- What are you doing with your hair?
- Just like, pulled it up a bit.
- You look like you're in Bewitched.
(laughs)
- I like it.
- Some people say I look like me dad.
(laughs)
(loud beep)
- Hey guys, welcome to another
episode of the Banging Book Club.
Woo, woo, woo, woo, woo!
I have with me my dear friends Leena Norms and Lucy Moon.
- Hello. - Guys.
- Do you want me to do your bit?
- No, I'm just really stressed out right now.
(laughs)
- Okay, I'm gonna say something and you fill in the blanks.
- Thanks, Leena.
- This month, we read... (laughs)
- Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus by John Gray.
- You can listen to the podcast by clicking...
- The link in the description.
- We're just gonna give you a brief overview
of what's in the book, starting with Hannah.
- So, there are these Martians...
(laughs)
- Never mind, starting with Leena.
Sexism, a self help guide.
How to live with it and just continue.
(laughing) - Oh my God, this is amazing.
- A summary of this book is that there are
a bunch of Martians that live on the planet Mars
and there are a bunch of Venusians that live
on the planet Venus and they get super depressed.
And then one day, they find each other
and they fall in love and their depression
is lifted and they move to Earth together.
But then they realize that they speak different
languages and they don't get on and all
of their marriages are about to fail.
But then you read this book and then
all of the marriages work again.
But you just have to remember that your
significant other is from a different planet
to you and then everything will be okay.
(laughs)
- 15 million people bought this in the 90's.
(laughing)
- What's your input, Lucy?
- My input is that this book is wrong.
(everyone laughs)
It's just fundamentally very wrong.
- It is a cultural milestone, though.
- Yeah. - Yeah.
- This is what, I think, part of the reason we wanted
to read it was to really find out what was in it because
it's something that we always reference or we talk about.
- Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- We're like, it's like men are from Mars.
- Yeah.
- Also, you say the book is wrong but this
is something we discuss on the podcast.
We think the book is wrong, but it
still helped lots of people.
- [Both] Does that make it right?
- Yeah.
- Does that make those people wrong or...
- Yeah.
Yeah, on the podcast, we talk about whether it's possible to
write a helpful book even if you still believe that gender
isn't a performance, it's genuinely a scientific thing.
Does that make any sense?
- Yeah. - Yeah, I think so.
- I know what you mean.
- My brain's gone to mush.
- It is 10pm as we film this.
- It's probably 'cause you're a Venusian.
- Yeah, and Venusians...
- And you're stuck with different emotions.
- We think just with emotions.
- And your life is like a tepid wave system
and you're just sitting in this well.
That is genuinely one of the analogies.
- I feel like when he was talking about the wave,
he was just describing the menstrual cycle.
- Yeah, I was like... (laughs)
- And I was like...
- He's insisting they don't sync up and that PMS
is when you're out of sync with yourself.
(laughs)
Good things, we should start with some good
because in case John finds us on his soo-pi-ot.
Sorry, John. (laughs)
- I laughed out loud a lot.
- Do you have Wi-Fi on your soo-pi-ot?
No, I'm sorry.
- During this book, I laughed a lot.
- Yeah. - At it.
- Out of irony, yeah. - Yeah, at it.
- Okay.
- It made me laugh in a sad way.
- I got through it by imagining...
'Cause Bridget Jones reads this book, right?
She references it in the book,
Bridget Jones's Diary, and also in the film.
- Ahhh.
- And I got through it by imagining
Bridget Jones reading it.
(laughs)
And then worrying about it and reacting to it and trying to
get on with Mark Darcy in this way and him being like, no.
- I read it like I was reading a text for uni,
like I had to critically exam it.
I did not read it 'cause I wanted to.
I tried to read it in bed in the morning
with a cup of tea and some brioche.
- It wasn't a relaxing read.
- No, I actually went and then edited for
five hours to procrastinate reading this book.
(laughs)
I think that shows.
- It was kind of like being in year five
and being handed a ration book from World War One
and being like, well that was interesting.
Is that what you lived off intellectually?
Oh! (laughs)
How hard would that be?
- Your year five self had the brains of like a big animal.
(laughs)
- A big animal?
- I'm tired. (laughing)
- Do you wanna read the 101 ways
to score points with a woman?
- Oh man, okay. - Oh, yeah.
- Should we just pick random ones?
- Yeah. - So we get some best bits.
- You read them out and me and Lucy'll go, yes or no.
- Pick a number. (gasps)
- We'll just make a man score with me.
- Pick a number. - 69.
- 69, classic Lucy.
(laughs) I just lost the page.
A 101 ways to score points with a woman challenge.
Keep the bathroom floor clean
and dry it after taking a shower.
(laughing loudly)
- What?
(laughs loudly)
If someone does that, I'm like, basic human decency.
