Judy Blume, Rachel McAdams & Are You There, God? It's Me Margaret! Plus Disney V. Florida

0:00 In this episode of Pop Culture Weekly, Dominic Patton, senior editor of Deadline Hollywood comes on to talk about what the fuck is going on with Disney and Florida and Rachel Mick Adams and the cast of "Are You There, God, It's Me, Margaret, Including Judy, Mother Effendale, Let's Go!" Welcome to Pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon from My Heart Radio. Your Pop Culture News, Views, Reviews and Celebrity Interviews on all the movies, TV, Music and Pop Culture You Crave Weekly. Here's Kyle McMahon. Welcome to Pop Culture Weekly with Kyle McMahon. I of course am Kyle McMahon and we have an awesome show this week.

0:42 I'm really excited because we have interviews with Judy Bloom herself and the cast of "Are You There, God, It's Me, Margaret" and I have very special guest, Dominic Patton, senior editor at Deadline Hollywood. Oh my God, Kyle, thank you so much for having me. Of course, it is a pleasure and I love when I get to talk to other people in the industry about, especially about cool things that are, or I guess, sometimes not cool things that are going on. Give me a little bit if you don't mind. What do you do as senior editor at Deadline Hollywood? Well, I have to be honest without trying to blow my own trumpet too hard, it's kind of what I don't do.

1:26 I've been at Deadline now for about 11 years when Nikki Fink or not long after she first started it and the way the site has evolved and has become the most powerful trade publication in the industry and one of the most recognized, of course. What I do is I'm in a really lucky position and I often compare myself to kind of like, I'm a floater in a sense. I guess in a way that works out best for me because what I'm able to do is take my background as a political reporter, as a music reporter, as a TV host and the TV producer and all these other things. I'm able to bring all that and take some of my own skills in terms of our legal coverage in terms of our political coverage, in terms of our labor coverage, in terms of our business and executive coverage because the fact of the matter is that's why they call it show business and not show friends.

2:16 And I think that a lot of that is I'm able to bring that together and kind of take a full approach to the kind of stories we do. Deadline is a multi-headed beast and led by Mike Fleming and Nelly and Riva, our co-editors and chief, we've developed ways in which we are not only seen as the best and the most reliable in the industry, but in many ways the most innovative. We try to take approaches at stories that look at the, that appreciate the intelligence of our readership, appreciate the curiosity of our readership and remind ourselves always that our core readership is really those 25,000 people who are really the, the, the, the, the, the, you know, the deciders in the entertainment industry and the media industry.

2:58 And, you know, we've been pretty good at it. Yeah, yeah, I'd say I was talking to last episode that, because somebody asked me, you know, where do you get your news? And I said, you know, friends in the industry and press releases, as you know, we get eight billion of them a day and, you know, all kinds of different sources. One of my go to sources multiple times throughout the day is deadline.com. I mean, it is breaking news for the industry and it's 24/7. If something's breaking, deadline is on it with great in depth reporting and you know, it's just it is for me and for, you know, everybody in this industry, an industry Bible.

3:42 God, I mean, I'll put my hand on that Bible, pal. You don't have a problem with that for me. Yeah, but we really appreciate that because you know, I mean, the thing is news is about flow nowadays. It's, you know, back in the day when you pick up the newspaper in the morning and read about what happened yesterday or even look on cable news and what have you, you know, what's remarkable in the digital era is the time lags between things happening and between things being reported and social media is obviously huge a part of this as it is for our coverage. Anyways, you know, that time lag is greatly shortened and compressed now. So we're, you know, for us, it's not about being first, though first is great. It's about being best and it's about making sure that our readers get reliable insight, insightful information on what is really happening on our industry.

4:28 So that might be anything from, you know, company layoffs. We can actually get very specific and get quite granular about where that's happening to hires, to pilots, to new things, to deals and all that kind of stuff. And then all the other things that put our industry together from Wall Street, the main street to all the lawyers on the 35th floor of their skyscrapers. I mean, that's where that's where the media industry really gets made. That's where a lot of what happens really goes down and we make sure to have a spotlight on it each and every day. Absolutely. And it's done so well. It's, I mean, it was what 2006 that would, that's one deadline officially started. Yeah, 2006, 2007. I mean, Nikki Fink started it kind of as a, it was almost like a, a byproduct of a column she had in one of the LA freebie newspapers.

5:15 But you know, she bought a website because, you know, it was like 10 bucks in 2006 or whatever. And just started that off. And then as, as she got, you know, Penske media got involved and then we got more staff and not too long afterwards. I and a couple other people came on. You know, we were a little kind of hard pirate crew of about six for a while. And now we've expanded and expanded and expanded and we have international teams. We have, you know, we're by coastal, obviously. You know, deadlines reach as far. And the great thing is in digital media, you can always keep the conversation going. And as since digital media is in some ways, it is the step sister, step brother of radio. Because the conversation never has to stop. It only stops if you want it to.

