Fighting Chance: Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World vs. Polite Society

Two stylized films about literally fighting for what you want — it’s Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World vs. Polite Society.

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Every episode of Tasteless, I take a critically acclaimed film and compare it to one that shares the same themes but didn't get the attention it deserves — and explain why that second movie is my pick. This week: two stylized films about literally fighting for what you want. It's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World versus Polite Society. I'm very excited to get into Polite Society.

Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World

A young man must defeat his new girlfriend's seven evil exes, who are willing to do anything to prevent her happiness with someone else.

This movie came out in 2010. It has an 82% on Rotten Tomatoes. Michael Cera as Scott Pilgrim was genius casting. Please know that every mean thing I'm about to say about Scott Pilgrim has nothing to do with Michael Cera.

But I hate Scott. I hate him so much. He is 22, dating a 17-year-old, which is not good. Maybe it's legal. It's not good. But the real problem is how dismissive he is of her. It's not like he's like, she's 17 but so mature and I respect her. He's like, oh, she's 17, so she puts up with me. Knives Chau, the 17-year-old, is played by Ellen Wong, who does a lot with the material given to her. Scott doesn't even have quarters. Knives has to pay for the arcade games they play. What's the point of dating a 22-year-old with no quarters?

Scott has one Pac-Man fact. He tells it to all women to woo them. Disgusting. This man is my enemy. But I am a noted Ross Geller, Ted Mosby, Jerry Seinfeld, Ray Romano hater, so I might be against the supposed everyman. That could be the problem.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Ramona is somehow so effortlessly cool that it's like, yeah, okay, I'd fight seven people to hang out with her. But why does Ramona like Scott? I did find it interesting that she just let Scott fight all her other exes, but when her female ex, played by Mae Whitman, shows up, Ramona joins in and fights her. I can't tell if that's because Mae was more significant or less, but it's definitely a statement. And I'm leaning towards it being a statement I don't particularly like — because Ramona seems especially angry over Mae's claim to her, references to their past, and she doesn't react that way to the other exes who are all men.

I love Mary Elizabeth Winstead. She's so cool in Birds of Prey, 10 Cloverfield Lane, great film. But everything is in service of Scott, so she's just there to be cool and attractive.

It's hard not to just go down a list of cast when talking about this film because the cast is out of this world. The standout for me: Brie Larson as Envy Adams, because she sings a fantastic Metric song. All those words together — Brie Larson, Envy, Metric. I like those words together. She takes on this persona, puts on a voice. It's a role we haven't seen from her elsewhere. I love Oscar winners using those talents for goofiness.

Everyone is really perfectly cast — from Aubrey Plaza to Anna Kendrick to Kieran Culkin. All sort of one-note characters, but in a way that's purposeful and uses what the actors are best at. And what's extra cool is that the 2023 animated series got all these actors to reprise their roles 13 years later. That's pretty wild.

Back to Brie Larson though — the way she plays her rockstar role Envy versus when she's just the normal Natalie before that, it's totally different. My favorite moment is when Brandon Routh punches a 17-year-old girl and Envy is very into it. It's just bizarre. Brandon Routh's vegan powers. Chris Evans as a skateboarding actor. Satya Bhabha doing a full-on Bollywood song.

This movie is all about extremes. It's honestly a movie you just have to watch. It's all about the visuals, the humor, the feeling it evokes. Such specific nostalgia — the SNES sounds, the comic panels. It's a really well-done film that I also have no strong feelings about. There are so many moments that work. No one has been able to copy it. What a fantastic poppy way to adapt a comic book. But I think the problem for me is I can just watch the fight scenes on YouTube and be fine. I don't need whatever tenuous thread holds the cool moments together. I just need the Envy Adams music video. Watch it on Max. I know you've seen it. I'm using this film more than any other episode as a jumping-off point.

Polite Society

Ria Khan believes she must save her older sister Lena from her impending marriage. After enlisting her friends' help, she attempts to pull off the most ambitious of all wedding heists in the name of independence and sisterhood.

This movie came out in 2023. It has a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes.

One of the greatest joys in this world is happening upon a movie I didn't know about and falling in love with it. Being truly surprised instead of waiting on something and having it disappoint. There is a very negative flip side, which is: why would a great movie like this not get a ton of marketing? I saw some rumbles about it from people I trust. I should have tracked it down on my own. That's on me. But Polite Society is an absolute must-watch.

It was directed and written by Nida Manzoor. You know I love when a woman writes and directs. You might also know her as the creator of We Are Lady Parts. Nida created something so special with this film. It's universal while also being so specific to sisterhood. You could have never even met a sister and you'll laugh and cry and enjoy yourself. But if you have a sisterly relationship with anyone — someone where you know you'll always be there for each other so you can fight hard because you love hard — the movie is even more affecting.

The humor is really great in that it's not broad. It's an action comedy but in a subtler, more clever way. Even the slang the young women use made me laugh — they have a language all their own, but you pick up on the meaning because of context clues. I felt like I was led into their friend group. I'm sure there are eight more levels if you are also Pakistani or Southeast Asian in the UK, but for my purposes, I adored it.

The cast is wonderful. There's so much heart but it's not cloying. It's really light and bright but grounded in this strong relationship between two sisters and relationships between women in general. The film plays with style to highlight humanity. It becomes more real in its fantasy because it taps into how we really feel about things, how big certain things can feel. We are all the main characters in our own stories, and our protagonist Ria has been thrust into an action heist where she needs to rescue the person she loves most.

Fight scenes involve blood, smashed mirrors, broken doors and walls. They're brutal but beautiful, choreographed to the hilt. But there's power in the attacks. It's less of a dance and more of a representation of emotion.

