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It's Friday I'm Doing it on My Own Terms · Friday I'm in Bed

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Hello, welcome to Friday. I'm in bed.
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Podcasts for midlife women living their best life while in
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bed by 10. This week on Friday, I'm in bed.
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We're talking about the hot topics of the week, starting
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with what happened at the Baftas.
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Everyone's discussing Tourette's ticks, the impact on the black
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community, and whether the BDC should have cut the footage to
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avoid causing more harm. We're unpacking what
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responsibility broadcasters have in live moments and who gets
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centered when these debates happen.
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Then we're moving on to Emerald Fennels new Wuthering Heights.
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Bronte purists are not happy. But can two pieces of art exist
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on their own merit? In this case, both created by
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women and maybe both deserving space.
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And finally, the Winter Olympics.
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The women absolutely delivered, winning on their own talent
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under their own creative control.
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And we're also talking about that moment where one husband
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was visibly overjoyed watching his wife take gold.
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Supportive men, We like to see Rabba Cuppa.
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Let's get into it. Hello.
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Hello. How are you?
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I try so hard, I've got no idea how to say hello.
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Normally when I know that I'm recording is that is that.
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No, it makes you sound very. Jolly, that's me.
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Jolly, how are you? I'm good, thank you.
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I've had the house pretty much to myself for the last four
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days. I think my husband's in Morocco,
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he comes home at tonight and my teenagers have just been so busy
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at parties and staying out all night and just having a social
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life. It's just been me and my dogs
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and it's been really, really nice.
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Well, my mom and dad have been visiting since the end of last
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week and they've literally just gone home today just for
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recorded it. So that was quite nice.
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We just basically, I mean, I've introduced my dad to the what we
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do in the shadows. So I've enjoyed that over the
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last few days, rewatching the film and the first of the TV
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series. And on Sunday night I went to a
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gig. I never go to gigs, but it was
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the UK Pink Floyd experience. I went to my husband and my dad,
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both big Pink Floyd fans. I like Pink Floyd, especially in
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my pretentious, depressed teenager phrase when I listened
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to The Wall a lot. So yeah, I was really, it was
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really good. Funny lights, laser shows and
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stuff. There were people really funny.
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I had to get a new lead guitarist in at the last minute.
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And I was just really getting vibes of like every teenage boy
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I knew when I was a teenager. He was all like, look at me play
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guitar, I'm so cool. But yeah, it was fun.
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It was seated, which I think may have been a nod to the average
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age of, of the, of the audience at this, at this gig.
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But it was, yeah, it was great. I would recommend it.
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They they tour around the UK, so I would recommend it if you're,
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if you're a Pink Floyd fan. It was.
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It was really good fun. Good.
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Well, made me laugh. You just sang about teenagers
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with the guitars. Yeah, that is literally my life.
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I mean, there's a drum clue. Guitars in the guitar in the
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lounge behind me. I mean, literally you've.
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Got one on your own? I know my life is teenage boys
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and some girls playing guitars and and that's all they do.
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I, I had a bass guitar when I was a teenager that I I started
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trying to learn, but pretty much all I learned was the bass line
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to pretend you're dead by pretend we're dead by L7.
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That was that was pretty pretty much it And or maybe like a Red
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Hot Chili Peppers song as well, but I don't know what artist,
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bassist, the. Most experienced and best
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bassist in the world that would. Have been.
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Yeah, it would have been. It would have been a very easy
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bit. Anyway.
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Did you play any instruments? I want to know before we get
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into it. I played the flute.
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I played the. Cornet for a bit, which is like
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a mini jump. It and the saxophone, No
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clarinet. Oh, yeah.
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I mean, that was when I was, you know, like 10 or something.
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I wanted to play bass, but my hands are tiny.
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Have I've never met an adult with smaller hands than me.
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My hands are smaller than my 15 year old.
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Like, I have tiny, tiny hands. And yeah, I just couldn't, you
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know, my boyfriend was in a band, like.
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Oh yeah, I've had it. I've had a thing for musicians
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since Oscar 14. Yeah, all of my boyfriends when
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I was a teenager, yeah, they were all in bands.
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Yeah, yeah. But we're still, we're still at
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that stage. My husband plays and my son
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plays and it's just. But I wanted to be cool.
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I wanted to be, you know, upfront and being cool.
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But I can't really sing. And I can't.
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Play the guitar. So I just have a groupie.
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Yeah, right. OK.
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Now we can get on with it now that I've covered your your
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musical teenage experience. All right, so we're going to
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start off probably a bit of a trigger warning at the beginning
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that we will be discussing disability, racism, and other
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kind of sensitive topics I guess during this one.
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I just have to do that before I do my little introduction, which
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is that we are going to talk about what happened at the
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Bafta's on Sunday night. So during the Bafta's, a film
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about a man who was living with Tourette's Syndrome was up for
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like 5 awards, I think. And it's real life inspiration,
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John Davidson, who's been on our screens.
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And there was a documentary about him years ago.
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He's MBE just, yeah, was in the audience.
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And so within the 1st 25 minutes, he'd had several verbal
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ticks, shouting swear words, bullshit and you know, that kind
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of thing. And then as there were two black
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actors, Michael B Jordan and Delroy Lindo were presenting an
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award. They were on the stage and he
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shouted the N word and the room just went absolutely silent.
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But when it was broadcast, it was broadcast on a 2 hour and
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the BBC chose not to edit that out.
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They did it out, I believe some pro Palestinian protests and
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stuff, but they didn't edit out the ticks from John Davidson.
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So there's lots of things to look at.
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The headlines in this country, I think have been largely how can
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we support people with this with this condition?
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Robert Amareo, I have on my notes who won best act of
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actually playing Davidson and he spoke beautifully about
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understanding and compassion. And it's such a misunderstood
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condition Tourette's, but in the US not quite so much.
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Jamie Foxx was saying, Nah, he meant it and demanding that he
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shouldn't have been allowed to even attend, which is a bit rude
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considering he was the inspiration for one of the one
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of the films Coprolalia. It's called when you when you
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shout inappropriate phrases and they the Tourette's community
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online has talked a lot about, they get that feeling of dread
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every time Tourette's gets public visibility.
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It comes with like a wave of ableism.
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People just don't understand this isn't something that you
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can control. So do you think that the BBC
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should have edited that out? That's going to be my first
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question for you, I think. Before I answer that I just want
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to put a caveat in if that's OK that as and I'm second I speak
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for myself but my be speaking for you too.
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I don't know, as a white able bodied woman, I cannot fully
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understand or yeah, I'll use the word understand how both the
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parties felt at the moment and since, but also the communities
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have felt since because it's not my lived experience.
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However, should to answer your question, should they have cut
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it out? Yes, because by keeping it in
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they have upset stroke brought up past trauma, durational
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trauma, current trauma. Can you do the trauma for both
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parties? I think there's two kind of
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things here is that it, that it happened.
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So obviously how it affected the people in the room by which is
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we'll talk about in a minute. And because that's the tricky
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one to manage for BAFTA, for the presenter, for everybody that
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was there. But by showing it, it has, and I
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was going to say the word upset. It's the wrong word.