5:55 And as you know, Kyle, in our business, that conversation never stops. Right. Yes. And the one that is that breaking news, I love it. Well, we appreciate that. We appreciate that, my friend. Of course. So today I have later, I'll be talking with Judy Bloom. We'll be presenting those interviews. Judy Bloom, Rachel McAdams, the cast of, are you there? God, it's me, Margaret. But I thought what was interesting, one of the things that I said to Judy Bloom is that I love 50 years later that this is now becoming a film because, you know, what I had said, there was much harder to ban a film, you know, for a local government to ban a film than it is a book because, you know, her book, many, many of her books, and in fact, many books in America today for some reason are getting banned.

6:49 And then you, you know, that brings us to the broader point of this week today, in fact, depending on, you know, when they're listening. Disney is suing Governor Ron DeSantis in, you know, the governor of Florida. Give me that info, what you know so far. Well, look, I mean, what's going on in Florida has been a long brewing situation now between Disney and the Sunshine State governor who clearly has presidential ambitions. Whether that was successful or not, I mean, I can do math and the polls don't show they're going to be, but he feels like he's got himself, he feels like he's got himself a pretty steady target.

7:30 He goes after Disney for basically this all started last year. When Bob Schaepack was the head of Disney, but not Bob Eiger who used to be and is now back, Bob Schaepack is, Bob Schaepack pretty conservative guy, you know, pretty conservative. And Ron Santos and the legislature in Florida, which is entirely Republican control, basically brought in a law that's called the Don't Say the Game Law. And it had to do with ways in which discussions of gender and identity could be discussed in the elementary school system and now kind of going up into other levels of education in the state. And a lot of people, and in my opinion, incredibly rightly so, looked at this and said, well, a, it's a blatant form of discrimination, b, it's a blatant form of political pandering to the mega base and see, it's just wrong on a moral level.

8:20 And Disney, which has had, you know, they had the Disney pride parades and days and has a very, has had a very, I would say, organic and holistic attitude towards the gay and lesbian community for a number of years and one in which they are perfectly aware that members of that community are paying customers of theirs. And you know, as they say, the customer is always right. So you want to make sure that you don't lose money in doing, in doing these things. Disney were oddly silent about this law. And a number of people within Disney, as we wrote about it at the time, started to protest with Mr. Shepack and some of his high command at the time. And then what led to what was a series of basically political pratfalls with Disney kind of wrapping themselves in different contortions and proportions to say, well, we're against this, but we didn't want to bring it up.

9:06 And now we are going to bring it up and so on and so on. And De Santos had a field day with this because this was a corporate face plan. So he knocked them around like a cat with a mouse or with a ball of kitty, sort of catnik. It was good for him. It was great for him. And then things changed a little bit in Disney. And Bob Iger came back. And Bob Iger, smooth operator. And that's just because I love to always quote a shut-down song if I can. So he comes in suddenly, Ron De Santos's bully tactics, but Iger pushes back a little bit. And then he comes back on De Santos, sort of kind of trying to wrap Disney in the flag of a woke corporation who aren't interested in true American values, et cetera, et cetera.

9:47 And De Santos, let's be clear, Disney is the biggest private employer in the state of Florida. And they have had a massive economic presence in around Orlando for decades since Disney World opened in about 50 years ago. So this led to a conflict. And that conflict really came down to what's known as the tax district jurisdiction of Disney, which for a variety of reasons. And I won't go into this because I know listeners love nothing more than talking about tax codes. Basically, Disney had a kind of carve out zone where they kind of were in charge of themselves. They were like their own little fiefdom within the state of Florida.

10:30 And I know people who've driven in Bindelville, to Orlando, as you drive towards Orlando, Florida does not have state tax. So, thingo, roads aren't so great in many places. But then you get close to Orlando. Roads are very nice. Boads are great. And a lot of the electrical outlets, not electrical outlets, the electrical towers suddenly take the shape of a certain mouse is silhouette. Very beautiful, great branding. That's part of the control that Disney had had over this jurisdiction for a number of years. And he says, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, your boards out. My boards in were in control. Igar push his back a little bit and he's like, I don't care what you guys say. And that all happens. And it looks like Rhonda Center, he's still living a knockout punched to Disney.

11:11 He's put the mouse down. Not so fast. Then it turns out that in the dying hours of the previous boards regime, entirely following the laws that they were supposed to, with public notices in the Orlando Sentinel paper and notifications of this, that board had a meeting and that board made an agreement with Disney that essentially handed them all of the control back again. The Santos is new board. Not saying they're the sharpest tax in the shed, but I'm not saying they're not. Didn't seem to know this had happened until weeks later. And clearly the governor did not. And suddenly, old mentors in now political rivals like Donald Trump, they're knocking Rhonda Santos around like a cat with a mouse is the guy who got outplayed and outfoxed by the Walt Disney Corporation major embarrassment for this like so called tough talk in governor who obviously as we said and everybody else knows has his eye on a White House bid in 2024 embarrassing for him.

