The Jerk: Deep Thoughts About Race, Comedy Genius, and the Unparalleled Thrill of Getting Your Name in the Phone Book

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

Send us a message! Include how to reach you if you want a response.

You mean I'm gonna STAY this color?

On this week's episode, Tracie shares her deep thoughts about the 1979 Steve Martin film The Jerk, a comedy that never failed to delight the Guy sisters' father, no matter how many times he watched it. And for good reason. Martin's broad physical comedy and cultural commentary rooted in racial stereotypes conceals multiple layers of storytelling and humor in the tale of dim-witted Navin R. Johnson. Not only does the film follow Joseph Campbell's hero's journey from the world of fantasy, but the comedy works on so many levels that you can laugh at something different every time you watch it. (Although holding a dog in front of your crotch as you run naked down the street after the love of your life is always funny.)

Whether you can tap your foot to the beat or not, we'd love for you to listen in!

This episode was edited by Resonate Recordings.

Our theme music is "Professor Umlaut" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Learn more about Tracie and Emily (including our other projects), join the Guy Girls' family, secure exclusive access to bonus episodes, video versions, and early access to Deep Thou​​ghts by visiting us on Patreon or find us on ko-fi: https://ko-fi.com/guygirls

We're having a party, please come! A Zoom happy hour, Tue, 11/18, 7:30 ET / 6:30 CT. (THERE WILL BE PRESENTS!) So get ready to pour your favorite beverage, overthink some Thanksgiving-themed pop culture, laugh, and feel a little bit smarter.

It’s free, but please register at guygirlsmedia.com/happyhour, so we can share the zoom info with you! (Also, who doesn’t like knowing who’s coming to their party?)

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

We have super-serious day jobs. For the bona fides, visit our individual websites: tracieguydecker.com and emilyguybirken.com. For our work together, visit guygirlsmedia.com

We're hella smart and completely unashamed of our overthinking prowess. We love movies and tv, science fiction, comedy, and murder mysteries, good storytelling with lots of dramatic irony, and analyzing pop culture for gender dynamics, psychology, sociology, and whatever else we find.

We are on socials! Find us on Facebook at fb.com/dtasspodcast and on Insta at instagram.com/guygirlsmedia. You can also email us at guygirlsmedia at gmail dot com. We would love to hear from you!

פרקים

1. Setup, Premise, And Memories (00:00:00)

2. Fast Plot Recap With Key Gags (00:02:56)

3. Rags To Riches To Rags Arc (00:16:23)

4. Race, Stereotypes, And Power (00:22:43)

5. Money, Luck, And Consumerism (00:32:28)

6. How Steve Martin’s Comedy Works (00:41:03)

7. Laughing At Versus Laughing With (00:47:43)

8. Sex, Gender, And Slut Shaming (00:54:13)