SCÈNE 07. Jade Iovine, Host of "LIVE FROM BED" & Writer of Bed Crumbs
Spinning teacups have a centering effect on two dysfunctional cosmopolitans seeking love and understanding.
Here we are, lucky number seven—that would be, the seventh edition of Mise-En-Scène. And, appropriately enough, we’re back in your inbox at the same moment when Dakota Fanning is back on the scene and back on our screens.
While Fanning may have recently turned 30, she’s been turning out legendary performances for decades. My favorite of her early roles will always be War of the Worlds (2005), but, for many, her portrayal of Lorraine “Ray” Schleine in director Boaz Yakin’s sweet dramedy Uptown Girls (2003), a two-hander also starring the late Brittany Murphy as Ray’s rock & roll nanny Molly Gunn, is what firmly crowned Dakota Fanning as an It Girl of early-aughts comfort classics.
It’s rare to see Fanning play guileless. Since childhood, she’s possessed a remarkable ability to embody the hallmark qualities of a precocious child—sharp-tongued, dry and direct, anxiety masking sentimentality—with nary a false or cloying note. This is what makes Uptown Girls, and the opposites-attract dynamic with Murphy—an impossibly charismatic presence à la Liza Minnelli, all big brown eyes and melancholy smile—work. A lesser child actor in the part and the movie would have crumbled under clichés.
Jade Iovine (@jadeiovine on Instagram and TikTok), the host of the candid conversational podcast LIVE FROM BED and writer behind the Substack newsletter Bed Crumbs, first encountered Uptown Girls during a childhood summer between third and fourth grade. The most interesting movies are often the ones we’re able to extract new meaning from at different stages in life, and this is Jade’s experience with Uptown Girls. She notes:
[This movie] is a love letter to all of us who were told we were “mature for our age,” who felt adrift in the choppy seas of a chaotic childhood, who may have been parentified or raised by a village.
Read on for more of Mise-En-Scène guest curator Jade Iovine’s1 thoughts on observing Uptown Girls “from both sides now,” the movie’s indelible early-aughts style, and why facing the music is necessary in order to heal your inner child.
Without further ado…
“FUNDAMENTALS ARE THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF FUN”: HOST & WRITER JADE IOVINE ON BOAZ YAKIN’S UPTOWN GIRLS, 2003
JADE ON HOW A PET PIG SPURRED HER TO SEE UPTOWN GIRLS UPON ITS RELEASE:
I vividly remember a warm summer day in August, just before I was to begin the fourth grade. I was sitting around, anxiously awaiting a letter in the mail, which would reveal my teacher for the year and which friends of mine would, or would not, be in my class–I was in the habit of checking the mail about eight times a day. I had sleepover plans with my best friend, whose mom was desperate to find something to fill our long summer days, so she took us to see Uptown Girls at a theater in Westwood.
Truthfully, I was super into pigs at the time and I remember the trailer enticed me because Brittany Murphy's character had a pet pig. That's all it took; I was sold, saw it the day it came out, and haven’t been the same since.
JADE ON CONNECTING WITH THE MOVIE’S DUAL PROTAGONISTS, MOLLY AND RAY—FIRST AS A CHILD AND NOW AS AN ADULT:
[Uptown Girls] rocked my world then and continues to do so now. It's the gift that keeps on giving. The messages I took from it as a child still ring true, but there was so much I had to learn in adulthood to fully appreciate the layers of this masterpiece.
As a child, I fell in love with Dakota Fanning's character, Ray. I saw so much of myself in her, and the parts of her that weren't like me I desperately wanted to be. She was quick, snarky, and grew up around the music world. She was independent, a grown woman in a child's body… what some people might call "wise beyond her years," which I’ve since realized is merely a euphemism for a traumatic or spicy childhood. Unlike me, she was Type A, a blonde, gorgeous hypochondriac, jaded at the ripe age of eight, with a tough exterior masking loneliness and pain. A complexity in a child I'd never seen depicted in a movie meant for someone my age.