Priya Kansara is Ria, a high schooler whose dream is to become a stunt woman. She practices kicks at home, recording herself for YouTube, enlisting her sister Lena, played by Ritu Arya, to help. Ria is too much in so many ways, in a way that feels real. She's hot-headed, ready to fight for what she believes. But no one is fighting her. Her family is supportive. Sure, they want certain more traditional things — they want her to be a doctor, not a stunt woman — but they're overall really loving and kind. They just don't get it. They don't quite understand her.

I find that sort of struggle very interesting, because no one is putting up a real barrier but herself. She's fighting her own self-doubts, her own beliefs of how other people behave. It's why her sister choosing to get married instead of being an artist is so hard for her — because if her sister gives up on her dreams, what are Ria's chances of achieving her own?

Priya as an actress — it's this wonderful star-making performance. So charming, so awkward, so loving, so angry, so human. She loves her sister so much. The way she hypes her up, the way Lena hypes her in return, how much they care about each other's goals and futures. There's no judgment between the two until things take a turn. And even then, apologies are exchanged for words that were just a little too biting.

Ritu Arya as Lena is just plain cool, much like Ramona Flowers. She is the epitome of the cool older sister. She takes off her earrings before a fight scene later in the film. It's one of those moments that gives you chills — yes, it's about to go down. You see why Ria idolizes her, but you also clearly see the front that Lena is putting up. Lena has left art school, come home, and isn't sure what to do next. She doesn't feel like her art is good enough, so it's easy to be swayed into dating the successful Salim, who steals her away from her sister.

What's important about Ritu's portrayal is how she shows how trapped Lena feels. On the surface she's cool and collected, but you can sense the turmoil underneath. She plays both levels in a way the audience can see. There's a scene with the two sisters when they're not on great terms, in Lena's room — I was really struck by the lighting. The room feels like a real girl's bedroom. There's just a lamp on and things are awkward and Ria wants to be forgiven and Lena just needs space. It feels small, like I'm in this house with them in this tension. The whole film is really well shot — there's an intimacy even though it has massive fight scenes.

Our main villain is Raheela, mother of Salim, played with deliciously evil brilliance by Nimra Bucha. She has a real Yzma-Eartha-Kitt-in-Emperor's-New-Groove vibe with a dash more patriarchy. She wants her son married off to someone who can have a kid, but what I love about her is that she's working in service of herself. There's a strange empowerment to the ways she's trying to take control of her destiny, how she uses her son as a pawn for her own ultimate goals. She taps into the idea of sisterhood to trick the women around her.

She also has this incredible villain scene where she tortures Ria with a spa day that includes cuticle care and very aggressive waxing. The fight scene between Raheela and Ria — a big one with slo-mo and bird screeches and an evil laugh to end all evil laughs and screamed phrases like get me that womb — she's the perfect foil to Ria, someone upholding a standard that Ria is railing against, who sees Ria's goals as insignificant: what could you do to me?

Lena takes off her earrings before a fight scene and it's one of those moments that gives you chills. You see why Ria idolizes her, but you also clearly see the front she's putting up.

Salim is not the focus, but Akshay Khanna plays him as appropriately charming yet suspicious in the way hot, nice people are. He uses good looks to throw people off, and his kindness mixed with his mama's-boy energy plays into the strength of the women in the film. I love a male actor playing a role that uplifts the women around him. His chemistry with Nimra as the mother is very believable — they're a little too close in the way weird mama's boys and their mothers are.

The sisters' parents are traditional but loving. Their mother Fatima, played by Shobu Kapoor, is wonderful — warm but also wants her kids to be normal. She says something about a woman's giant ankles and both daughters immediately yell at her: Mom, that's not okay. She's trying to support daughters who are very lost and she points them toward what's easiest. You can't fault her for just wanting her kids to have an easy life.

I love Ria's friends Alba and Clara because they aren't yes men. There's a nod to Mean Girls, to Cady and Janis and Damian. These friends back her up 100% until she acts like a jerk and then they're out. But they also believe her — when she starts claiming her sister's boyfriend is part of an evil plot, they believe her. They're not unquestioning lackeys. When they go undercover at a gym and sneak into a men's locker room, it's so funny and dorky, but in a way where I want to be friends with them. They put on costumes, they have slang, they have a secret handshake.

Shared Themes

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and Polite Society are both highly stylized in a way that compliments their artistry, in a way that feels rarer these days, in a way that I miss so much. They achieve a vision that is singular, that other movies haven't and can't copy. I think of films that have done this — Sin City, Sucker Punch. They take inspiration from grander types of film, the wire-fu of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. They weave in references and culture to make their points in a way that is clever.

This comparison is actually interestingly timed because I keep thinking about when I saw Deadpool & Wolverine and how furious I was that people were just laughing uproariously at a film with no script or plot other than, hey, did you know Ryan Reynolds is an actor and he has a wife and a list of IMDB credits? Remember that? And everyone's like, I remember that! He's been in other films!

That makes it all the more impressive for a film to use shared cultural consciousness to highlight themes and plot instead of to make up the structure. Both Scott Pilgrim and Polite Society have references, allusions. They weave shared references into their worlds. But their worlds don't hinge on the references. The references are used to highlight, to expand on what's already happening.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is just plain fun if you don't think too hard about the underage girl. Everyone is giving it their all. Over the top, the editing is specific and punchy. Some of these talented actors are giving their best performances. I love a movie where it feels like people had fun making it. I love how Edgar Wright puts movies together. The comic pop-ups, the flying through the air, the way people use sound, voices, and physical ways that push against the boundaries of the screen. What a fantastic homage to the original comic — to capture the feelings of flipping pages in such a dynamic way.

