Pheaturing Gillian Anderson From "The Crown"

 

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Friday. How are you? Mr. Potato Head has gone through a lot of changes over the years. When the children’s toy was first distributed by Hasbro in 1952, it was just a collection of separate plastic parts for kids to stick inside of real potatoes! After parental complaints of rotting vegetables, the plastic potato was introduced in 1964. And now, Potato Head... minus the Mr.... can add gender fluidity to its list of modern updates. The toy giant Hasbro announced that Mr. Potato Head, and his wife Mrs. Potato Head, will be rebranded as a single gender-neutral “Potato Head” toy line. The Mr. Potato Head is more than just a plastic toy. In 1949, the Brooklyn toymaker George Lerner revolutionized the art of children’s play by inventing a toy that kids could design themselves. What began as a bundled set of plastic body parts attached to pins grew into the massively successful franchise we know today. In 1951, the Hasbro company... then called Hassenfeld Brothers... bought the rights to Lerner’s product for just $7,000 (plus 5% royalties). At the time, the parts were being distributed as cereal box prizes. But it didn’t take long for Hasbro to create a new, and highly strategic, business model. Long before the advent of games like Monopoly and Scrabble, Mr. Potato Head put Hasbro on the map. The company marketed Mr. Potato Head directly to children, as opposed to their parents, through eye-catching TV advertisements that ran throughout the early 1950s: a genius play. The sales of Mr. Potato Head were an unparalleled success. In 1953, Mr. Potato Head’s family was added: Mrs. Potato Head, and their children, Yam and Spud. In 1995, Disney’s Toy Story reintroduced the Potato Head family to a new generation of kids who then tinkered with the trinkets imagining the celebrity voices of Don Rickles and Estelle Harris. And now, a new era has dawned in the great American story of the Potato Heads. Hasbro announced that the toy will be rebranded as a single gender-neutral “Potato Head” toy line. Ali Mierzejewski, editor in chief of The Toy Insider, told the Associated Press: “It’s a potato. But kids like to see themselves in the toys they are playing with.” Hasbro is not the first toy company to expand marketing to include more diverse options. Mattel has actively pushed against Barbie’s “blonde image” in recent years, adding new dolls with a range of skin tones, body shapes, in addition to a gender-neutral line in 2019. Thomas the Tank Engine, another Mattel toy line, had added more girl characters. Even American Girl Doll now sells boy dolls! The LGBTQ non-profit GLAAD applauded the move by Hasbro, saying, “Hasbro is helping kids to simply see toys as toys, which encourages them to be their authentic selves outside of the pressures of traditional gender norms.” The move by Hasbro might, on its surface, seem reductive to the long-established Mr. Potato Head identity. But in essence, the decision by Hasbro honors George Lerner’s original intent: for children to become the architects of their own toy’s look and destiny. Mr. Potato Head has long been considered a “boy toy” with his romantic partner Mrs. Potato Head being marketed to the girls. But in 2021, that idea seems heteronormative at best, and old-fashioned at worst, for the evolving Potato Head brand. Now kids can enjoy their plastic spuds in a non-binary domestic partnership. Who knows? Maybe the Potato Heads will enter into a polyamorous relationship with the nearest Barbie. The extent of this modern family will depend entirely on the imagination of your child. Who’s excited? 

When the coronavirus pandemic hit, everything went online, including work and school. As one would expect, crazy online mishaps have started to occur more regularly because Zoom calls are now so normal in our society. And for Marc Schack, this mishap might cost him his career. Schack is a teacher’s aide for special education students in Maryland at Shady Grove Middle School in Gaithersburg. He had thought an online lesson with 8th graders had ended last Wednesday and proceeded to have some alone time to “take care of himself.” But while he was masturbating, he had no idea that the virtual call lesson was still going. He told Bethesda Magazine that he was unaware the call hadn’t ended. He said, “I thought I was logged out when class was over. I had no clue that Zoom was still on. Why would I do that? That’s my job. I had no clue that Zoom was on. I mean, that’s just crazy behavior.” The 13-second clip was later posted on social media, showing Schack looking at his screen, then standing up, walking just a few steps away, and beginning to pleasure himself. His name appears on the screen as the host of the Zoom call, and seconds later, another name appeared, replacing him as moderator. Schack has been working for Montgomery County Public Schools for 21 years and also runs a business called Pirate Magic, where he portrays a character named “Captain Silly Bones” throwing “pirate parties” for youngsters. He has since been placed on administrative leave, but district officials also added that they had, “misplaced his background check file.” Schack insists the situation was, “just a mistake,” adding, “I’m only human,” adding, “I’m not a pervert or anything like that, you know. You gotta believe me on that... I thought I was in the privacy of my own home. I had no clue.” Nevertheless, district spokeswoman Gboyinde Onijala did tell the New York Post that an ongoing investigation for a “staffer” for “inappropriate behavior that was sexual in nature,” saying, “Per our procedures, we do not release the names of staff members that are under investigation. Local authorities were informed and are investigating as well.” Look, masturbation is a natural part of life, okay? We’re all adults here. But, seriously, make sure you double, actually-triple, check who’s around before you dive into your “alone time.” And even if you’re planning some self-love, why even risk being near your work computer or your office? I really want to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, but I can’t really do that when he should’ve been more careful anyways.

