180 - Rebroadcast: Bad Teachers, Good Advice and the Default Male

Jun 22, 2021

In this rebroadcast, Aline Brosh McKenna joins John and Craig to discuss how movies featuring good mentors (Dead Poet’s Society, To Sir with Love) differ from films with bad mentors (Whiplash, The Devil Wears Prada). It’s not just that the teachers are bad guys; rather, the stories are structured completely differently.

We also discuss the “default male problem,” especially how it relates to comedy and the cleanest version of a joke. John asks Craig and Aline about some ethical quandaries he’s been facing, ranging from awards voting to who is a “friend.”

And in our bonus segment for premium members, John and Craig have a dialogue on dialogue. They discuss the process of developing the Scriptnotes book and the differences between how we speak/write/write speech.

Links:

• Sign up for updates and sample chapters on the Scriptnotes Book here!
• Aline Brosh McKenna on episodes 60, 76, 100, 101, 119, 123, 124 152, 161, and 175
• Raphael Bob-Waksberg Breaks Down Comedy’s “Default Male” Problem
• Writers on Writing: Simon Kinberg available in season four.
• Read the Whiplash screenplay on Weekend Read
• Evernote Scannable
• The Comeback on HBO
• Jason Hall in WGAw’s Written By
• Ryan Reynolds is now on Twitter
• Get a Scriptnotes T-shirt!
• Gift a Scriptnotes Subscription or treat yourself to a premium subscription!
• John August on Twitter
• Aline Brosh Mckenna on Twitter
• John on Instagram
• Outro by Rajesh Naroth (send us yours!)
• Scriptnotes is produced by Megana Rao and edited by Matthew Chilelli.

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You can download the episode here.