It’s a time honored trope in movies: one brain, soul, consciousness…whatever you want to call it, either gets placed in a brand new body or gets swapped with someone else’s. Sure, it’s been done a bunch, but some would argue that it has never been done better than in the 2003 remake of Freaky Friday starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan. It’s such a simple premise, where a daughter and mother suddenly wake up in each other’s bodies, but it’s done to particularly hilarious and iconic effect in this version.

Now, the inherently “magical” element of two consciousnesses switching places is one thing, and one that’s difficult to quantify from a scientific standpoint. But before we can even think about the “swapping” issue, we have to answer the question of what is the nature of consciousness at all. In other words, this is a much heavier episode than we expected it to be when we first set out to make it. Thankfully, we have Dr. Hakeem Oluseyi and Tamara Krinsky to guide you through it all.

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https://youtu.be/ozzzTDqFIfA

FURTHER VIEWING

OK, so obviously, you probably want to have seen the 2003 version of Freaky Friday with Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan before watching this episode. Although don’t dismiss Disney’s 1976 original version of the film that starred no less than future big screen legend Jodie Foster and all-time small screen legend John Astin! Just note that we hadn’t seen the newest movie, Freakier Friday, at the time we recorded this episode.

But there are a couple of other key body swap movies that Tamara mentions in the episode. One is Penny Marshall’s 1988 classic Big, starring Tom Hanks. That’s a classic of its decade, and you’ve probably already seen that one. If you haven’t seen Big, well, the only possible explanation we can think of is that you probably weren’t a kid in the ‘80s or ‘90s. Just note that this isn’t two consciousnesses switching place but rather a kid waking up in his own suddenly adult body.

But 1984’s All of Me, starring Steve Martin and Lily Tomlin, and directed by Carl Reiner is something of an underrated comedy gem in general…not just for the body-swap genre! And if we can make one more kind of offbeat recommendation: Justice League Unlimited season 3, episode 8 “The Great Brain Robbery” has Flash and Lex Luthor switching consciousnesses, to hilarious results!

Don’t worry, you still only really need to have seen Freaky Friday to get what we’re talking about today, but our questions about the nature of consciousness apply just as much to these other classics!

Hakeem starts off the episode by asking a question that made our heads spin ever so slightly: what is consciousness? Well, to explain that, you can look at it from a scientific and biological/neurological perspective or you can take a more philosophical approach. Somewhere between the two you will find true consciousness. Oh no, now we’re talking like the kinds of people who ask deep philosophical questions, too! Sorry for the long readings in those links but there are no easy answers to…oh no, we’re doing it again!

Theory of Mind

“Theory of Mind” sounds more intimidating than it is, and to make up for the extra long readings above, we found one with helpful illustrations for you this time! Hey, it’s still from Stanford.

Foreplanning and Animal Consciousness

Sure, humans can think of scenarios that haven’t happened yet (or, if you’re anxious, that may never happen) but if we may quote Hakeem: “We are not the only conscious entities on this planet.” To that end, here’s some animal kingdom proof for you! If you want to read that paper he cites about the chimpanzee tricking its food rivals, it’s here. Or this creepy bird doing creepy human baby imitations to trick us into giving it food.

The Biology of Consciousness?

It’s as simple as this: when you are anesthetized, certain portions of the brain are inactive, but when you wake up, they activate. Here is a more complicated explanation. BUT remember, correlation does not necessarily equal causation!

The Big Picture

Don’t you love it when Tamara surprises Hakeem during the science section? She recommends The Big Picture by Sean Carroll as a wonderful way to look at some of the questions of consciousness.

The History of Freaky Friday

For some more context on how this movie came together, we’ve got just the thing.

“You Are Not the Voice in Your Head”

Check out The Untethered Soul: The Journey Beyond Yourself by Michael A. Singer for a deeper exploration of this concept.

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FREAKY FRIDAY and the SCIENCE of Body Swap Movies