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It's so much more than upset, but we'll go with upset for a
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second. Entire communities because they
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have, because it's triggered so many like past trauma, as I
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said, current trauma. It's potentially enabled more
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racism, more discrimination and ablest language.
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You know, it's just so it's encouraged more discussion
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that's been very, very negative and nasty.
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I feel personally that the BBC has enabled that and it's not
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the first time they have done it.
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So in 2020, a news reader, Fiona Lambdin I think is her name,
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used the N word and it was allowed to be said and upset,
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you know, it upset everybody. So they know.
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And there was, you know, there was obviously a backlash and
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they had to, but. That was that was intentional in
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that. Situation but it but it was
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still broadcast and they had that fallout so they've done it
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again, which feels like a either really irresponsible or
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intentional depending on where you sit on the fence.
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You know here on that and that's why you have a lag in live
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television, isn't it? I mean, I'm presuming so that
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you can take out where it was. I probably started with swear
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words originally because I think somebody else, another actor or
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somebody on the stage swore as well.
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So there was already some swearing that was cut out.
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I'm presuming that's why there is the lag.
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And I suppose also if there's a technical fault, they can kind
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of cut it together so that the TV performance doesn't have a
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technical fault. So they had time and apparently
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they cut out other things he said, but they cut, kept that
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one in. So I think there's two layers to
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it's. Really difficult to understand
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why they made the decision that they made.
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I think Jordan and Lindo, who were the black actors that were
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presenting at the time, said they didn't feel like they'd
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been adequately warned. They, I think they knew he was
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there. I think Alan Cummings flagged it
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up a few times during the show, but they didn't, they didn't
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speak to that. I mean, I guess they didn't know
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that he was going to shout that, but they didn't flag it up then
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beforehand. So the shock in hearing that
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word would have been absolutely real.
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And then for those people in the room, like he was saying, so I
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think that, you know, they failed them.
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They've, they've, they've failed Davidson as well, because
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obviously he's just spent his life campaigning for
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understanding of a disability. That's, that's really poorly
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understood. People say, oh, you could just
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control it. And it's, it's not, it's a
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neurological condition. And he's, he's obviously turned
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up for this event feeling welcomed and applauded for this,
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the film, I swear. And then he left the room 25
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minutes after that, he ended it feeling mortified and upset.
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So they failed him as well. So they've essentially in that
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room failed two groups of vulnerable people or specific
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vulnerable people, 3 vulnerable people, I guess.
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But also then by choosing to broadcast it, there's I guess
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there's an argument that people are talking about Tourettes now,
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but I don't think yet by broadcasting it again, they're
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normalizing that kind of language in a way.
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And that it was, it's a conscious decision and it's one
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that I do find really, really, really difficult to understand.
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There is, I guess, a question of cutting out Tourette's ticks is
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the similar to, you know, if you'd cut out somebody getting
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on the stage in a wheelchair or something like that, you know,
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if you were going to say you want visibility for
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disabilities, a lot of abilities in that disabilities and
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visibility, Yeah. But.
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But. You want that visibility, but
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also when it's something to do with language, you've got a
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responsibility to make sure that that, that that visibility isn't
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causing distress. Yeah.
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And I think. If I was the editor, if I was
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the one doing the cutting and I was really aware that we mustn't
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silence the man, you know, the key man with Tourette's and
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knowing that the films won. And you know, like absolutely I
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might have kept in the bullshit and removed the, you know, the N
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word because I would have definitely removed, you know,
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because I have seen the argument that, well, if we'd have
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silenced or if they'd have silenced him, that would be
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silencing his voice. But you, they silenced some
12:02
words but not others. So again, which ones are we
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going to silence? And, and my understanding and
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it's what we, I think I really wanted to reiterate because 1 of
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I've been reading a lot of the comments, as you know, I'm
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always the comments person you love.
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The comments. I love the comments.
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There is so much misunderstanding with Tourette's
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but also there's different types of Tourette's.
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I am in no way an expert, like literally I don't.
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I know very little. But what I have gathered is what
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he has and obviously people have, is they actually shout the
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word. Shout, say the word that they
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mustn't say. So for example, shouting there's
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a bomb at an airport is one of the examples.
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Or I think did he or somebody said, told the Queen she was a
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wanker. You know, it's like the worst.
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Yeah. So it's almost like I mustn't
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say, I mustn't say. But then I'm seeing the argument
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to that, obviously is that it was in his head.
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And there's a lot of conversation around why is it in
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his head? But then there's also then
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people saying, well, it's in all I like it's in our psychic, like
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it's in our lexicon. And if you said to me, what's
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the worst thing you could say to whoever, it would be the worst
13:10
word because it's it's in there. Yeah.
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And I think he has, he didn't have control of that.
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But then I'm seeing people saying he should have been put
13:17
in a separate room, which is literally segregation.
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That's such ableism. And yeah.
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Not inclusive aggregating, which we don't want exactly.
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But then how do you manage that? Because I mean, apparently they
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did say at the beginning they did tell everybody.
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But I mean, whether they did or not, I think there's also, and
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again, you don't know what's been caught and stuff, but the
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presenter obviously apologized. That is Alan Cumming, I think.
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Alan. Cumming but from what I
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understand, he didn't the first thing he should have done but it
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didn't do almost is actually apologize to the two men on
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stage. It was almost like oh, sorry for
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the language type of thing. And I think there's this fear of
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probably saying the wrong thing, but sometimes by saying, by
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worrying about not saying the right thing, you say the yeah, I
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can. See that because we're doing the
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same thing now. I can see it because I can hear
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it in the way we're speaking. We're both really carefully
14:13
thinking about our words before we say it, which is, which is
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just really interesting because you just you.
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Want to you? Want to try and be clear about
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what it what it is that you mean.
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Tourette's is such a difficult one, I think because of its kind
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of offensive. The language coprolalia, which
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I'm trying to get in my head, big word, because it's
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offensive. It's such a difficult one to
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think, how do you deal with that?
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How do you make spaces accessible to somebody who has
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that as a condition because they can't help it.
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But it's, again, if you're shutting them in a different
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room, that's not exactly accessible, is it?
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It's a bit like, it's a bit like, you know, if you turned up
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in a wheelchair and you'd say, I'm really sorry we don't have
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room to let you in because you take up too much space in the
14:53
bar or like, you know, yeah. Yeah.
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Well, it shouldn't, but there would be an outcry if that did
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you know that will be in normalized newspapers like it
15:02
was awful, but when it's something like correct, which is
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upsetting other people. But there are experts in
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Tourette's, so if I was running the show, I wouldn't know how to
15:12
manage the potential situation that was going to happen.
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But that's because I don't know anything about Tourette's.
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However, I would make sure I spoke to or was advised by
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somebody that did and I would say to them, you know, at this
15:28
as someone who used to run events, you know, you had to
15:29
make sure it was accessible, for example, and I don't have all
15:32
the answers. So you speak to somebody that
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knows and say, and I say, So what about and what would, what
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would happen if this happened? Troubleshooting, you know, you
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do all of that and you ask the expert to give their opinion on
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how to manage the situation so as not to offend the person
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that's got Tourette's, but also to damage limitation the rest of
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the event. And I mean, I'm hoping they did
15:56
that, but maybe who knows, because that the experts surely
15:59
would have a little bit more of the answer of what to do because
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I don't know what to do. The presenter didn't know what
16:04
to do. You don't know what to do.
