Elvira: Mistress of the Dark w. Safe Slut

Hello, you and welcome to You Are Good, a feelings podcast about movies. Today we are talking about Elvira, Mistress of the Dark, and we are talking about it with the glorious, safe slut. I am your host for today's episode, Alex Steed, but before we get into all that, I have a message from the marvelous Sarah Marshall. Hello, this is your friend Sarah, and I have a little bit of bittersweet news today, which is that I'm not going to be returning to this show. I am walking off into the sunset. It has been the greatest joy and the most wonderful experience to share this with you and to share my loves with you and the movies that I love most and some of the people that I love most. And truly one of the things that dragged my barely animated corpse through the pandemic and the difficult years after. And now I feel like it is time for me to hand this over to the amazing Alex Steed and to the beautiful hands of Miranda Zickler. This is the part where I'm supposed to talk about new projects, but I'm not excited about new projects. I'm excited to be doing less with my brain. Thank you for sharing these years with me and for maybe watching Manhunter if you did. It means a lot. Bye. Thank you so much, Sarah. Happy trails and Miranda does have beautiful hands, doesn't she? The opportunity to make this show, as Sarah just said, has been one of the greatest pleasures of my life and the greatest opportunities of my life. And doing it with Sarah and shaping it with Sarah and figuring out how to talk about things like feelings and culture and empathy while also, you know, talking about folks' favorite movies really got me through this wild stretch of time that we have all had. And to do it with all of you has been amazing and to kick it off with Carolyn Kendrick, who was our founding producer, and to keep that going with just amazing Miranda Zickler, who is our producer and really in so many ways the heart of the operation. This has just been glorious and it's not, and we are not going anywhere. We're still here doing the thing and, you know, I'm going to miss doing the thing with Sarah because this has been a venue for some of the best and most thoughtful and most thought and heart-provoking conversations I've ever had and has been in this context. And I'm grateful that we have done what we've done and made what we've made. And we're going to keep making this show where the intention is to be a feelings podcast about movies. We're here talking about movies. We're here talking about people's favorite movies. And we are thinking about how they make us feel and how they make us relate with ourselves and with the people we love and the rest of the world. And we're going to keep doing that with a bunch of people who you know from the show already. We're going to keep doing it with a bunch of people who you don't yet know. And that's the mission. So I hope you will keep hanging with us as we progress because I love being able to do this with you. And I love that you come along for the ride. But yeah, to you, Sarah, thank you so much for having made this whole thing possible and having shaped this thing and having had literally hundreds of hours of conversations about, you know, movies thought provoking and less than thought provoking. But always heart forward, always feelings forward and always empathy forward. It has been, it's been an honor to be able to do this and to be able to shape this with you. And I'm grateful for all of those opportunities and for all of us to be here together. So I'm still here. We're still making the show. Miranda is still producing. We're still doing the thing. And I hope you'll join us on this march into the great unknown. Although, you know, we'll still be doing known things. Maybe I need a better visual metaphor. But truly, thanks for everything, Sarah. The ways that you have changed and helped to shape the way I see and engage the world are many and plentiful. And I, and I know I'm not speaking just for me, but we all appreciate it so much. And we look forward to continuing to listen to wherever your voice pops up in our lives. You are good. The feelings podcast about movies is exactly what it sounds like. This is a show where we talk about movies and we talk about how they make us think about who and how we are in this world. That's what we're doing here. It's simple. We're not film critics. We are here to talk about feelings, to talk about the feelings and movies of, though occasionally we do get a little critical. We're doing this other thing instead. Elvira Mistress of the Dark is a 1988 American comedy horror film starring Cassandra Peterson as eccentric horror host Elvira. Of course, of course, of course. Save Slet, a.k.a. Trisha, is a educator, an activist, writes a newsletter, hosts a podcast called Shadow Band. It's just an all around wonderful person. We talk about her work in the opening of this episode kind of more extensively than we talk about most folks things. So you'll get a sense of what she does and what she's all about in the beginning of our chat. But I am so happy that she is here and I am so happy that she picked Elvira Mistress of the Dark. What a blessing of a conversation we have had. And what a blessing this movie is, by the way. It is a good one. Anyway, how are you doing? What's going on in your world? How are you feeling? How are you showing up for this moment? Maybe you've done all the showing up you can up to show right now and you're taking a little rest so you can show up some more later. What is going on in that head and heart of yours? I want to know. Did you catch the halftime show and the related rigamarow on your uncle's Facebook page? What a beautiful, cool show. That was. And then the result and fall. However, you are showing up whatever you're doing, however, you're taking care of yourself so you can show up some more later. Whatever is happening out there for you. However, you are participating as a means of staving off the dread. It is so lovely hearing from y'all who say that hearing that is important to you and you let me know how you were showing up. However, you're doing the thing. Don't forget that you, my friend, are good. You are good. A feelings podcast about movies is made possible with and by your support. Thanks to everyone who supports us on Patreon and Apple Podcast subscriptions. You get bonus episodes. We have a heck of a, I can't even, I'm not even going to say what it is. We have a heck of a coming up this month. You also get a monthly extended cut of an episode over there. And you get that in exchange for supporting the show. And by you supporting the show, we're able to pay for the entire operation, which is fabulous, especially in these times supporting indie media is huge. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Please join me in supporting our friends in Gaza and in Palestine. Palestine Children's Relief Fund is a great place to start. You can find a link to that in the show notes. There are all sorts of places to engage and be helpful. That is a great place to start. All right. That's enough introduction for one episode about Elvira. Let's get into it, shall we? Let's talk about Elvira, Mistress of the Dark. Hello, safe slot. Hello. How are you doing this fine, whatever day it is? It's Wednesday. How are you doing this fine Wednesday? It's Wednesday. It's good. It's my like, technically, it's my Saturday because I'm off from work. So I'm actually having a great day. Beautiful. Yes. I really appreciate you being here looking at you. I am not surprised that you picked Elvira Mistress of the Dark for the movie that we're going to watch. Yeah, it checks out. Before we get to why it checks out, tell me a bit about yourself. Like, who are you? What do you do? How might people know you? How would you like people to know you? Yeah, I feel like most people on the internet know me as safe slut, the girl who talks about herpes constantly. So I started my brand safe slut after I was diagnosed with genital herpes like six years ago now, which is like crazy. And I started just destigmatizing STIs in general, and then it kind of turned into a whole like sex positive thing. So now I talk about like queerness, dating, sex work, STIs. And I just usually it's through memes and then also writing. So I'm also a writer, which I have a sub stack and Patreon. And then I also do like herpes support calls and stuff like that. Instead of your your personal experience, what compels you to speak to these things? Like what I mean, I guess personal experience would be a huge thing. But like, why what do you think is missing with regard to conversations, particularly about STIs, which I agree, I feel like there's a dearth of that sort of conversation. Yeah, well, I grew up Catholic, so I got no sex education. And I also grew up very slutty, which is very Catholic of me. And so I got like slut shame pretty bad when I was in high school. So there was always things I like wanted to say about slut shaming, feminism. And then when I got an STI was like, wait, is this like, do I deserve this? Which is like my Catholic guilt coming out. And then it just made me realize that no one is talking about sexual health, or making it a priority to talk about with potential partners, as well as there's a lot of people who don't get tested. And those are the people who are shaming people who do get STIs, because it is extremely common. Most people just don't know about it. Right. Yeah. I feel like it's wild how opinionated people who have little information can be. Yeah. And I see it every day on the internet. So we will see it in this movie. This is sort of a perfect one. So what all of that said, what is your relationship with Elvira Cassandra Peterson, etc. She is like my number one idol. Like if I had to like pick someone to meet, like it would be her. I think I was always strong to her. Like I'm a big horror movie fan. I don't think I knew who she was until I was in college, though. Like I didn't know her growing up. But I like immediately became obsessed with her. And I feel like I love her wittiness and like euphemisms. Like that's my like ideal comedy type. Like I think she's just hilarious. And I think she's really she also was someone who got like slut shamed for being Elvira in the 80s. I read she has an amazing autobiography that came out a few years ago. And she talks a lot about that. So I feel like I like see a lot of similarities in style, life experience and things like that. Well, I wasn't a groupie in a band and like, so I'm not that similar, I guess, but I want to be and actually have her tattooed on my arm. Oh, beautiful. There she is. Yeah. It was one of my first tattoos also. Yeah. That's excellent. Yeah, she she's so fascinating to me. It was I've seen this movie a number of times over the course of my life. And I've read that autobiography as well. And I don't know if she mentions it, but somehow this was like the first time that I realized that like, she's like visually, right? Like a slutty kind of bimbo vampire vampire vampire ask groucho Marx. Like she's just doing 100 year old one liners. And they're so good. They're so delightful. Campiness is my favorite. And like, she's so campy. It's just yeah, it's incredible. Yeah, she's really, she's really great. And then just like this whole, you know, we'll get through the plot momentarily, but this whole the arc of this movie, especially the arc of this movie coming out sort of on the heels of or like right in the middle of the heat of the satanic panic, like this is a town that has a morality club like they're and they're trying to make sure that the Elvira of it all doesn't taint the town. And what do they learn that Elvira was there to save them all? Yes, yes, it's it's so perfect. I'd love to go back and ask about your lived tension with growing up Catholic and also being slutty. Like, yeah, how did that play out for you? Meaning like, were you like, I have these feelings and I have desire and I don't know what to do with it? Or were you like, I kind of know what they want me to do with it, but I'm going for it anyway. Like what, how did that work for you? It was, I feel like it was like a mix of both. So I feel like, well, also just to add like queerness to another layer of this, I like realized I was queer when I was eight. And I remember being like, wait, this is horrible. Like I cannot, like this is bad. So I like put that out of my mind for many, many years. And when I was in, I think like eighth or ninth grade, that's when I started like doing more than just kissing with boys. And I remember other classmates would like find out and like call me like easy or my name's Trisha. So they would call me Trasha. Oh, wow. Yeah. Of course. Yeah, of course. Yeah. And I have a trash can tattoo because yeah, I love it. And I remember writing in my journal, I actually was like recently looking at it. And this was like a journal entry from like 10th grade where I was like, why are the boys that I'm like doing things with like not getting any like attention or negative feedback? Whereas like, I'm the one who's getting slut shamed. And I didn't use, I didn't have the verbiage of slut shaming at that time. Or just, I remember just being like, I don't think like sexuality is something bad. So I don't know why people are like repressing things. I think that just makes things worse. And when I read that, I was like, wow, I always was safe slot. So I think having so I think it was like a mix of both. Like I remember being in like CCD and watching like an abortion and then being brainwashed into saying how horrible it is. So I remember at one point I was like, yeah, like I'm pro life. Like why would, you know, but then that quickly changed. I think like right when I went to college, I was like, wait a second here. I was brainwashed. Yeah. Yeah. And do you I'm curious about what like I increasingly, I feel like talk about sexuality both here on the show and out in the world in one way or another, largely not dictated by but largely informed by the social groups that I am with a lot of the time. And I am often hearing from people who come from one of the many branches of purity culture, either be it sort of the Catholic arm of just straight up classic Catholicism or the purity culture arm of the evangelicals or Mormon, whatever. What do you tend to hear from people who are kind of having their own revelations who are looking to your content for some sort of clarity? I wonder if there are some like common messages or themes that you hear? Yeah, I think it was interesting because I have a lot of men on my OnlyFans who are just coming to terms that they're not only like a sexual person, but they're also like super leftist. So I have a lot of like people who like used to be MAGA or grew up very conservative who like follow me because they think I'm like this like leftist goddess, which is true. And so they're like they like have like I have like political