Polite Society is done with such reverence for martial arts films, but also tells a very compelling story of sisterhood. The heightened emotion of being a high school girl is portrayed so brilliantly. The fact that the most brutal fight scene in the whole film is between the two sisters — that that is of course the one that affects Ria the most, that there is passion and anger in this fight — you feel it. You feel everything in this movie. Characters speak through action scenes just as much as through dialogue.

Like in Scott Pilgrim, battles happen in this world that no one else really reacts to. You don't know what's real and what's imagined. But you don't need to know. You know why they're battling and you know what the outcome means for their relationship.

Both films have their plots spurred along by the selfishness of their main characters. And that's not a bad thing. Scott and Ria have a goal. There's something they want for themselves, not taking into account what anyone else wants, and their films are about making these things happen, with the fighting being ancillary to that goal. I think you need an element of selfishness to get what you want in this world. You really do. If you're passive, things pass you by.

Scott Pilgrim I give less credit to because he's a grown man. Ria is a teenager. But look at the actual impetus behind Scott fighting the seven evil exes. It's not because Ramona needs saving. The exes aren't threatening her. It's because Scott wants to date Ramona. And the exes want Ramona too — they don't want anyone else to have her. They're not protecting her. Even the aggrandizing of it being Scott versus "the World." All right, Scott, it's only like seven people. Come on.

But how often do we get a full-on battle that isn't about the greater good? Scott isn't saving anyone, avenging anyone. He just wants to date a girl. That's not a negative — it's interesting. I don't like Scott, but the story structure that things happen because he wants this one thing for himself contributes to the whole vibe.

I especially love when women get to be selfish on film. And you know who is incredibly selfish? Teenagers. Don't mean that as an insult — that is just how it is. You think only of yourself. You don't think of your parents as real people. Everything is a means to an end.

In Polite Society, Ria wants to be a stunt woman. She wants to achieve this difficult dream, one made harder because a path hasn't been set out. She writes letters to the stunt woman she loves, Eunice Huthart — who is a real stunt woman — spilling her guts, begging for some of Eunice's time. She drags her sister to film her practicing moves. During a particularly awful fight, she tells Lena, I want you to be an artist, and Lena says, for Christ's sake, I'm not an artist, and you are not a stunt woman.

For Ria, their dreams are inexplicably entwined because she doesn't think about what her sister wants, but about how what her sister does affects her, how it reflects on her own capabilities. If her older sister can't make it at what she wants to do, how will Ria? Her fight to get her sister back into art, her constant reassurances to their parents and to herself that Lena will be an artist — she loves her sister, but it is in service of her own goal. I'm not judging that. I understand it. She has to realize her own self-worth and capabilities are hers alone.

What Polite Society Does Better

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a little harder to watch in 2024 through a more critical lens, because it's such an imaginative world with just the most boring dude at its center. I guess he's an everyman and that's the point, but he's dull. Women are all over him. He's super weird. They keep hanging out with him anyway. We have so many everyman stories, so many anti-hero dude stories.

What's incredibly thrilling about Polite Society is that it is an interesting story about a British-Pakistani family, and yet the story itself is not at all about ethnicity. It's not even about gender. It is in no way a message movie.

Not every non-white, non-Christian, non-male story, every minority story needs to be about being a minority. Sure, some are and they're great. But for a film to just exist, to have a certain kind of representation without trying to speak for a community — when that's pulled off, it's really exciting.

On the Scott Pilgrim side, this movie is the ultimate fantasy for an introverted white dude. He doesn't have to try and things just go his way. Ramona is willing to go on a date with him for God knows what reason. Knives is into him. His friends keep hanging out with him. He sucks. A redeeming quality is never shown. It's ultimate Mary Sue wish fulfillment. There is a place for this kind of story, but it is not especially compelling to me.

In Polite Society, we are set amidst an Eid celebration. There are discussions of arranged marriage. Certain traditions are upheld. But the film is not about any of that. The film's about sisterhood, about growing up. It's sentimental, sweet. It left me with a smile. I cried. But it's not Oscar-bait about struggle and hardship. Ethnicity doesn't define this film. Heritage doesn't define it. But they heighten the realism of this world.

This movie is wholly itself, and even though I didn't grow up in a British-Pakistani household, I inherently understood what's going on with these relationships in the way I do in any film about families.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is a fun movie, but I feel no connection to it, to Scott. I don't particularly relate to a single character. I leave it not thinking about it. It does exactly what an entertaining movie should do — it entertains while you're watching — but there's a special kind of magic in a film that you talk about later, that you're excited to talk about. I felt a connection with Polite Society. It has a point of view. It's saying something. It made me think. Not about anything heavy — just about my own relationships.

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World is the perfect popcorn movie. Bright colors, loud sounds. But if someone said it was their favorite film, I'd question that a little bit. I remember the performances — it's so fun to go back and see all these successful actors being so silly — but there's no emotion in this film. And I cry at all movies, and I didn't cry at this. I'm not invested. I'm not invested in Scott or Ramona, who has taken such a backseat to her own life. There's no outcome that would have hit me emotionally because those bonds aren't developed.

Polite Society is one of those movies that just makes you happy. You smile because you see this girl — I've been this girl — and to see her figuring things out in the trappings of this very fun, out-there world layered onto a typical high school experience, it's just wonderful. It's the kind of movie you recommend to other people and are dying to know what they thought of it, because it speaks to a piece of you and you're hoping it speaks to them too. Every character is fully formed in such a way that I understand them. They're given moments for us to see who they are and who they wish they were. You're on a journey with these characters.

I hope you will watch Polite Society. It's on Peacock, available to rent, and on Delta flights. Great plane movie — very fun — but also great on a big TV to see the fight scenes.

Hit me up at @tastelesspod on social media. Tell me when you watch Polite Society, what you think — or if you've already seen it. I really love this one.

