Pop Culture Fix: Gillian Anderson’s Bisexual “The Fall” Character Inspired Fiona Apple’s New Album Title

Hello, my dear friends. How are you all feeling? Are you hanging in there? I’m thinking of you and sending you my love along with today’s Pop Culture Fix


+ Fiona Apple’s new album title, Fetch the Bolt Cutters, is a Gillian Anderson quote from The Fall, which you can read about in this brilliant Emily Nussbaum New Yorker profile. 

“Fetch the Bolt Cutters” is a reference to a scene in “The Fall,” the British police procedural starring Gillian Anderson as a sex-crimes investigator; Anderson’s character calls out the phrase after finding a locked door to a room where a girl has been tortured… She said, of the title, “Really, what it’s about is not being afraid to speak.” Another major theme was women—specifically, her struggle to “not fall in love with the women who hate me.”

+ Basically every network and studio and TV show and film has halted production, and most big budget film releases — including Mulan — have been postponed. I started collecting links but there are too many to share at this point.

+ At least there’s TV.

+ Disney+ is releasing Frozen 2 several months early to ease your worries and entertain your kids for 90-ish minutes.

+ Riese’s mom wants you to know that the Indigo Girls are doing a free live show on Tuesday evening on Facebook!

+ Sports media ponders the Coronavirus.

+ Lana Crawford, who played Neighbours‘ first lesbian character in the early aughts, is returning to the show for a lesbian wedding episode.

+ Lizzy Goodman profiled King Princess in New York Times Magazine.

+ How to watch all 16 movies that won Oscars last month.

+ 🐥

+ SXSW is expanding online screenings and is still planning to move ahead with its awards.

+ Let Harry Styles’ Tiny Desk Concert brighten your day.

+ We don’t cover Westworld too much because it’s not really legitimately gay (yet), but here’a a rundown of Evan Rachel Wood’s vengeance spree on last night’s season three premiere.

+ Schitt’s Creek is doing an hour-long special after the series finale.

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Heather Hogan

Heather Hogan is an Autostraddle senior editor who lives in New York City with her wife, Stacy, and their cackle of rescued pets. She's a member of the Television Critics Association, GALECA: The Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics, and a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer critic. You can also find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Heather has written 1718 articles for us.

5 Comments

  1. i actually just yelled “thank GOD” in my empty apartment about the fiona apple news because i somehow didn’t even know she was releasing new music so soon?!

  2. Ahhhhhhhh, om, the new Fiona Apple album! It’s really happening! 🖤🖤

    If anyone wants to listen to it with me online, we can type about it? Lol You know, like what we think? Message me please.

  3. I just watched the Neighbours wedding episodes during my quarantine and the queer wedding is everything you hope for in a soap wedding (there are 5 weddings! for reasons! there is also a bomb in a honeymoon box?). 10/10 would recommend watching.

    But for real, I watched Neighbours back when Lana was introduced and as a teeny, tiny baby gay. Her character meant a lot to me, I related to her so much because I, too had a huge crush on Sky. There was so much controversy surrounding their relationship and kiss and it really sucked hearing it all in the Australian media, but at the same time even just having Lana and that storyline meant a lot. Fifteen years later finding out they were getting married was surprisingly emotional for me.

    • I love hearing that, @ellab. I know exactly how meaningful those soap moments can be so I get it.

      I’d given up on Neighbours after the Chloe/Elly thing went sideways (again) but maybe I’ll go back and watch those wedding episodes.

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