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But there are people that run charities and must know what to
16:10
do. Yeah.
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Doctors even like, well, yeah. And they'd say.
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Do you think if it had been a different slur it would have
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been edited out so if it had been about a different group of
16:21
people? So I don't know if this this bit
16:24
could go horribly wrong. Maybe.
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I should not go here but you know if it was shouting media a
16:31
small actor or the C word a female.
16:34
Actor. Or that kind of thing.
16:37
Yeah. Yeah.
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But do you think in that instance they would have cut it
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out? Do you think it was a conscious
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decision not to cut the kind of? Language, I can't answer that,
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only they can answer that, but it feels we get the BBC on.
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I'm sorry, but if you can edit out a pro Palestine, if you make
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the conscious decision, because all of these events is going to
17:02
be somebody that says something about Palestine or Gaza or
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Ukraine or although the Ukraine would have stayed in remember or
17:10
ice or whatever, you know, because obviously didn't we have
17:13
old Golden Globes people say kept in.
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So they've they've got a policy. They have to because they took
17:21
out stuff and they left us in. And I think it would be naive.
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I personally believe it would like be naive to think it was
17:28
just a mistake because it's happened before.
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And I feel somebody must have made the decision to keep it in
17:34
because they all heard it. They saw the men on stages faces
17:38
and the room go silent. Like it wasn't like, Oh, we
17:42
missed that one. Although we did hear somebody
17:44
said, Oh, it was quite quiet. Like, well, it wasn't really
17:47
that quiet, was it? Because we all heard it.
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So I'm sure the editor did and the producer and all that.
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So I don't know. I don't know whether it was
17:55
intentional, you know, 24. 24 hours before the apology.
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Yeah. On the BBC and it's.
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And it's all just like if we caused offence and it's like if
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I feel like, yeah, the film, I swear, was up for an award.
18:10
It was amazing. And Davidson's himself has
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campaigned for his whole life. I haven't.
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No. We're going to talk about when
18:16
we do the next section. I was going to tell you my
18:17
complete failure in watching any films lately, OK?
18:22
He's. Done a lot to raise awareness
18:24
and understanding about Tourette's as a condition.
18:27
And that's absolutely fantastic. And it's just awful that then
18:31
something like this can in a way almost set that back because
18:35
it's, it's immediately turned the focus away from the
18:38
understanding of Tourette's necessarily and into such a
18:42
discussion of something else of racism and all the intersection
18:46
of how all these things fit together.
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It's it's so difficult. But I think I wouldn't have
18:50
suggested like cutting out all the ticks, you know, because
18:53
again, that's the thing where you realize how these things can
18:55
affect people. But I think by leaving that
18:57
particular one in, they've made a discussion which maybe isn't
19:02
as compassionate as it could be because of what was said.
19:07
This is so difficult. Why do we decide to talk about
19:09
this? Because it's really topical and
19:11
really important and very important, I know, but just.
19:15
I think also though, we also remember in the current climate
19:18
where racism is being enabled left, right and centre and if
19:23
you call it out, you get absolutely intimidated online.
19:27
I know people are campaigning for, you know, inclusivity and,
19:32
you know, they're vilified online.
19:34
We've got, you know, people saying that first thing they're
19:37
going to do when they get into office is get rid of the DEI,
19:40
which, you know, the, you know, inequalities Act.
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I mean, you know, yeah. Which effects all of us apart
19:47
from, you know, white able bodied men.
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You know, it effects, you know, from an ages and perspective,
19:52
from an ethnicity of faith, a female perspective, you know,
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we've got all this going on. So I do think, you know, back to
20:00
duty of care. There was a duty of care to all
20:03
three people and everybody else in that room.
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But the duty of care is so much broader, in light of the current
20:10
political climate, towards anybody who isn't.
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You know why? Able boded male, able bodied
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male. I absolutely agree with you.
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I think that that was the prime thing of this is that there was
20:23
a, there's essentially a duty of, of care to make it that we
20:26
don't have to have this conversation right now.
20:28
Absolutely. And, and I don't want to take
20:30
away the duty of care to the people in the room because that
20:33
still has to be managed before, during and after.
20:37
But it's affected every, not everybody, you know, it's
20:39
affected millions and millions of people because it it was,
20:43
it's global, it was televised. So it's affected so many people
20:47
and it's enabled so much towards both parties that it's really
20:52
not been helpful in any shape or form.
20:54
Yeah. And yeah, that, that not
20:56
briefing people properly in advance that there that there
21:00
was that that could happen, that something like that could
21:02
happen. The decision not to edit.
21:04
It's just, it's baffling. And I, I think, I do think it's
21:07
indefensible. Very disappointing.
21:10
OK. I yeah, I genuinely really feel
21:13
for yeah, everyone. I get this little sick feeling.
21:16
I just. And it's all cool remembering
21:18
that there are experts and charities and governing bodies
21:22
and all the, you know, these people that could have helped
21:26
situation and it wasn't helped for it's.
21:29
Yeah, it's not just it. Yeah, it's not even just
21:31
Tourette's. It's there's a whole host of
21:33
invisible disabilities. I mean, I have, I have one
21:36
myself. There's, there's, you know,
21:37
there's a whole host of invisible disabilities that
21:40
people need to be more understanding about.
21:42
And it's just a shame that when the conversation gets brought
21:45
up, it's about an institution that that's failed people.
21:55
I won't see Watering Heights at the weekend and I did mention
21:58
last week I was going to go and we were going to talk about it
22:00
this week because I knew there'd be lots to talk about.
22:04
Emerald Fennell for anyone that's been living under a rock
22:06
has. I don't know she's produced yet,
22:08
but written and directed Watering Heights in inverted
22:11
commas. The inverted commas are very
22:13
important here and has said she wants to create a film that
22:18
showed how it impacted like her interpretation of it when she
22:23
read it at 14. So it is based on the book.
22:26
It is not the book based on the book.
22:29
As in there is Heathcliff and there is a Kathy and you know
22:32
that kind of thing. And the story is kind of follows
22:35
the same theme as the book. Some things are the same as the
22:38
book. Some things are added that are
22:40
in the book. Some things are missed that are
22:42
not in the book. So it's First things first.
22:45
I need to say that I absolutely loved it.
22:47
I'm not going to to spend lots of time talking about why I
22:49
loved it, but it's stunning. The costumes, the scenery, the
22:54
music. Charlie XX's song, like they
22:58
like it's, it's a visual feast. It's it's kind of epic.
23:04
Yeah. So, you know, I personally loved
23:07
it. But I am going to say, and we'll
23:09
talk about this in a bit. I don't think it's aimed at me.
23:11
I think it's aimed at the Gen. Z's young teen, late teens,
23:15
early 20s people. So it's not really even aimed at
23:18
me. But we'll come on to that in a
23:20
bit. Bronte fans are very upset.
