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Oct 20, 2019

"LIving with Yourself": A Techno Take on the Identical Cousin Trope

Miles (Paul Rudd) is a middle-class heterosexual shlub with problems out of a John Updike novel:  he's bad at his job selling amalgamated sprockets, bad at his marriage, overweight, under-appreciated, and probably infertile. 

His jerk coworker Dan (Desmin Borges, below) tells him about a spa where, for $50,000, you get a "full cleansing," body, mind, and soul."  So, in a midlife-crisis desperation move, Miles decides to empty his savings and go.

Even after it turns out to be in a dingy galleria, run by two sinister-looking mad scientists playing on anti-Asian stereotypes, who strap him to a guerney and administer an anaesthetic.

He awakens in his underwear, in a plastic bag, buried in a shallow grave in the woods.

Wait -- if he was in the plastic bag for a long time, wouldn't he suffocate?

Just go with it.

Miles finally makes it home, only to discover a doppelganger in bed with his wife.

Turns out that the spa produces a clone of their clients, ages it to adulthood, adds all of its memories, and fixes all of its genetic defects, resulting in a duplicate who is stronger, smarter, more enthusiastic, more confident, and better in bed.  Then they kill the original.

Just go with it.

Except somehow original Miles survived, so now there are two Miles: the original, signified by his bad hair, belly, glasses, and slouch, and the fresh-scrubbed, powerlifting, green tea-drinking, first-name-using clone.  They will have to learn to live together while hiding their secret from the world.

So Living with Myself  turns out to be a "my secret" comedy. I've only seen two episodes, but I can imagine the others from Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, and The Patty Duke Show.
"Take my place at the big presentation"
"Go on a romantic weekend with my wife,but don't have sex with her."

There is a deliberate gay subtext:  Miles and New Miles are often mistaken for a gay couple.  When determining if New Miles has an appendectomy scar, Miles gets on his knees, and a passerby thinks they are having sex and yells "Get a room!"

When New Miles decides to go off by himself, they "break up," complete with returning the wedding ring.

But no gay characters.  Even  Miles' ultra-butch sister (Alia Shawkat)  has a heterosexual partner.

Miles visits Left (Rob Yang), one of the mad scientists, and finds him living with his small daughter.

"And wife?" Miles asked.

Left hesitates.  "No." Does he mean his wife is gone, or that he never had a wife because he's gay?

The wife is gone. Gay people don't exist in this world.


Other than Paul and Paul, the male cast seems rather limited.  Desmin Borges (left) as previous clone Dan.

 Tom Brady, whoever that is, playing himself ("I've had the treatment six times.")

Rob Yang as the mad scientist.

Hopefully there will be some buddy bonding down the line, or some gay references other than jokes.


3 comments:

  1. At least the "nature or nurture" debate has been solved. According to "Living with Myself," it's all in your genes

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  2. Have you seen "Killer Klowns from Outer Space"? This 80's sci-fi spoof about clown aliens has plenty of brobonding. The film is cast with some very attractive young men even in the supporting roles. The movie opens with some typical straight teens making out in lovers lane but they are interrupted by the arrival of the alien clowns. The hero and his girl go to the police. The cop is the girlfriends ex but he quickly sends her home so he can bro bond with the hero.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I remember the title,but I don't know if I saw it or not. Maybe I just rented it and fast-forwarded to the beefcake

      Delete

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