Shades of Grey: Saving Private Ryan vs Birds of Prey

Two movies about morality outside the bounds of polite society and banding together — it's Saving Private Ryan vs Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)

Episode Transcript & Breakdown

Every episode of Tasteless, I take a critically acclaimed film and compare it to one that shares the same themes but didn't get the attention it deserves — and explain why that second movie is my pick. This week: two movies about morality outside the bounds of polite society and banding together. It's Saving Private Ryan versus Birds of Prey and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn. I will say the full name only once, thank you.

Saving Private Ryan

Following the Normandy Landings, a group of U.S. soldiers go behind enemy lines to retrieve a paratrooper whose comrades have been killed in action.

This movie came out in 1998, has a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, and is number 26 on the top-rated movies of all time. It won five Oscars — Best Director for Steven Spielberg, Best Sound, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Effects Editing. It was nominated for another six that it didn't win, including Best Picture, Best Actor for Tom Hanks, and Best Music for John Williams.

This movie kicks off with too many barfs. One of my only problems with movies: animals being hurt, barfs. Those are the things I don't like in a film. But I can't blame these guys — they are in an old-timey boat going to shore to do battle. They're barfing all over the place. Hate it.

I had seen this movie a couple of years ago and really didn't internalize a lot of it. Didn't really think about it again. But on rewatching, I was really struck. When I started it and saw it was almost three hours, I was kind of like, ugh, God, another one of these. But the first 25 minutes or so of the landing on Omaha Beach, the Normandy landing — the brutality really comes through on the screen.

A guy loses his arm — he has viscera on his sleeve hanging off, and he kind of bends over and picks up the arm and stands up and trudges off holding his arm. There's the guy that Tom Hanks is dragging and then he realizes it's only half a body — he only got his top half. He thought he was saving this guy, but he only got his top half. There's the guy who gets shot on his helmet — a bullet pings off the side, and he's like, oh my God, I just got shot but I'm okay. So he takes off his helmet to look at it, like, wow, this just saved my life. While looking at it, he gets shot in the head and dies.

Some guy is laying there with his guts hanging out and he's like, mama, mama. I mean, not like that at all. I feel like if my guts were hanging out, I would definitely be yelling for my cat. But here's the thing — the indignity of not only having your intestines outside your body, but having sand get into your intestines. Just awful.

It's just 25 minutes of relentless, unflinching war. It's not Michael Bay action-y. It's not bright red blood. It's real in this way that is striking and I was very impressed by.

The conceit of this movie is that a secretary realizes that three brothers have died in three different conflicts — three brothers, last name Ryan. And the army is basically like, God, we have to tell this mother that three of her sons are dead, but there's still one brother left alive. He paratrooped in somewhere but they lost track — something went wrong with the landing, so no one knows where he is. The army's like, okay, we have to get the other Ryan brother. Private Ryan. Save him, Private Ryan. We have to bring him home to his mother so that we don't tell her every single one of her four sons have died.

Now, I think in real life at this point, knowing our government, it would be more like — we better kill that mom so she doesn't tell anyone that the army killed all four of her children. But in this movie they are going to go rescue James Ryan.

Tom Hanks is the leader. He is in charge of the band of men that go to save Private Ryan. His name is Miller, and he's this kind of tough guy. I've talked about this before — I don't dislike Tom Hanks, I like him, he seems like a nice man, I'll watch his movies. I am never like, oh my God, what incredible acting, the way that I am when I watch Rebecca Hall or Christian Bale, who even when I don't love his movies or his zaniness, I watch him act and I'm like, wow, he's doing something.

Tom Hanks always plays these mild-mannered guys. There's this bet among the guys under his command about what his job might be, because no one's positive what he did before the war. He finally tells them: I was an English teacher and I love my wife. Which is the epitome of Tom Hanks roles. He's mild-mannered, he does the right thing.

He has seven other people on his team. Tom Sizemore is the second in command and he gets to say the title at one point — he gets to say "saving Private Ryan," so good for him. Edward Burns is the New York guy. Perfectly — that's his thing. I hadn't really realized until recently that he directs and writes movies in addition to acting. No one else is bringing us important New York stories like Edward Burns. He's very much like, hey, I'm Edward Burns. You like pizza? I may need to bump up New York on my list of hot accents. And remember how hot Edward Burns was in 27 Dresses as Katherine Heigl's boss? None of this pertains to Saving Private Ryan.

In Saving Private Ryan, Edward Burns is like, why are eight guys being risked for one guy? He's the most outspoken to Tom Hanks that he doesn't agree with this plan, but at the end of the day he will follow orders. He's like, this is stupid. What are we doing here? Hey, this is stupid. What are we doing here? You like pizza? Just like that.

Maybe most importantly — we forget, or I had forgotten, and I think the world has forgotten because they're rude — that Vin Diesel was in this movie. In fact, his role, Caparzo, was written for him after Steven Spielberg saw Diesel's independent film Strays, which was Vin's directorial, writing, producing, and lead acting debut. I need to watch that movie ASAP.

He is kind of the comedic relief along with Adam Goldberg. They're buddies, they hang out, they're chit-chatty with each other. Vin Diesel does unfortunately die in this movie because he takes a kid when he's not supposed to. He gets shot because he opens himself up to it. He's just laying there bleeding out and it's raining. Who knew we were going to have ten Fast and Furiouses after this? He looks so good in this movie. Vin Diesel has the littlest shadow of hair on his head and it looks incredible. I don't even know if it's painted on.

So Upham the translator — Jeremy Davies plays him. He's this guy who wasn't part of their crew. They were all together when they stormed the beach, but now on this mission to save Ryan, he gets added because he can speak German and French. And he's like, I want to bring my typewriter. He looks like Andrew Garfield.