12:13 And then this continues and Bob Igar himself on earnings calls and other presentations. Let's talk about how he thinks that the governor Florida is anti business, which to a Republican and it's like a scarlet letter. And he has said that he thinks that it's anti free speech and that this is a silly way to handle this and he's always open to having a meeting and talking to the governor. But this is clearly not a way to conduct business with your biggest employer. Now, he also has said, hey, we're, by the way, we're not just sitting in Orlando. We're going to invest billions of dollars more in the future. So we are, we are not only an employer, but we are an innovator within that region. And listen, you go to Disney World and you see that for its animal kingdom that's Epcot, it's rides, you see the whole deal.

13:00 It's the whole Shabbai. Right. So the board, DeSanto's is like, this will not stand. I will not let these people do this to me with their fancy ways. I eat smarter than me. Right. So the board suddenly come in and say, oh, that what happened before is null and boring and they voted out. And within minutes, Disney slapped DeSanto's in his board with a major lawsuit in federal court. And this major lawsuit is basically saying the Florida, the governor of Florida and his board are anti free speech. They're anti business and they are seeking to retaliate against a private company for disagreeing with his political point of view, which by the way is a common sentiment in the state of Florida right now, just as Judy Bloom.

13:45 If you don't buy into platform DeSanto's or play with team DeSanto's, they come after you. That's the way he wants to run things. He wants to be as big a bully as Donald Trump, but show he's a little smarter because for all his folks in regular ways, he went to Harvard. So by close to the elite governor of San Jose, just saying. Yeah. So he comes in with that. They nail him with this lawsuit. And they're flummox. You can tell they're totally flummoxed by this yet again. They put out a release of like, this is not, you know, you can't defy the will of the voters of Florida. It's like, but we're not right. We're not the voters of Florida. The Florida never voted on this. Exactly. But in fast and loose with the laws and the fact that you have a Republican dominated legislature.

14:28 So to show down, it's a big showdown that's going to happen. Disney are looking to have a judge. You give them a judicial ruling that says this was retaliation. This is unconstitutional and it will not stand. And I'm sure the state of Florida will be filing papers of their own fairly soon to fight back against it. But this is yet another what we're seeing of a new type of culture war that's happening in America. And it's a pop culture war. Now, maybe all culture wars have been pop culture wars to some degree because, you know, you clearly don't want to get into culture war about something no one cares about. You want to talk about it's called pop culture because it's popular. And in that sense, did I think a number of people saw Disney as a pretty easy target?

15:08 But they didn't realize, of course, or forgot, is the Walt Disney company has been a major political force for a number of years. It is well established in both democratic and Republican circles. And they know how to play hardball. Just ask, you know, just ask unions, just ask people who they're been letting go in the past few weeks. They know how to play hardball when they need to get their stock up, when they need to get themselves in order. And clearly that happened. And let's remember, back in the middle of the pandemic, Disney got into a lot of a little bit of a scuffle with California governor Newsom because the laws in California and such lockdowns, the theme parks were basically closed. And the theme parks are a major revenue source for Disney.

15:50 There are huge revenue source for them. And that was really hurting them. And they were, they felt they were trying to bend over backwards to meet him and they felt the state kept moving the goal post and making it harder and harder. And it became a real battle, you know, and this is like, you don't expect that. But that happened. Let's at least say it this way, Disney are an equal opportunist corporate survivor. Ron Santos has seemed to have put himself in some serious Mickey Mouse quicks sand. Or as we said in the story we did on this and on it on this, it looks like the house of mouse took the white gloves off and they wanted to show we're not playing around. But I think that this, we're going to see a lot more of this. This is presidential politics. This is playing to the base of who your base are on the left right or the center.

16:34 Though many people don't seem to play to the center for some reason in America because it doesn't get you the headlines. Exactly. But they, you know, you're going to see a lot more of this happening. As for this particular lawsuit, I would not be surprised if this escalates. It escalates at a fairly quick pace for the American judicial system way up the top. Mm-hmm. Yeah. And that's actually what I was going to ask you. Now, there is, and you can maybe speak to this, if I recall incorrectly, copyright law was actually changed because of the Disney Corporation. Isn't that correct? Oh, yeah. Hey. So Mickey Mouse should have been in the public domain a long, long time ago. You know, Disney, yet again, using their lobbyists and great political influence, had Mickey Mouse's copyright status changed several times.

17:20 Now, I feel like with the Republican-controlled House, House Representatives in Washington, Tennessee, and attempted another one, especially with the showdown with the Santos, is probably not going to happen. And it looks very likely that Mickey Mouse will go into the public domain sometime in 2024. Winnie the Pooh already has. Right. But that's not the Winnie the Pooh we know because it's interesting when we talk about copyright, which again, is as exciting as tax codes. That's very important, right? When we talk about that, you have to talk about the specifics. We saw this in some of the lawsuits that Warner Brothers were in at one point with the estates of the Superman creators as well as a Batman creators.

