I’ll be honest: I turn to my TikTok For You Page (FYP) for every possible reason you can think of. If I’m sad, FYP. Happy? FYP. Trying to extract myself from a conversation I don’t want to be a part of? You already know the answer. So, why have I never thought about letting my tailored algorithm decide exactly what I should watch on the best streaming services in the world? I’ll do (almost) anything for my beloved readers, so I conducted a week-long experiment to see exactly what the app wanted me to watch.
Let’s set the scene. I’m working with active streaming subscriptions for Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+ and Apple TV+. I’m not opposed to getting another or finding the best streaming deals to add to the pile, but if one of the new movies or TV shows can be on what I’ve already splashed out on, even better. I’m open to all genres here, the only rule is that I can’t have seen it recently, or at all. As someone who is currently stuck in a never-ending cycle of only watching The Simpsons reruns, some change is needed.
I’ve chosen one new movie or TV show for each weekend, and boy were the results a wild ride. I’ve listened to stories from forgotten pasts, learned that being high-maintenance is something you’ve gotta be, and seen a girl with a butthole for a mouth (I’ll explain this a little later on). I’m left bamboozled, exhilarated, and of the genuine belief that TikTok should be held responsible for what we watch more often.
Fried Green Tomatoes
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Release date: 1991
Cast: Kathy Bates, Jessica Tandy, Mary Stuart Masterson, Mary-Louise Parker
Available on: Buy/rent on Prime Video (US), ITVX (UK), SBS (AU)
Watching a brief clip of Kathy Bates serving her ungrateful husband a delicious meal only to be completely ignored reminded me that this isn’t the first time that TikTok has recommended Fried Green Tomatoes to me. We all know how good the platform is at cutting up scenes and re-describing them as if it’s the cultural equivalent of Chrisopher Columbus, and somehow Bates’ face is frequently used in them. I can’t believe this is a Bates blind spot for me, but even though the movie is adapted from the awkwardly named novel Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe, I was incredibly surprised that it has such a dark undertone.
For every twee and life-affirming moment in Fried Green Tomatoes, it’s offset by something from the nefarious underbelly of Whistle Stop town. It’s not too much of a spoiler to tell you someone meets their maker by being cooked into a pie after they’d kicked the bucket, with Cicely Tyson’s Sipsey fending off an attack by the Ku Klux Klan single-handedly. Kids die in tragic accidents, adults succumb to painful deaths. Surprising, right? You’ll be left as shaken as you are stirred after watching this 1990s movie. Indeed, it goes far beyond the scene where Bates gleefully rams her car into that of a stranger’s after they insult her. Shoutout to Mary Stuart Masterson playing the most 1990s looking closeted lesbian (Idgie) trying to convincingly pass for a genuine 1920s period drama character.
Kath & Kim
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Release date: 2002
Cast: Gina Riley, Jane Turner, Magda Szubanski, Glen Robbins, Peter Rowsthorn
Available on: Netflix (US, UK, AU)
This is another title I’m ashamed to admit that I’ve never seen in full, especially because I’m so well versed in Kath & Kim’s best moment compilations on TikTok that I think I’ve got my “yes I am high maintenance, but I think you’ve gotta be” impression down pat. This week, the series is saying look at moi, ploise, and I have to indulge. Frankly, I can’t believe the Australian sitcom only had four seasons, though I think Netflix is almost solely responsible for giving it a second lease of life two decades on. After bingeing it, the Kath & Kim renaissance is truly deserved.
The dysfunctional mother-daughter duo are Aussie to their roots, and their very specific sense of humor is exactly what translates so well. Their scathing back-and-forths are next level, its silliness never takes anything too seriously and the more you watch, the more you pick up on the carefully placed jokes that you missed the first time around. To top it all off, they’ve got a stonking list of celebrities to cameo, hitting its peak Australian stride by having Kylie Minogue in a Neighbours-style 1980s wedding dress. Kath & Kim is truly a lesson that being yourself is the best way to win people over, even if you have the most ridiculous garbage leaving your mouth on the daily.
