Ep. 14: The Gay 90s with Heather Matarazzo: Indie vs. Mainstream

***SPOILER ALERT: MAJOR PLOT POINTS FROM THE JOKER ARE REVEALED IN THIS EPISODE***

Amazing guests keep rolling into W2X, and this week Wynter and Karen are joined by the one and only Heather Matarazzo, an actor, writer, director, who’s played some of the most iconic roles in film and TV over the last 25 years, including Dawn Wiener in Welcome to the Dollhouse, Lily Moscovitz in the The Princess Diaries films, and of course, Stacey Merkin on The L-Word. The three get into a stunning range of conversations about life, death, and “acceptance” before debating Todd Phillips’ The Joker and its various controversies. Karen, Heather, and Wynter also revisit the gay 1990s and the impact of independent film-making (or “The New Queer Cinema” as B. Ruby Rich called it) vs. the mainstream films that took on LGBT representation in that era. Our NUO-LINGO “curves” back to The L-Word in a serendipitous way and Heather shares a sparkly new SOTW with us. If you can’t get enough of their conversation, visit our Patreon page for some bonus content exclusive to subscribers.

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Links to just about everything mentioned: 

• The Birdcage (1996) Official Trailer 
• JOKER Trailer (2019)
• Sue Perkins: An hour or so with… (Podcast)
• Ina’s Cooking Playlist - Women Who Rock (via Ina Garten, Spotify)
• Editor Note: Chris Klein’s character’s sister in Election does, in fact, have a name, and it’s Tammy Metzler, played by Jessica Campbell. 
• Come Alive - Madonna