But here's what's important to talk about with Jeremy Davies. He does cameos — on cameo.com — that are an hour plus each. It is bananas. You get your money's worth. On his Cameo page, he says: I'd redefine grateful if you'd read a letter I wrote to my fans, which you can find on jeremiedavies.com. I need everyone to go to jeremiedavies.com. His letter is titled "A Criminally Misfit Altruistic Inaugural Social Media Mission Statement of Sorts" and is 32 pages long. I am fascinated by this man. I cannot get over it. I'm starting a book club just for this. We're all going to read that 32-page letter and then we're going to get back together and talk about it.

Matt Damon plays Private Ryan. Steven Spielberg cast him because he wanted an unknown actor with an all-American look. But before this movie came out, Matt Damon won the Oscar for Good Will Hunting and became a massive star. So that didn't work out. He's really good in this. He has this scene where he tears up and I started crying watching it. But then he tells this very weird story about his brother making out with a girl in a barn and she runs into a wall and is knocked out, which is not a fun story. And Matt's like, well Tom, what's your story? And Tom's like, I'm going to save my story for me.

Brian Cranston pops up — also very hot with a buzz cut. Paul Giamatti. Nathan Fillion, at one point they think he's Private Ryan but he's a different Private Ryan. Ted Danson is here. Ted Danson, younger and older, looks like a Ken doll in a nice way, but he has a very long rectangular head.

Spoilers for this movie from a thousand years ago that everyone has seen. Tom Hanks dies. And as he's dying, he says to Private Ryan: earn this. That's so much pressure. Imagine someone's dying words to you being earn this. Also, when he's old and he's at the grave of Miller, he turns to his wife and says, tell me I've led a good life. Leave your wife alone. This movie has a few moments like that where it takes something real and heightens it to This Is Us levels — where you feel like they're trying to make you cry rather than trying to tell a story.

Birds Of Prey

After splitting with the Joker, Harley Quinn joins superheroines Black Canary, Huntress, and Renee Montoya to save a young girl from an evil crime lord.

This movie came out in 2020, has a 78%. No Oscars, but one of my favorites of 2020 — top three, maybe top two, maybe top one. This one and Promising Young Woman, both produced by Margot Robbie's production company Lucky Chap. Lucky Chap produced I, Tonya, Terminal, Birds of Prey, Promising Young Woman. They have a Yorgos Lanthimos movie on the slate, they have the Greta Gerwig Barbie movie. This company is making all my dreams come true.

I'm someone who's vaguely familiar with comic books. But when I saw Suicide Squad, I was — horrified is too strong a word. I saw it with a full theater of mostly men and the things they got excited about, the things they cheered for, genuinely upset me. Which sounds so stupid and lame to say, but I remember there's a scene where Harley licks a prison bar and everyone's like, yeah. And I was like, what are we doing here? I think Margot was so incredibly talented, and so I was really bummed by that.

With this movie, she took the character, she took what she knew about it, and she created this incredible super villain/superhero somewhere in between that isn't permeated by the male gaze.

She really spearheaded getting this movie made. In Suicide Squad, she's wearing short shorts, denim short shorts, ripped fishnets. In this movie, she's wearing fully insane clothes that are really fun to look at — full yellow overalls with a pink fishnet halter top. She's obviously beautiful, but nothing about the clothes she's in is sexual. She's dressed in the way she wants to be dressed. She has a specific sense of style. It's very fun.

It's such a good example of male gaze versus female gaze. The only semi-glamorized shot we see of her is her hair in a wind machine blowing back, and that's because she's watching her breakfast sandwich get made that she's so pumped about.

I remember when the movie came out and there were comments on Twitter about how this is the difference between male and female gaze — that we get this almost pornographic exploration of a breakfast sandwich being made, the eggs cracking, but then Harley is wearing overalls. It's such a different take on the genre because I think even when the women in superhero films are strong, there is that inclination to really still make sure men like them. There's none of that in Birds of Prey.

Margot Robbie in this character — I'm so glad we got this movie because she is perfect in this role. You saw that in Suicide Squad. To see her make it her own — she does this accent that's really wonderfully cartoonish, with weird emphasis on some words, like poi-fect. It really captures this surreal vibe. I knew she could act, but this really establishes her as a star. Her charisma is absolutely out of this world. As Harley, it doesn't rely on her being one of the most gorgeous women on the planet. That's not what we're looking at. She plays every element of this movie so loud, with such conviction, but also with emotion. It's never unbelievable.

The costume designer said they were talking about how Harley isn't meant to be an object of desire in this movie, which is on purpose. Erin Benach, the costume designer, said, that's what happens when you have a female producer, director, writer. Robbie added, yeah, it's definitely less male gaze-y. She had discussed how uncomfortable her outfits were for Suicide Squad, so that was altered for this movie.

There's a scene when the sprinklers are going off and she gets soaked and there is nothing sexual about it. The water makes for this really great fight scene. There's nothing wet-t-shirt-contest about it. She's wearing a white t-shirt, but that's not what's happening.

One of my favorite moments: she's hiding from all these guys, prepared to fight them — guys that got out of their jail cells. She is in basically an evidence room at a police station and she realizes she's behind a bunch of bags of cocaine and guys are shooting at it. The cocaine flies up into the air, she looks around, realizes what's happening, and she just inhales. Her eyes go wide and "Black Betty" starts playing. Such a good, fun fight scene song. The whole soundtrack for this movie is really fun. Every element came together into what I want from a superhero movie — bright and colorful and fun.

Rosie Perez plays Detective Renee Montoya. At one point Montoya is investigating a crime scene, looking at four guys that have all been shot by arrows, and it kind of pauses the scene so she can walk around it and replay what was happening. This movie is really innovative in the way it shares information. The story isn't fully linear — it unfolds these different pieces for you. Rosie Perez just gets to be grumpy and great. She's good at her job but she's also not going to play by anyone else's rules. And Renee Montoya the character is the first canonically gay character in either a Marvel or a DC movie. We see her ex-girlfriend, played by Ali Wong, which is cool. It's not a big deal — she's just mad that her ex-girlfriend is there.