discussions with my OnlyFans subscribers. That's like a big majority of it. So it's kind of a combination of like how everything is like intersectional of like politics, sexuality, like everything. And on Instagram, because that's mostly women on there, it's people usually come because they were diagnosed with an STI. But recently, like I've met people who are like, oh, I follow you. I just got through a divorce and like you've helped me like embrace my sluttiness. So I think that's another thing too. I think it's just an overall people grew up with purity culture, whether they were religious or not. And I think they see my brand as a way of like embracing yourself and like freedom and being open with your sexuality, whatever that means. Yeah, yeah. I think you really you hit a nail. You hit many nails on the don't get wrong with this. We're saying whether or not they grow up in a purity culture or not. The thing that I remember kind of from just being a pop culture weirdo generally, but then from reading the autobiography of Al Raira of Cassandra Peterson is you'll recall that she was a corps mascot, like she was sort of selected to be a corps mascot. And then that was revoked because the company has like strange deeply. Well, it's not strange actually pretty mainstream, deeply puritanical views on sex and sexuality. And so I think like a lot of times like when, you know, for example, if you were enjoying Al Raira as a mascot for let's say a beer company, and then suddenly you're like, why am I not seeing Al Raira very much anymore? And you don't know why it's because the culture itself is a purity culture. Yeah, exactly. I mean, it's like, yeah, I mean, obviously it's like religious, religiously, whatever, but it's also like just in the world in general and like just like a patriarchal capitalist society that we are in that like hates women being open. And then with the corps that I'm pretty sure they revoked it just because like she was showing too much cleavage. And that was like their reasoning. Yeah. And to me, it like that really spoke to me when I was reading it because I am constantly censored and shadow banned on social media. So like I can relate it's like all post a photo where it's like not risque because I try my best to follow the rules and they'll just automatically be like, this is like sexual imagery. And it's like, sorry, I have tits. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's really interesting. It's like I'm a photographer and end up working with sort of a lot of folks in our overlapping peer groups. And like I will often if I post something and tag someone will end up asking them if it's okay to post that because if they have consecutively run into like various like shadow bans or sort of like shutdowns just being tagged and stuff can be a threat to their livelihood. And I think like a lot of people just don't realize how rigorously and nonsensically censored the social media apps are and not about anything explicit. Like there is a weird math to what is okay and what is not. And it really gets in the way of folks livelihoods as a result. Yeah, it's really scary. Like I've been deleted a couple of times. And I have like panic attacks sometimes or like I'll wake up at like three in the morning and be like, let's check if my Instagram is still there. Yeah, it's really hard. I'm actually recording a podcast episode for my podcast, which is called shadow band about like how to do your best with like the censorship that we deal with because a lot of people are like, it's always changing the algorithm changes the rules change constantly. Like even I've heard TikTok right now is horrible because it's basically aligned with ice now and it's like tracking everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's it's quite a time. If you are using these apps, it is good actually to check in with the people who get censored the most to understand sort of how that will affect you because even if it's not affecting you directly, it is affecting you downstream for sure. Yes. So let's why don't we talk about what Elvira Mistress of the Dark is? Yes. Yes, yes, yes. Okay, so Elvira Mistress of the Dark, my mother recently told me and this is one of my favorite personal facts. I knew the names of like a lot of actors for the roles that they played very, very early on. So like I could name all of the Ghostbusters when I was like three years old, they're like names. Like I was like, that is Dan Aykroyd, like that is Harold Ramos. I knew who directed the movie, etc. And she was like, the name you knew the most was Cassandra Peters. Could the most important name? Yeah. Absolutely. A little queer, horny weirdo from the get go. And I'm so glad about it. So Elvira Mistress of the Dark, this movie was on television all the time when I was a kid. It was a real sweet spot of a time for this being on often. This is a movie that is based on Cassandra Petersen's alter ego Elvira, of course. Elvira was the like a horror host in the tradition, the great tradition of television horror host. If people don't realize before there was like the nationalization isn't the right term. But like before all TV was made in one place and beamed to the rest. Often TV was made regionally. And there were various local celebrities within the TV networks who did kind of their own television programming on top of national television programming. And Elvira was one of the Paul Thomas Anderson's dad was another one, which is very funny. Paul Thomas Anderson's dad was a horror host as well. There's lots of lots of different folks who did this. Her character was Elvira. She had a program called Elvira's Movie Macabre. And this was a character that was born out of the Grandlings. And folks saw this and they're like, we need a movie of it. And I agree. We have Elvira who and this is another thing that we've talked about on the show. The 80s was such an interesting time for people who were in character as their character almost all of the time. And so it was occasionally shocking if you learned about who they actually were. The obviously the biggest example of this was Paul Rubin's, the Peabee Herman character, eventually abruptly and sort of nefariously, not in his part, but on the part of authorities, we suddenly learned that Peabee Herman was Paul Rubin's by way of his, let's say, shitty arrest. And suddenly one of these many characters like Freddie Kruger's kind of like this and Elvira is like this. There were just like people who you just knew in the culture who you didn't necessarily like know or engage with who their alter ego was. Yeah, suddenly we knew him via his mugshot, real bummer. So anyway, we have Elvira. She is a horror host. So we basically like have the version of Elvira that people were seeing on Los Angeles television in this movie. She decides that after being just overtly harassed isn't even the correct word assaulted by her boss that she is going to leave town in order to, in order to put on a Elvira-centered act at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. I just got back from Las Vegas for AVN and I was really shocked to breathe Los Angeles air and feel good about breathing air for him. I was like, this is a lot better. Yeah, it was I was I breathed the air the second I got here and was like almost high from it. And I was like, oh, yeah, it's not recycled cigarettes. That's why this feels so good. But in order to do this, she needs to raise $50,000. And oh my god, fortunately, the