Georgia’s new Republican representative Marjorie Taylor Greene has openly supported baseless, far-right conspiracy theories including Pizzagate, QAnon, so-called “Jewish space lasers,” and false flag school shootings. Following the violent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, Greene staunchly defends Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. Then a video of Rep. Greene verbally harassing a survivor of the deadly Parkland school shooting surfaced. Due to Greene’s history of incendiary commentary, the House voted to remove the Freshman congresswoman from all committee roles on February 4th, 2021. And now, she’s back in the news. This time for antagonizing her colleague, Rep. Marie Newman of Illinois, by hanging a sign that reads, “There are two genders: male & female. Trust the science.” Check this shit out...

The Equality Act, a bill that proposes prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation, is currently on the House floor. Illinois U.S. Rep. Marie Newman is a vocal supporter of the legislation, and herself has a transgender daughter. While passionately advocating for the bill on Capitol Hill, Rep. Newman shared with Congress, “The right time to pass this act was decades ago. The second best time is right now. I’m voting yes on the Equality Act for Evie Newman, my daughter and the strongest, bravest person I know.” Since Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has called The Equality Act “disgusting,” “immoral,” “evil,” Rep. Marie Newman decided to hang a transgender pride flag in front of her own office... her which is right across the hall from Rep. Greene’s. Newman’s pointed display of the flag... which features blue, pink, and white stripes... honors the LGBTQ community was shared on social media. And boy, did it get Greene going. On February 24th, GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene tweeted a video of herself hanging up a printed sign that reads “There are two genders: male & female. Trust the science.” The caption of the tweet says, “Our neighbor, @RepMarieNewman, wants to pass the so-called ‘Equality’ Act to destroy women’s rights and religious freedoms. Thought we’d put up ours so she can look at it every time she opens her door,” followed by emojis of a winking smile and the American flag... a direct mockery of Rep. Marie Newman’s own tweet roughly five hours prior. Thanks to the feud between these lawmakers from Illinois and Georgia, the impending results have gained national attention. Although President Joe Biden has said that passing the Equality Act is a top priority, according to CNN, it still will face serious challenges should it move on to the Senate.

It’s been two months since Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo was accused of sexual harassment by his former aide, Lindsey Boylan. But now, Boylan has decided to elaborate more about what happened, detailing his mistreatment of her, which includes kissing her after a meeting. She posted the full story on Medium on Wednesday, but Cuomo and his other aides have not hesitated to deny her allegations. Boylan’s lengthy explanation of what she alleges happened, mentions a “crude comment” she claims Cuomo made about playing strip poker during an October 2017 flight on his government plane. She wrote, “He was seated facing me, so close our knees almost touched. His press aide was to my right and a state trooper behind us. ‘That’s exactly what I was thinking,’ I responded sarcastically and awkwardly. I tried to play it cool. But in that moment, I realized just how acquiescent I had become.” However, four other people from Cuomo’s office who were on that flight, John Maggiore, Howard Zemsky, Dani Lever, and Abbey Fashouer Collins, denied the existence of that conversation in a statement to People Magazine that said, “We were on each of these October flights and this conversation did not happen,” and the governor’s office provided proof that all of Boylan was never alone with Cuomo during Cuomo’s flights in 2017. Boylan had decided to tell the full length of her story after she said another former staffer told her “that she, too, had been the subject of the Governor’s workplace harassment,” she added, “Her story mirrored my own. Seeing his name floated as a potential candidate for U.S. Attorney General... the highest law enforcement official in the land... set me off.” Boylan continued illustrating how Cuomo made her uncomfortable by detailing how his crude behavior around women included talking about their weight or ridiculing their romantic partners, how he “would go out of his way to touch [her] on [her] lower back, arms, and legs,” and when he allegedly kissed her on the lips when she left a meeting. She also wrote about when her boss, “informed [her] that the Governor had a ‘crush’ on [her],” after she and Cuomo met in January 2016. In her post, there are screenshots of emails and text messages. Boylan articulated much more in her post, not shying away from any details. And as much as Cuomo and his office denies the accusations, Boylan’s story has resurfaced in the midst of the mess that is going on with the NYC governor’s office and how they’ve been handling the coronavirus pandemic and distributing COVID-19 vaccines to New Yorkers.