23:25
And also I would say the elite. I'm going to say elite, probably
23:28
not right word, but press the kind of you know, so the
23:31
Telegraph, for example, that the not.
23:35
By the broadsheets. But I'm going to say Elite
23:37
because their feels. I'm not saying this about the
23:40
Bronze fans, but by the press. A little bit of snobbery going
23:43
on here and they're all up in arms because the film is not the
23:46
same as the book, but the film isn't supposed to be the same.
23:50
But we'll, we'll come to that in a minute.
23:51
I'll chat about that with you. But other things have come up.
23:54
So one of the biggies, which is an important one, is that
23:57
Heathcliff in the book is not white.
24:00
He it is not, it's, it's ambiguous about his ethnicity,
24:05
but the feeling in the book is that he is Romani.
24:09
He's described as Gypsy very early on and in his reference to
24:14
India Anyway, it's it's not confirmed, but he is not white.
24:18
Emerald hat emeralds, Heathcliff is white.
24:22
So that obviously has caused a lot of discussion.
24:24
But then. It was.
24:25
Like costumes aren't right. The costumes were unbelievably
24:29
amazing. Were they the same as Bronte's
24:32
time? No.
24:33
But it wasn't supposed to be. People were like, oh, Margot
24:36
Robbie doesn't have a Yorkshire accent.
24:38
No, she doesn't. Did it matter to me?
24:40
No. And people are saying the film
24:43
is eradicating Emily's voice, her piece of art.
24:47
And I'm like, well, by slacking off Fennels, you're trying to
24:52
eradicate her voice. And two.
24:55
Pieces of art. Can, in my opinion, be amazing
24:59
if you like it, not if you know, if you don't, you don't.
25:02
Art is subjective at the same time.
25:04
So I feel like, you know, it's all that both can exist.
25:09
So I want to start with, have you ever seen read a book and
25:15
then seen a film and it'd be 100% like the vision that was in
25:19
your head when you read the book?
25:21
Can you even do that as a director?
25:24
Put you on the spot? No, I think there's I've, I was
25:28
always a big reader when I was a kid and there's lots and lots
25:31
and lots of books that have been made into films and you go, and
25:34
I mean even the blooming Harry Potter films, if we're going to
25:37
bring that up, you know, then they're not directly equated to
25:41
the, to the books. So I think books are would
25:46
you've got 2 hour slot to film a novel in maybe 3 hours.
25:50
If you're pushing it into epic territory, you, you're going to
25:53
have to cut stuff out. You're going to.
25:54
You're going to have to miss things.
25:57
I. Have not seen this.
25:58
I have not seen any version of Wuthering Heights and I also
26:01
haven't read the book for some reason.
26:03
This is a little gap that I have in my cultural knowledge where
26:07
I've actually not done any of the versions of Wuthering
26:09
Heights. So this is all on you, this one,
26:11
Kate. But I have heard about this one
26:14
and I was quite intrigued because the costumes I thought
26:17
was a really, really interesting one because that happens plenty.
26:21
I mean, you watch as a 1970s period drama, right?
26:25
And they're all dressed up in their Victorian finest and you
26:28
go but with a very 70s twist, right?
26:31
You know what decade it was made in.
26:33
And you you get that a lot where the the costumes, I mean, look
26:36
at Bridgeton. They're hardly authentic, are
26:39
they? But they, they, if they carry
26:41
that vibe, they've got an aesthetic.
26:43
So that I have 0 issue with. I think one of the things with
26:49
Wuthering Heights is it was quite like, I say, I haven't, I
26:53
haven't read it, but did do, I did do English and media studies
26:57
when I was at university and which is why it's so awful that
27:01
I haven't seen a lot of these things.
27:02
And I also haven't been to the cinema at all recently and
27:04
watched daily films. So I'm so behind on everything.
27:07
So you're going to, you're going to have to forgive me here, but
27:09
I did do media and film studies, I guess vibe of the book, the
27:12
story of the book. So my understanding is that
27:15
Heathcliff is not a pleasant human being, that he is,
27:18
frankly, a bit of an ass. Wow.
27:22
And cruel, cruel, manipulative, possessive, abusive.
27:27
Potentially, but a lot of the film adaptations might try and
27:31
make him into a bit of a romantic hero.
27:34
So how, how does he come across in this one?
27:36
So. I mean, Wuthering Heights is
27:38
about toxic relationships. It's not just him.
27:41
Kathy's toxic. The whole thing is toxic.
27:44
And in fact, a lot of the relationships are toxic, and
27:48
that absolutely comes across in the film.
27:50
Oh, it does you. I mean, it's it's kind of not
27:57
helped that Jacob and Audi is so hot, I have to say because.
28:00
Well. This has been one of the
28:01
questions. Is he dark and menacing enough
28:03
to be Heathcliff? Or is he just being, you know,
28:08
beauty and star power over actually, I'm.
28:11
Going to have to say 3 year old woman.
28:13
I was just like the young him is young Heathcliff more feral
28:16
Heathcliff. I was just like, but I think
28:18
that was I have seen it because Tom Hardy's played in for
28:22
example, but says Cliff Richard also to Heathcliff's and also
28:25
Timothy Dalton. So that's or Heathcliff's now
28:28
not white, we've got. A bit of a range.
28:32
Yeah, it's a gothic romance in, you know, as in its in its
28:37
original form. It's dark.
28:38
It's the film. It's dark, it's Moody, it's
28:40
sexy, it's unrequited love. It's there's a lot of symbolism
28:45
going on. He is toxic.
28:48
But do I come out hating Heathcliff?
28:50
No, not really, But yeah. You mean it was just this.
28:54
It's I suppose it's how you interpret it, and it is
28:56
subjective, I think. Picking up on your have you have
29:00
you read it type of thing. I did English literature to
29:03
degree level and I studied Wuthering Heights at a level.
29:07
And I hated the book, which people are like.
29:09
You hated the book. Yeah, because art is subjective.
29:13
I didn't get on with it and I really struggled with Wuthering
29:16
Heights and when you choose the books, you're going to actually
29:18
revise and answer questions on in the in my actual a level.
29:21
I chose not to study it further. I watched the film kind of
29:25
vaguely remembering the story and came out and now want to
29:28
read the book. So my, my argument for the ad,
29:33
you know, the, the new film is, is what she has done, has
29:37
brought, has brought a classic to younger people because let's
29:41
face it, there's a lot of young people.
29:43
You know, it's got Charlie X6 on the soundtrack for goodness
29:45
sake. You know, it's very Gen. said
29:47
there, even though in the cinema it was full of all ages.
29:50
I think they will read the book now.
29:53
And I spoke to my son last night and I was like, I'm talking to
29:56
him about this. And he was like, well, we don't
29:57
read, we don't read. And I'm like, of course some
30:00
people, some Gen. said read, but we didn't have the Internet.
30:04
We read and we had 3-4 channels on the TV.
30:08
You had to go to blockbusters to hire and film like, yeah, we
30:13
read books way more than now. So actually I feel that it will
30:17
encourage people to read and I think that's exciting.
