Episode 44: Debbie Does Bayonne
I was thrilled to listen to this episode on the 2002 HBO movie Hysterical Blindness, where Uma Thurman played an 80’s Jersey woman struggling with her mental health and abandonment issues through seeking love in dive bars. Her character is sad and desperate, having delusional expectations of a one-night-stand with a local guy, and keeps snapping at her mother (Gena Rowlands), who is trying to have love and happiness with a new boyfriend (Ben Gazarra) late in life. This was a film that changed my opinion on Thurman, from thinking she was just a pretty face to being stunned by her uncomfortable vulnerability in this role. Kill Bill more solidified my opinion that she was a much better and more commanding actress than I previously thought.
Rowlands also brings so much heart to her role as a woman whose husband abandoned her, and she’s just been keeping on as a diner waitress and struggling in her relationship with her immature daughter, who doesn’t want her mom to get hurt by a man again. Rowlands has this lived-in quality with her roles that makes her characters feel like real people, and I feel like she’s truly underrated in the popular landscape, despite her critical acclaim.
Combined with a really great performance by Juliette Lewis as a single mom who had her kid as a teen and still wants to keep up her party life, it’s a really touching character drama (directed by Mira Nair) that I connected to so much. This used to play on HBO a lot in the early 2000s, but isn’t as well-remembered now. It’s not in HBO’s library, I just rewatched it on a YouTube upload.
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