MILFIN Ain't Easy with Garcelle Beauvais

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“Society doesn't know what to do with a woman over 50. They certainly don't know what to do with a woman over 50 who is sexy, who's comfortable with her desire, who also has children and doesn't see that as a contradiction.” -Beandrea July

This week is the finale of the first season of CherryPop—what a fun ride it’s been! 

Beandrea curates some of her favorite films about the lives of women of a certain age.

We discuss the limitations of the “Madonna-Whore” binary (F-U Freud!) and how films have kept 50+ women in boxes and how they have also set them free. Beandrea also tells a BTS story about how a story she wrote for The New York Times “The Year Women Over 50 Reclaimed Their Right to Be Seen coincidently assisted a big Hollywood producer in getting investors.  

Then we talk to the legendary actor, podcast host and producer Garcelle Beauvais (The Jamie Foxx Show, Coming to America, Real Housewives of Beverly Hills) about her new podcast Going to Bed with Garcelle, which takes a candid look at sex alongside her girlfriends and celeb guests. She also gets real about her 30+ year career in Hollywood and the difference between intimacy scenes then and now. And she reveals her secret to longevity in the entertainment industry. Interview starts at 49:00

Movies & Television

Waiting to Exhale 

This drama about four women (Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine, Whitney Houston, Lela Rochon) in Phoenix looking for love was a huge box office success when it hit theaters in 1995. (You’ve probably seen that gif of Bassett setting a fancy car on fire in her lingerie…Yeah that’s from this movie.) Adapted from a novel of the same name from Terry McMillan, the film was directed by Forest Whitaker. We discuss how the pic nails what bad sex looks like in excrutiating detail and get curious about who we are allowed to see in actual sex scenes and who we don’t. 

How Stella Got Her Groove Back 

From a screenplay co-written by Terry McMillan also adapted from another one of her novels, Stella’s (Angela Bassett) story of finding love with a man half her age during her Jamaican vacation was a big hit—on the bookshelves and at the box office. We gush over how good the shower sex scene is in this movie (Hello Taye Diggs!) and how well it depicts the mundane and the ecstatic of romantic relationships. We also cannot stop talking about how good Queen Angela is at her craft. Like how has she been this good for so damn long?!

It's Complicated

Nancy Meyers’ hit rom-com about an empty nester mother (Meryl Streep) and her ex-husband (Alec Baldwin) is a funny and well-crafted story about the possibilities for women of a certain age. We talk about Hollywood’s fear of a real woman’s aging body and how much of a relief it is NOT to be 20 years old anymore. And of course you won’t want to miss those posh Nancy Meyers kitchens that film Twitter is always gushing over. 

Book Club

Directed by Bill Holderman with a script co-written by Erin Simms, Book Club is the story of what happens when four friends of a certain age (Jane Fonda, Diane Keaton, Mary Steenburgen, Candice Bergen) get inspired by the steamy scenes in the novel Fifty Shades of Grey. We talk about Keaton’s androgyny, spanks humor, and why mothers shouldn’t have to wait until their kids are grown to have great sex.

Late Night

Late Night stars Emma Thompson as Katherine Newbury, a successful late night talk show host and comedian who has hit a fork in the road in her career. Written beautifully by Mindy Kaling (who also stars) and directed by Nisha Ganatra, we are truly baffled as to why this movie didn’t get the box office attention it deserved when it debuted post-Sundance in 2019. We discuss the clever role reversal in Kaling’s script that puts Katherine’s sex life front and center.

Juanita 

The great Alfre Woodard goes on her version of an Eat, Pray, Love journey that takes her far away from home to Montan. There she explores her spirituality and hooks up with a younger man (Adam Beach). We love how fresh this movie and its characters are and revel in how its one sex scene stands out from the rest.

Gloria Bell

Written and directed by Sebastien Lelio (A Fantastic Woman) Gloria Bell stars Julianne Moore as an empty nester mom with a passion for the dancefloor. This critical favorite from 2019 is an absolute delight that we can watch again and again. We discuss how hard it is to make MILF Extraordinaire Moore look “frumpy” and swoon over the aspirational lovemaking on display.

Frankie 

This criminally under-rated gem of an indie premiered at the 2019 Toronto International Film Festival. Directed by Ira Sachs who co-writes the screenplay with Mauricio Zacharias, the film stars the fabuleuse Isabelle Huppert (Her) as Frankie. Frankie convenes her extended family on a vacation in a quaint Spanish town in the mountains. We discuss the unfair critical reception to the film and how good it feels to be skin to skin with the one you love. 

Otherhood

Three friends (Angela Bassett, Felicity Huffman, Patricia Arquette) take an impromptu trip to New York City to reconnect with their adult sons on Mother’s Day in this Netflix hit directed and co-written by Cindy Shupack (Sex and the City). We discuss the politics of getting this and other movies like it made in an industry that prizes youth above all else and why that makes bad financial sense. 

The Interview 

This week, we have a great chat with veteran Hollywood actress Garcelle Beauvais. She got her start as a model as a teenager and from there transitioned into acting. Her first role was in one of the most well-known comedies of the 1990s: Eddie Murphy’s Coming to America. Over her more than 30 year career, she has acted in film and television including The Jamie Foxx Show and the upcoming reboot of Coming to America from writer Kenya Barris. We discuss how the industry has evolved when it comes to shooting intimate sex scenes (and how it hasn’t) and the importance of not letting people pigeonhole you into one thing. And you won’t want to miss her dishing about her steamy new podcast Going to Bed with Garcelle, which was just renewed for a second season by MGM.

Credits

CherryPop is presented by CherryPicks.

Our hosts are Beandrea July (Twitter @beandreadotcom) and Meg McCarthy (IG megjomccarthy).

The show is recorded, produced and mixed by Beandrea July.

Our executive producers are Miranda Bailey and Rebecca Odes.

Our music is by Jordan Balagot. (Soundcloud jordanbla)

Special thanks to the whole team at CherryPicks.