18:01 And we saw some of this with Marvel/Disney, because Disney owned Marvel. And the state of Jack Kirby, who was one of the co-creators of many of Marvel's biggest and most well known heroes and titles, went you create and what we know are different. So I'll give you an example. The Mickey Mouse we know today with the bow tie and the white gloves and the suit and the little shoes and stuff like that. That's not the Mickey Mouse we're talking about. We're talking about the steam bill. We're talking about Willy, right? We're talking about Willy, Mickey Mouse. And that's a noticeable difference. The same thing with Winnie the Pooh and Winnie the Pooh went into the public domain. We're not talking to Winnie the Pooh with the red sweater because that Winnie the Pooh wasn't the Winnie the Pooh of the books. Winnie the Pooh of the books didn't have any clothing on.

18:43 It was full bear, if you know what I mean. So that's a little different, right? And so, you know, same thing when there was some of these battles over Superman. Literally, there were arguments over, yeah, but the Superman you're talking about, doesn't fly because that didn't actually happen until like about a year after the after Superman was created. Right. He jumped over buildings a lot, but he didn't actually fly. So there's a whole lot of that coming into play and that's always going to be contentious because of course, we now live in a digitally connected world if nothing else. So we rules that we had for copyright here in the United States. That was pretty much all these companies cared about for the most part, right? But now with the European Union with other jurisdictions and then you have streamers that cross all those borders.

19:28 Suddenly, you're having different licensing agreements and different availability. So for some of your listeners, if you know this, if you go just over the border to Canada, Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal, Calgary, wherever, and you put on Netflix, there's different stuff on Netflix in Canada than there is in America. And I'm not just talking Canadian content. There's like different agreements so they might have this action movie here, but not that action movie there. It's not necessarily Netflix originals, but stuff. They license. That's again, how these licensing and copyright deals work. And that is going to become a major part of this because while Disney might be able to, though I doubt it, but might be able to find some way to extend the copyright for Mickey Mouse in America, it might not be go down so well in Brussels with the European Union where they have many things of reach public domain far quicker than they have on this side of the Atlantic.

20:17 Yeah, and they are, as you perfectly showed, they are well versed in the legal system. And so this is a small mom and pop shop that doesn't have the experience to literally take a Florida governor on. They are, they're used to doing it. We're telling a warning governor. Right. Well, because there are people who are going to paint this as democratic favoring Disney taking on Republicans. And I say just ask Gavin Newsom two and a half years ago because he would tell you, democratic Disney took on a democratic governor in California.

20:57 Right. Yeah. And that is a great point. And it is something I myself, you know, forget as I'm speaking about it. They ultimately, you know, as most corporations do, are looking to protect themselves and their, their empire in their case. Do you think that this could spill over into other companies? And what I mean by that is, is this going to trigger, you know, other, let's say public figures, public representatives, government officials that are looking to kind of jump on this train in their own way with their own whatever anti-woke, you know, company they, they have a problem with.

21:47 Well, I mean, maybe, I mean, you know, I live now in the world where I believe anything is possible. Yeah. Yeah. But I don't think it's the same. I think, you know, I think the Walt Disney company occupies a very unique place in our culture, both as a business and as a content provider and as an icon. You know, multi-generational in a way that almost no other company can say they are truly, right? And the reach of where they go. So there are the movies, there are the TV shows, there are the TV networks, there are the streamers, there is ESPN, there's ESPN plus, there's these, there's Hulu, and then there's like, cruise ships.

22:29 And then there's theme parks in France, in China, in America. So they have a place that I think no one truly has that kind of reach. You know, you look at Comcast, who own NBC Universal, who own NBC, who own Universal Studios, who you know, that kind of similar, but not the same. You have corporations and companies in China that have massive assets as well, but again, it's not the same. Like, you put Mickey Mouse on a t-shirt and walk down the street anywhere in the world. And people know who you're wearing on your t-shirt. It's like if you had a picture of Muhammad Ali or the Beatles or maybe Marilyn Monroe. Everybody knows who that is and who those people are. And I would say that in terms of picking a fight with Disney, the other thing of course is, there's a very specific, as we talked about, a very specific jurisdictional element to this that Disney have in and around Orlando, Florida, that is very specific to who they are and very specific to where they run their company.

23:22 Which has been a court. I'm sorry, which has been around for like that deal or whatever. That deal was created like 15 or 15 years or something. Yeah. Basically, Walt came along and developed land of, really wasn't going anywhere. Is on Swarthland or something. He turned it into a massive profit machine both for himself and his company and the state of Florida. So I think onto that end, you have Disney in a very unique position. People are always going to find someone if they want to jump on. You know, back in the early 90s, it was Skipper Gore and trying to put censorship on records. And what happened is they slapped on a parental advisory on records and a Stephen Tyler of Erasmus once said, help to sell another million records.

24:06 Like because people thought we were cooler than we are. You know, there's always going to be that. You know, back in them, Jordan Heston, when he was head of the NRA, I believe, came out against IST and his body count band saying they wanted to kill cops and Warner Brothers records or Warner Brothers or other label that was owned by Warner Brothers. They got very, very nervous and they were, they tried to drop it and get out of it and all sorts of stuff like that. Again, people will find any punching bag they want. Politicians on the other side of the political spectrum probably will take a swing and almost anything the Rupert Murdoch owns. But you're never going to have the kind of foil or enemy or foe that you can have in the Walt Disney corporation. And that's, it's just a different animal in all sense.

