The other day my wife asked me what gives me “the ick.” I responded with a hearty “excuse me?” and then proceeded to get a full-blown play-by-play of her podcast where the hosts each went through what gives them “the ick” both in sexual and everyday activities. Even with all these colorful examples, my brain did the classic thing where every conscious thought evaporated from it and all I could think of was how pretty my wife is, but she didn’t want to hear that—she wanted my icks! So without further thought I sarcastically responded, “Um I guess I don’t like it when people talk about their podcasts.”
I slept on the couch that night, and I rightfully deserved it…but it might have been worth it.
This weeks episode of The Last of Us had a moment that made my skin crawl, even as I think about it 5 days later (you’ll know what i’m talking about if you watched it). They’ve changed the way that the clickers get infected from the video game, replacing spores with tendrils (ugh even the word tendrils is nasty) and it is very disgusting. The tendrils worm themselves in and out of the hosts (a human body) and eventually take over. As disgusting as this is, it makes for really good body horror i.e. The Scary Ick. This got me thinking about all the great sci-fi and horror moments* that have given me the shivers.
(*If any of the below videos don’t work, click the links)
The first one that came to mind was a scene from the movie Prometheus, which acted as a sort of prequel to the movie Alien. There’s a scene in Prometheus where the lead actor becomes pregnant, but it isn’t to a human…it’s to an alien! What follows is one of the most uncomfortable birthing scenes I’ve witnessed, you have to see it for yourself:
I can’t bring up Prometheus without also bringing up Alien, which has the classic scene where the baby alien does suddenly bursts forth from one of the crew’s abdomen. I honestly think either a woman who just went through pregnancy or a man who’s partner went through pregnancy came up with this. After hearing my wife describe what pregnancy felt like, my twisted brain immediately goes, “oh yeah kind of like that scene in Alien.” (I learned from my earlier mistake about sarcastic remarks and carefully worded my thoughts this time, and didn’t have to sleep on the couch).
The last movie that comes to mind is Beetlejuice. Growing up in my parents house meant you were subject to this movie every time it was on TV, because my mom loves it so much. Every time I watch it I can hear her giggling at one of Michael Keaton’s weird gags in this movie. Seriously, why did he do this movie? *Benoit Blanc voice* It makes no sense…compels me though. The scenes in Beetlejuice that always got me were when Alec Baldwin and his wife change their appearances and the final sequence where they start to crumble to dust. Just thinking about it gives me the ick!
What to watch this weekend
Shrinking on AppleTv+ is out! I loved the pilot, and it will probably be another big hit like Ted Lasso since it has all the same ingredients except for the soccer. There’s also Rian Johnson’s Pokerface on peacock, which is a murder mystery of the week type of show. I enjoyed the first episode and am looking forward to checking the rest out.
Oscar Nominations also came out this week, and among my favorite (so far, I need to finish watching all of the rest) nominees this year were The Banshees of Inisherin; Everything, Everywhere, All At Once and Marcel The Shell With Shoes On.
Suggestions
I promise I will branch out from time to time and write about more than TV and Movies. CPAs this time of year don’t have much time for anything else, but I am always open to suggestions or feedback. I’d also love to reach more people who might be interested in reading a weekly post about this kind of stuff, so if you know anyone, please share via the button below! Thanks and hope you have a great weekend.
Funnily enough, that scene in Alien was not inspired by the pain of pregnancy but that of Crohn's disease.