humor makes the movie a cringey, if well-meaning, time capsule.

Throw on your headphones and take a listen–and don’t compliment the fabulous window treatment.

Mentioned in this episode:

“In & Out” Is a Great Gay Movie and Deserves as Much Love as “The Birdcage”

Classic Film Review: “In & Out” turns 25, old enough to be a “classic”

Tango Men, Choreography by Ezequiel Sanucci

This episode was edited by Res

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We are the sister podcasters Tracie Guy-Decker and Emily Guy Birken, known to our extended family as the Guy Girls.

We're hella smart and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love 80s and 90s movies and tv, science fiction, comedy, and murder mysteries, good storytelling with lots of dramatic irony, analyzing film tropes with a side of feminism, and examining the pop culture of our Gen X childhood for gender dynamics, psychology, sociology, religious allegory, and whatever else we find.

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Kapitel

1. Introducing In and Out (1997) (00:00:00)

2. Plot Overview: Howard's Outing (00:08:08)

3. Howard's Self-Discovery Journey (00:25:05)

4. The Wedding Scene and Aftermath (00:36:51)

5. What the Film Gets Right (00:45:25)

6. Stereotypes and Consent Issues (00:52:53)