24:48 Yeah, that's, that's a very good point. And, you know, I think what kind of scares me about it is it is very, it seems very, very personal here on the side of the governor. And what I mean by that is, you know, he was, he's now making it that, oh, a corporation shouldn't be able to do this. But the three and a half years prior of your term of that first term, it wasn't a problem at all. And now you're, you're kind of threatening with, oh, I might put a jail near, you know, right outside your hotel or I might raise hotel taxes or put a toll road going into Disney that all seems very vindictive and personal, which is a bit scary from my end because it's very fascist, you know, I mean, I hate to say that, but it seems very, I mean, I think the people, I mean, I think to quote, you know, to quote myself from our Disney story, we all need to take the white gloves out about this.

25:54 Like, you know, I don't think Bob Iger is wrong. When you have a governor or a state representative who is attacking a company in the way that that Ron Des Santos is attacking Disney, that is anti-business. You can, now you can paint that mouse anyway you want, but it's still going to have the same color on it. That color is not green. It is a very distinctive, uh, mega red. I don't think that I think their governor Des Santos is a little bit more small time than he realizes, you know, he wants, he thinks this is the kind of thing that makes him a national player. He thinks this is the kind of thing that gets the base and the voters, especially primary voters, really galvanized and activated.

26:37 But man, you don't want to be going to war with someone. We're not only you're fighting Disney, but now Donald Trump's taken sweeps at you for being a chump. Like, that's like, that's the kiss of death in the Republican party, you know? Regardless of what you think about the former president and former celebrity apprentice host, when he, you know, one thing about Donald Trump, he knows how to go for the jugular. And Ron Des Santos, who thought he was a tough guy, I guess he kind of brought a knife to a gunfight and didn't realize that Disney and some of his rivals, they're packing heat. And so what happened here now is you find him in a defensive posture, which like maybe like, you know, a Wolverine or something, maybe lashes out defensively, but he's already got himself entangled in this thing. And you don't want to be entangled.

27:19 You want to be proactive. You want to be the boss. You want to be the man who shows everyone who is boss. Now, I don't think that's that position, but I don't think that's a very winning position for things like, you know, you mentioned earlier, Judy Bloom and Judy Bloom. By the way, is a resident of the state of Florida has her books banned in Florida. You know, we are seeing bookbanging happening all over the place. We are seeing in the state of Montana. TikTok is now banned. Now, TikTok is not no longer allowed on government employee phones, many states as well as the federal government are considering some sort of action because of beliefs and concerns that this, that this social media device is actually used as a spine device by the Chinese government, not that other social media don't try to listen in on you, even though they say they don't.

28:00 And what have you, that's a very specific, these are national security issues and they're legitimate issues that need to be discussed by our leaders on the national level. But this is part of this discussion, you know, like, you know, it's, it's, if there's one thing, I say this with full reservation, there are out of 100, there are 98 things, including racism, misogyny and a general, a general doofusness that I disagree with Donald Trump on. But I will say one thing here about like, these are, these are legitimate discussions within the context of a culture within a context of taking this culture seriously. Your show is called pop culture.

28:41 I heart radio takes pop culture seriously. Deadline Hollywood takes pop culture seriously. It is what keeps the lights on around here for us. And it's also the thing that is a topic of conversation from anyone from your grandmother, to your five year old and everyone in between on various levels, very shows, they like, bands, they like, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. So this is part of a national discourse. So you want to get a part of the national discourse. You jump into that river. The problem is is you can often find yourself without a paddle. My analogy is going up further here than I wanted it to. But I think you can find yourself in a situation where you're not in control of the direction things are going. And I think that's what we're seeing with the Santos. I think that's what we're seeing with book banning because what is happening is the backlash that is expected in these situations from the left and progressives and perhaps the personal company being attacked.

29:29 You're now seeing other people who are saying, well, that's not a Republican value. That's not a conservative value. That's not, we're a free speech, but like you can't say, well, we're for free speech, but only for that guy, you know, I'm for absolute free speech. Except I don't think you should stand up at a movie theater and scream fire when there's no fire. I think free speech is an element of responsibility. I think the first amendment as a journalist is me great protection and gives me great solace as a person who lives in this country. But I think we need to also understand there's degrees of responsibility about this. And I think what's happening for some of these politicians is they thought they had an easy mark. They thought they had someone is like, boom, punch out. I'm going to get all the applause from the chief seats. It turns out, unless you land a total knockout, you're not going to get that applause.

30:14 Yeah. And his legislative losses with many other things in his term have been numerous, you know, from their own. So it does give me a little bit of hope that, you know, this, this may turn out okay and our, and I know it seems dramatic to say this, but our, you know, United States in, in this regard is safe because for me, it is a bigger issue. If there is a government that is able to say, I don't like you. I'm going to drive you out of the state or, you know, do whatever.