Lady Gaga’s dog walker was shot four times and her to French Bulldogs, Gustav and Koji, were stolen on Wednesday night in West Hollywood. According to a close source to the singer, she is now offering $500,000 to anyone who has her dogs, no questions asked. If anyone has information, or has the dogs, you can email KojiandGustav@gmail.com in order to retrieve the reward. The Los Angeles Police Department, LAPD, stated that the man was shot during a robbery before 10 p.m. and was later transported to the hospital in stable condition. The gunman then took the two bulldogs from the victim, used a semi-automatic handgun, and fled the scene in a white vehicle. Video of the scene showed a man on the ground who was still clinging to one dog, which was Miss Asia. The injured man appeared to be alert and was talking to officers before he was transported to a nearby hospital. Lady Gaga’s bodyguard was later seen picking up the dog from the station. Asia, Gustav, and Koji According to CNN, the investigation is still ongoing. Luckily, the source added that the singer’s dog walker is recovering well. Police stated the investigation is still ongoing and there are still searching for the shooter. French Bulldogs are very small and are known for their large bat-like ears. They are the fourth most popular dog breed in the U.S. according to the American Kennel Club. Back in 2018, the Oscar winner, whose real name is Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, posted several photos of her dogs in Chia Pet costumes for Halloween. She recently made headlines for performing her national anthem on inauguration day. The actress is currently overseas in Rome, Italy filming for her upcoming murder drama, Gucci. 

Do you know what makes me laugh? When people reenact photos from their past, just like this woman did...

Hahaha. Have you seen that painting of Ted Cruz? It made me laugh... 

There are so many good shows on Disney+ now if you don't know. Check out this new show... 

Psssst. That's not a real show. Do you remember the Sally and Sam books? I don't, but I wish I had this one...

Hahahaha. If I had a TARDIS I would go back in time to see how they tested football helmets.

Ouch! Throughout 2020, plenty of people finding themselves in self-isolation took an opportunity to start new hobbies or learn a new craft. However, there was one craft taken up by an individual that caused tension in a relationship. One Phile reader is a 26-year-old male who did not approve of his 24-year-old girlfriend’s new interest and confronted her about it. It did not go well. He emailed me and asked...

"Am I wrong for telling my girlfriend that she’s not a witch? I think my girlfriend got bored during the lockdowns last year and has gained an obsession with witchcraft. She keeps saying that she’s a witch and she has filled our house with herbs, candles, crystals, rune sets and weird trinkets. At first I didn’t care because I thought it’d be a temporary thing but I was very wrong. She gets up at 3 in the morning just to do rituals and spells or whatever it is witches do. My girlfriend burns so much incense that it gives me a headache and makes our house smell strange, I hate it. She also tries to make me drink random herbal teas that taste like shit. I really was trying to be supportive but it’s starting to frustrate me. A few hours ago, I came home from work and as soon as she saw me she told me that she senses ‘bad energy’ and started SPRAYING some mist thing?? on and around me. So I may have snapped and told her that she was acting crazy and she needs to let this witch thing go because she’s not a real fucking witch. My girlfriend was offended and told me I wasn’t a supportive boyfriend that I was acting disrespectful towards her beliefs and now she’s refusing to talk to me until I apologize… am I wrong? Starting to wonder if I should have just kept my mouth shut." No, you are not wrong. She crossed a line when she started to spray you directly which is the same as being sprayed with ‘holy water.’ If the two of you can’t come to an understanding and mutual acceptance of each other, you’re headed for a break-up. I encourage you to engage in a heart-to-heart discussion and set some boundaries if you want to remain in a relationship with someone who is passionate about her "awakening." If you have a problem you want my advice on then email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...