Jurnee Smollett plays Dinah Lance, aka Black Canary. She's such a good singer — Jurnee does her own singing. She sings at the club that Roman owns, the Black Mask, our main villain. When he sees her fighting to help Harley get away from some drunk guys, he decides she will be his new driver. She becomes enmeshed in his world of crime but she's letting Montoya know what's going on because she wants to protect the little girl he is after. Her as Black Canary — I want her in more action movies because she is so cool.

Mary Elizabeth Winstead plays Huntress, Helena Bertinelli. What an unsung hero Mary Elizabeth Winstead is. She is so good in so many things. You watch her and you know you're going to get a good performance. She's very funny in a very understated way and she gets to really lean into that in this movie. Her entire family was killed in search of a diamond that holds their riches — all their money is in offshore bank accounts and all the numbers are stored inside a diamond. She has spent her life preparing to avenge them.

You think, wow, the Huntress kills all these people — other people call her the Crossbow Killer — but you realize she stands in a mirror and practices, do you know who I am? Do you know who I am? There's something so real about her. I love when somebody says "a bow and arrow" and she says, it's not a bow and arrow, it's a crossbow. I'm not 12. She's semi-awkward but still so cool and sure of herself in so many ways.

Ella Jay Basco plays Cassandra Cain, the kid who swallows the diamond. She's a little pickpocket. Everyone is trying to either cut it out of her or get it out another way — Harley gives her a whole lot of prune juice, that's not working. They need to protect her from Roman the Black Mask. Ella Jay Basco is a very fun kid in this movie. Everybody's trying to protect her and you're never annoyed. She can handle herself but also is a kid who needs someone to look out for her.

Our villain, the Black Mask, Roman, is played by Ewan McGregor. Before Ewan was cast, Nicolas Cage, Sharlto Copley, and Sam Rockwell were considered. Rockwell passed on the role but was considered the archetype for the casting. As much as I adore him, I'm very happy that Ewan got to flex this weird, dark, comedic, strange, Nicolas Cage energy type muscle in this movie. He is so good in it.

He has all these little idiosyncrasies. He's going to cut the faces off these people. Then he goes, actually, this girl can go. And he takes tape off her mouth. Then he sees a snot bubble in her nose. And he's like, ew, nevermind, cut her face off.

What I love is that he's this male villain who never sexualizes the heroes. There's never a threat of sexual assault. He never looks them up and down. He respects Black Canary as his driver and is devastated when he thinks he's been betrayed. Yes, he wants to own her in the way that she's his singer at his club. But there aren't those elements. He definitely is misogynistic, he definitely doesn't love women, but I liked that there weren't those elements.

Important trivia: Harley suffers a concussion at one point and has a dream of herself singing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." Of course, Ewan McGregor is probably best known for Moulin Rouge, where Nicole Kidman sings "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend." So he is in both of those, dancing to it. I love it.

Chris Messina plays his right-hand man, Mr. Zsasz — also a really strange, quirky villain I enjoyed. He's sniveling a little bit. At one point Black Canary is late and Ewan McGregor is like, it's fine. And Chris Messina is like, no, you're late. Shouldn't she come back later because she's late? She was late, shouldn't she? He really wants other people to be punished. And Ewan McGregor is like, no man, cool it, it's fine, don't worry about it.

Cathy Yan directed this movie. She is the first Asian woman to direct a superhero movie. She is the second woman to direct a DC film, after Patty Jenkins. She knocks it out of the park. Every element of this film came together for me — the little things that come up on the screen telling you why people are mad at Harley, the way it unfolds, the coloring, all of it. The writer, Christina Hodson, she wrote another movie that has appeared on Tasteless — Unforgettable with Katherine Heigl and Rosario Dawson, which I love. All the pieces in this movie came together. Watching it in a theater was breathtaking.

Shared Themes

Something that sets these two films apart is that their protagonists aren't heroes to everyone. They're people who live in moral shades of gray, who have to do things outside the realm of human decency to survive. And that doesn't make them bad people, doesn't make them good people. It's a much less black-and-white way of looking at things.

In Saving Private Ryan, we are following soldiers in the midst of war. Soldiers are forced to do horrible things to protect not only themselves but their fellow soldiers and their country. Other people's lives are in their hands. The best example of this is Vin Diesel and the little girl. A girl's parents beg the soldiers to take their two children to safety. Tom Hanks screams at his soldiers — no children, we do not take children. They have a mission, they can't take the risk. Vin Diesel defies orders, grabs the kid, and says, sorry, Captain, she reminds me of my niece. I gotta take her, I gotta help her. And he gets shot and bleeds out slowly all over the note he wrote to his dad.

Was taking the kid the moral thing to do, the "right" thing to do? Yeah, probably. But they have a mission. And when Vin takes the girl, he's focused on her, so not only is he endangering his life, he's endangering the lives of the other men he's supposed to be looking out for.

Which leads us to the crux of the movie. Eight men are sent back into battle to save a single man and they feel conflicted about it. Most of them don't think it's worthwhile. Why kill eight men to save one man? They don't think it's right. Private Ryan could already be dead, but they're here alive now and they don't want to put themselves in danger. Many of them do die on the way to rescue Private Ryan, or even when they're with him. But he represents something more — he represents that mother. And Edward Burns is like, I have a mother. We all have mothers who don't want their sons to die. Why is he more important?

