DIRECTOR'S CUT: Movie Couple Therapy: THE PRINCESS BRIDE's Westley and Buttercup
Added 2024-03-11 15:00:10 +0000 UTCHow do fairytale relationships differ from reality?
Licensed therapist Jonathan Decker and filmmaker Alan Seawright are taking a look at Westley and Buttercup’s relationship from The Princess Bride. Besides geeking out about a childhood classic, they talk about the difference between fairytale and real-life relationships and what pointers Jonathan would give to Westley and Buttercup if they existed outside of a fairy tale. Alan shares why The Princess Bride is so beloved to this today. Hint: it’s a perfect movie!
Comments
24:07 Thought you were gonna say “Never happened” when you talked about the flaws of the movie. 😄 Also, talk about nice shots: the where Indigo is kneeling and/or holding his sword, that one was 🤌✨.
Ana Bulat
2024-06-01 18:34:27 +0000 UTCAlso, where did Alan whip out that british accent from?! Very nice 👌
Ana Bulat
2024-06-01 18:31:05 +0000 UTCPoor Gandalf in the background. 🙈💕 26:33 Wish there was more of him in the episode. 🐶🫶
Ana Bulat
2024-06-01 18:29:46 +0000 UTCI, too, am not a lawyer of any kind, but my understanding is that the "I do" is actually a component of the legal marriage agreement, without which it would not be valid. At least, in traditional Western marriages. Great movie, great video!
Quazillionaire
2024-05-06 04:25:04 +0000 UTCI do love Ladyhawke
Meg W.
2024-04-23 21:40:07 +0000 UTCThis movie is I-CON-IC! I actually got to see this live in a theatre and then AFTER we got a Q&A session with Cary Elwis. It was amazing. Also THE SCORE IS AMAZING ALAN! HOW DARE YOU! 🤣
Meg W.
2024-04-23 20:41:08 +0000 UTCI really enjoy listening to your insights and silliness. Thank you for taking a risk
Lorelei Furan
2024-04-18 19:46:23 +0000 UTCThe Eminem joke sent me
Omen the Black Cat
2024-03-26 17:03:13 +0000 UTCPrincess Bride and epic movie , Peter Falk can read me a story when I’m sick anytime , still love it years on and still great to watch , and always proud and always will be to be a Patreon of 2 very special guys your very dear to my heart Jono & Alan 😄☮️💚👌
☮️🪬Sonar IllusionFox🪬☮️
2024-03-20 22:05:01 +0000 UTCI've loved this movie my whole life, but I still get annoyed at Buttercup. I guess she had about the agency of most 80s movie heroines, but her early entitlement & later passivity bug me a lot. My favorite thing about this film is the bromance of Inigo and Fezzik. They are ride-or-die in all the best ways.
Manic Thiccsy Dream Girl
2024-03-19 20:11:45 +0000 UTCCareless Whisper plays, and the captions think it’s The Star-Spangled Banner. 😂
tropetweeter
2024-03-19 18:06:25 +0000 UTCHonestly, Mandy would probably love Jono’s version of that line more.
tropetweeter
2024-03-19 17:49:37 +0000 UTCMusic is hugely important, yet also subjective. I just saw “Dune 2", which I enjoyed greatly, yet I found myself comparing the big battle scene to the charge of the Rohirrim in “Lord of the Rings” (which right there tells you something, that I thought about another movie). I felt that the charge is a better piece of film-making, and what makes the battle in “Dune” epic is the Hans Zimmer score. His scores for the Dune movies are, imho, off the charts. But I know other folks who rant and rave about how terrible the music for them is. I feel Zimmer has done something amazing with those scores, but I don’t know enough about music or movie-scores to be able to articulate it well, so I just let those other folks have their (erroneous 😉 ) opinion and we talk about something like the ornithoptors. (I’ve waited literally decades for someone to get the ornithoptors right!)
Katharine Kroeber-Wiley
2024-03-19 00:38:05 +0000 UTCOMG that would be absolutely amazing!
Shani Gribben
2024-03-13 20:35:17 +0000 UTC(Takes screenprint)....😊 I'm Dutch, so just making sure I'll get those drinks... 😁 btw, I don't really drink, but I can make an exception for you. And if we never meet, at least this comment made my fairly nerve-wracking day.
Wiwik Anggraini
2024-03-13 16:39:38 +0000 UTCOur work here is finished. 🫡
Alan Seawright
2024-03-13 16:29:04 +0000 UTCWe’re working on it! But we need to get the man himself to do it properly.
