This episode still makes me laugh the most out of all of them (thus far) and its largely because of Tallulah’s extreme reaction to it. I have never seen her get so flustered. (And yes, I am talking about Tallulah here, not Mhairi)
The funny thing about the creative process is that, just like you, the audience, we, as creators, are also still getting to know our own characters every step of the way. Sometimes you really don’t know how a character is going to behave in a certain situation, until you put them in it.
You develop the character well, give them a problem, and then do your best to get out of the way, so that your character can tell you exactly how they feel about this particular situation, and that is exactly what happened in this episode, to hilarious effect.
Mhairi and I knew that bringing Gigi (the Can Can girl, brilliantly played by our dear friend Charlotte, who actually is an authentic French Can Can girl) into the situation would likely bring out Tallulah’s jealous streak, but I don’t think either of us really expected this strong of a reaction.
From the moment I called action and Gigi entered from stage right Tallulah had an almost visceral reaction to her being there, she actually turned red at one point, often clutching her pearls as if they were safety rails on a train, as if her very life depended on getting this woman off her “stage”. She was not having it and it was hilarious.
Tallulah really just took over, but it was perfect, because I believe, in that moment, Tallulah perfectly embodied that primal fear so many of us women share. The fear of “what if all the things I do to better myself, to be smart, talented, kind, giving and wise, what if none of that really matters? What if the only real value we have in this world is how good we look naked? And p.s. there’s already a million younger girls out there who look better naked.”
It’s easy for women to get locked into that fear, because, if we are looking for it, we can easily find societal evidence of it everywhere (case in point, this and our twerking episode still have the largest views to this day, so we could read all sorts of things into that) and next thing you know we are obsessed with getting older, worrying about skin creams, tummy tucks and gray hairs, as if taking care of these things will somehow increase our value.
But honestly, I’ve always believed we can find evidence of whatever we are looking for, everywhere, and therefore, in times of fear, its best to back up and remind ourselves that we are the ones that get to decide what makes us valuable. We get to decide what determines our worth. We get to rest in the knowing that we are the sum of ALL our magnificent parts.
And when we take the time to honor, appreciate and really know in our hearts what’s valuable about ourselves, then we can come to a place where Holster’s response to Tallulah’s question “who wants to see this?” “Everyone” is absolutely true. Because like an exquisite piece of art, who doesn’t like to look at a half naked pretty girl once in a while? They make us smile.
Which brings me to….
Industry Tip #19
When navigating such tricky intersections as art and commerce, allow yourself to dance on the edge of what’s comfortable a little bit. That’s what art is for: to challenge us, to help us find that line. There is no growth in playing it safe.
So without further ado here is Episode 4 of Season 2 where we find Tallulah hanging on to her baguette for dear life, while simultaneously helping us laugh through all our fears.
