Lived It

Naomi Higgins from ‘Why Are You Like This’ and why we love gross-out comedy (spoilers: we are gross)

Episode Summary

Body fluids, missing moon cups, that ‘Bridesmaids’ wedding dress scene, and every other gross thing we want to see more of. All in this episode with Alexei Toliopoulos, Gen Fricker, and special guest Naomi Higgins, writer and director of ‘Why Are You Like This’.

Episode Notes

Tell us a gross story at @netflixanz on Instagram and Twitter, or tag #thebigfilmbuffet.

Episode Transcription

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Hello and welcome to the Big Film Buffet snack edition, where we talk about the things that we obsessed with in popular culture. I'm Alexei Toliopoulos and with me as always is Gen Fricker.

Gen Fricker:

Hello, hello, joined by a galaxy of stars. No, I'm just very excited because we have a special guest this week, Alexei.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

It's exciting when our thing that we're obsessed with in pop culture is a dear friend of ours for a change.

Gen Fricker:

We're obsessed with her. Her name is Naomi Higgins. You might know her as a very funny comedian. You might know her as one of the writers and stars of Why Are You Like This, which is about to launch internationally on Netflix, but is about to launch into your hearts right now on the Big Film podcast, welcome Naomi Higgins.

Naomi Higgins:

That is the best introduction I've ever had in my entire life, and I'm so happy to be here for the snack edition. I like to see myself as a little snack, so I'm happy to be here.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Well, darling, let me tell you this, your whole a dang meal.

Gen Fricker:

We are so excited to have you here for two reasons. First of all, you're a goddamn delight. Second of all, you are the star of one of the best new Australian comedies of recent years, Why Are You Like This, you might've caught it online already on the ABC, but it is about to launch internationally. How are you feeling about that?

Naomi Higgins:

I do not think I'm ready. I think in my mind, no one's going to watch it, but it will be on Netflix and a lot of people do have that streaming platform.

Gen Fricker:

That do.

Naomi Higgins:

Have you heard about this? I don't know if you guys know about it.

Gen Fricker:

We've heard of Netflix, yeah.

Naomi Higgins:

No, but I'm really, really excited. I hope people like it. Some people will not like it, but you know, that's how I live, is making some people upset. It fuels me, pushes me forward.

Gen Fricker:

We also wanted to chat to you because as you were saying, some people might be a bit challenged by, Why Are You Like This, how would you describe the show to people who haven't seen it?

Naomi Higgins:

It's about three people in their early twenties who are terrible people who were indoctrinated on Twitter. So live their lives by that kind of moral compass, but is entirely warped and selfish. So using things to their advantage to get ahead. My character is, I think, trying to be a good person, but like the others ends up doing nothing good for anybody and just ruined people's lives. So that's basically the show.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

It's so good to have you here as well, because generally I've been thinking so much about kind of grubby and funny and irreverent comedy films because we going to be talking about Good Boys later this week, which I think very much is in that vein of a new modern take on gross out sentimental movies, like American Pie, and I think that your show lives so much in this realm as well. I was wondering what were the films like that, that kind of shaped your comedic sensibility?

Naomi Higgins:

I think the one film that opened my eyes was probably Mean Girls.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Wow, iconic.

Naomi Higgins:

An absolute classic. Yeah, written by a woman about women.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Can I just say, let me correct you, written by a Greek woman.

Naomi Higgins:

Okay, okay, sorry. I'm so sorry for the [crosstalk 00:03:16].

Alexei Toliopoulos:

So I relate to it as well. We love you, Tina Fey.

Naomi Higgins:

We love Tina Fey.

Gen Fricker:

[crosstalk 00:03:22] Tina Fey, we love you.

Naomi Higgins:

That was the first time I'd seen a movie that was like about women, but it wasn't like, oh, this is sort of the travelling pants coming of age. It was like these women, these girls, are awful. Which Jen I'm sure you know, is real life. That's the experience.