minute she realizes the price tag of this night show that she wants to put on, she finds out that her great aunt Morgana Talbot has died in Massachusetts. And there's an inheritance. So she has to drive across the country in order to learn about what money might be there for her. Before we go further, can you describe for anybody who does not know what Elvira's look is, what Elvira's look is? So she is she's always in the same black long dress that has like a huge slit. And it has like a nice little belt that has like a little sword on it. And then she just has these like massive tits that are just like always out like it's like a crazy plunging neckline. And then like long bell sleeve. So it's basically it's very like vampira. I know she got like, I think suit at one point that like vampira like actually was like you stole my look. Yeah, I think there was some trouble there. Yes. Yeah. And then she has this kind of like mullet e wig that's like she has like really long black hair that's wavy and then this huge like mullet on top essentially. It's like a big bump bit. And then really cool like purple and blue makeup and like always a red lip and then always black long nails. So like goth queen. This was really the first time I tried to take in her hair. Like because it's just going in different directions in a really fascinating way. Like from her eye line, it's straight down. And then from there up, it's like a bump like but like the biggest bump you've ever seen. Because it's like an 80s hairdo. But it's like I remember reading about why they like chose that. But I don't remember specifically what it is. But essentially to me like she's just in drag. Like that's like that's that's drag. Yeah. I mean, absolutely. This is she is doing drag and it is truly a fantastic and memorable look. I am curious about who does not know who Elvira is, but welcome. Welcome to the team. I know. I think a lot of straight people with no taste. Maybe. And this is a movie about her going to a town of straight people with no taste. Yeah. Which is and of course it is important to note that she has to go back to this town, which is called Falwell, Massachusetts. Falwell being a nod to Jerry Falwell, the far right wing Christian conservative evangelist. She goes to Massachusetts. She her inheritance includes a mansion, which like it's funny to me. Oh crap, this house. And we learned that it's like $70,000. And like the millennial play is like, give me a house. Like I will take living quarters that cost 70,000 dollars. Yeah. No, like, but actually I'm like, I'm like, she's like, oh, I have to get rid of this. And then like paint it this like horrible like rainbow color. I'm like, she should have painted a flag. Like girl, keep the house. Yeah. Keep the house. Keep the house. And then travel to Vegas to your show. Yeah. Yes. Oh my gosh. It's yeah. You don't know what you have. The 80s had no idea what it was losing. So yeah, she she inherits this house. She inherits Morgana's pet poodle, Algonquin, or who will later be named Gaonk, which is amazing. Yes. And our recipe book, which we learn is ultimately a spell book that her uncle, Uncle Vinny, I think. Uncle Vinny. Not his given name that her uncle really wants. And so when she gets to the town and I like we could I feel like we could and should talk about this all day about the dynamic of her getting to the town because she gets there and people are not stoked about how she looks about her overall air. She runs into the innkeepers who don't want to give her a room while the woman who run who runs the inn doesn't want to give her a room. Her husband was a little more forgiving, let's say. Yeah. He's like, she's pretty. She can stay. And then the daughter is like fixated on her. Totally. Yeah. Like, yeah. Tell me about again, as a young person who maybe grew up with a bit of repression. Tell me about the daughter's fixation on Elvira. It's really relatable because I feel like I was not allowed to wear. I remember getting in trouble for wearing short skirts in sixth grade by definitely like by a dad. My mom was like, she looks cute. My dad was like, she can't wear that. Or like wearing makeup too young, like I would get in trouble for that. So seeing someone it's like it's kind of like similar to Dolly Parton in a way. Someone who's like so overdone, so over the top is like so striking to me. And like, it feels really powerful. So like I totally see myself from the daughter being like, oh my god, like this woman is like beautiful and like I'm obsessed. And then like she's like, oh, like my parents would never let me wear makeup and Elvira is like she like makes some like funny line where she's like, oh yeah, like same thing about me like in like the orphanage or something. But then she was like, of course I was six or something. It's so funny that you bring up and you're so right bringing up Dolly Parton because there's that classic story she tells where there was a woman in town who dressed exactly like she dresses now and sort of like, and she had like long nails and she had red lips and she had, I think she might mention that she had big tits or whatever and she had big like blocks blonde hair. And she asked, I think her one of her parents or one of her family members who that was and she was like, oh, well that's trash. And she was like, well, I want to be trash. Yes, yes, exactly. Yeah, I feel like Elvira is like the goth Dolly Parton. Yeah, yeah, that's exactly right. Yeah, it's so funny. And they're like, you know, this Elvira as we see sort of like her character is a bit more like sardonic, I guess. But like at the end of the day, their lessons are ultimately the same, which is like, just like be cool and don't be a dick. Yeah, like just like, yeah, do whatever you want and just be nice. Yeah, I really, I love it. So yeah, everyone is not stoked that she's there. Also including, I cannot remember the character's name. I have to look it up. But oh, Chastity Pariah, which is the funniest, which is, which is itself like a dragon. Like Chastity Pariah, who is played wonderfully by Edie McClurg, who is famously playing strains and automobiles. And in Ferris Bueller's Day Off, she's just the best. Yes, yes. She is the head of the Morality Club. And then there are some people who don't even care that Elvira is a violation of morality, whatever sort of morality expectations. There is Patty, the bowling alley owner who does not like Elvira because she's intimidated. She's intimidated and because of Patty Legs Bob, who runs the movie theater. And Bob, we were talking off mic beforehand, is the best hembo ever to appear on screen. He's literally perfect. Yeah, he's perfect. He's exactly what you would think he would look like. Like I don't even think we have to describe him like he's like a hot hembo man. He's like, it is like a pretty classic like 80s hembo. So there's no, you know, like our definition of, you know, what things have to be to be like muscular or strong have changed so much. And like, I would argue like unhealthily in 40 years, like this is just like a big dude. Who like has no idea what's going on. Like he has no idea that Elvira is flirting with him at the beginning. But of course he just like helps like save the day and like she's giving him these like funny one liners and they first meet and he's just like, what? I love Bob so much. He's so fine. It's like to even like two dimensional is too much credit. Like that's too much credit for what Bob's all about. He's