In this special Christmas Day episode, we get cuddly with one of the all-time great holiday gifts, dolls! Where did they come from? Why are the so cute? Why are they sometimes creepy? Why do they tell us to do things we don’t want to with their minds?
AI Summary
This Stuff You Should Know episode takes a fascinating deep dive into the history and cultural significance of dolls, exploring everything from ancient Egyptian paddle dolls to modern icons like Barbie and American Girl dolls. Josh and Chuck trace how dolls have evolved from simple playthings into tools for child development, while also examining the complex role they've played in shaping gender expectations and, more importantly, how dolls like Baby Nancy and the groundbreaking Clark doll tests helped challenge harmful racial stereotypes in America. Along the way, you'll learn quirky tidbits like how the word "doll" came from the nickname for Dorothy, discover the surprisingly wild world of Victorian death kits for dolls, and hear some genuinely creepy vintage doll audio that'll stick with you.
American Sniper
2014
R
2h 13m
★ 7.4
"Or for a close-up if you're Bradley Cooper in a Clint Eastwood movie. The American sniper is a very famous scene. — Chuck references American Sniper as an example where Bradley Cooper holds a realistic doll baby in a scene."
— Chuck
Child's Play
1988
R
1h 27m
★ 6.8
"Most of my doll, scary movies have been Child's Play and Megan. — Chuck mentions Child's Play as one of his scary doll movies he's seen."
— Chuck
Free to Be… You and Me
1974
48m
★ 6.9
"Reference to free to be you and me. The great song, William wants a doll. — Josh references the song 'William Wants a Doll' from the TV special Free to Be... You and Me."
— Josh
M3GAN
2022
PG-13
1h 42m
★ 7.0
"Most of my doll, scary movies have been Child's Play and Megan. — Chuck mentions Megan (M3GAN) as one of his scary doll movies."
— Chuck
The Brady Bunch
1969
★ 6.7
"Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia on the Breast. Brady Bunch. — Josh mentions Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia Brady, was the later voice of Chatty Cathy in 1970."
— Josh
The Conjuring
2013
1h 52m
★ 7.5
"You never saw The Conjuring? Oh. It's one of those very few modern, like, good ghost movies. — Josh recommends The Conjuring to Chuck as a good modern ghost movie with scary doll elements."
— Josh
The Conjuring 2
2016
R
2h 14m
★ 7.3
"And the conjuring, too, is okay, but the first one's very good. — Josh mentions The Conjuring 2 as being okay but not as good as the first film."
— Josh
The Twilight Zone
1959
★ 8.5
"So Chattie Kathy was actually an inspiration for a very famous Twilight Zone episode, Living Doll. — Josh references a specific Twilight Zone episode called 'Living Doll' that was inspired by Chatty Cathy."
— Josh
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