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The following podcast contains explicit language.

I'm Stephen Metcalf, and this is the Slate Culture Gap Fest, Slut on a Hot Tin Roof Edition.

It's Wednesday, November 28th. On today's program, the Lifetime movie Liz and Dick,

which is, of course, about Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor and their romance. And then the phenomenon known as Supercuts with Slate's own Seth Stevenson. And finally, Snapchat, an app that may or may not enable teen sexting. Joining me today is Slate's deputy editor, Julia Turner. Hello, Julia. Hi, Steve. And of course, our film critic, Dana Stevens. Hey, Steve. Hey, Dana. I'm going to start with you because this seems totally... Because I'm the movie chick, right? You're the movie chick. This is in your power alley. So Liz and Dick is a lifetime movie. A Chronicles the stormy, one could even say, my impression by the end of the film was totally bipolar relationship between Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

It stars Lindsay Lohan as Taylor and someone named Grant Bowler.

I'm totally unfamiliar with him as Richard Burton.

Before we get further into our discussion about this movie, I bet we should give our listeners a taste of its preposterousness.

Let's listen to a clip from Liz and Dick.

So now you're a method actor.

No. But now I have to act that I am in love with you and that you are in love with me.

And that's not easy. Help me. Please.

That I could love you an exquisite queen simple but that you could love me a jobbing soldier are you staring at my chest why not it's the very heart of you it's everything you promise love sex

and nurture and I'm going to pretend that it's all mine.

It's gotten a lot of press, much of it of the kind of howling and credulity variety. What did you make of it?

Well, I mean, essentially, this movie is a stunt, right? This movie exists so that Lindsay Lohhan can play Elizabeth Taylor. And the marketing of it was essentially that. It was the slow unveiling of what is she going to look like as Elizabeth Taylor. And I think that the absurdity of casting Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor was fully implicit in this whole marketing campaign. I think it's, you know, part of it is let's all gawk at the spectacle of Lindsay Lohan, the self-destructing Starlet.

And I really honestly think that a huge part of it also was this kind of so bad it's good. It was almost aiming for a campy, so bad it's good audience from the beginning. Wouldn't you guys agree? I couldn't tell what the intentionality was behind the movie. It certainly got, I mean, I read an interview with the network or the producers

saying that they were striving to create a major television event. And it certainly felt like a

...