like, he's a dimension and a half. So there's all the hubbub in town where people don't want Elvira around and she inherits this house. The house we are told by I think the executor of the will could go for $70,000. Again, folks, this is a different time. Like this house in Puritan, Massachusetts at this size these days would go for at least like six or eight million dollars. Yeah. This house is like amazing. Yeah. Even if not fixed up, it's fine. It's really incredible. And so she does though, because like your points about like what her hair are supposed to represent or sort of like what they speak to is like Elvira is, you know, she's sexy obviously and like pretty sex forward, but she's also like rock and roll, like which is like a thing that doesn't exist anymore. Like the cultural force of like someone who's like metal or like rock or like a hesher or something doesn't exist in the same way it existed right around this time. You know, we get Wayne's World two years after this movie comes out. Like that's how like and the zeitgeist these kinds of characters were. And so she attracts the attention of a bunch of teenagers, some because they want to see her boobs and some because, you know, including the daughter of the innkeepers because they see an Elvira like an aspirational figure. And how do the parents feel about the teenagers gravitating towards Elvira? Well, they hate it because I think at one point like the first night Elvira is there, some of the boys like sneak up to try to take a photo of her. Yes. While she's like undressing and then she ends up like throwing the ladder down so they all fall, but I think they did get a photo. So then they like somehow like one of the teachers finds it, so it's like a PTA meeting or something and they're like talking about how they have to get rid of Elvira because she's yeah, she's ruining the town because she's a moral and a whore. So yeah, all the parents hate her. They're like, we got to get this girl out of here. So she's like looking for a job to make money so she can do her biggest show and like fix the house. And like she's not getting a job because everyone's like she needs to leave. Right. And the grand irony, which none of us should or will be surprised by is like some of the people on this parent board are fucking lecherous assholes. This is not including the including the realtor. I could never remember this guy's name, but he's in so many movies in the 80s. He's originally from Stockton, California, which I only knew because I lived in Stockton, California for a minute. And he is the realtor who's going to try to help her sell the house and he comes over and immediately starts putting on again, the moves isn't correct. He is being a shit. Yeah. He's like just trying to have sex there. Like he's not trying to date her. He's trying to yeah. Absolutely. He's just being gross. And he's not being yeah, he's not being forward. It's not having a conversation about it. Let's so yeah, the what we are learning is these people who are trying to get her out of town, not surprisingly, some of them are also living by the same amorality that they're supposedly fighting. And so the parents ultimately come to or the parents and the teachers come to this agreement that any child that is seen in Elvira's proximity will be suspended from expelled from school. And she yeah, she's trying to raise this money. She can't get a job. The kids aren't allowed to hang out with her. She's like really she herself is made to be a pariah in the town. But the kids finally come through. They help her paint the house in a scene that like I'm not entirely sure the point of outside of just being like Elvira's house looks crazy now. And she's like, it's amazing. Yeah. I think to me like I think about that too, because it's like, I don't know. Yeah, it looks bad. But I think that's the point. It's supposed to be like really campy and and ugly. And I guess just like as different as possible from the town. Yeah. I mean, to your point, like this is camp. Like it really is like big and gaudy. And it's even like again, to a point that you read up earlier, you would imagine like Elvira would have just like a black mansion. But no, like she kind of like punky Brewster's taste in a weird way. Where she's like, I like all of these strange colors in one place. And we have this montage that the import of this is that these people come together even though they're under threat of the morality club in order to help Elvira. So like there are good people in the town ultimately, even though it's run by these assholes. Yeah. Earlier, she has Vincent Talbot is her great uncle. It is the brother of her great aunt who has died, Morgana Talbot. And he hasn't gotten anything out of the will. He really wants very specifically what is framed as a cookbook throughout the movie. She offers a solo to him for $50. But the dog gunk, is it gunk? Yeah, it's gunk. Yeah. Her dog gunk hides the book knowing that he's coming over keeping it safe. And she's able to hold on to the book as a result because she doesn't understand its significance. And she comes through a funny circumstance where she's finally, she finally has Bob over and she's going to cook Bob dinner. I think like if you're ever in a situation where a person who, where Elvira is cooking you dinner, like you're in a good way, like Bob's in a good way. Yes. Elvira. She's down bad for movie theater owners and who amongst us, you know, she's going to go cook the dinner. She looks at the cookbook, doesn't realize what it ultimately is. And in trying to cook him something realizes that she ultimately has a spell book and it has created this monster that like really sticks out in my brain from my childhood. Like this is like the primary scene I usually think about when I think about this movie. Yeah. Cause it's like a big like worm monster that comes out of whatever casserole she was trying to make. And then they like run up into the attic or something and then like the lights are out and then she's like, she makes a joke or like she thinks that she's like touching Bob's dick, but it was like the monster itself. And then they're like, there's also like a lot of these scenes where the townspeople think they see her doing something that she's not ultimately doing. Yes. Yeah. Like, you know, meaning like every time they look at her, they just like assume the absolute worst. Although it's not stuff that she wouldn't do. It just happens to be the time. It just happens to be not what she is doing when they're looking at her, which is great. Yeah. Like it's when Uncle Vinny is like in the car and she like walks over him and he's like, Oh, I'll sell you the cookbook for 50 bucks. And she's like, yeah, I'll do that for 50 bucks. And then like Chastity Pryo walks by and is like, I love it so much. It's my favorite. So good. I also like there's something really important. I'd love to hear your take on this. Is I think like until moderately recently and like the and I'm even struggling to think about like what is moderately like maybe 10 years. Often a movie will do this kind of thing where it's like everybody thinks the worst of this person and I think they're a slut and like they're actually not a slut. So like they're wrong. And like at the end of the day, it's like they're not a slut. So these people shouldn't be acting like this in the first place, but the moral still kind of is like you saved yourself by not being a slut. And I love that the hell Vyra character