Pearl (Dead Meat Podcast ep. 183) 

I love that, chronologically, the films can be read as "Pearl x Maxine"

Pearl’s mother having those lavish-looking dresses makes me wonder what her youth was like. Her mom clearly had the means and desire to buy and wear those dresses at some point. But, just like Pearl, life ruined her desires and left her with remnants of broken dreams in a closet.

I don't think I blinked during Mia Goth's seven minute monologue. She had me so enthralled. She joins Toni Collette in the sisterhood of women robbed of a Best Actress nomination.

also something you guys didnt mention is in X where Howard asks Pearl if she wants Bobby Lynne, she says "you know i don't like blondes" referring to his sister and the audition situation

the projectionist is also clearly the wizard. he’s literally the man behind the curtain. he’s the man who promises her all of her dreams and ends up not being honest or able to live up to expectations.

some corrections; - the pot of water pearl threw on her mother was indeed boiling. you can see the water bubbling when pearl first retrieves it - it *was*, in fact, a gator - pearl never bought candy. she spent the money on the movie ticket, but she didn’t want her mom to know, so she lied and said she bought candy - Mitzy actually didn’t get rejected (mentioned in a BTS video) and even mentions that she hopes Pearl can come see the show

Lol Pearl was the first movie I went to watch in theaters with my boyfriend and when we left I was like damn hes gonna break up with me that was intense. And apparently he went home and told his friends that night that he was dating someone cool that was showing him crazy awesome movies. I love Pearl so so much. She is a star ⭐️

I think the scene with Pearl crushing the alligator egg implies she killed her baby. It wasn’t a miscarriage, that baby was born and she killed it. At first, she cares for the egg and she claims to have taken care of the baby in her monologue. But then she immediately turns back to crush the egg. Symbolic of Pearl having “crushed” the baby who “died”.

Pearls face is the credits is like... you're watching a shape shifter losing hold over its human disguise. Her face is melting to where there's no humanity left

Pearl's father did get sick from Spanish Flu. During the big argument at the kitchen table Ruth refers to the virus and says "You've seen what it did to your father".

her smiling for over two minutes straight at the end should get SOME award, maybe the scariest thing I say all of last year (to be clear her face isn't scary but the way she started crying and her face twitches we're)

One of my favorite wrinkles in the movies.. Being an X-Factor means that you have something no one else has. Yet Pearl describes herself as a person who is missing something everybody else has. Pearl and Maxine are actually the antithesis of an X-Factor.

After listening to this, I went back and listened to the X podcast again. In that James mentions the radio says something about the impending “60th anniversary” of an event. I went back to the movie and listened closely, and it’s the 60th anniversary of the dance troupe that Pearl auditions for. The radio ad tells people that auditions are on Saturday and “don’t miss your chance to tour the state!”

It’s an absolute crime that MIA Goth wasn’t nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. People will say all she did was yell and scream for the whole movie but it’s much more than that. She conveyed this character and all her struggles and hopes with passion. Showing off innocence, while also hiding an evil. It was an incredible performance and balancing act that not many other actresses could’ve successfully pulled off.

X and Pearl are 2 of my favorite movies of '22. Mia Goth was incredible in both. Can't wait for Maxxine.

the "bucket of water" was actually the soup they were eating. so she got covered in fire, then doused in boiling soup. you can see the spilled food on the floor next to the mother

52:22 I felt this SO hard trying to get a particular villain role in a local theatre production, and couldn't conceive of why they wouldn't pick me after I'd done so good as another villain beforehand. Then I heard the voice of the person they cast in a role with multiple songs and realized I was an idiot lmfao. Sometimes you just aren't it, and it REALLY stings, but in the end someone else is actually a better choice and even you can't deny it. The agonies of acting

I, for one, support James's "hanging out near schools" aesthetic

Is it me or is Mia Goth seriously starting to feel like Horror’s new princess? 😍

I bet audiences in 1917 would’ve found that early technicolor to be as beautiful as Pearl is to us now

I have very high hopes for Maxxxine. I think it'll be terrific

Pearl is on the same level of iconic villain as Annie Bates for me. She’s terrifying because she could be real.

"Toni Collette level performance" YES! Give Toni her flowers!