Alan Seawright
2024-03-13 16:27:37 +0000 UTCRight! He’s a good-looking man. And hey, we can have differing opinions on the score. It’s fine. Nobody HAS to be right, even though it’s obvious that I, Alan Jacobsen Rafael de Lancie McGillicutty Seawright, am right. 😉
Alan Seawright
2024-03-13 16:26:53 +0000 UTCIf we ever meet irl, I’m buying the drinks!
Alan Seawright
2024-03-13 16:24:26 +0000 UTCI completely agree with you--the score does *exactly* what it means to do: the music makes it very clear how serious the movie IS NOT taking itself (and I saw it as a kid when it came out)
Jennifer
2024-03-12 21:50:22 +0000 UTCA dashing, dapper dadly duo!
Smidge
2024-03-12 20:35:31 +0000 UTCMy reaction to: "Death can not stop true love" a milisecond before Alan: "Yeah, it can!" Great minds, I suppose. And there are few content makers who not only educate me, but also entertain me. Very happy to be your patron.
Wiwik Anggraini
2024-03-12 18:16:47 +0000 UTCALAN JACOBSON SEAWRIGHT YOU MONSTER HOW DARE YOU INSULT THE SCORE??? (I don't know your middle name so I had to make one up) I have only made it that far into the video and I *gasped* at that. Loudly. And had to pause to type this. edited to add, you both look good in your costumes (and not because your face is hiding, Alan, stop being mean to yourself!) but Jono especially looks quite sexy as Inigo 🔥
Jennifer
2024-03-12 17:35:30 +0000 UTCI appreciate your thoughtful response too Jono. They have both made movies I’ve loved, but I couldn’t understand why Bay tends to be dismissed more as a spectacle director/producer. I know how Bay treats (treated?) others is pretty problematic, so it makes sense if that is a key difference in how they’re perceived. Thanks again both of you ❤️
Jimmy Danielle
2024-03-12 16:00:19 +0000 UTCAlso, Zack Snyder fetishizes both men and women, Michael Bay is just women. So there's that. I think Zack is less of a misogynist.
Cinema Therapy
2024-03-12 15:56:18 +0000 UTCJono here. I think stylistically they are similar, but I agree with Alan. Zack Snyder seems like a much better person to work for (and a more decent person overall). Both of them have movies that I like, but far too often the visuals are amazing and the script needs work. When either of them have had a decent script, they make solid flicks.
Cinema Therapy
2024-03-12 15:55:43 +0000 UTCDidn’t know that! To me, that makes this one of the rare examples where the movie makes choices that improve upon the original story, since I don’t know if I could root for Westley in the film as a romantic lead if he was shown to have intentions like that.
Ian C
2024-03-12 14:47:11 +0000 UTCIf you're going to review more fairytale parody movies might I suggest Ella Enchanted?
Max Fauchier
2024-03-12 00:46:15 +0000 UTCThe costumes are the best!!!
KrissyArtist
2024-03-12 00:25:00 +0000 UTCYeah, that sounds right.
ViyellaTheRarity
2024-03-11 23:11:04 +0000 UTCYour response makes me feel better since it’s not an obvious answer. Sometimes it really can be hard to tell and the context matters a lot. Thanks!
Jimmy Danielle
2024-03-11 22:55:20 +0000 UTCOof.
Alan Seawright
2024-03-11 22:48:06 +0000 UTCI don't know. I don't know if Zack Snyder is in on the joke. Michael Bay *absolutely* is. But Zack Snyder is apparently a delight to work with, and Michael Bay is notoriously... okay. Like, screams a bit? But not in ways that are truly awful? I dunno.
Alan Seawright
2024-03-11 22:47:28 +0000 UTCValid. Guess it would have been better to say "at least one-way infatuation."?
Alan Seawright
2024-03-11 22:42:55 +0000 UTCSpeaking of awful synths in a fairy tale movie, how about reviewing Ladyhawke? :D
tiassa
2024-03-11 21:50:11 +0000 UTCThis was one of my childhood favorites for the fairytale, true love story but I watched it recently and it made me cringe for all the reasons Jono covered. I'm not so sure the relationship does work, even in this fairytale/parody setting. You don't threaten to stike the one you love, ever. Not even in a story. I still love the movie but now it's for Inigo and Fezzik. They're great! I'd also love to see an episode about Inigo and revenge.
Dorthea
2024-03-11 21:12:09 +0000 UTCI really hope we get an Inigo video
Shani Gribben
2024-03-11 20:32:12 +0000 UTCHello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die.
