Feb 07 2025 92 mins
The winner of our recent Listener Choice Lottery was our friend Monique (of Monique’s Movie Madness, @moniques_movie_madness on TikTok). Her movie? The Legend of Billie Jean (1985). Not only had neither of us ever seen this movie, we'd barely even heard of it. But boy is it a hidden gem. Pure sleazy '80s goodness.
Helen Slater plays our hero: Billie Jean, a 17-year-old resident of Corpus Christi, Texas. The year is 1985, and she’s going up against the many injustices life throws at her, with the help of her spunky younger brother Binx (Christian Slater), the live-action Lisa Simpson (Yeardley Smith), and a hunky movie nerd named Lloyd (Keith Gordon). Spoiler alert: She wins. But the real winner is YOU, the viewing public.
Bonus video: We each name an actor we just can’t stand. Who can’t you stand?? Watch it on our Twitter, BlueSky, Instagram, or TikTok.
Next week:
Feb. 12 - The Truman Show exclusively on Patreon!
Feb. 14 - Twilight with special guests, Rose and Courtney from the Fiction Fixation podcast!
Subscribe to our Patreon, Load Bearing Beams: Collector's Edition for $5 a month to get two extra episodes! patreon.com/loadbearingbeams
Time stamps:
00:03:05 — Monique’s history with The Legend of Billie Jean
00:13:00 — History segment: A brief history of The Legend of Billie Jean via original screenwriter Walter Bernstein, director Matthew Robbins, and star Helen Slater
00:20:16 — In-depth movie discussion
01:26:22 — Final thoughts and star ratings
Artwork by Laci Roth.
Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).
Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:
“Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM
“Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg
“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ
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