A movie that could have solely been about a hot and troubled young woman’s fondness for unavailable men was instead about the unlikely love story between Ray and her charmingly vulnerable nanny Molly Gunn, also a music industry kid. Their relationship resonated with me so deeply, then and now. It highlighted the importance and power of supplemental love in a child's life, and how loving someone can heal you. By caring for Ray, Molly is able to connect to her wounded inner child for the first time in her adult life, as they cry on the spinning teacups, connected through grief in a world that misunderstands them.
JADE ON THE MOVIE’S QUINTESSENTIAL EARLY-AUGHTS STYLE:
I still idolize both of these characters. When I was picking out my wedding dress, all I wanted was to wear Molly Gunn's iconic Blumarine birthday dress—with a lampshade in my hair, no less. And I still try to pull off Ray's classic schoolgirl look in my daily life, even at thirty years old.
JADE ON THE ENDURING LESSONS IN UPTOWN GIRLS:
To this day, I go back to this movie all the time. In a weird way, it helps me remember to take care of my own inner child. The movie taught me that all you really need is one person to love you at your best and worst. One person to really see you. One secure attachment in a sea of insecurity. One person to tell you they’ve been there, too. One person other than your parents who takes the time to care for you beyond expectation or payroll–that’s all it really takes.
Uptown Girls is a love letter to all of us who were told we were “mature for our age,” who felt adrift in the choppy seas of a chaotic childhood, who may have been parentified or raised by a village. Ray’s dry delivery of [the line] “It’s a harsh world” as she puts on her sunglasses still gives me chills.
JADE IOVINE RECOMMENDS
Ray and Molly are stylish, but Jade is no slouch—and you’ll want to invest in a hotel bed of your own after reading this. (Jade knows what makes a comfortable bed like Dakota Fanning knows how to nail a line reading, so take her word for it.) Here are the cultural favorites that keep her running in this, yes, harsh world. (Reminder: No affiliate links used!)
The Empath’s Survival Guide by Judith Orloff, MD.
Jade says: Being an empath or highly sensitive person is a gift, but it can also be a heavy burden. I recently discovered this book through my best friend (my therapist) and it changed my life. I loved the book so much I asked Dr. Judith to come on LIVE FROM BED next week!‘60s girl groups.
Jade says: I’ve been driving a ridiculous amount lately—blame my sister who rudely decided to reside 45 minutes away from me— and anyone that’s driven in L.A. traffic knows it’s nauseating at best. I’ve always found it’s impossible to be in a bad mood while listening to The Crystals, The Shirelles, The Ronettes, etc. Lexapro + ‘60s girl groups = enlightenment.
ÉTERNE sweatpants.
Jade says: Buy these, thank me later. I really need to buy another pair because I wear these an unsanitary amount.King-size pillows and Legna sheets.
Jade says: After 30 years devoted to my bed, I’m ashamed to admit I never realized the reason I prefer hotel beds to my own is because I didn’t own king-size pillows. Now I officially have THE perfect bed (check my Substack for my Bed Recipe) and my secret ingredient is Legna sheets. They’re an investment, but you’ll be forever changed.
Jade says: If I ever get divorced, it’s because I play the mini crossword non-stop from 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm. I just can’t stop; it’s a serious problem.Makeup by Mario SoftSculpt Bronzer and CHANEL Rouge Coco Baume in Natural Charm.
Jade says: Please bury me in the Makeup By Mario bronzer. Trust me: I’ve tried every other bronzer on the market and this one is the best. And the CHANEL baume in Natural Charm is my all-time favorite lip product and shade. I own at least four of them so I never have to be without it.
Thank you for joining us this week, and special thanks to the lovely and always-real Jade Iovine for delivering sweet nostalgia wrapped up in a pink schoolgirl bow. Quality ain’t always found in auteur flicks and the Criterion Collection!
If you’re interested in viewing—or revisiting—Uptown Girls, you can rent or buy in the usual places (Amazon, Google Play, and Apple TV). Brittany Murphy, we miss you.
Follow Jade (@jadeiovine), listen and subscribe to her no-off-limits podcast, LIVE FROM BED, and sign up for her Substack, Bed Crumbs.
As always, if you’d like to share feedback on what else—and who else—you’d like to see in Mise-En-Scène, I’m all eyes and ears. Hit reply to this email or DM me on Instagram at @yourmiseenscene.
Take care of yourself, and see you back here real soon!
Lightly edited for clarity.