I know I’m late but just watched Pearl tonight! The first time she goes into town, there is a guy walking around before she goes into the pharmacy with a sign that says, “We shall not accept a life we do not deserve.” Thought that was another cool addition

This is a franchise that took me by surprise over how much I enjoy it. It’s fresh, relevant, and a good time because there is so many ways to interpret it

WOOOOW I am so shocked that they didn’t even mention how the judges change into her dead mom, dad, projectionist and Howard. 🤯 Like what? I thought that was such an awesome idea in the movie. Her imagination shows her biggest fear, her mother proving her right and hearing the words come from her corpse was just fanfuckingtastic.

Oh yeah! And Pearl’s red dress must also be a connection to the Ruby slippers in Wizard of Oz

Now that the podcast is back, I can officially plead for a Skinamarink episode

Pearl's closing monologue made me cry. The stuff she said about having to hide large parts of herself out of a fear of rejection, of her loneliness and sadness and isolation, hit really close to home. I didn't expect a slasher film to hit me harder than a therapy session.

"Pearl": a Nightmarish Norman Rockwell painting in Technicolor. This flick was worth watching in theater. Mia Goth was pure gold in it.

I think they lean so hard on Howard's naive sense of duty and honor so hard because it explains why he stuck around. He's married to Pearl, so he's going to stick with her and help her no matter what. I don't think he stayed out of fear, I think he stayed out of duty.

James giving off Warhol vibes with the glasses, hair parting and the chill attitude. Also loving Chelsea's hair, it's gorgeous

World War I has always been horrifying to me in the sense that it was the war that happened while they experimented and created new technology through out it. It was a war that started with people riding into battle on horseback, and ended with them flying fighter planes.

Mia Goths smile in the credits now lives rent free in my nightmares. I think her smile might've killed Freddy Krueger

I just watched Pearl for the first time last week, and I was absolutely captivated. I’m a man, but I absolutely sympathized with the themes that Pearl represents. Feeling like you have talent, but beholden to your family, wanting to break free and be all that you can be. I feel stuck right now. Having to be this supportive son, fixing familial relations on my own, but unable to pursue my own goals because of it. It’s not me, but it feels like my duty to be that person in my family because no one else will. I leave and I guarantee everything falls apart. It’s the whole reason I joined the National Guard instead of Active Army. I felt I needed to be here for them, to keep everyone together. I won’t go as far to kill my family, obviously lol. But it’s inspired me, maybe I should pursue my dreams, maybe my constant efforts to keep the family together is pointless. I mean every year it’s something and I have to bring them back together. I need to focus on myself for once, but it’s scary. I don’t know what to do. Be selfless or selfish

Howard served in both world wars didn't he? It would be cool to see a movie about what their life was like in between the two wars and what Pearl got up to while he was deployed overseas for the second time...

i am not kidding when i say that i literally jumped when i saw y'all were finally talking about PEARL. such a good movie.

I needed you guys today. Glad to see you back. Edit: really diggin' Shades A. Janisse.

1. Wizard of Oz is the best known film of all time 2. Chelsea’s outfit is iconic! 3. Thank you James and Chelsea for delivering top quality content for everyone!

Howard probably didn’t leave Pearl because he just came back from war and killed people himself so if he judges Pearl for what she did, he also judges himself. Maybe they aren’t so different?

Mia Goth gives such a brilliant and brave performance. Not every actor could do a monologue like that, or that smile at the end... just amazing! Also--- I couldn't help but think if that high school boy who turns into a scarecrow in "Scary Movies to Tell in the Dark" had seen this, he would have thought, "Well, there could be an upside to this..."

Pearl (2022) was phenomenal & also it's a baffling crime that Mia Goth has been robbed of an academy award for best actress.

This was such a good discussion as usual, you guys kinda forgot to just mention Mitsy being fed to the croc just like Britanny Snow's character, and Pearl mentioning she hates blondes, these movies are so amazing, long reign Mia Goth, our current de facto scream queen! Pearl X Maxxxine is gonna go down as one of the best horror trilogies of the modern times, if they nail Maxxxine, which I believe they will.

Wow I had NOOOOOO idea that that's what Mia Goth sounds like in real life, I love the voice she chose for Pearl, I talk to my cats in her voice all the time 😅 Also, Wizard of Oz is 1,000% more famous and well-known than Star Wars 🤷🏽‍♀️

I actually think Mitsy DID get the part. At the auditions, the judges tell her they are looking for someone younger, all American, and BLONDE. All of the girls lined up to audition were brunettes except for Mitsy and ONE other girl. But the other blonde girl was taller, and y’know with American beauty standards being what they are, it’s probably safe to say that they chose Mitsy over the tall girl.

