Episode 222 – Some Like It Hot (1959)

Oh no! Mike! This week’s episode of our “Monochrome” series is due to go up and we haven’t discussed any movies! We’re in hot water for sure! Quick, I’ll disguise myself as a strolling violinist while you put on this sailor suit and pretend to be an eight-year-old boy looking for his mommy! Then we’ll sneak into the boss’ hotel room and smear mayonnaise on all his neckties; he’ll be so upset that he’ll forget all about the podcast episode! It’s flawless! C’mon, c’mon we don’t have . . .  what do you mean, “we don’t have a boss”? What do you mean, “you can’t pass as eight years old”? Look, we’re doing a zany, screwball comedy thing this week in honor of Billy Wilder’s “Some Like It Hot” so don’t bother me with your pesky notions of “reality”! If Jack Lemmon and Tony Curtis can pass as women in the 1920’s, you can be a convincing eight-year-old boy in a sailor suit. That’s just basic logic! Now, help me load this life-sized stuffed giraffe into this Mini Cooper . . . don’t ask questions, it’s essential to the plan. What’s that noise . . . oh no! It’s the Pope! Quick, hide! And the rest of you: quick, listen!

Poll question: is the trope of men dressing up as women still funny? Has it just become problematic?

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2 thoughts on “Episode 222 – Some Like It Hot (1959)”

  1. This one Wilder movie I never got into. I have seen it a couple times but it doesn’t grab me. I just don’t really like any of the characters in it.
    Dressing men up as women is a mixed bag. Monty python doing drag barely registered as drag for me as the characters were just funny, Divine was a man who specialized in female roles, as he used to say. I am not really into drag queens and in the past found them pretty offensive and insulting towards women. In more recent years they seem to have become almost like clowns. Just a guy in a dress isn’t funny to me, but the character they are playing might be. It isn’t automatically offensive either. I guess context is everything. Camp humour is described as “ the lie that tells the truth” sometimes and I think cross dressing can be used that way.

    1. Hey, thanks again, Vince! Always good to hear from you. I can understand not getting into this movie. I appreciate it more than I like it, I think. But Wilder had so many hits, it doesn’t really matter; he has something for nearly everyone. Have a good holiday season, Snowy!

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