472 - FCF: Smile

Gobbledygeek

Sit back and say ‘Aaaahhhh!’ For this month’s Four-Color Flashback, Paul and Arlo take a trip to the dentist with Raina Telgemeier’s 2010 autobiographic novel Smile. Raina looks back on how her orthodontic woes served as a marker for her adolescence, from the loss of her two front teeth in 6th grade circa 1989 through finally ditching those braces in freshman year ‘92. This prompts Paul and Arlo to recount their own dental dramas in dramatic (traumatic?) detail before praising Telgemeier’s skillful cartooning, her incisive rendering of middle school social mores, the way historical events are set against the backdrop of teen life, and more. Plus, the boys have thoughts on the This Is Us series finale.

NEXT: more drama, more trauma.

BREAKDOWN

00:00:23 - Intro / This is Us

00:35:17 - Smile

01:35:33 - Outro / Next

MUSIC

• “Dentist!” by Steve Martin, Michelle Weeks, Tichina Arnold & Tisha Campbell, Little Shop of Horrors (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) (1986)
• “Braces” by Robbo, A Kid’s Life (2000)

GOBBLEDYCARES

• Abortion Funds in Every State: https://bit.ly/AbortionFundsTwitter
• National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/

• Support AAPI communities and those affected by anti-Asian violence: https://www.gofundme.com/c/act/stop-aapi-hate
• Support the AAPI Civic Engagement Fund: https://aapifund.org/
• Support Black Lives Matter and find anti-racism resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/
• The Trevor Project provides information and support to LGBTQ youth: thetrevorproject.org
• Trans Lifeline: https://translifeline.org/
• • US [phone]
  • Canada [phone]
• National Center for Transgender Equality: transequality.org
• Advocate for writers who might be owed money due to discontinuance of royalties: https://www.writersmustbepaid.org/
• Help teachers and classrooms in need: https://www.donorschoose.org/
• Do your part to remove the burden of medical debt for individuals, families, and veterans: https://ripmedicaldebt.org/
• Register to vote: https://vote.gov/