30:20
I don't think I I love my favorite book of all time is The
30:24
Handmaid's Tale, which I studied at a level.
30:26
So I did do The Handmaid's Tale in the exam.
30:28
I didn't do Wuthering Heights and I love the series.
30:31
And yeah, it started off kind of to the book, but it went off on
30:35
tangents. Has nothing to do with the book
30:36
in a way at the end. Did it matter to me?
30:38
No, because I can joy two things at the same time.
30:42
I think that's what frustrates me.
30:44
I think she's I think she should have cast Heathcliff as a non
30:48
white actor. I you know, without a doubt,
30:52
because it's all right saying, well, Cliff Richardson is or 60s
30:55
he was white. Well, that was then.
30:57
This is now. And I think what she she did do
31:00
is other characters who are white in the book are not white
31:04
in the film. And I think potentially there's
31:06
been a well, you know, I've, I've mixed it up here, but the
31:10
argument I'm reading is like, OK, so the secondary characters,
31:13
it's all right if they're not white.
31:15
But the main character, you know, I feel like she should
31:19
actually that my only thing in the whole film is I absolutely
31:23
think I don't think she miscast him because he was brilliant.
31:27
She also had him in Saltburn as the main character or the second
31:30
character as well. So like, she obviously likes
31:33
working with him. She should.
31:34
I do believe he should have been cast differently.
31:37
But to be honest with you, that's my only negativity about
31:40
film personally. So.
31:42
Do you think that there was any, especially as she's a female
31:45
director, the issue of maybe normalizing and romanticizing
31:52
those toxic relationships, do you think that there was any
31:55
kind of aspect of that? Yeah, that has been discussed as
31:57
well. So Isabel Isabella character
32:00
Heathcliff marries takes and he marries her to get back at Cafe.
32:06
And I'm struggling with all the names, so apologies.
32:08
We'll get them all a bit mixed up.
32:09
I have watched the film and I did read the book a million
32:11
years ago. I don't remember anyone's name
32:14
in these things in the. Book she is abused by him and is
32:19
not happy about the situation. He kills a dog, for example,
32:22
that isn't in the film. The dog doesn't get killed in
32:23
the film. Good.
32:25
I was quite happy. I can't.
32:26
Understand that you know there's there's a website called Does
32:28
the Dog die Where you can go and check before you would can't.
32:30
Cope with dogs dying in films so that didn't happen so but in the
32:36
film she seems to enjoy it. And then there's been like,
32:40
domestic abuse charities, I think, or campaigners saying not
32:46
sure about that. But one of the things Emerald
32:49
has done is there's a lot of consent going on.
32:52
So there's two scenes in particular when he is taking her
32:55
away to marry her. He says three times I will hurt
32:59
you and abuse you and be the I'll be a monster, I think if,
33:03
you know, is that OK? And three times she says yes.
33:06
Now, of course, this is a film that's not real life.
33:09
But she added that in there's also a scene where the servant
33:14
and the maid have sex in. There's actually quite a lot of
33:18
sex. It's worth saying as well, in
33:21
the room where you put bridal gear on the horses.
33:26
I don't know what this room is. There's lots of whips.
33:28
OK. Yeah.
33:29
And the thing that you put over a horse's head, whatever that's
33:32
called. Yeah, he puts over her head
33:36
because she's slapped in. You don't see the sex, but you
33:38
see this and he asks her if that's OK.
33:42
So there's consent has been added, which is interesting.
33:45
That's obviously for, you know, 2026.
33:49
But that Isabella and abuse people have said she emerald
33:53
fennel has almost made her enjoy it.
33:55
But then I was like, well, I'm not sure I really saw it as
33:59
that. I thought it was coercion, which
34:01
is a thing, let's face it, that I feel like you do see victims
34:06
smiling in photos even though they're being abused.
34:10
So there is a bit, you know, but there's also quite a lot of kind
34:13
of S&M references. And so there's been a lot of
34:15
people going, oh, hang on, it is OK for women to be like, to like
34:20
being tied up because it's not tied up in like you're my
34:22
prison. It was very sexual undertones.
34:25
And actually people have said, well, actually some people are.
34:27
So there's like conversation points.
34:30
But he was toxic. I didn't come out thinking.
34:32
He was a lovely guy. I did come out think feeling how
34:37
I was supposed to, but Kathy was toxic too, and I came out and
34:41
she was really toxic. I don't really remember that in
34:43
the book, but I do believe, you know, they're all a bit toxic in
34:46
the book. Yeah, I see what you mean.
34:48
But it does adding that consent in to a story that is about that
34:54
level of abuse, does that make it even more?
34:56
Does that make it worse really for a female director to to
34:59
start adding that in and having the the characters essentially
35:04
be a participant in their own abuse?
35:06
Or I mean, or does that kind of answer, does that kind of open
35:09
those questions up to people about people I don't know?
35:12
See, when he was saying I'm going to be a monster to you, I
35:16
wasn't like, oh, he's hot. Oh, I'll go with him.
35:19
You know, I was, you know, it was like, oh, you know, it's
35:22
awful. I.
35:23
Do think that that's as a 53 year old woman and that you
35:25
might have a different reaction if you were, say, a 23 year old.
35:28
I don't know, obviously, because you're not a 23 year old woman.
35:32
I'm gonna take my daughter. I'm gonna take my daughter.
35:34
So I'll ask her and report back, yes.
35:37
I think it was, I think it's a conversation starter.
35:40
I think the main reason I wanted to bring it up was how, how do I
35:45
put this tiring? I'm finding it from people
35:48
going, oh, but it's not the same as the book and how dare she
35:53
change it? And it's like, well, she can and
35:56
people. Do I do think that's OK using
36:00
these things as kind of a jumping off point and, you know,
36:02
maybe there's issues in there that you want to create art
36:06
about. So I mean, one example, I think
36:10
I would always zombie films is one of the things that that I
36:14
love. OK, this is this is going to
36:15
sound very random right now. Stay with me.
36:17
So zombie films are always about the prevailing issues of the
36:22
time. So in some films the zombies are
36:26
about disease, things like 28 Days Later.
36:29
So in some of them it will be a zombie plague.
36:31
There's a disease that getting people in some of them it will
36:33
be about otherness and essentially that the zombies are
36:38
kind of a placeholder for issues like race.
36:40
So and that goes though that goes through zombie films right
36:44
back to, you know, the 70s up till today.
36:46
They're always about really what our current issues are.
36:50
See, that's my film studies coming through now or anything.
36:53
So, you know, you can use these things as a jumping off point to
36:56
discuss things now. So maybe, you know, a book
36:59
written by whenever Emily Bronte wrote her book.
37:01
No. Gone 1700.
37:05
I know. Yeah.
37:06
But but a book written then would have had different social
37:09
issues to address than a film being made in 2025.
37:15
So I can't. I kind of think that's fair
37:17
enough to use it as a bit of a jumping off point for
37:20
adaptations and that they, you know, they can be different and
37:23
that they can make different points to different audiences in
37:26
different eras. And you've got to remember that
37:28
the original bit of art is still there.