Ive been thinking about this since I saw Pearl and I think it’s both sweet and ironic that she wanted to become a star so badly, and it didn’t happen, but by having a movie about Pearl the character has become the star she wanted to be.

James' Ian Malcolm laugh at 1:09 was on point

I didn't think Pearl was lying bc she had a photo of herself on stage. I assumed she did have a dancing stint a little later in life

I know there’s a Maxine movie coming, but I would really love to see a movie about the time between Pearl and X….60 years of that couple living on that farm???? I need the tea.

I love how Chelsea has notes on her phone while James has a notebook for his notes.

SO HAPPY U MADE THIS!!! the 7 minute monologue made me cry because it was worryingly relatable and mia goths acting is incredible i loveeee her.

The Wizard of Oz is definitely the most known movie worldwide. It’s been around since 1939 and it is still talked about and referenced to this day. That’s almost 80 years.

This is the first movie that has actually terrified me. One of my fears is being with a person who is legitimately insane and seeing pearl forcing a smile for 2 minutes straight made me so scared I actually refused to go to the damn bathroom at night. Just the thought of someone’s sanity declining throughout a show or a movie is so damn scary.

Mia Goth is actress of the year and does not need an award because we all already know she is the best anyone has seen in a long time. Congratulations in being the new Queen of horror. That is way better anyway and to work for someone with such amazing vision.

I saw Pearl opening night, stoned on edibles in a completely empty theatre with reclining seats. Was truly one of the best experiences I’ve had in a long time. Mia Goth’s goddamn soliloquy really resonated and I love this movie dearly.

I like X, but I love Pearl. What a movie experience. Mia Goth deserves all the awards for it. Side note, in defense for Twilight, it has a beautiful soundtrack. All the films in the series do. The first one has Linkin Park, Paramore, and original songs by Robert Pattinson (plus Bella's Lullaby is so iconic).

I just wanted to take a second and say Chelsea, you look so good. Like you just seem so glowy here idk what it is. The fans appreciate you and all of your contributions to the channel and ESPECIALLY the podcast❤️❤

i am a huuuge fan of pearl not only for the plot but how relatable she is. I am a person who has always been in dance and theatre and all these fine arts and her story really resonated with me because of how my family doesn't really appreciate what i do and how i feel like i am type casted because i am not what the directors want me to be.

This movie made me feel so many things, I cried, laughed, became genuinely disturbed and squirmed in my seat, I couldn't look away. I'm so glad I saw this on theaters.

love that this channel makes me watch movies. I saw that they uploaded and i was like idk this movie hey lets watch it before the podcast absolute banger of a movie. I love this channel so much thx dead meat for being the best thing on the internet!!!!

Pearl and X were so well-made, cant wait for MaXXXine!

My anxiety for the dad was intense throughout the film until his inevitable end. Thank y'all for thinking that Mitsy was not picked because that is what I thought, but I heard others mention that it was not the case because she was the type they said they were looking for. Pearl feeding Mitsy's remains to the alligator felt like a nod to how she set up Bobby-Lynne to end up as alligator food. One of the reasons Howard stayed with Pearl was probably due to the fact that he may have seen worse in World War 1 so he may have been taken aback but not completely horrified by what she had done. I understand why it would be thought that the Wizard of Oz is the most popular but I do believe Star Wars has cemented itself in the current pop culture zeitgeist due to how inundated modern audiences have been exposed to its imagery. However, there are grounds for the argument that it is Star Wars as a brand that is more popular than the original film where The Wizard of Oz film is more popular than its source material or different iterations like The Wiz, Return To Oz & Oz: the Great and Powerful. Great start to the podcast in 2023. B~)

I hope you and your dad is doing good!!

So happy to see you back, James. Hope everything's doing fine now. Love from the Philippines.

For the Wizard of Oz/Star Wars debate: I hate to say it but I gotta say Star Wars is more well known simply because in college I had to give a presentation and one of the slides was titled "Lions, Tigers, and Bears: Oh My!" and after the presentations all of the foreign students (from Spain, Korea, and one other place I can't recall) asked me what that meant. I said from the Wizard of Oz and they told me they'd never seen it. Made me really think about all the vernacular I use in my day to day that other people from around the world might not understand.