Gen Fricker:

It's so... Yeah.

Naomi Higgins:

Just showing girls in all of their horrible, horrible glory, just saying disgusting things, being so mean, and that's definitely an influence on our show.

Gen Fricker:

I remember watching Mean Girls at a sleep over. I was moving to a new school and my parents had engineered for me to meet some of the girls from my new school and like-

Naomi Higgins:

They set you up on a sleep over play date?

Gen Fricker:

Yes and I was like 15 at the time.

Naomi Higgins:

No, that's too old.

Gen Fricker:

I know. It was like such a sign of the times, but I was wearing jeans under a dress because I wanted to be Mischa Barton, iconic look of the mid 2000's, and these girls were like, "Yuck." So I was experiencing Mean Girls as I was watching it, like a 4D cinema experience. It was crazy.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

This is immersive cinema. This is what we should be bringing back. Bullying and movies about bullying at the same time.

Naomi Higgins:

Ah, it's better than IMAX.

Gen Fricker:

Exactly. Oh my God. So did you always want to be working in comedy?

Naomi Higgins:

No, I didn't know you could because I grew up in the country. So I would see comedians on TV and I'd be like, "That's nice, time to get my engineering degree." Which I did get, but haven't really used, and then when I realised you could actually do stuff like this, I saw someone doing comedy. I was like, "I can do it better than them." So I did. So I think if you want to get into this stuff, my advice would be, find someone successful who you do not respect and that should propel you forward.

Gen Fricker:

Oh, like spite?

Naomi Higgins:

Not spite, just like, oh, if they can do it.

Gen Fricker:

I mean, we aren't naming names. Is there someone-

Naomi Higgins:

Gen Fricker.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Well, Naomi, you certainly engineered some wonderful [crosstalk 00:05:24].

Naomi Higgins:

Yeah, it all ties together. I just love comedy so much. I love making people laugh. It's like the only thing that I find interesting. I honestly have a hard time with dramas. I'm like, "Oh, what is this more feelings?" So that's why I love movies that are just taking the piss. Bridesmaids is another big one for me. Just women being so stupid is my favourite thing.

Gen Fricker:

Why do you think culturally there's been such an impact from these movies, like Bridesmaids, like Mean Girls and that kind of thing? Why do you think it's inspired a whole generation of new young women to make comedy?

Naomi Higgins:

Well, I think everyone's used to watching stuff with men in it and just like people of colour are used to watching stuff with white people in it. So you can relate to it because it's all you're used to. So you're like, that's funny, that's funny, and then you see something that you can actually relate to. Have you ever walked up to a group of girls and realised they were just talking about you? I don't think in the past we've grown up with that stuff that can hit us in the gut like that, whereas movies like Superbad and stuff, they're so funny, but all that stuff about dicks and stuff, we're laughing, but we're not relating to it. So then when you finally start saying stuff that's relatable, you're like, "Oh my God."

Gen Fricker:

It's like that scene in Bridesmaids. Maya Rudolph's character is attempting to cross the road and she doesn't quite make it and she shits herself.

Naomi Higgins:

Yeah, which is so important to the female experience, buying a wedding dress and shitting on the street, for sure.

Gen Fricker:

We need the representation of women shitting themselves.

Naomi Higgins:

Finally, I saw that, I said, finally, I see myself represented on screen.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I think that's so much about what makes those movies work and those irreverent comedies like that because it's all about that comedic gap. That gap in perspective, where Maya Rudolph was dressed in her bridal gown basically, the most beautiful she'll ever look and then she's going through the most horrendous thing that's going to ever happen to her. I think that why you like this does that so well in the same way, like playing with that comedic gap of these people that are really quite nasty and selfish, but then their whole persona and what they want to be perceived as is very woke or generous allies and stuff, but they use everything for their own self gain, and I think it's such a marvellous way to twist this new trope and carve out a whole new aspect of comedy.