37:31
Exactly. They're not silencing Emily
37:33
Bronte's voice. They are introducing it to a new
37:37
audience who may then be able to go and read it and maybe read it
37:40
through the lens of what was culturally going on at the time,
37:44
which I did not look up whenever Emily Bronte wrote it exactly.
37:48
And I do think that's fine. I.
37:50
Don't think if she'd have done it exactly the same as the book,
37:52
that would have necessarily have happened.
37:55
I think it was clever casting Margot Robbie and people are up
37:59
in arms about that, you know, because she's blonde and she's,
38:02
I don't know, she's got a posh voice in it and things like
38:04
that. And it's like, no, that was a
38:06
that, you know, people like Margot Robbie, they'll go and
38:08
watch it. I keep saying about Charlie XCX,
38:11
but the song in it, like it's brilliant.
38:14
But that's going to bring this, you know, it's going to bring
38:18
people to the cinema to watch it who have never, who have never
38:21
even heard of Emily Bronte. And I feel like I'm wondering if
38:25
it's an age thing as well, because I'm seeing a lot of
38:28
people I know. So it's my age, you know, it's
38:30
like, oh, it's wrong. And it's like, well, it's not
38:33
wrong with brick. Like 2P, as I said at the
38:36
beginning, 2 pieces of art can exist in the the same space.
38:41
Like in the in the world you're allowed to love both or not love
38:44
both. Like it's subjective and there.
38:47
Will be so. Many people, particularly it's
38:50
it's definitely aimed at women. This film young young women who
38:54
have never even heard my daughter 15 so she can go and
38:58
see it. She has not heard of Emily
39:00
Dante, but she she's heard about Emerald Fennell and Margot
39:04
Robbie and Charlie XCX and Jacob and she will love it.
39:10
Type. Of thing, you know, so and
39:11
actually will it make her to be fair, she ain't going to pick up
39:14
the book either because she doesn't read.
39:15
I don't think she will, but the next person will might her
39:20
thing. And so I think that's a positive
39:22
thing. And I feel like I've seen people
39:25
say, yeah, I'm a bronze fan, I can't watch it.
39:28
Whoa, go watch it then. I mean, at least haven't you
39:30
have to watch it. Have an opinion if you know what
39:34
you've sold. Me, I'll go this week.
39:35
Maybe I'll read the book as well.
39:37
Well, I'm on holiday. You might you might not like it,
39:40
but it's quite hot. But at.
39:41
Least I'll know. Although it's there's no nudity,
39:45
but it's very hot. So we can finish off, we're
39:56
going to talk about the Winter Olympics, the 2026 Winter
39:59
Olympics in Milan Cortina, which has just finished up this
40:03
weekend. So that's a big topic, the
40:05
Winter Olympics. I'm going to break it down into
40:07
a few things that happened. We're going to focus largely on
40:11
women's stories from this because we are women and it's
40:14
about time we got back in our wheelhouse, right?
40:18
This year was the most equal Winter Olympics in history with
40:23
representation. It's 47% women, so it's not
40:26
quite 5050. It's 47% women and there were
40:33
several stories. From.
40:35
The women's side of it that were absolutely amazing.
40:37
So one of them is ice dancing. Is it ice dancing?
40:44
Artistic skating, I think it's called Now you know the one I
40:47
mean. Yeah.
40:48
The one where the one where people spin around and do stuff
40:51
on ice and with like, you know, knives strapped to their feet.
40:54
That one. So Alyssa Liu is absolutely
40:58
amazing. She's the first American women
40:59
to win Olympic figure skating figure skating goal in 24 years.
41:04
She. Retired at 16.
41:06
So she decided she didn't want to do it anymore.
41:08
Retired at 16. She was absolutely amazing.
41:10
Hated skating. She took two years out and then
41:13
she went skiing at 18, and she just got this adrenaline rush
41:17
and realized that she'd been missing it from her skating.
41:19
So she came back and realized that it wasn't skating that she
41:23
hated, it was all the other stuff around it.
41:28
So she came back on her own terms, said she wasn't going to
41:31
have anyone criticizing her body and making her stay a certain
41:35
size and thinking just about the aesthetics of it.
41:38
She took complete artistic control of her programs, and she
41:41
won a world title and now an Olympic gold.
41:43
She said she didn't need to get the gold to elevate her
41:45
decisions, and she just knew that that she had to do it.
41:48
And it was just a really powerful story, I think.
41:51
Plus, she has the most amazing stripy hair.
41:53
Have you seen her? Yes, absolutely.
41:55
I've literally been Googling how I can do that with my hair if I
41:57
don't think I have enough. Right, OK.
42:01
So yeah, it was absolutely amazing.
42:04
To have that kind of trust in yourself and know what you want
42:08
to do and that you want to take part in a sport like this on
42:10
your own terms was absolutely fantastic.
42:12
In something that's so focused on aesthetics.
42:15
That was the the first story. Eileen Goo was another one that
42:21
came up. She is the she competed for
42:24
China. She won two silvers and a gold,
42:26
and she's the most decorated free skier in Olympic history.
42:29
She's got 6 medals. She's all of this while she was
42:31
studying at Stanford, working in fashion and recovering from
42:34
serious injuries. She's like, like, ridiculous.
42:38
Yeah, no hair. You're like, I got a bed.
42:43
So yeah, she's absolutely amazing.
42:44
She was asked in an interview, somebody said to a did she see
42:50
the silver as a failure? And she was like.
42:53
Lose the gold or did you win a silver or something?
42:56
Something about do you feel like you lost the gold?
42:59
Lost the gold or won a silver and she was a bit like, look,
43:03
I'm like the most decorated female free skier in history.
43:05
I'm good, which was amazing. And again, that was a level of
43:09
self trust from from all women in a competitive thing with
43:14
competitive field, which you're not really encouraged to.
43:18
We're supposed to be all Oh no, I'm just so grateful to be here.
43:22
So it was absolutely amazing. Again, both of those athletes
43:26
are Chinese American. So that there was a little bit
43:29
of discussion. Eileen Goo skated for skied for
43:33
China. So there was a little bit of a
43:36
kind of playing the two off against each other.
43:38
And when she had a traitor because because she skated for
43:42
China instead of the US. But that's it's there is their
43:45
heritage kind of being weaponized against each other
43:47
for a political narrative, which neither of them were slightly
43:51
bothered with. They were, you know, they are
43:53
athletes competing in their field.
43:57
They congratulated each other. These women are not a war.
44:00
We've spoken about women being pitted against each other
44:02
before. There's two more.
44:06
Let's go on a while. So the third one, the third one
44:09
is I, Antoinette, Antoinette Ripma de Jean.
44:14
I hope I pronounced that right. She was a Dutch speed skate.
44:19
Was is a Dutch speed skater. She won a gold medal in the 1500
44:23
meters and and a silver medal in another.
44:28
Another speed skating thing. I don't know.
44:31
This is not my sport. Speed skating and her husband.
44:35
Maybe. We're taking the focus off of
44:36
the winner here, but her husband was absolutely fantastic.
44:39
He was in the he was in the crowd and he was obviously just
44:43
so made-up and so supportive to watch her win.