Chelsea dressing up as Mitzi is so cool

the thing u guys said about mia goth playing two characters with the same motivation but going about it in such a different way is also how the movies function and i think that’s a really interesting parallel

1:09 James and Chelsea demonstrating why they married eachother. How clear their love is, I hope I find something like that someday

Obsessed with Chelsea’s outfit today

I know Star Wars. I can quote the Wizard of Oz. I feel like the WoO appeals to more people. Truly, I thought that the father represented the TinMan in a way. He couldn't move and he had to be cared for and she truly loved him. Plus the scene where she looks in his face reminded me of her knocking on the Tin Man. The mother was more the Cowardly Lion in the fact that she never wanted to try for different, never wanted Pearl to try for different and was angry that she was so confined to these notions. She never left her 'forest'. She never wanted anyone inside of it. She was scared of everything. Even though we had a Scarecrow, I truly feel like Howard is the Scarecrow because 'she missed him most of all'. He was the wide eyed innocent one. Obviously Mitzie is Glinda. The pretty one. The one who is loved by all. Instead of stealing her shoes, she stole her gig. I love how Pearl transformed from Dorothy to Ms. Gulch (The Wicked Witch) throughout this movie. You see it in the posture when she rides the bike and you see it in the color of the dress being the color of the smoke of the wicked witch. Instead of a broom she has a pitch fork. I equated the man at the theater to the Wizard. He opened the curtain so to speak to this new world and that changed who Pearl was in a way that was more detrimental than just a girl having hopes and dreams. Had she not been given a taste of that immoral world so to speak, would she have continued on that path or would she have leveled out once Howard returned? There was obviously regret for what she had done so she isn't a monster. After her mother, which was somewhat accidental, she was simply covering up to keep her life at least calm. Plus, he was a bohemian and the Wizard never stayed in one place. For real though, I have questions on how Howard gets from this Howard we see at the end of the film to the Howard we get in X. Also, the pig, for me, is a metaphor of Pearl's decline. The more disgusting it gets, the crazier she gets.

Saw both movies at a Drive in with Pearl playing before X. I hadn't seen either before going in, but I was familiar enough with X. I'm not sure if it was the order I viewed them, but I really liked Pearl a lot more than X. I enjoyed the Daylight horror of Pearl, but I think the dark cinematography of X might have been hurt by the drive in experience, because their is much more ambient light in that setting that makes it difficult to see all the details in some of the darker moments in X. Extremely excited for Maxxxine! I think since X and Pearl are two different types of horror movies, Maxxxine should be a third type of horror movie. I keep coming back to the idea of Maxine needing to fight her way through a hoard of enemies. Maybe religious zealots who follow her father's Televangelism, that could be an interesting angle to go in.

I’m like 99.5% sure that the bucket of water with corn that Pearl dumps on Ruth IS super hot water, considering that’s how they cooked the corn. COULD YOU IMAGINE having your body scorched in flames, only to have it put out with scorching hot water?! Fucking HORRID. Pearl and X were easily my favorite films of 2022. Such incredible characters that Mia Goth embodies.

Really love that you can tell when they really really love the movie they’re talking about but also just love the effort put into this podcast and that you can tell they still enjoy and love doing it. Your guys channel has introduced me to a lot of great films so thank you for all of this

James feeling like he didn't get his money's worth from LASIK with sunglasses on. Is just! A mood!

The Projectionist car was still in the water on X..did yall peep that? Big Respect to Dead Meat.

i think it’s so interesting the way that there are scenes that ALMOST frame pearl as sympathetic but only if you remove the context. like the barn scene with the hunky guy, where she said the wrong thing and caused this guy to totally change up and abandon her and that’s a very empathetic relatable thing………..until you remember that it’s because she got caught in a lie about banging in the cellar and the guy is rightfully afraid of her and what she’s capable of

Jamea saying "the whole world's gonna know my name" imagine the same movie but james did all the lines for pearl. Hilarious

The Wizard of Oz is the first movie I remember watching. At the time, I didn't know it was meant to be in technicolor, because we had it on Beta and our Betamax only played in black-and-white. I remember what it felt like seeing it in technicolor for the first time

The Mitzy head chopping scene, with the realness of it, reminded me of the fx they used for Olga’s body in the suspiria. Like having the actress lay there and doing another shot of a dummy being decapitated, then combining and editing the shots. I’m wondering if that’s what they might’ve did.