30:55 But I can use tax payer dollars to negatively impact you, whether that's a person or a company. I think that is very threatening to what the US stands for. So I would even say this cop, I would take it, I would say, yep, agree. Very high-falutin, but I agree. I bring it down a bit. If you're taking, if you're the state of Florida and you're using tax payer dollars to fight Disney or to sue Disney, you are literally using the money that Disney gave you because they are such a big employer in that state. So it seems so, so ludicrously counterproductive.

31:38 It seems that it misses the point and to be honest, at this point, and I've spoken to people about this regularly, people are like, so how, what is this all about and why is he in a war with Disney? Right. What a Disney done, you know? How do you think, how long do you think that this could potentially take to resolve, you know, this whole thing? I think a lot of that has to do with how well Governor DeSanto's doesn't repel with him. And he's flying into some key battleground states. He wants to get his name out there. He's a pretty stiff guy. He's obviously got hired some people to help him kind of loosen up a little bit and have a little bit more of a back slapping type of way about him.

32:21 But he seems to be thin skinned and he doesn't seem to gain this out. I'll just make a comparison, I think, spare is there's a difference between being a tactical thinker and being a strategic thinker. Actical thinker is you're going from A to B to C. Right. That's where you want to go to take it there. A strategic thinker is like, well, what's up with this whole ABC and alphabet thing and what does all this mean and how, what do I really, why am I wasting my time with 25 steps? Why should you take two steps and go from A to Z? You know, I always my time with the other stuff because my time's important. So I think that that's what we've hit here. I think DeSantis been very popular, fanning certain flames in the state of Florida. I remember this is a guy who barely got elected the first time.

33:02 It's, yeah, Donald Trump got him over the line. That guy was like, it was like less than 20,000 votes got him over the Democratic competitor. But to win and take all system, you're the governor. But I think he thinks he's found a winning topic. And I think in a country where inflation is hitting people for the first time in decades, where there's still recovery from the pandemic, where there's a worry about divisions about the power of China, you know, obviously the war in Ukraine and what that could mean for a larger geopolitical system. And just like what's up with the schools and the roads, man, and where, like, where's that stuff being fixed? I don't think taking on Disney is going to really get too many people galvanized outside of very small bases of people who already support Ron DeSantis in the state of Florida.

33:47 So what could happen? A judge could say, a judge could give the judicial order to Disney want. Probably not going to happen so fast. This could escalate Florida Supreme Court, but escalate to the Supreme Court depending on how it goes. But I think eventually, you know, state of Florida has a lot of money. Walt Disney company have a lot of money. And they've done that, you know, if you want to get in the lawsuit, they'll grind you, man, and they'll keep going. And, and this is a big thing. So it's not like, it's not like they're going to be like, yeah, you know, I'll be decided to settle this and fix it. No, they're, you know, they are going to stick to their guns on this one. And I think that it's going to be a long hard battle for the state of Florida and Governor DeSantis.

34:28 And it might be a battle that might end up harming him in the larger battle that he hopes to be a winner in terms of presidential ambitions. Yeah, we will see. This is very, very interesting. I am, I'm on deadline.com all the time, jacking up for updates on what is going to happen next. So Dominic, where can we follow you? Well, of course, you can follow me on deadline.com. You can also follow my stories and those of my colleagues on deadline, social media platforms, both on Instagram and on Twitter and many others. Facebook at deadline. Pretty much common, not too hard to find. You can also follow me on Twitter. My Twitter account is at deadline Dominic, which you know is full of retweets mainly about soccer games and street art that I love, but also the occasional thing I write about so that that might be a good place to be.

35:12 But the main place, as I said, you can follow us on deadline.com where you'll see all the breaking news you need to know about what's going on in the entertainment and media industries each and every day. Awesome. Thank you so much, Dominic, Patton, deadline, Hollywood. I look forward to speaking with you again very soon. Thank you, my friend. I do too. Make a break and then I am back with interviews. Dominic's awesome, isn't he? So next up, my interview with Judy Bloom, Rachel McAdams, the cast of, "Are you there, God?" It's me, Margaret, which is out in theaters today or now depending on when you're listening.

35:53 All right, we're going to take a break. We'll be right back. All right, welcome back to Pop Culture weekly. So it is our interview time. I've got some awesome interviews. James L. Brooks, also known as Jim Brooks and Julie Anzel, who they are the producers behind. Are you there, God? It is me. It is me. Are you there, God? It's me, Margaret, which by the way is, if you have lived under Iraq for 50 years. This book is, geez, I would say one of the most well-known books of all time.

36:34 It is multi-generational. And basically, Judy Bloom wrote this iconic novel where Margaret shares her secrets on and her spirituality. She has a parents that have different religions. She has grown up really non-religious, but she talks to God anyway. And she talks about sex and all kinds of stuff. Age appropriately, of course, from a young teenage girl's point of view. And it's very age-appropriate. It is iconic. It is classic. And there's a reason that it is as huge as it is. So the film is out today from Lionsgate, or now, depending on when you are listening.