44:45
He was doing the little hot hands and it's like the joy on
44:49
his face was just something to behold.
44:52
And that was that was beautiful. But again, it's he was, he was
44:57
there as support and he was obviously doing his job well, he
45:02
is now. There's the standard for
45:04
supporting, supporting your wife.
45:06
Yeah. Absolutely.
45:07
The benchmark he is. He's just that, yeah.
45:10
He has set the bat benchmark, but you know who didn't set the
45:13
benchmark? Tell me Gemma, men's hockey team
45:15
and president of the United States.
45:18
So the US men's hockey team won gold.
45:21
Yeah. But the US women's hockey team
45:24
also goal, they beat Canada in overtime and they both smashed
45:28
it. Basically US men's and women's
45:31
hockey team. So the women's hockey game was
45:34
only broadcast, wasn't broadcast on the main station.
45:38
So the final was broadcast on. They streamed it on Peacock.
45:41
There you go. Rather than putting on a prime
45:42
broadcast anyway, written that down somewhere so it wasn't
45:45
given the equal billing with the men's gold final.
45:49
And then after the men won, for some reason, they were parting
45:53
with the director of the FBI in the locker room.
45:55
No idea why, what he was doing there like you do.
45:58
And then Trump decided to give them a ring.
46:00
The men's hockey team, obviously not the women's hockey team, and
46:03
made some hilarious joke about he would probably be impeached
46:07
if he invited the women's team to the White House.
46:09
So yeah, again, I think he was referring to his actual
46:14
disgusting this an inability to speak to women like they're
46:18
human beings. But apparently that's funny.
46:20
And apparently all of the men's hockey team found that
46:23
absolutely hilarious as well, that the the women's hockey team
46:25
shouldn't be invited to the White House in case the
46:28
president of the United States did inappropriate things.
46:30
So funny, Kate, so funny. Then he did invite them to the
46:33
White House and. The best bit is they said.
46:37
Nah. You're right, which didn't the
46:39
football, I seem to remember the women's football team did the
46:42
same thing. Yeah.
46:44
You're right. We've done.
46:45
We've I. Love about all of this.
46:48
I mean, I haven't watched any of it or no, Actually, I did start
46:51
to watch, you know, people going down a freaking shoot on a tray.
46:56
Yeah, I mean, we get into some of these randoms and.
47:01
I and I and I sat there going, how do you discover you're good
47:04
at this and. Where do you come?
47:06
From I mean, clearly there's not a lot of snow or ice where I
47:10
live for a start, but I'm, you know, and I scared of heights
47:13
and I'm not I'm not going to do that.
47:14
I did start and then I, I mixed it all.
47:17
But what I've absolutely seen is how the women have absolutely
47:23
smashed it. But not only have they smashed
47:26
it, there's just doing their own thing.
47:30
We're just, they're just getting on with it.
47:32
You know, funny enough, women just getting on with it.
47:34
I mean, it's something we are very good at, but doing it on
47:37
their own terms. And I think I'm beginning to see
47:40
this more and more in women's sports.
47:41
And maybe this is one of the reasons why we're so excited by
47:45
women's sport as a whole. Hey, women are doing well and
47:48
women should be applauded and be seen doing sport because they
47:52
always have. But we didn't see it.
47:55
But there's this feeling that they're all like whether you're
47:57
looking at the lion or you're looking at the Winter Olympics
48:01
or the tennis or whatever, it feels like they're just starting
48:04
to say like, I am good at what I do and I know my stuff.
48:10
And you silly interviewer or you silly president or you silly
48:15
whoever Porter or whatever, it's just I'm doing it on my own
48:19
terms. And I think it's really that I
48:22
feel like that's a little bit of the inspiration that what's the
48:26
reason why it's inspiring us so much?
48:28
Because it's like, not only are they doing well, they're really
48:31
doing it on their own terms and loving that.
48:35
I think that I think that really, really is what's coming
48:38
across is that there's none of that.
48:40
I want to say flashiness, don't know if that's the right word
48:42
that, you know, you might see in men's sports where there's a lot
48:45
of that kind of posturing and personalities.
48:49
And not that you're not seeing personality in the women's
48:52
sports, but what you're seeing is women who have worked hard
48:55
for what they've achieved and are there for the achievement
48:59
and they're there for the sport. And that's been absolutely
49:02
fantastic to see. For each other, I feel like
49:05
against that thing. They were Alyssa Lou and um,
49:09
Eileen Goo were congratulating each other on their wins.
49:12
It's amazing though. This is like you could be
49:14
competitive without being an absolute arse apparently.
49:18
Maybe think of going back to football again, you know, like
49:21
when when we won line exercises, you know, because they actually
49:25
play often with the other team in day-to-day football.
49:30
You know, they'll go and they'll hug them and they'll if they're
49:33
crying, I'll go and hold them and things.
49:35
And maybe that's just a little bit of empathy.
49:38
And you know, that female part of us as well, you know, we're
49:42
working together and whilst we are competing, we are still
49:47
friends. Or even if we're not friends, we
49:48
are respectful of each other. And I think that was amazing.
49:52
I'm, I'm interested on the the figure skater, how you can come
49:57
back and do it all on your own terms, because surely you're
49:59
part of the American team, of which they're probably more than
50:03
just you. And there's rules, I'm presuming
50:07
from a governing body. You know, you can't use this
50:09
kind of music or you have to be, well, your coach might be saying
50:13
you have to be this size, you know, like, how do you, as
50:16
you're independent, how do you do it on your own terms?
50:20
I. Think that that was part of the
50:21
issues. Obviously she will be abiding by
50:24
the rules of the governing body and all that kind of thing.
50:26
But what she was saying is that she's not going to allow is
50:30
other people to tell her how she should interpret rules and how
50:36
she should perform her art. Essentially, because something
50:39
like figure skating is it's is you do it within rules, but it
50:43
but it but it's artistic. So I think that that was a very
50:47
important thing that aesthetic. Sports like that also quite
50:51
often similar to ballet, come with this feeling that women
50:55
need to be small and take up less space in them as well.
50:58
And I think that's one of the things that she kind of put her
51:00
foot down about is that no one's going to tell me that I need to
51:04
lose weight just to look pretty on the ice.
51:06
You know, if I'm muscular because I've been training
51:09
really hard, then so be it. Similar to Simone Biles in the
51:13
gymnastics way, because rhythmic gymnastics and that kind of
51:16
thing is another sport that has a very specific body shape
51:20
associated with it and aesthetics for women, which
51:23
tries to shove women into a little a little pretty box.
51:27
And it's not. Then allowing them to be
51:30
athletes in a space it's. Child boxes, though, isn't it?
51:33
They actually suppress their periods and things, you know,
51:36
it's not just a little box. You have to be like a 12 year
51:39
old box. Yes.
51:40
Even though you're, you're a woman, you know.
51:43
Yeah. So which is so dangerous as
51:45
well. So the fact that they're coming
51:47
out and going, No, I can be successful and amazing at my
51:50
sport, but not to follow those rules, I think.
