After making a movie that actually got a Best Picture nomination, Paul Thomas Anderson wrote and directed another that famously didn’t: THE MASTER, a psychological examination of postwar trauma and peacetime opportunism. In this episode, we try to go past the easy read of THE MASTER as simple corollary for cult dynamics, heap an appropriate amount of praise on Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams, cast a suspicious glance in Joaquin Phoenix’s direction, and press a button that says “PIG FUCK” more than a few times.
References:
#TheMasterworksofPaulThomasAnderson #DCP
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Show art by Emily Csuy. Theme: "Raindrops" by Huma-Huma/"No Smoking" PSA by John Waters. Outro music: "On A Slow Boat to China" by Frank Loesser as performed by Peggy Lee and Bing Crosby.
Timestamps
0:00 - Episode 322: THE MASTER (2012)
5:25 - The Patented Aaron Grossman Summary
8:20 - Contemporary takes on THE MASTER
20:49 - Why “it’s a movie about Scientology” feels old hat
25:10 - Freddie, Dodd, and what makes The Cause so appealing to wealthy white Americans in 1950
39:15 - Contradictions
57:21 - Peggy Dodd (or Paul Thomas Anderson’s use of gender here)
1:12:34 - The Junk Drawer
1:23:26 - To All the Loves We’ve Tried Before: 2012
1:29:05 - Cody’s Noteys: All Calm Guess Spanned Works In (shared cast & crew trivia for THE MASTER and other movies)