Naomi Higgins:

Yeah. I think sometimes they get a bit uncomfortable about that. One of their main characters is South Asian, and she is by far the worst of the three, and I've seen white people be like, "It just seems kind of bad to paint the brown person as bad." I'm like, actually, Hum, who wrote on this show with me, she is also a terrible person. So that kind of representation is important, and that is why we need more diversity. We need more awful minorities on screen.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

We get all attest to that, were all close with Hum. Yeah, she scares me all the time.

Gen Fricker:

She's very terrifying. Absolutely, yeah. Speaking of comedies, is there a movie that you can return to every time?

Naomi Higgins:

Oh my God. Any romcom I can do, and I think that is definitely rooted in it being A, nostalgic, but B, I realised recently it's like, oh, they're all about women. That's why I was like, why do I like romcoms? And it's outrageous, they were basically the only movies being made about women. Actually a good one that isn't starring a woman, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, always makes me laugh every time.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh, great movie.

Naomi Higgins:

I think people forget the Jason Segel wrote that movie. He's so good.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I think so too. The five-year engagement was so long ago. Bring him back as the romantic lead.

Gen Fricker:

I didn't watch that one.

Naomi Higgins:

Where's the Jason Segel scripts? I'm not watching them but I want more.

Gen Fricker:

He needs to keep going, we'll find him eventually.

Naomi Higgins:

But I love that movie. I remember watching that movie at home and my stepdad walking in the room twice, and the two moments he walked in were both of the moments where Jason Segel had his dick out. Both times he walked in and I was like, "That's not... There's more to the film."

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Can I tell you as a fan of Forgetting Sarah Marshall, myself, how disappointed I was in the sequel because it's called Get Him to the Greek, and the Greek is a fricking theatre. I thought the Greek was going to be some cool handsome guy, but the Greek was a fricking theatre.

Gen Fricker:

I'm so sorry. That is Greek baiting.

Naomi Higgins:

Yeah.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Exactly, I walking into the cinema expecting something and I go in, there's no Hellenic representation what so ever.

Gen Fricker:

Big Fat Greek Wedding three is what we need.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely. That needs to be one every 15 years. That's all I want.

Naomi Higgins:

A Star is Born, but Greek.

Gen Fricker:

Would you call Mama Mia a Greek representation, Alexei?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

You know what, I would actually consider that as Greek baiting as well. There's no major Greek characters in it. They're all your Meryl Streep's and stuff. They chuck in [inaudible 00:10:17] in there, put Olympia Dukakis in there. Someone. Put me, I'll do it.

Gen Fricker:

Is this why you love Looking For Alibrandi?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Absolutely because it's real dude. That's the real stuff.

Naomi Higgins:

Hell yeah.

Gen Fricker:

Is there a moment from Why Are You Like This that people have been responding with that you've been quite surprised by?

Naomi Higgins:

Well, one that is polarising is if we're talking about gross out humour, there's an episode that is just, Mia, one of the characters, her moon cup gets stuck and it's been a little polarising. Mostly it's women being like, "Oh my God, this is so funny. This happened to me. This happened to my friend." And then old men in newspapers being like, "They're relying on gross out humour." Not that I have anything against gross out humour, but we want to try to do gross out humour, we just get periods. But they were like, "That's yucky." I'm like, "My God, you're going to hate any woman." But yeah, no, the people who have periods have been responding to that part really, really well because it's a universal experience, I think, to get something lost in your vagina and just be like, "What do I do now?"

Gen Fricker:

Yeah. Yeah. Alexei, it's real, and you need to get across it.

Naomi Higgins:

You need to grow up and you need to wake up.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

I'm going to stop writing all those articles about that one scene and how much it terrifies me and scares me. But I would agree, that's actually probably my favourite part of the whole series because I'm like, yeah, this is sick. This is cool. New gross out humour. You know what, I'm a little grub that lives in the mud. I love gross out humour.

