Peculiar Picture Show is a conversational podcast that examines movies and talks about mental health issues like mental illness, trauma, stress, and identity issues. It’s available for streaming on our website (peculiarpicture.show) as well as major podcast channels, including iTunes, Spotify, and Stitcher Radio. It’s been running continually since March of 2019, publishing a new full episode every two weeks on Saturdays, and also occasionally posting mini-episodes. Additionally, there is some bonus content available only on our website.
Short description:
Peculiar Picture Show is a podcast that uses movies to talk about mental health. Hosts Brandon Gregory and Maria Milazzo, former English majors who deal with mental health issues, discuss everything from small arthouse films to blockbuster hits.
Long description:
Peculiar Picture Show is a conversational podcast with two hosts: Brandon Gregory and Maria Milazzo, former English majors who both deal with mental health issues. They discuss all types of movies, from blockbuster hits to small arthouse films, and give some analysis on the movies in each episode. On the mental health front, they identify what the film has to say about mental health, whether that’s an overt statement or a blaring omission. Movies are a window into public opinion, and it turns out there’s a lot we can learn about mental health and its perceptions by looking at movies.
Peculiar Picture Show is actively releasing episodes every two weeks.
Content Advisory/Trigger Warnings
Peculiar Picture Show openly discusses mental health issues, including sexual trauma, suicide, and self harm. We try not to be overly graphic, but this can still be disturbing for some people. If you’re struggling with self harm or suicidal ideation or fear you may be triggered by discussion of another person’s trauma, or if a listener is young and should not be listening to such things, exercise caution when listening.
Additionally, some foul language is used sporadically. We do not feel it is excessive, but some listeners may take offense at this.
Hosts/Crew
Brandon Gregory is a web developer, writer, and movie buff living in Kansas City. He reviews classic and essential films at BrandonTalksMovies.com, and writes about all sorts of stuff elsewhere. He struggles with bipolar disorder.
Maria Milazzo is a writer, runner, and dog- and food-lover. She lives in Denver where she enjoys drinking all the delicious beer and being surrounded by mountains and seasons. She struggles with depression and PTSD.
The entire podcast and all promotional material are produced by the two hosts. In general, Brandon handles the website and feed and Maria does audio editing and production.
Quotes from the Show
“You hear a lot of people say suicide is such a selfish thing to do. As someone who has had suicidal thoughts and has attempted suicide, there was nothing selfish in what I did—it seems that way, and perhaps there is some selfishness, but you actually think that you are doing everybody a favor by committing suicide.”
Maria Milazzo, episode “Little Miss Sunshine: It’s OK to Not Be OK”
“Inevitably, when you have mental illness, you are going to make really poor choices that are bad and hurt people. Does that mean you’re a bad person? No.”
Maria Milazzo, episode “Return of the Jedi: Feelings, Faith, and Carrie Fisher”
“How do you move on when your son, or your brother, or your family member, or whoever is [suffering from mental illness]? Those feelings, I thought, made the film so real, because we didn’t just get him being schizophrenic, but we got how the parents are dealing with it, and I think that’s very telling. Because mental health affects everybody.”
Maria Milazzo, episode “Donnie Darko: We Still Don’t Really Know What It’s About”
“That’s the weird thing about mental illness—you can make it through these crushing times that would just absolutely destroy other people, but then at the same time, you can have a meltdown over losing a pen or something like that.”
Brandon Gregory, episode “Marie Antoinette: It’s Hard Being a Woman in Any Era”
“I don’t think the solution to a lack of women in film is to have perfect female characters; I think it’s good to have strong female characters, but characters who also have flaws. And that is exactly what Cher was—she had a lot of great things that she did, a lot of great things that she was, but she also had her flaws, and she was great in spite of those flaws.”
Brandon Gregory, episode “Clueless: Look Who’s Clueless Now? (Hint: It’s Brandon)”
“Mental illness is one of the few conditions where people will feel worse for you when you’re treating it than when you have it. You say, ‘I have mental illness,’ you’ll get some sympathy. But you say, ‘I’m treating mental illness,’ people will feel worse for you.”
Brandon Gregory, episode “Silver Linings Playbook: An Unflinching Look at Bipolar Disorder”
Contact Information
Peculiar Picture Show can be found on Facebook and Instagram. A contact form is available on our website, or we can be emailed directly at peculiarpictureshow@gmail.com.
By the Numbers
For the 90-day period ending November 22, 2020, Peculiar Picture Show amassed 1,323 unique downloads.
Advertising
If you’re interested in advertising on Peculiar Picture Show, please contact Brandon Gregory using the podcast’s email address: peculiarpictureshow@gmail.com.
Guests
If you would like to be a guest on Peculiar Picture Show, please email us using the podcast’s email address: peculiarpictureshow@gmail.com. We do ask that guests stick to our regular format of discussing movies and mental health and don’t take over an episode with self-promotion. No payment of any kind will be provided for guests on our show.
Cover Art
Peculiar Picture Show 