Allexis Roberge
2024-03-11 20:24:14 +0000 UTCI LOVE THIS MOVIE! and I actually think the soundtrack adds to the parody drama style so I think it's perfect. To be fair, I am a millennial and did not live in the 80s so I think the sound kind of gets you in the now vintage mood of the movie... I don't know, I just think it's perfect how it is hahaha :)
Kate Ackerley
2024-03-11 20:22:48 +0000 UTCSome other notable women stunt peformers: Zoe Bell, Amy Johnston, Lauren Mary Kim, Heidi Moneymaker, Samantha Win, Sophia Crawford. The list goes on. And yeah, Michelle Yeoh was indeed a trailblazer for women in stunts overall.
Eric Urmanita
2024-03-11 18:36:51 +0000 UTCOf course this episode was adorable, but I have a question I’ve been too afraid to ask… is Zack Snyder the new Michael Bay? 😬
Jimmy Danielle
2024-03-11 17:54:23 +0000 UTCJono: “I have not read the pamphlets…” 😂
Jimmy Danielle
2024-03-11 17:53:10 +0000 UTCFYI, the framing device actually comes from the book. The movie adaptation of it is brilliant. It works for people who haven't read the book, *and* for people who have, and were wondering what the film makers would do with a frame that starts with a (fake) introduction and proceeds with various interpolations in the text. (Including suggesting writing to the publishers for a copy of a chapter that was "left out". If you actually wrote the publishers, you didn't get the chapter, but you get a letter explaining why you weren't getting the chapter... which letter was in itself part of the framing/book.) Also, I personally think it helps the film a lot -- not strictly necessary in terms of action plot, no, but in terms of the movie overall as a story, really needed -- imho. Also, kudos to William Goldman, the rare person who can write well *both* as a novelist and as a screenwriter. Most novelists can't adapt their own work, because they're wired for novels, not screenplays.
Katharine Kroeber-Wiley
2024-03-11 17:47:05 +0000 UTCthe outfit reveals lmaoooo. I am so happy I'm in the Patreon right now
KaylaLeigh025
2024-03-11 16:44:26 +0000 UTC"if you're hot enough, accountability doesn't matter" I'M QUOTING YOU ON THAT JONO MUAHAHAHA NOBODY CAN STOP ME NOW
simdoodles
2024-03-11 16:41:33 +0000 UTCCounterpoint. I saw a live performance last year of the score (with movie in the background) with an orchestra, and it was lovely.
mightstill
2024-03-11 16:15:50 +0000 UTCI love this movie so much, but I agree entirely about fairy tale rules regarding the relationship. I remember in high school, a good friend of mine got together with another mutual friend. And we were always sort of like “she likes to tell him what to do and he likes to do it”, it seemed to outwardly work that their personalities matched in that way. But ultimately after they got married and moved together etc it was no longer sustainable. The last conversation I had with him about his marriage he said that they had separated because he didn’t want to be a parent and she did, and “but she’s X, so she’s going to get what she wants”. They ended up divorcing. No one partner can ever sacrifice everything for the other without it someday coming back to bite. Even if it seems romantic or functional in the beginning. -Erin
Stefan and Erin S
2024-03-11 15:55:52 +0000 UTCThe book made it more clear that he actually was going to kill her. He did slap her in the book. He only softened when he realized she didn't actually love Humperdink and was still in love with him. It makes the whole thing a little bleaker...
Chris N
2024-03-11 15:52:45 +0000 UTCI have always loved this movie. The fact that it is a movie where the "hard times" are resolved so sweetly by the end make it worth watching as an escape. Life just doesn't work that way. And isn't that why we watch in the first place?
Linda Herbert
2024-03-11 15:42:52 +0000 UTCIt occurs to me that being forced to do something against your will and having to face your SO afterwards can apply to a number of scenarios, some of them absolutely devastating. "*You* didn't say yes and therefore *You* didn't do it" can be so powerful. And now I have to go to work with these big thoughts in my head. Thanks guys! 😂🤣 Kidding! I absolutely love this and thank you so much for covering one of my favorite movies of all time while also addressing my, apparently shared, issues with it! ❤️❤️
Tiana Horsey-Daydreamer
2024-03-11 15:42:13 +0000 UTCI would push back on saying it was infatuation in the beginning. We don’t know how long Westley worked for Buttercup. He probably knows her very well. She may have been oblivious to him but he seemed to be very observant of her. But I love the episode and love you guys, you’re doing great!!
ViyellaTheRarity
2024-03-11 15:42:08 +0000 UTCprincess bride classic take on a great couple wish it was longer but do it for montya and revenge
Josh Jones
2024-03-11 15:32:09 +0000 UTCSo excited that you guys did this movie!
Fell Hawke
2024-03-11 15:16:52 +0000 UTC