Another complicated aspect: Tom Hanks at one point has a POW, a prisoner of war. He sets him free — has him dig graves, then they're like, you can't kill the guy now. He sets him free with a blindfold and a hundred-yard head start. That is the man who kills him. That is the man who later at the bridge shoots him. There was no clear morally correct option in war. There just isn't.

In Birds of Prey, we're exploring the choices of women who have been shafted by the world, who have been put in a box, mistreated, and who are trying to make things right in the only way they can. They don't have the luxury of making the right choice a lot of the time. They've been left to their own devices and need to survive the seedy underbelly of the worlds they've found themselves in.

Harley is an incredibly complicated character. She's not a hero, not even a villain — just a woman who has gotten away with her behavior for a really long time while putting up with disrespect from the Joker. That got her certain perks, people looked the other way. Now she needs to figure out how to stand on her own two feet, which leads to some poor decisions. When she decides to turn in Cassandra — when she's going to give Cassandra over to Roman — it's because she feels like she doesn't have another choice.

We don't judge Black Canary for working as a driver for Roman, or Huntress for murdering vigilante-style the people who killed her family instead of pulling a Spider-Man and tying them up outside a police station. Where the criminal justice system has failed, Huntress has stepped in to make sure these evil men are dealt with. Detective Montoya is working outside the scope of her job to make sure the real bad guy who no one else wants to go after gets what's coming to him. And in the process, she forgets the rules she promised to adhere to as an officer of the law and becomes a vigilante.

Even Cassandra must make bad choices to survive. She picks pockets from people — maybe good people, maybe bad people — to keep herself going as her foster parents fight about keeping her. She is on her own, and since she can't get a job as a kid, she does what she needs to do. Everyone here is operating at the level of survival in both movies, and when they can do the right thing, they try to. But that's not always possible.

The best element of these movies is when our wildly different characters come together and have each other's backs. The protagonists in both films must learn to put the group above the individual.

In Saving Private Ryan, Tom Hanks' team had worked together during their attack on Omaha Beach. When he's told he needs to head up the mission, he gets the same men along with Jeremy Davies the translator and they set out. We've seen these guys in battle together, covering each other. But for those first 25 minutes, we don't see a lot of communication — it's just Tom Hanks giving them orders, which is what battle is. With this new mission, a lot of the men are unhappy. They wonder why their lives aren't as important as Ryan's. They question Tom Hanks, they grumble and gripe. But when they're faced with incredible challenges and not many resources, they learn how to work together.

When they're in that town with the bridge that Ryan refuses to leave because he wants to protect it, the men finally begin sharing personal facts with each other. They set a plan — they're going to destroy the tracks on one of the tanks so it'll block the road and funnel the bad guys in one spot where they can be gunned down. Everyone is working together. They come together in a way that's really incredible. A lot of them wind up dying, but it's not for a lack of trying and being the best they can for each other and for themselves.

In Birds of Prey, our women had been working separately to get the diamond, each after it for their own reasons. But then they find themselves trapped at the theme park in a room, at which point they realize it would be best if they worked together. They each use their individual strengths. Harley does gymnastics. Montoya loves punching. Black Canary is a kicker. Huntress has a crossbow. In conjunction, in the service of one goal — saving Cassandra — they fight off wave after wave of bad guys. They each have their own focus while also looking out for the others. And in saving one another, they know they've got each other's backs. They don't worry that one of them is going to betray the other. That's never a concern. They're like, nope, we're working together. That's it. I know you've got my back. I love that.

Between our soldiers and our sirens, there are such distinct personalities, but you believe — of course they could work together. I see how this works. It wasn't unbelievable.

Saving Private Ryan and Birds of Prey both have troubled characters, but they also share an important message of hope.

The guys in Saving Private Ryan are mad that eight men's lives are being risked for one man. But Tom Hanks, in addition to just wanting to do the job so he can go home, also understands the importance of hope. Ryan represents that. A mother has three dead sons coming home to her. All she has left in this world is Matt Damon. There's something about this mother losing all four children that the head army guys cannot stomach. It's too devastating. One child gives her something, some link.

Ryan's story is one that upsets the people he runs into. Everyone has a similarly somber reaction when they find out three separate brothers have died. We learn the brothers were purposely sent to different areas with different tasks to try to keep something like this from happening. Regardless, getting James Ryan home to his mother means a great deal to morale, to the optics of the war, to this family. While the guys are mad to be sacrificed for one other man, everyone wants this mother to have someone come home to her.

In Birds of Prey, our women are mostly single-minded, working towards a set goal with no plans afterwards. But finding each other, uniting to save Cassandra — it gives them new life. It gives them hope for a better future. Through their protection of Cassandra, they realize they can be better people. They realize that others can rely on them and that they can make connections.

Harley felt bereft with the loss of the Joker. She doesn't know who she is without him. But she's able to define herself, differentiate herself over the course of this film. Instead of mourning her past, she finally becomes excited for her future — making new business cards, starting a new life for herself and Cassandra. And the other women start their own crime-fighting squad, giving themselves a new purpose and a continued bond with the people who understand them best.

What Birds Of Prey Did Better

One big difference in the two films that sets them apart is the importance of having a choice. At the end of the day, the guys in Saving Private Ryan have a duty to their country and are following orders. That carries over into the duty to their fellow soldier — not just the duties they have to those above them, but also to the men they are in this situation with. And of course they grow to care for each other. Of course there's camaraderie in this awful world they're forced to navigate. And that camaraderie isn't made any less meaningful just because it is forced. Most of life is like — you're put with people and then you like them or you don't.

But there's something I love about Birds of Prey having people come together not just because they have to, but because they want to. They want to protect the kid. The women in Birds of Prey make choices for themselves, for the moment, not because someone above them is telling them what they must do. In fact, they're finally getting to make their own choices, especially Harley.