51:53
But not have you not have somebody else in control of my
51:58
bit And she and she's so good at what she does is that she can do
52:02
that because she can get she knows she's good.
52:04
She can go well, do you want me on Team USA then this is how
52:08
it's going to be that kind of setting your own terms.
52:11
I think is is is absolutely amazing and.
52:15
They're Trail Blazers because so somebody like Simone Biles and
52:18
what she's done will have helped pave the way, even though it's
52:21
it's not, it's it's not Winter Olympics, but you know, well,
52:25
it's just sport, let's face it. But it's similar in that
52:29
expectation. It's very similar.
52:31
So Simone will have paved the way.
52:33
So I think This is why it's so important to applaud these women
52:35
with each time these things happen, they're paving the way
52:39
for the next generation to realize that they don't have to
52:42
conform to outdated sexist narratives.
52:49
But also dangerous. I mean they also, you know also
52:54
that you can tell. People who question you about it
52:56
to naff off. That was polite, wasn't it?
52:59
It's funny, the whole silver thing, even if it's the.
53:01
President. But the whole silver, gold
53:06
thing, you know, it's funny because of course you want to
53:08
win. Let's face it, you go to win.
53:11
But when we celebrate our our, not your and I, they've never
53:15
done the Olympics. And our teams, you know, when
53:18
the media etcetera celebrates how many medals Britain has got,
53:22
it says how many total and then how many goals.
53:26
So in other words, we celebrate the silvers and the bronzes
53:29
because they're medals. It's great.
53:31
So we all do that. But then a journalist to say,
53:34
oh, have you lost the gold or did you win the silver?
53:37
It's like, well, especially for the away because because you
53:40
didn't get the gold, but like what thing to say to somebody
53:44
well done. You did really well.
53:46
Not, not as well as you could have done you.
53:49
Know what I mean? One of the I know exactly what
53:51
you mean. Yeah.
53:52
Like I did really well. I tried really hard.
53:55
Not. Totally, though Gemma not
53:56
totally not hard enough enough I.
54:00
One of the things that I really do love about seeing this as
54:02
well, we've talked, I've, I've spoken before about the fact
54:05
that I had that I played roller Derby.
54:06
I was played, I played for the Norfolk Broads as a team.
54:09
I was on BBC Sport once, literally I was a slow motion
54:13
replay, but I didn't start skating.
54:16
I didn't start playing roller Derby.
54:17
I didn't really start doing any sport until I was in my and a
54:21
fair distance into my 30s as well.
54:24
One of the things that was amazing as I progressed through
54:27
the 10 years in that sport was watching people come in, women
54:31
come in, and they were in their early 20s.
54:33
Absolutely amazing watching women get into something like
54:36
this, like a grassroots sports like roller Derby when they're
54:39
only in their 20s. And if I'd have actually been in
54:43
been allowed or felt like sports was something that could be for
54:46
me when I was in my 20s, who knows where I could be now.
54:49
I mean, probably still exactly here, but that's not the .1 of
54:52
the things I love about. And this is one of the things
54:55
that was so disappointing about the decision to put the women's
54:58
hockey final on a less on a streaming on Peacock was that it
55:03
means a lot, I think for younger generations to see women's sport
55:08
on television. All the arguments that women
55:11
don't make as much money and women aren't as good as men are
55:14
all absolutely fed by the fact that it's not available to see
55:18
that women don't get to see that.
55:20
So therefore women don't get into sports as early.
55:21
They haven't had 100 years of high level competitive sport and
55:26
coaching and sports science research behind them.
55:31
So whenever we see this on television and we see these
55:34
fantastic moments and we see these women achieving amazing
55:37
things and then standing up and saying that they they did it on
55:41
their own terms and they will continue to do this on their own
55:43
terms and that all of you guys can all naff off.
55:47
I'm so polite today. So was.
55:48
The women's and men's final at the same time, hence having to
55:52
go on different channels I. Don't think so because.
55:55
I was going to say, if that's the case, there needs to be a
55:57
word with the Olympic body, whoever runs the Olympic body,
56:01
because don't put them on at the same time.
56:03
Yeah. They don't normally put like the
56:05
finals of two sports like that at the same time.
56:07
Because if you're a fan of that sport, you're going to want to.
56:10
Of both finals. Yeah.
56:12
So it was the American broadcasters was it that decided
56:15
they didn't need to be on? Yeah, I think they.
56:17
They called it A, they called it a low demand and streamed it
56:21
streamed it rather than giving it a prime time slot.
56:24
Yeah. And they'll they'll say, oh,
56:25
there isn't as much sponsorship. And it's like, yeah, maybe, but
56:28
or for example. Because they know they're not
56:30
going to get as much exposure because you're going to put them
56:32
on and. Also, if you yeah, if you never
56:34
do it, they'll never get it. So yeah.
56:37
Exactly that's how this. Works, I know and it's things
56:40
you know, although football in this country, well the Euros are
56:44
obviously shown, so the women's EUR or the Women's World Cup is
56:48
shown and that's. The thing only just to happen
56:51
though, wasn't it? Absolutely.
56:53
Particularly because we started to do well, I suppose when we
56:56
weren't kind of doing anything, we didn't show it as well.
56:59
But we can week out. Sport is not women's sport is
57:03
not part on the television still.
57:04
But then there isn't the sponsorship and there is, but
57:06
it's, it's chicken and egg, isn't it?
57:08
They're not going to get the viewers if you don't actually
57:11
show it. And if you don't have the
57:13
viewers, you're not going to sponsorship.
57:14
But you can't get sponsored if you haven't got the viewers who
57:15
know you've put it on. You know, it's just like, yeah,
57:18
OK. I did a quick Google while you
57:19
were saying that. OK.
57:21
I wanted to confirm that the men's, it looks like the women's
57:23
final was on the 19th and the men's was three days later on
57:25
the. 22nd because I was gonna just say, hey, Olympic body,
57:29
whoever you are, I don't know who it is, but it'd be the.
57:33
IOC. IOC, that's not on, but I will.
57:37
I'm glad I didn't say that then. I think overall it's been
57:40
amazing and I think the television, well, I'm now going
57:43
to say something positive about the BBC.
57:45
Are you? Every time I go on iPlayer
57:51
anyway, there's there seems to be a lot of coverage of the
57:55
Winter Olympics and I feel like I've never seen so much Winter
57:59
Olympics on my television than I that ever before unless I was
58:03
living under a rock four years ago.
58:05
You. May have been.
58:07
You may have been. I may have been, but the point
58:09
is, is actually a lot of it has been shown, which is really
58:14
good. You know, I'm appreciative that
58:17
that it's been it's been there and highlighted because having
58:20
watched some of it, I mean, a, how hard have they worked?
58:23
But also some of it, I mean, they're crazy people.
58:26
Like let's just laugh off a thing.
58:28
Yeah. Attached to our feet and do some
58:31
assaults with them. Attached to our feet and inland,
58:34
yeah. The Winter Olympics creative
58:36
ways to throw yourself down a hill.
58:38
It's. Like amazing.
58:39
Like, they are all amazing. Yeah.
58:41
Thank you for joining us for another roundup of midlife chat,
58:44
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58:46
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