Episode 16 - Happiness

In this episode, I welcome Isobel back to the show! After getting distracted with other topics (mostly, my recent rewatch of Season 3 of The Wire - minor spoilers for that show) we turn to an examination of the VERY dark comedy/drama movie Happiness (Todd Solondz, 1998). Skip straight to 34 minutes in for that.

It’s a fun conversation, but also touches on some very dark themes, as the movie does. So, content warnings for discussion of harassment, sexual abuse/paedophilia and sexual assault.

0.00 Intro

0.14 The Wire (Season 3 mostly)

0.34 Happiness (pt 1 – Helen, Allen, Christina, Lenny/Mona, Joy/Vlad)

1.41 Happiness (pt 2 – Bill, Billy, Trish)

You can find the show on Twitter at @EGoat_pod (or tweet at me on @D_Faggiani) and email us with any feedback on [email protected]. All our episodes so far are now on Spotify,  our YouTube channel, and Apple Podcasts! Do spread the word!

Isobel is a full time Nomad who travels from home to home, house-sitting and exploring new places. Her blog, house-sitting booking form, and online shop can be found here: https://www.thenomadlifestyle.co.uk/. She previously appeared on Episode 2 of this podcast, where we discussed Star Trek: Voyager, and Episode 6, where we discussed All Good Things/The TNG movies/Star Trek: Picard.

All original intro, outro and other incidental music recorded and made available by kind permission of Richard Gilbert.

NOTES

The Wire podcast I just discovered is The Wire: Way Down In The Hole by Jemele Hill and Van Lathan. Recommended!

You can find the hilariously-and-inappropriately-jaunty contemporary US Theatrical trailer for Happiness (played in the episode) on YouTube here, alongside the clip of Todd Solondz on Conan O’Brien in 1998, from which we play an excerpt. You can find information on Stop SO, the sexual abuse prevention charity Isobel mentions, on their website.