37:19 And it stars Abbey Rider Fortson, who plays Margaret. Rachel McAdams plays her mom Barbara. Kathy Bates plays The Grandmother, which is awesome. It is written and directed by Kelly Freeman Craig, who wrote and directed The Edge of 17, such a good movie. And produced, as I said, by James L. Brooks. And Julie Ansel, who, if you don't know, James L. Brooks. First of all, have you ever heard of The Simpsons? And of course, Julie Ansel. Big broadcast news, Jerry McGuire. As good as it gets, riding in cars with boys, spanglish, The Simpsons movie.

38:02 I mean, like what? These guys are super producers. So let's start with them. Let's talk with James L. Brooks and Julie Ansel. Here we go. Here we go. Here we go. The first one, a fan of both of your works, a fan of the work of both of you. And this film is no different. I find it really interesting for me that it is coming out now, with all these book bannings and that sort of thing. You have been working on this since I believe 2018 or something like that. Why was now the time to get it out there?

38:43 I think it has to do with a specific filmmaker, Kelly Freeman Craig, who did her first film. We all did it together, edge of 17. And then wrote Judy a letter saying, I'd love to adapt Margaret, which Judy had withheld from making for 50 years. We went in and saw her. And in that meeting, she decided to let us make the movie. And Julie, for you, it's a huge thing, in my opinion, for this to finally have become a movie after 50 years. What was it like for you as a creator to be part of this team that was able to make this happen?

39:26 Oh, I mean, it was amazing. I mean, I read the book when I was 12 and it helped me get through puberty and to know that it's been doing that for 50 years for women and then to be able to hope that this movie will also do that in its way and help kids now kind of get through that time and relate to it and know they're not alone. I mean, it just, it was an amazing experience. Again, I love this movie. I also love that you didn't shy away in producing this from really anything in there.

40:07 Obviously, I would assume that's a very purposeful choice. Was there anything that you were nervous about as you were tackling this? I remember Kelly. One of the girls gets her period first and there was a question of what's it like? What's it like? The other girls asked her. Kelly had gone around to all her friends and asked them what it was like and wasn't there a smell? Wasn't there a smell catcher? And she said, and one girl nailed it and she said, "Yeah, monkey bars." So, so it was just the research was so intimate and you know, women getting together and talking about it as part of making the movie.

40:48 Was it important for you to have, you know, it seems Judy was extremely involved in this? Was it important for you to have that original voice there? It was, oh, you always felt blessed. I mean, when she came to the set maybe five times that each time was reassuring because we were so nervous about not doing right by her and letting her down in any way. So when it was she came and said, "Okay, it was like it made a real difference." I love it. Thank you both so much for your time. I can't wait for everybody to see this and you know, they can band books. They'll have a much, much harder time doing this.

41:28 So people will get the message ultimately. Thank you both so much. Here here. Thanks. Thanks. Thank you. I am so like, I'm fanboying out. I just talked to Jim Brooks, James L. Brooks and Julie Ansel, super producers like Ahus Hu in, you know, show business. I love that I talk to them and I love that they have made this iconic book come to life. Next up, let's talk to the woman herself, the women themselves, writer director Kelly Freeman, Craig and Judy. Mother F and Bloom. Thank you so much both of you for joining me.

42:10 I really appreciate it. Thank you. Thank you. Of course, Judy, I'd like to start with you for 50 years, you know, almost. You have declined, I guess you could say, to allow this film or I'm sorry, the book to become a film. Why was it now? Why was it now? It's now because the right team came to me at the right time and I said yes and I just knew that it was the right team and it was and it is. Yeah. Yeah, it's such an amazing film and Kelly, you, I mean, from the edge of 17 to this, all of your work, but I mean you were like me right person.

42:56 I'm sorry, I don't mean to interrupt, but that is, that was in Kelly's initial letter to me and I had seen the edge of 17 and I'm like, wait, you wrote that and you directed that. I loved that movie. That was a credential that no one else has ever come to me with. I was so excited that Judy Bloom had seen that movie. I was like, why is that? And for you, Kelly, when you got that, yes, where you like, like I feel like that's a lot of weight on the shoulders. I'd be so nervous. Yeah, I mean, the real excited and yeah, an incredibly nerve wracking because, you know, yeah, I just felt a tremendous responsibility to get it right and to make Judy proud and to make the fans happy and feel like this was, this is the book come to life on film, you know.

43:51 And most of all, just really wanted to deliver the spirit of the book. And she did all of that and more. So I'm very, very grateful. I love it. I think it's such an incredible film and Judy, for you, you, I believe I read that you said the film is better than the book. Did you say that? I did say that on national television. Yes, I did say that. And the reason is, is because you get to see not just a 12-year-old's point of view, but you get to see a rounded mother, a real mother.

44:32 And Rachel McAdams is incredible in this role and a father and a grandmother. And you get to see the different generations. And I mean, that's very interesting for me, you know. So and I think it will be for everyone because you've got the, you've got the book. I promise you all, you've got the book. It's there. Plus, you've got more. Kelly, how does that feel to hear that? I, I, I mean, this is Judy freaking bloom. This is my language. I'm telling, I've been trying to process it since, since you first said it. It's, I mean, I, it's the most important thing to me was to make Judy happy.