In the world of Saving Private Ryan, at the end of the day, these men have been given orders and they're going to do them. Even when they argue with Tom Hanks — when he's just like, well, it's orders — they're like, all right. And by following these orders, they can take a lot of the blame off themselves. Even Tom Hanks, the head of this contingent, is following the orders of people above him who aren't in the field, who are sitting in their office reading an old Abraham Lincoln letter and bemoaning a mother losing her children.

Tom Hanks makes one call for himself. He agrees to have the men stay to help Ryan's men hold that bridge. And that leads to a lot of them dying. But the other men at the bridge had to stay because of orders. They didn't choose because they love their country to stay there — there's this obligation everyone has.

The women in Birds of Prey who have felt so helpless at various points in their lives, who have been treated as less than, who have been consistently underestimated — in this story, they are finally making choices for themselves.

Harley had been under the Joker's thumb, and it's a huge turning point when she admits to the world she's no longer associated with him and must stand on her own two feet, no longer under his umbrella of protection. Finally responsible for her own actions.

Montoya stops coloring inside the lines of Gotham City PD because they have passed her over for promotion and treat her with zero respect. In following her own path, she uncovers the evils of Ewan McGregor. She's on his trail.

Black Canary is someone who has not wanted to live in her mother's shadow — someone else who had the vocal powers that she does. She balks at Montoya's suggestion that she follow in the senior Dinah's footsteps. However, it is her choice near the end of the film to use the power she inherited. A choice she doesn't make lightly.

Huntress had everything taken from her and a specific mission she lived her life by that kept her going. Everything prior to this movie was in service of killing the men that killed her family. When she kills who she thinks is the last one, she's able to make the choice for how to continue forward. Montoya is integral in that, reminding her that Roman is the man at the top and Huntress can keep doing good for the world.

Cassandra Cain is shuttled around from person to person, place to place, in search of the diamond she swallowed. But she realizes these women do have her best interests at heart, and when she has the chance to start a new life with Harley as her apprentice, she makes that choice, she takes that chance.

Here's the issue. While I think Saving Private Ryan is a fascinating look at the things people go through during war, it gives all the characters an out. They don't have to be responsible for their actions. It can always be blamed on someone up the line. They don't have to come to terms with what they've done in the same way they would if they had made the choices themselves. The women of Birds of Prey — they're experiencing choice for the first time and we're seeing the consequences of that.

I know men and women are different — that's like half my podcast, probably. But despite the camaraderie among the men in Saving Private Ryan, we see how cruel they are to someone they see as an outsider — to the translator, Jeremy Davies — until really the last moments of the film. Whereas the relationships between the women in Birds of Prey develop. There's not immediate acceptance, but there are so many more shades of gray. It's not this immediate rudeness. No one compromises their snarkiness, but they are supportive of one another in the way that humans should be. Not just because they've been assigned the same team by the United States government.

Jeremy Davies the translator in Saving Private Ryan — he's annoying. And it's clear the other guys have a tight-knit thing and now they have this intruder in their midst. I'm not the most welcoming person. I hate new things. But these guys are hateful to Jeremy Davies. They mock everything he says. They ask him questions about the book he's writing so he'll start answering and then they shut him down. They tell Private Ryan he's a burden. There's very little compassion among these men, even with all they've faced.

They have moments of sadness for one another, for themselves — Adam Goldberg crying, holding the Nazi knife. Private Ryan at the end, crying when he's old. He knows he owes his life to these men. But in an abstract way, I didn't really feel the bonds of brotherhood would extend past the three hours of their lives that we watched. They're in it for now only, and then they'll all go back to their separate lives that they don't even tell these guys about. Tom Hanks — none of them knew he was a teacher. He's going to go back to that life, none of them are going to know about it. I mean, he's not, because he's dead, but you know what I mean. There was no "in" — this was always a "for now." Brotherhood is such a large part of this movie, but it doesn't feel lasting. It feels temporary, in these specific circumstances only.

In Birds of Prey, the women are fiercely independent but they always respect one another. I don't know how you can be in the army expecting someone to have your back and not have some form of respect for them. That's crazy to me.

The women in Birds of Prey — their bonds go beyond orders, beyond requirements and what's expected. They validate one another, value one another for their individual contributions. Sometimes they tease each other, sometimes they're frustrated, sometimes they say mean things. But at the end of the day, there's no competition between these women that is anything other than professional.

There are these moments. Harley will tell Huntress, you are so cool. When Black Canary beats up somebody that was about to get her, Harley's like, thanks. Such a genuine appreciation of someone else. Then she gives Black Canary that hair tie — another moment that was spoken about on Twitter a lot as proof that this movie was made by women. The fact that these women are in a fight and Harley says to Black Canary, who has very long hair, hair tie? And offers it to her. Black Canary says thanks and puts her hair up so she can keep fighting. This small moment that's really incredible.

Then later one of them says to Huntress, I love that name, Huntress. And Huntress says, and I love how you were able to kick so high in those really tight pants.

I'm not saying everything needs to be a love fest. But you can tell they're sizing each other up and they appreciate what each other brings to the table. Montoya apologizes to Harley for underestimating her, for thinking she was just the Joker's pawn.

There's such a humanity here that fleshes these characters out into more than the battle they are facing — into people that we can picture in a variety of contexts. The guys in Saving Private Ryan don't exist outside that movie and they don't exist outside that battle.

We don't know who these men are when they go back home, if they go back home.

Watch Birds of Prey. It is on HBO Max. Every one of those fight scenes was something new — it wasn't the same old same old. Exploding glitter and smells and a beanbag gun. It's so fun.

Hit me up at @tastelesspod on social media. We can talk about Margot Robbie, we can talk about her beanbag gun, which was such a fun weapon, or we can talk about how we all collectively forgot Vin Diesel was in Saving Private Ryan.