- I'm like pterodactyl laughing.
(laughs loudly)
Seven, seven, seven, seven.
- Plan a date several days in advance rather than waiting
for Friday night and asking her what she wants to do.
- That would score points with me, but not in a weird,
convoluted way like it does in this book.
In a way like, oh, you're a nice person.
- It's just like making plans.
- If you can't plan three days in advance,
you were literally never go on a date with me.
(laughs)
I am very busy.
- 41.
- Learn her favorite drinks so you can offer her
a choice of the ones that you know she already likes.
(laughs)
- That feels weird, like you're dating.
- This is so basic.
- Malibu and coke or old rosé?
(laughs)
- Old rosé?
- Old Rosie, old rosé is just a stomach bug.
(laughs)
- 92, org--
(laughs)
- Oh, God.
(laughing)
Was that orgasm, or no?
- No. - No, no, it's just...
- What has John got to say?
Lay it on us.
- Organize and prepare a picnic.
Brackets, remember to bring a picnic cloth.
(laughs)
- Oh wow, is that a necessity?
- Point score, John, you would get a point for that.
I love a good picnic blanket.
- Would you normally get a point without a cloth?
- You get minus points if you forget the picnic blanket.
- 101.
- Ohhh. (gasps)
- I wanna know the last thing that'll get you a point.
- The final one. (laughs)
- Oh, God.
- Leave the bathroom seat down.
- There are a lot of specific instructions in this.
- How old is John, 64, I think?
So 64.
♫ Will you still need me, will you still feed me
- No, fuck off.
♫ When I'm 64
- No, no. - No.
- Buy some good superglue to fix things that are broken.
(laughs)
- Like your relationship?
- Like your crumbling masculinity.
(laughing)
- When it comes to like doing stuff,
there's like, offer to--
- Doing it, some would say.
- Yeah. - Pre-order on Amazon today.
- Thanks, guys.
It says offer to drive a car on long trips.
Offer to fix something, offer to sharpen the knives,
offer to change light bulbs, offer to carry groceries,
offer to carry heavy boxes.
- It's just being nice.
- Offer to fix something around the house.
Say, "What needs to be fixed 'round here?"
"I have some extra time."
Don't take on more than you can do.
- I would literally throw somebody out of the house
who was like, whips out a hammer, he's like,
so what needs to be fixed around here?
- Dah, dah, dah, dah, dah!
- Unless they were a stripper I had hired.
- I'm also worried I'm flashing my butt.
Can you check if I'm flashing my butt?
- No, you're good.
- Last time, I flashed everything.
- You did. (laughs)
- You don't remember, with surprise fiance dance party?
(coughs) - You did!
- People seemed more confused than enthralled
by that performance, but I quite enjoyed it.
- Oh my God, this is my favorite.
This is a running piece of advice that
John Gray gave to men throughout this book.
Which is, when listening to her, reassure her
that you are interested by making little noises like,
"ah-huh," "uh-huh," "oh," "mm-hmm," and "hmm."
(laughs)
- Why does he list the noises?
Men aren't socially inept.
- Say to me those three little words.
Uh-huh, mmm, ohhh.
(laughing)
I love you, they're the words!
- Next month, guys, after this horrible, horrible month...
But please listen do listen to the podcast because...
- It's our funniest podcast,
even if you haven't read the book.
- We think it's funny.
- We are very funny in this one.
(laughs)
- You could also find out what my
first child is gonna be called.
(laughs) - Oh, no, no, no, no.
- Oh my God, it's so good, it's so good, it's so good.
- Next month, guys, we're going in a completely different
direction and we're reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov.
December's book was picked and voted for by you guys
on Twitter and we are going to be reading
How To Build A Girl by Caitlin Moran in December.
- Woo!
- So, woo, woo, woo! (cheers)
Get ready for that!
- White women, white women!
- If you've made your own video responses discussing
any of the Banging Book Club books, then Tweet them at us
using #BangingBookClub and I can add them to the playlist.
We have a GoodReads page, we have the iTunes podcast and
you can go subscribe and leave us nice reviews and ratings.
That'd be great. - Yeah!
- Yum, yum, yum in the tum.
(laughs) - Yummy.
- What's happening?
- I love swallowing a good compliment.
- Leena was just rubbing her belly.
- Also, I don't think I've seen Leena this
whole podcast, 'cause I've been leaning forward.
- Oh, well there you go, guys.
- [Both] Hey!
- Thank you guys for watching.
Please give the video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it
and just let us know in the comments what you thought of
or think of this book, whether or not you've read it.
Please don't read it, don't bother.
- Yeah, please don't buy it.
- Do not bother.
- I'm recycling my copy after this video.
- Thank you guys for watching and I'll see you soon.
Bye!
- [Both] Bye!
(upbeat music)
(children cheering)