Voice of our podcast and regular host David Hartley has joined up with the good people of Talking Images for a special podcast crossover. Talking Images is the official podcast of the iCinema Magazine Forum, a lively community space for film fans and cinemagoers. David joined regular hosts Chris, Tom and Sol to discuss the 1979 Hal Ashby comedy Being There, starring Peter Sellers as Chance the gardener.
The film features a toned-down performance by Sellers in the central role, in what would be one of the comic actor's final screen appearances. In the discussion, David and the Talking Images hosts discuss what the satirical film might be trying to say about the absurdities of the upper classes of neurotypicality. They also discuss the ethics of laughing at (or with) a neurodivergent character and the film's relationship to two similar films that were to follow within 15 years: Rain Man and Forrest Gump.
The Talking Images podcast can be found on all major podcast services, or you can listen to this crossover episode direct from the Podcast tab of this website. Huge thanks to Chris, Tom and Sol for inviting David on to Talking Images. Do check out the rest of their episodes for lots of fascinating deep-dives into important cinematic topics.