Gen Fricker:

What's your favourite gross out comedy Alexei?

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Oh my Lord. Okay, it absolutely is American Pie. I cannot help it but I simply adore American Pie. I love every grubby moment of it. I've read the screenplay at least three times because I think it's one of the best comedies ever written because it has all that grubby stuff, but it's also super sincere and sentimental and sweet and every character has a complete arc. I'm going to start crying talking about how much I love American Pie.

Naomi Higgins:

I don't think I've ever seen American Pie because my parents wouldn't let me when I was a kid. I've only seen the scene where he's having sex with a pie.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Naomi, don't worry, one day you and I, we're going to chuck on American Pie, I'll do a super presentation. I'll put a lecture on at the start of it saying how much it's important to grub culture.

Gen Fricker:

Thank you.

Naomi Higgins:

I assume that's how every film experience goes when you're there.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah. You're not wrong. You're not wrong. Gen, what about you? What's your one?

Gen Fricker:

Oh man, I don't know if it's my favourite, I just have ones that I watched a lot growing up and they were always weird. I feel like American Pie was always out at the DVD rental place. So I got Euro Trip, which is like-

Naomi Higgins:

Oh, that is a gross one.

Gen Fricker:

It's so gross and it's like a spinoff of Road Trip, which was also terrible. Not Another Teen Movie. I loved these films. We ended up buying them on DVD because they would always get a spin, and I just remember Not Another Teen Movie, with a pre-fame, Chris Evans, and he has a banana in his butt and he's covered in whipped cream. I'm like, it's crazy now, he's Captain America.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

That's America's ass with a banana in it.

Gen Fricker:

What do you think about sincerity in teen movies now? Because I feel like we've got movies like Book Smart and Ladybird and stuff like that, which are beautiful films that I really love but they do seem like such a far cry. Do you think that kind of pure teen gross out will ever come back? Do we need it?

Naomi Higgins:

Yeah. Blockers was pretty good. That was fun.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

Yeah, Blockers rocks.

Naomi Higgins:

It did have a little bit of earnestness in it, but yeah, I think there's definitely, always, always room for that stuff. I don't think that's ever going to end because I also think that teenagers are always finding new ways to be disgusting. It's always going to be a fresh new voice in teenagers just being so gross. God they disgusting.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah, and terrifying.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

What's been so fun talking about kind of gross out humour and stuff at the moment because we're going to be talking about a very fun and fresh new gross out comedy, that is very sentimental. It's coming out on Netflix this weekend. It is Good Boys, and I can't wait to chat to you about it Gen.

Gen Fricker:

Yeah, it's going to be so fun, and also, I can't wait for the rest of the world to experience Why Are You Like This, starring friend of the pod.

Naomi Higgins:

[inaudible 00:14:46] actor, friend of the pod.

Gen Fricker:

Naomi Higgins, thank you so much for joining us on the Big Film Buffet.

Naomi Higgins:

Thank you so much. A pleasure to be here. I love you guys. I love Netflix. They gave me a TV show. Big fan.

Gen Fricker:

What's that movie? Maybe it is Not Another Teen Movie, and Matt Damon's in it, in like a band and they play that song Scotty Doesn't Know.

Naomi Higgins:

That's Euro Trip.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

That's Euro Trip.

Naomi Higgins:

Oh my God.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

That's Euro Trip. It's the one good scene in Euro Trip where Matt Damon's a skin head.

Naomi Higgins:

Scotty doesn't know.

Gen Fricker:

Scotty doesn't know.

Naomi Higgins:

That's why he goes on the Euro trip because he didn't know. That's Scotty.

Gen Fricker:

Oh God.

Alexei Toliopoulos:

That's the whole point of the Euro trip, coming together in a fabulous cameo.

Gen Fricker:

Matt Damon had an Oscar at that point.

Naomi Higgins:

Whoa.