Top Phive Things Said By People Who Don't Miss Their Exes

5. My ex left a ziploc bag of banana Laffy Taffy on my door step with a note that says "I know you always said I didn't listen to you but I still remember your favorite Laffy Taffy flavor." My favorite Laffy Taffy flavor is strawberry. 

4. I used to hate it so much when my ex would text me constantly but as it turns out I actually do like talking to someone 24/7, I just really don't like him.

3. I have a soft spot for dogs that's probably why I stayed so long with my ex. 

2. My ex is legit wearing a whole outfit purchased by me in his "engagement photos"... I have to laugh. 

And the number one thing said by someone who doesn't miss their ex is...

1. Being an ex is not a flex. The fact that you HAD me and you lost me is embarrassing. 

If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, shall we?

Oh, man, looks like the snow is pretty much melted. It looks like a nice day there though. Okay, now for some sad news...

Lawrence Ferlinghetti 

March 24th, 1919 — February 23rd, 2021 

There once was a guy named Larry whose poetry game was hairy. Lived many years, faced all his fears,  and was only just recently buried. 

In Stuart Little, the Little family walked into an orphanage, looked at ever child there, and decided on a rodent.

The 146th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club is...

Pete will be on the Phile on Wednesday. 

I am so excited about this! Today's guest is an American actress. Her credits include the roles of FBI Special Agent Dana Scully in the series "The X-Files," ill-fated socialite Lily Bart in Terence Davies' film The House of Mirth (2000), DSU Stella Gibson in the BBC crime drama television series "The Fall," sex therapist Jean Milburn in the Netflix comedy-drama "Sex Education," and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in the fourth season of Netflix drama series "The Crown." Among other honors, she has won a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award and two Screen Actors Guild Awards.  Please welcome to the Phile, someone I had a crush on in the 90s... Gillian Anderson!

Me: Hey, Gillian, welcome to the fan. I was a huge "The X-Files" fan so it's so cool to have you here on the Phile. How are you? 

Gillian: I'm good. How are you doing? 

Me: I'm doing great. So, I haven't seen "The Crown," but I was told I'd love it by so many people. With the last season you guys finished filming right before COVID hit, right? 

Gillian: Yeah, I think we had two weeks to go which we didn't get but two weeks ins't so bad. 

Me: Did it feel like a bit rushed then when you were finishing up the series? 

Gillian: I think so. But for production they were meant to go to the Pyrenees to shoot some stuff and they didn't get to do that. Then it was moved to Scotland to Ben Nevis, then they shut everything down. Then it was determined they weren't going to get those scenes at all. 

Me: What do you think the biggest loss of filming was then? 

Gillian: We didn't have a day taking shots for the posters and things like that. But you know, c'est la vie. 

Me: True. I cannot believe you played Thatcher in the show. I know a lot about her from living in England in the 80s and stuff. What did you know about her? 

Gillian: She was revered by some people and she was absolutely despised by other people. 

Me: Yup. So, how did you feel about taking this on? 

Gillian: Well, I think as an actor ones always looking for complex characters. So taking on a character that is notoriously divisive feels like rich material. It wasn't so much that aspect of it didn't concern me. And also because this isn't a biopic of Thatcher, we are seeing he Prime Minister through the prism of the crown. So it's very narrow slices of her journey through this particular 11 year period when she's office, so that somehow makes it a little bit more like it's a written character rather than a hundred percent full-fledged first draft of history. 

Me: Do you think you showed Thatcher in a different light than people remember her to be? 

Gillian: There was a wonderful BBC six part documentary that came out luckily for me right around the time I was doing the bulk of my research. And that too felt like the first time I had seen and many people I think had seen such a multi-facatcted view of her. There was a lot of behind the scenes stuff. It felt like there was more humanity to the all serious lecturing and hectoring woman that we I think we remember so clearly. I guess then in reading the scripts and seeing how the intricacies that Peter Morgan, the writer and show runner of "The Crown" was painting it made sense and it didn't feel completely left field to enter the stories through say Thatcher's mother or through the home keeper of the flat above Number 10 for instance, where she and Dennis would've lived through her time in office. So it's a very rounded much I wouldn't say sympathetic view. But it definitely has a humanity there that we're not used to. 