I'm not sure if I missed them mentioning this, but the actress that played Pearl's mom was also the Intimacy Coordinator in X.

Wizard of Oz without a doubt…Star Wars is iconic but a million people know of Star Wars but have never seen it or get it confused with Star Trek… but everyone has seen Wizard of Oz at least once and it doesn’t have a counterpart to get it confused with.

I also watched this by myself in a empty theatre and it was glorious. This movie spoke to me and instantly LOVED this movie. I relate to Pearl so much in an almost unsettling level. The costume design was also impeccable to her red dress to the mothers thin little red choker that I noticed on a second watch

I'm glad yall are back and mia goth really has been having such a great run of movies she's quickly becoming a toni collette type actress where shes gonna be putting out iconic performances with not as recognition as her peers, bc its kind of insane that not just academy nominations but not even critics choice or any other award show circuit has given her a shot, but i think this year with maxxine and infinity pool studios will probably put together FYC despite any genre film hesitations.

Some corrections 1. The water was probably hot seeing as it was holding the corn they were eating for dinner 2. The projector said “what’s wrong with you?” when they were in her room 3. Pearl screams at the projector “nothings gonna keep me here” before she kills him. This review honestly felt rushed and I was really hoping you guys would go more into depth for this movie because I feel like there were way more deeper themes and things to think about than the obvious things and themes that were already mentioned in X.

This movie proved what a phenomenal actress Mia Goth is.

I might have missed some of the Wizard of Oz parallels that you mentioned, but I actually saw her dad as the tin man (frozen/rusted in place) and the projectionist as the wizard. The projectionist is telling her what she wants to hear, inspiring her with stories, but ultimately she sees him as a fraud. Even when he cuts that frame out for her, it’s a lot like a gift the wizard would give 😂 representative of her greatest wish, but ultimately kinda useless

In case they ever decided to make a new adaptation of Misery in a decade or two, Mia Goth would be absolutely perfect as Annie Wilkes.

Welcome back!!! I love these podcasts so much, they're so nice to listen too

“He’s vibrating on some frequencies.” Now that’s a saying I’m going to add to my lexicon going forward.

I rlly wanna see how the deleted scenes from the trailer would have fit in like the one of the bathtub was so disturbing

I loved all the links to Wizard of Oz, but one I think you missed (or you may disagree with me on) is the projectionist in part representative of the Wizard himself. He's the man behind the magical pictures, and he says he will take her away, just like the Wizard being behind the screen and then saying he'll take Dorothy with him. In the end, Pearl discovered the projectionist is just like everyone else and he tries to leave without her (like the Wizard inadvertently left without Dorothy). Thoughts?

This is a nice unexpected birthday present to wake up to; thank you James, Chelsea & the entire crew of Dead Meat!

I just finished watching this and wanted a discussion and everything I could find was so short! So glad to find this.

I laughed so hard when y'all were talking about the pig being just left there and the projectionist at the farm! LOL!! Great Video! You guys blow me away with the details you find.

Between Nope and Pearl... this was really the year for Wizard of Oz coded horror movies huh?

They should make a movie titled "Pearl & Howard" thats set in the 30's or 50's, and show their other murderous exploits lmao kinda like a more darker, subtler and creepier Bonnie & Clyde type of story.

I find it kind of funny her name is Pearl. Just bc it makes me think of the Scarlet Letter where the daughter has that name. And the mother describes her a a hellion, like an evil little girl. Maybe some parallels between that and this film

"Bohemian" is also accurate in the historical context of X, because a lot of old pre-World War II guys like Howard who were still around in the 1960s and 1970s refused to dignify hippies by calling them what they wanted to be called, so they called them "beatniks" or "bohemians" instead.

Dammit James 😂😂 I am down with Covid atm. You made me laugh so hard at around the 43:03 mark and my cough nearly killed me 😂😂

A thing to remember is that Star Wars was not at all a cultural phenomenon in China in the 70s, and upon re-release it didn't grab Chinese audiences. While I think every modern culture everywhere interacts with the Wizard of Oz as a classic.