is a slut. Yes. Like we don't know numbers game, but she is not embarrassed by any of the things that are being described or that she's being accused of. Yeah. Yeah. No, I love it. And like to me, because it's the same thing. It's like she's a slut because she wants to be, but it's like when men try to like grab her or like flirt with her without her consent, she like beats them up or like it's like get out of here. Like and so it is like on her own terms. Like she's she is a safe slut essentially. And it's even like funny like she like when Bob was like, I know what your problem is. It's Chastity Pariah and she goes, I thought that cleared up and like it's just so good. It's so good. Oh, it's really perfect. It's so good. Yeah. Yeah. I really this is something I appreciated much more this time around because I think often I'm just like watching this for the character stuff, but knowing we'd be talking about it was like trying to look at the themes a bit more. And I really do love that like she is unabashed. Like this character is unabashed about the things that she likes and enjoys. And yes, to your point, like when someone is transgressing a boundary or sort of crossing a line, not into we're doing this in a collaborative way, but this is essentially assault or this is assault. She fights back and I really enjoyed that. Yeah. It's my favorite part of her. Yeah, for sure. So again, like this is like this whole thing where ultimately Vincent wants the book because he wants ultimate power and he's an evil shit with a bad haircut just reminds me of like Trump shit so bad where it's like, you know, I want the power and evil. And if I can't get it, I'm going to like burn you with the stake for being a witch. Like the correlation, I mean, obviously so much of like the power dynamic in this country has to do with racism. It has to do with misogyny. It's so deeply rooted. But like the amount of still relevant finding and burning proverbial witches as an excuse for power grab is is I mean, it's so ever present that like we're doing it in this movie in Massachusetts where it had just happened whatever 400 years prior, you know, in its own sort of contained way. People also don't realize that, you know, what happened in the US was just so extraordinarily minor to what happened all throughout Europe against against people for these reasons, but almost exclusively the rationale from an academic perspective for those things was this violent misogyny as a way of taking resources from people that had resources. And so you're acting morally and it was okay in order for you to steal shit from people. And that's what we have in Vincent, who's like, I want the spellbook and if I can't get it, I'm going to weaponize the town's prejudice in order to get what I need. Yes. And so he literally burns her at the stake or tries to burn her at the stake. Yeah. And how is she protected? She has a ring that I don't know if it's the ring that she's always worn, but it ends up having magical powers. So then it like, all of a sudden, there's like, she hears her aunt's voice and it's like, the power is within you or something. And then like she uses the ring and then it makes it rain so that the fire goes out. And then I think Gunk does something to save the day too. Yeah. Gunk is her, what is the name for it? Gunk is a familiar. A familiar. Yes. A shape shifting familiar. Yes. Exactly. Yeah. So he's able, yeah, he turns, he becomes like a rat and saves her from her ropes. Yes. But before all this, it is important to note one of the kind of, I feel like one of the best scenes is having learned how to cook this weird dragon worm thing. Yes. I forgot about this part. And being down and out because the town is taking out all of their weird repression on her specifically and she's not able to move forward with her dreams. Again, like the metaphors are thick and evident. She makes another dish using one of the spells and she's going to serve it to the town at like some, I think it's like the morality club benefit, which has been better. Perfect. Yeah. I think she was intending to make the same monster. Yes. Yeah. And so she used hamburger helper instead of some sort of like witchy herb because she was like, that's all that was in there. And then it turns into like, not a seduction spell, but like a everyone's horny spell. Yeah. Yeah. This is like the pinnacle of in some, some whatever nerd revenge movie people putting Spanish fly in the punch. And this is like that euphemistically, but from a, what we say, supernatural perspective. Yeah. Yeah. And then we have all of these elder middle age to elderly adults in essentially in a public orgy, which is great. Yeah. It's wonderful. They needed it. They needed it. They really needed it. It really sort of like let some of the steam off of the situation. And Patty ultimately, Patty's the bowling alley owner played by Susan Kellerman, who I'm trying to remember where I've seen her. Oh, she was in Beetlejuice, of course. What else? She was like, Oh yeah, she's just in like a lot of seventies TV shows as a, and as a person who really grew up in seventies TV shows, she's like burned into my memory. She fights Elvira and in the fight, it is revealed that her big boobs, not Elvira is of course, fake. Yeah. Are fake. They are stuffed, which is again, this is a boobs forward clip. Yeah. And it's about, are you real? Are you real? Are you putting on a front? That's what this means. So yeah, going back to the point that you were talking about earlier, Gonk has saved Elvira from the fire. And ultimately, like it kind of doesn't necessarily matter, but like she's saved by the ring to your point from the whole situation. They get into a fight. He says that, and this is where the title of the movie comes from, Vincent, her uncle, who's trying to kill her in order to get power, says that he is trying to become master of the dark. And Elvira somehow through some whatever, casts him off to the underworld in the house and sort of all of this stuff in the house is ultimately destroyed. Yeah. I kind of forget after she gets out of the rope, she like runs. I don't remember like how she does it, but I know she gets like locked into a cemetery at one point. And then like, again, it's a, it's a boob movie. So like, her tits like open the gate because it's locked. Yeah. This is like a big, this is like a big eighties wrestler thing where like you'd have them bound to someone, they flex their muscles and like the rope would come up and she does that with her tits. And it's so funny. It's so good. And so, you know, now she has nothing, right? Because she had at least had this $70,000 Massachusetts house in 1988, but she doesn't have that anymore. Again, if she had it today, the appreciation would be crazy. Hold on to that house girl. And now she has nothing. Bob's like, Bob's in the neck brace. It's so funny to hear him talk. He's talking high for some reason. Like that's like a broken nose too. So he's like, yeah. He's so good. And he's like, that's, and he says a thing that I think every cis man should learn generally, which is like, if someone is complaining about their shit to you, just be like, oh, that sucks. Like Bob's great. Bob's like, oh, that bad thing that happens sucks. He's not like offering a counter suggestion. He's not like offering how to do whatever. He's like, that sucks Elvira. He's like, oh, yeah. Opening the space for her. Yeah. Like listening to her. Yeah. Cis men just need to listen. Oh my God. I