45:12 So I'm just so happy she's happy and relieved to know and all those things. I'm very happy. But I love it. And you know, it's kudos to, to both of you. I was talking earlier that with all these book bannings and all that stuff. I love that this movie is coming out now because so many more people will have access to it. Whether they're local, you know, politicians have decided that the book should be banned or not, they're going to have this story here anyway. Yes. And when we made it, we had no idea that we were going to wind up where we were in the 80s plus plus plus plus plus plus.

45:53 Yeah. Yeah. Thank you both so much. I can't wait for everybody to see this. Have a great day. Thank you. Guys, I just talked to Kelly Freeman Craig and Judy mother bloom. Okay. Judy bloom. She wrote blubber. She wrote tales of a fourth grade, nothing. She wrote Dini. She is named one of the most influential people in the world by Tom magazine, one of the 100 most influential people in the world by time magazine. Like what? I icon. She's so, and how cool is she? She's so freaking awesome.

46:33 And there's also a documentary out now called Judy bloom forever, which premiered at Sundance, which I haven't seen yet, but it looks really good. And it's basically a documentary centered around Judy mother bloom. Okay. So actually, it is on a prime video as now. I was just told by Justin. Thank you. Justin, best producer. So yes. All right. Next up. And finally, the stars of, are you there? God, it's me Margaret Abby, writer, Fortson and Rachel. Make Adam. Thank you for joining me. I really appreciate it. Thanks for having us.

47:13 Of course. So film is absolutely amazing. You both do such a wonderful job in it. And I just talked to Judy about, you know, 50 years and now it is out here as a film. And for you, both of you as actors, you know, I feel like that would make me really nervous to know that, you know, okay, I'm going to be Margaret. You know, like, how is that for you knowing the history and cultural impact of this book? Honestly, I'm just so honored to be the one that was chosen to play Margaret and bring her to the big screen.

47:55 And I'm so glad that Judy loved everything and signed off on it. I know while she was on set, we were all like anxiously waiting to see her reaction and be like, oh my God, is Judy gonna like approve this? Is Judy loving this? And yeah, I relate to Margaret on so many levels and I have gone through pretty much everything that she has. And I'm just so, so lucky that I was able to bring this iconic character to life. I love that and you do such an amazing job with it. How about for you, Rachel? Sorry, what was the question again? Just knowing the history power of this book.

48:37 Yes, yes, I definitely felt pressure. Yeah, that's half a century that waiting to see what group of people would bring Margaret to the screen and to be a part of that, I was worried. I was not, I got the invitation, but it wasn't meant for me somehow. But yeah, just, I just, yeah, I really wanted Judy to be happy and I've heard that I think she is. And that's kind of all I care about. I'm like, I don't care if everybody hates it. Judy has to be happy, yes. Yeah, she told me that it's better than the book. I know. And that's a testament to how sweet Judy is. But yeah, yeah.

49:18 And Abby, for you, did you, you know, you're talking about real issues that real girls and young women deal with as well as bigger issues that we all deal with, but were you nervous at all to kind of go out and put it all out there on the big screen? Not really. I mean, I've, yeah, like I've dealt with everything that Margaret has and I feel like Kelly was super duper respectful and I always felt safe on set to, you know, talk about all this stuff. And I think that honestly, we've kind of made this, these topics uncomfortable in society and along with not wanting to have, you know, the talk from your parents.

50:05 And I think that it's so unnecessary because we need to talk about these things and having that barrier is just not helpful for anyone. And yeah, I always felt super comfortable on set and I was actually super happy that I was able to talk about all of these topics in such a unique way. I think storytelling and filmmaking is such an amazing way to talk about things that you might not want to have a sit down conversation with with your parents, you know. I think that the film can be a great opener for, you know, the sex talker, all that stuff. You can just show them the film, your parents can take the kids to go see the film and you can have a discussion about it without, you know, talking about yourself, but instead talking about the characters in the film being like, oh, what did you think about this?

50:58 How is this relating to you, maybe? And I think it's a great way to just have these conversations without making them uncomfortable or awkward. I love that. Thank you both for speaking with me. I can't wait for everybody to go and see, are you there? God, it's me, Margaret. Thank you. Thank you. Happy writer, forced it in Rachel McGatham's. I'm so happy that this film has been made and it's out. It's a great film. You gotta show it. You know, as I said, it's one of those films that you, it's one of those projects that you know what?

51:39 Really hard to ban this movie in Florida. It still actually ranks as one of the top 100 most frequently banned books. In America today, as in 2023. So in any event, that is our show for this week. Thank you once again, Dominic Patton from Deadline Hollywood. Links in the show notes and the cast and producers and director writer of, are you there? God, it's me, Margaret. And special shout out to Judy Mother Bloom.

52:20 See you next week. I love you. Well, thank you for listening to Pop Culture Weekly. You're all the latest at popcultureweekly.com. I just talked to Judy Maaf in blue. I just talked to Judy. I just talked to Judy Maaf in blue. I just talked with Judy.