Me: I have to show a pic of you as Thatcher... 

Me: You look so good as her. So, what did you notice about how she spoke and lived that you wanted to play? 

Gillian: Well, she had a very specific cadence and recognizable voice. It's an easy voice to parody. It's easy to go to extremes with it and I think it was important for Peter that there still remains an element of me in there somewhere. That it didn't feel like it was a prodict portrayal. So that was one of the goals, to find something that was also grounded a little bit in my voice. She had a very specific way of walking, she had a very specific way of talking, leading with her chin with her head tilted and a way of gesturing and holding her hands because if a condition she had which affected some of the fingers on her hands. So all of these things is what I learned as I dig into her life story. And are easy enough to notice and use as material when watching the videos and stuff. There's plenty of juicy stuff out there. 

Me: Okay, so, I was told not to ask you anything about "The X-Files," but I am going to ask when you look back to the 90s when you started that show what do you think? 

Gillian: The very beginning when I started to do press for "The X-Files" I remember being so confused and I'd be asked the same questions over and over again. It's like my brain would just shut down. 

Me: What do you mean shut down? Why? 

Gillian: I don't know whether it was stress or just the focus being on me or what. I constantly had to say to the simplest questions the interviewers would ask, "Do you believe in extraterritorials or wherever?" and I'd say, "Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, would you ask me that question again?" I'd literally lose my way constantly. So I feel it's only really in the last decade maybe, or maybe in five years, I feel I've got better at interviews even though I've done millions and millions and millions of them. 

Me: Could you possibly thought that show would still have the following now as it did 27 years ago? I was all about "The X-Files," having a poster of you and David on my bedroom wall, the toys, the books, shirts, everything. Can you believe after all this time it's still popular? 

Gillian: I don't know, I'm still constantly surprised by it. There's new fans popping up all the time, There's still young viewers out there who are able to find it somewhere. I don't know where they get to find it anymore. The audiences are still very passionate about it and certainly the fans I had since back then have even incredibly loyal to me through the years as well and have continued to voluntarily followed my career and show up at theater events that I do. They'll show up at different play that I'll do and in the audiences of talk shows. 

Me: Is that a good thing? 

Gillian: Yeah, it is! It's fun to see familiar faces that's out there. I try not to be judgmental about any of that stuff. Whatever floats their boat. 

Me: Do you see a connection with Dana Scully and Margaret Thatcher? 

Gillian: I have a tendency to play very strong and independent strident female characters that are kind of forces to be reckoned with in their own rights and so whether it's Thatcher or whoever it is the common denominator is that it's me that's playing them. I think it's certainly my strong will comes through and potentially is related to why people come to me to cast me in these characters to begin with. So I think Scully would have been much more aware of her actions and how they relate to other women in her universe than potentially Margaret Thatcher was for instance. 

Me: Does playing Margaret Thatcher give you more empathy for who she was as a person? 

Gillian: I'm not sure if empathy is the right word. I would probably say an understanding for the woman that she became. She was a self made woman. She grew up in a very frugal household and her father was an alderman and she helped. He was a grocer and she was a grocer's daughter and she helped in the shop. They were incredibly religious, it was a Methodist household and so when we understand all of that it's easier to understand where she's come from and how she got to the world that she created for herself. I think it's just understanding, it's not necessarily compassion, it's not necessarily empathy. I think I could understand how she became who she became and yet disagree with a lot of the things that she might've done. And yet at the same time be impressed by how brave, or her work ethic, or the fact that she was woman of stature at that particular time. So yeah, she's complicated. I think it's important that the series embraces all of her complexities. 

Me: Cool. I know my grandparents hated her. Haha. Gillian, thanks for being on the Phile. This was so cool. 

Gillian: Thank you.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Gillian for a cool interview. The Phile will be back on Monday with Michael Nesmith. Yay, yeah, we're the Monkees! Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you. bye. Kiss you brain!

Give me some rope, tie me to dream, give me the hope to run out of steam, somebody said it could be here. We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year. I can't count the reasons I should stay. One by one they all just fade away...