Hightown
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Release date: 2020
Cast: Monica Raymund, Atkins Estimond, Riley Voelkel, James Badge Dale
Available on: Netflix (US), NOW TV (UK), Stan (AU)
Interestingly, TikTok sold me Hightown as the ideal TV show to watch after The Hunting Wives, even though it’s billed as a crime-thriller and not Brittany Snow snogging random hot women with husbands. Jackie (Raymund) is an alcoholic federal officer, whose life changes for good when she finds a body washed up on the beach. It’s the catalyst for realizing how much her addiction has affected her life, starting on the long path to sobriety. I thought I had crime drama fatigue, much like superhero nerds feel about Marvel, but the slick pacing and vulnerable look at addiction in law enforcement won me over.
It’s clear to see why people are comparing the two Netflix shows (well, for subscribers in the US at least) when they’re both incredibly explicit. They’ve also both been created by the same showrunner (Rebecca Cutter), so the intense spirals almost mirror each other. There’s completely different perspectives, though, and Hightown is undoubtedly darker than the ludicrous scenes we see in The Hunting Wives. I’m not surprised that Hightown is now going to see a resurgence in popularity on the streamer… it’s unhinged chaos you just have to roll with.
Skins
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Release date: 2017
Cast: Macarena Gómez, Ana Polvorosa, Carolina Bang, Jon Kortajarena
Available on: Netflix (US, UK, AU)
There was always going to be one FYP recommendation that disturbed me more than it should have, and sadly, I’m not talking about the 2007 British drama about teens in England here. Originally titled Pieles in its native Spanish, Skins is a movie telling the story of a group of people shunned by society for their extreme physical deformities, chasing love and acceptance as they try to assimilate. I don’t mean a film like The Elephant Man when I say this though, as Skins is neither that tame nor profound. Instead, I mean people like a young girl with a butthole for a mouth, having to eat through her actual mouth… which is in her butt.
I can feel my editorial standards slipping as I write this. When I envisaged myself in this role, in this industry, writing about butthole people wasn’t something I ever aspired to. What does this mean about who I am, if this is what my algorithm is recommending? What’s even worse is the fact that I felt completely desensitized to Skins, as I’ve honestly seen a lot worse when it comes to the all-out disgusting branch of the horror genre. As you can imagine, these people do not get the love or acceptance they’re looking for, and you don’t really feel sorry for them either. If there is ever a freak tech accident where embarrassing body parts are morphed on people’s faces in real life, maybe I’ll change my mind.
Motherland
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Release date: 2016
Cast: Anna Maxwell Martin, Diane Morgan, Lucy Punch, Paul Ready
Available on: Prime Video (US) BBC iPlayer (UK), Stan (AU)
Okay, I’ll admit… I’ve seen Motherland more times than I can count. However, it hasn’t been for a while, and I can’t pass up an opportunity to recommend the hit British sitcom to my US friends across the pond. The comedy essentially follows a group of strung-out mothers (and Kevin!) as they navigate life, their kids and each other, and the social politics that come into play as a result. I’m getting to the stage where I can basically quote the script without thinking about it, which means that if you haven’t seen it, you’ve got so many comedic gems to come.
Created by Bad Sisters’ Sharon Horgan, she’s assembled a writers room of some of the wryest female comedy writers in the UK to create a script that’s so relatable yet completely irreverent all at once. Watching Martin’s Julia grapple with her in-laws while her husband back-handedly refuses to help out to shepherding parents through her house for a nit kit party (a group of people coming together to clean head lice is not actually a thing in London, as far as I’m aware) is side-splittingly hilarious when you’re not in the thick of mundane drama yourself, and our other parents are fit the archetypes of who we see at the school gates. Punch’s Amanda was scathingly oblivious enough to land her own spinoff Amandaland, while Morgan’s Liz might actually rival Philomena Cunk as her best comedy character of all time. Moral of the story? Don’t throw poo at Hygge Tygge’s storefront, chop off your own finger or ask for the recipe for an omelette.
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