love this about Bob. I remember reading that they were trying to decide like what type of man should be her love interests. And they were going through like actual like more like, because he's not really like a macho man. Like he's a himbo. He could have been like more like a suave guy, blah, blah, blah. And then they were like, no, like the only way what really would work is if he's a himbo. And it did. Right. It's perfect. It really did. Did you see, did you see the iron claw? No. I can't. It came out a couple years ago and it's about this like real wrestling family from the 80s and Zac Efron and Jeremy Ellen Watter. Yes. Yes. It's just a movie. I mean, there's some, there's it's tragic. Like a lot of tragic stuff happens. But at the end of the day, it's just about like a bunch of himbo's affectionate for each other. And like, I feel like it should be required to do in this country. Yeah. Just like, let's see himbo's hug. Like, that's what we need. So that's what we need. Let's see them like express emotions because they need to. And then let's see what happens when they don't, which is bad. Yeah. Yes. Anyway, justice for Bob. Not that he needs it. He's doing okay. So he's like, that sucks, Elvira. And then the times people show up and she's like, oh no, here come the morality police again. And not only are they like, thanks for what you did Elvira. They are like, we were wrong. Yeah. In our shit, which again, feels so refreshing to see. Yeah. I think it was just like a general, like, I'm sorry. They're like, we, yeah, they're like fully took accountability and was like, we, we fucked up. They're like, you're welcome here, like anytime. And I think they, do they give her money? Is that what it is? Cause she ends up, she ends up with the money. Yeah. So two things happen. One is the, at least the dude in keeper is like, you always have a room when you come here and that's really nice. But then because she's the only living family member of Vincent, she inherits his money. Oh, right. Right. Right. Right. So then she gets our money. Right. So she's able then to go to Vegas which, which again, I can't underscore enough how like my partner and I have a thing where it's like, if one of us is wrong, right? Like we will go, not only were you right, I was wrong, which is like so helpful in conversation totally. And so like again, to see it in screen, like with the angry mob, you're just like, ah, this is so nice. It's so nice that they're owning that they were wrong. Cause like even in, I guess like the other place I saw that in this time in movies, and it's not as satisfying for some reason is the dad from dirty dancing. Like he eventually goes and shakes Patrick's hands and was like, I was wrong. But he, you know, he doesn't acknowledge like he was wrong for any of the correct reasons. It's just like for a quick handshake at the end. Anyway, we're not talking about dirty dance. So we, Elvira gets to leave town with money in hand. We get to see her show at the Flamingo and please tell us again, for someone who has not seen the finale of Elvira Mistress of the Dark, what her show is like. Oh my God. Okay. One, the outfit is amazing. She's wearing this like two piece getup that's like, it's like nude, but like black lining that's not supposed to like spider webs. It's like sparkly and it starts out with like a little, little song and then it starts into like her rapping and then she does the tassel dancing with the tits. Cause again, that had to, had to end with that. Yes. But yeah, it's perfect in its camp. And I also love that there was no, we don't find out what happens with Bob. Like it doesn't, that wasn't like the main part of the movie. Like we didn't really need him. Like she was like, it was fun to hang out with you while I was in Massachusetts, but like I have my show. No, he, I will say he is at the show. He's at the show. It's not, and I agree with your assessment about where we leave with Bob. Like we see him at the show with his neck being on and he's just, he's just clapping like that's, and that's all we get. We don't get like Elvira and Bob retreated to, no, it's just like he's at the show and that's it. He's a fan. Like he's, yeah. I love that. Yes. That's so cool. Yes. Why, like, what is it? You've already spoken to the humor of it and I totally agree. And there's just like this character is iconic. She's still doing this character. I'm friends with her manager. So like I can say with good authority that Cassandra Peterson's awesome. Like just unequivocally great as far as, as far as I know from, from people who know, but like what, what is it? Why does this endure? What does it speak to in you? I think, well, initially for me, I think I was attracted to her just being goth and like very sexy and I'm just like, who is this person? But I think as I like watched her movies, watched her show, I think, yeah, I think I just still really aligned with like what she talks about and like how I feel like she does do what I'm doing. Like in terms of just like talking about like sex, but like in a way, I don't know. It's just like in a funny way. And yeah, I think I talked about this before, but I just think she like empowers people and like, I think people like look up to her like she's, yeah, I think she's an icon and like it's just like really authentic. And yeah, I mean, she's been doing it for like what 50 years, 40 years, 50 years. We're getting close to 50. That's nuts that she and I think she's only getting like, not like more famous, but I think like more and more people are like becoming a fan of her. Because she's also like a huge queer icon. Especially because she came out only like five years ago, because she's been with a woman for like 20 years or something. So she lost a lot of like male fans when she did come out. Because I remember she posted she was like, I lost like thousands of followers when I came out, but I gained like so many more. So yeah, right. Yeah, I gained the followers that I'm happy to have. The important ones. Yeah, it's like the ones that you would want. Yeah, I this is another thing we've talked a lot about on this show that I just so deeply relate to because it's based on my experience. This thing where in the again, these people have come out, it's like no one is really surprised when Alvira came out, when Cassandra Peterson came out. If not because there were like signs in any way, because before a particular time on screen, you had to pick your queer icons. Like they weren't necessarily people who are like, I'm like you. Like they were people who like the symbols were all in what they were doing and it resonated with you. And you were like, that's an icon for me. Yes. And to your point, like she was doing drag. And so even if she were not like, you know, queer in her reality, she was representing something to people who it spoke to an authenticity within that. Yeah, absolutely. And I think a lot of queer people look up to like actresses or whatever musicians who are people who are extremely like authentic and like have something to say. And I feel like she's always been like that, like even through her movie, her like this is like a can't be fun movie. But like if you really look at it, like it actually says so much. Sure. And like, yeah, I think that's what people really like. And also because she's like gorgeous. And I forgot to say this earlier too about her character, because she is like rock and roll, goth, like vampir, but she's also supposed to have like a touch of Valley girl. Oh, sure. Which I also really like because I'm someone who like, yeah, I say like like a lot and like, I'm like, I'm going to talk like kind of bubbly. But like, what I'm saying is like actually really important. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I, of course, and I've never clocked it just because she has just been my, been the reality I've known for my whole life. I've never clocked it. Yes, of course, that's something she's doing with the character. Yeah, which now makes sense about the ugly house. Right. Right. Right. Right. Right. Absolutely. Because you're just like, yeah. Yeah, totally. That makes so much sense. And again, this is such a time capsule in a lot of ways because like, you know, this again, this is like a heavy metal gal and like the visual metaphor of when the sunset strip rock like sexy rock and roll gal shows up in small town, Massachusetts is really just like what's happening in the 80s with like MTV is suddenly the rest of the country has to reconcile whatever scary sexy a morality is coming out of Los Angeles. Yeah. Cause even when she shows up like the mom at like the innkeeper is like, I know what you rock and roll kids do. Like I've seen it on TV. So yeah, that makes sense. Like a few like wasn't MTV like 1985. It premiers I think in 81 or 82, but like it's still radical. Yeah. Like it is still a thing you are probably not allowed to watch if you're a particular age. Yeah. Yeah. And not only, I mean, it shows up in that time, but like hair metal is happening big time at this time, which is like especially scary because it's ironic that homophobia was ever part of that scene because you just have these androgynous, creamy dudes. I know. Well, I even think of people who are like, kiss who are like in full drag and now they're saying like crazy homophobic things about like drag and stuff. And I'm like, you made your whole career off from being in drag. What are you talking about? Totally. It was terrible when you stopped. Like it was like we were like, who are these ugly, terrible men? You're like, these people are really ugly. So fucking funny. Yeah. I mean, I think that like that is very much. I remember the panic. She has an appetite for destruction poster in her dressing room by Guns N' Roses. And I remember my first favorite band was Guns N' Roses. And I remember I had elder siblings who were like so much, so much older. They lived out of the house by the time that I was around. And I remember my dad calling my siblings to be like, I hear we should be worried about Guns N' Roses. But can you explain what it is? Because I don't know. Like are they women? Like they had like no idea what the concern was, but they knew there was something to be concerned about. And so, yeah, she's like a visual representation of this thing that's happening on television and scaring the shit out of parents in a big way. She's like sex and rock and roll. No drugs, no. She's like pretty. Yeah. The one scene where she is like don't smoke. And then like the whole thing blows up because the guy keeps smoking. So yeah. And then she also came out with an eyeshadow palette. I forget what makeup brand. It was like in like 2016 when everyone was obsessed with makeup and doing like full glam every day. So I obviously, I think I still have it even though I don't use it anymore. But I think one of the eyeshadow colors is based on like not smoking or something. I think it's, it might just be called don't smoke or something. Yeah. I forget. It's like for like a smoky eye. I really love that. It's so good. Yeah. Okay. Well, we ask this question at the end of each of our episodes. And this is like actually kind of a difficult movie to do this with because the answer is so obvious. But the point of the question is it is a Rorschach test. There is no proper way to answer the question. You can interpret it however you want. We know that the innkeeper, one of the innkeepers is the father of the young girl who looks to Elvira as an inspiration in a lot of ways. Who in your view is the daddy of Elvira Mistress of the Dark? Daddy. Yes. And it doesn't have to be gendered either, of course. I'm trying to think back into like her lore of everything I've ever watched. Does it have to be like movie specific or just like? Oh, no, it's just from this movie. Any character in this movie that serves as the daddy? Okay. I got it. I'm going to go with Gonk. Okay. I'm going to go with Gonk. Yeah. Because at first she's like annoyed. But like, I don't know, like Gonk is just kind of like around, which I guess isn't really daddy. But I feel like daddy is someone to me who like takes care of you. Right. And like Gonk hides the spell book and she has no idea that that's happening. Gonk comes and helps untie the rope. Like Gonk is like a rope daddy, I guess. I love it. That's really a perfect, a perfect answer to the daddy question for sure. I think so too. I'm going to choose the innkeeper in this case. Like he is in this case. It is very seldom that the father in the movie actually turns out to be the daddy. I don't think he is the daddy of the movie. I mean, obviously Elvira, end of the day, is the daddy of the whole property. But I think that he comes along and is like, you have a room anytime with us and he represents the town's regret and ownership of their shittiness. I don't like how he talks shit to the wife in the situation. There is something a little gendered up. But I do like that he is the representation of the town's misgivings and trying to make it up to her. Yeah, I like that. Oh, and of course, oh my God, what the fuck is wrong with me? Bob. I know. Well, Bob to me was too obvious of an answer and I feel like he doesn't have daddy energy. That's so true. It's so true. Yeah. And even when he's like, that sucks Elvira or whatever he says, it's not imbued with any energy. Yeah, daddy energy is like dumb energy and that's not a dumb. He's a bottom. Yeah, he's a bottom. Well, this has been a truly a delight. I've had the best time talking about this with you. How can and should people find more of you? So I am safe.slut on Instagram and TikTok. My podcast Shadow Band is out everywhere and on YouTube. My sub stack is safe.slut and my only fans is safe.slut. The V not a U because you can't say slot and only fans. Yeah. We could we could talk about that for an hour. All day. Yeah. Thank you. Truly. Thank you. This has been absolutely delightful. I can't imagine a better person to talk about this maybe with. Thank you. All right, everybody. That is it for this week's episode of You Are Good A Feeling podcast about movies. Thanks so much to safe.slut for being here. Thanks to Cassandra Peterson. Just generally. Thank you. Thank you to Miranda Zickler for producing and editing this episode. Thank you to you, Sarah Marshall for making You Are Good a thing. We're helping introduce this whole thing that we're doing and giving it life and body. We love and we appreciate you. Thank you. Thanks to Fresh Lash for providing the beats that make our episode sound so sweet. Thanks to y'all for supporting us on Patreon and Apple Podcast subscriptions. That's how we're able to make the show. We appreciate you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Just generally. Thank you. And whatever you're doing, however you're showing up, wherever you're listening, whatever is going on in your life, don't forget that you, my friend, are good. And we appreciate you. All right. Take care, y'all.