Feminist Frequency Radio

FFR 117: High Fidelity with Special Guest Nicole He

Episode Summary

Carolyn and Anita are joined on the podcast by special guest Nicole He, game developer and creative technologist, to take a look at Hulu’s High Fidelity, originally a novel by Nick Hornby, but probably known by most from the 2000 film starring John Cusack as Rob Gordon, a record store owner and obsessive music fan who takes us through his all-time top-five most painful breakups while trying to reunite with his most recent girlfriend. Hulu’s series swaps out this white dude version of Rob for a queer, woman of color played by Zoe Kravitz. Does the new representation in High Fidelity matter? And what happens to the narrative when this swap is applied to a character who epitomized a new kind of toxic masculinity at the start of the 21st century?

Episode Notes

Carolyn and Anita are joined on the podcast by special guest Nicole He, game developer and creative technologist, to take a look at Hulu’s High Fidelity, originally a novel by Nick Hornby, but probably known by most from the 2000 film starring John Cusack as Rob Gordon, a record store owner and obsessive music fan who takes us through his all-time top-five most painful breakups while trying to reunite with his most recent girlfriend. Hulu’s series swaps out this white dude version of Rob for a queer, woman of color played by Zoe Kravitz. Does the new representation in High Fidelity matter? And what happens to the narrative when this swap is applied to a character who epitomized a new kind of toxic masculinity at the start of the 21st century?

Time Stamps:

1:45 - a little bit about Nicole and how she makes some of the coolest sh*t Anita’s ever seen

7:02 - Main Discussion on High Fidelity

41:20 - What’s Your Freq Out?

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