Recap / Big Mouth S 3 E 9 Disclpsure The Movie The Musical

It's finally happening

We've waited so long

They've captured the magic

And put it to song

Got to land the part

Got to keep my composure

To be in the musical

Of the movie DISCLOSURE!

Rehearsals begin for the spring musical, a musical adaptation of the movie Disclosure. After being unhappy with their parts, or lack thereof, Jessi, Andrew, Gina, and Ali decide to protest the show for its racist and misogynistic tropes. While practicing their lines, sexual tension grows between Nick and Missy, which leads Missy to meet her new hormone monster, Mona. And Mr. Lizer takes sexual advantage of stage manager, Lola. Meanwhile, the Fab Five from Queer Eye (2018) makeover Coach Steve.

---

Tropes:

• As Himself: The real life Queer Eye Fab Five voice their animated selves.
• Bait-and-Switch: Lola words to tell the students to leave the stage takes on a sad note.
  "Alright people, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here... is what my mom's boyfriend said to me as I stood in my own bedroom."
• Big "NO!": Coach Steve's inability to say "no" to anything is highlighted here. It culminates in him shouting "NO!" when Mr. Lizer disrespects the school he loves.
• Big "WHAT?!":
  • Matthew says this after he learns that Nick got the lead role.
  • Lola has a more impressive one after Jessi gets her to understand that Mr. Lizer has been using her. She emphasizes it by smashing a cafeteria table in half.
• Broken Aesop: Men cannot be the victims of sexual harassment and if they claim to have been then it is really just an attack on women and an attempt to demonize them for being sexual. Note that the season repeatedly emphasizes that boys and men need to learn to control their desires, while also arguing that girls and women are liberated by unleashing theirs.
• Call-Back:
  • Jessi uses Lola's love for Pretty Little Liars to explain what Lizer did to her.
  • Jonathon's comment about how "the dumb ones pound the hardest", in regards to Coach Steve.
  • In the background of the bulletin board, the picture from the anime club is a colored version of Tyler's torn-up picture of him and Nick from "Guy Town".
• Chekhov's Gun: Andrew's black clothing that allows him to blend into the shadows helps him both discover Mr. Lizer taking advantage of Lola and see Nick kissing Missy.
• Comically Missing the Point: Coach Steve, caught up in having learned to say "no", rejects the offer of Lizer's job (which includes a bigger pay) and demands his old job back.
• Crossover: With Queer Eye (2018).
• Double Standard Rape: Female on Male: Plenty of attention is drawn to Mr. Lizer taking advantage of Lola, but "Demi Moore" taking advantage of "Michael Douglas" in Disclosure is treated neutrally at best.
• Et Tu, Brute?: Andrew suffers one at the end of the episode when he sees Nick kiss Missy.
• Interspecies Romance: Antoni ends up in a relationship with one of the seagulls.
• "Jump Off a Bridge" Rebuttal: Kamaro tries to use this when explaining why Coach Steve has to say no sometimes. Coach Steve misses the point and jumps off the bridge, thinking there are friends down there. He's saved by Antoni having trained the seagulls to fly him wherever he wants.
• Leaning on the Fourth Wall: Mr. Lizer says the cast list will be posted after the viewers skip the main titles right before the main titles start playing. He even points at us as he says this.
• Madonna-Whore Complex: Turns out Lars has this. Throughout the episode he judges and belittles Missy for acting in a more assertive way and for expressing her sexuality, which drives a wedge between the two.
• Musical Episode: Of course, almost every episode has at least one musical number, but this one has at least three, including a two-minute long opening number before the title sequence.
• Nothing Is the Same Anymore: Missy gets her own Hormone Monster, which causes her to become more assertive. However, it also puts distance between her and Lars and she soon develops an attraction to Nick, which Andrew finds out in the worst possible way.
• Shout-Out: It's very clear that the writers can't be bothered memorizing any of the character names from the film Disclosure, so the lead characters are simply named "Michael Douglas" and "Demi Moore", with everyone else being named after stereotypes.
• Title: The Adaptation: The title of the episode is the same as the title of the musical: Disclosure the Movie: The Musical!
• Waxing Lyrical: Mr. Lizer uses the cliched expression "My dogs are barking" when he tricked Lola into giving him a foot rub. Later, as he's gaslighting her into thinking that she tricked him into "allowing" her to giving him a foot rub, he quotes a certain popular song.
  "My dogs were barking, but who let them out, Lola? Who? Who? Who??"
• Wham Episode: After being devoid of one for the last two seasons, Missy gets a new Hormone Monstress, Mona.

---