Podcast Summary: “How Did This Get Made?”

Episode: The Forbidden Dance
Hosts: Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, Jason Mantzoukas
Guest: Jessica St. Clair
Release Date: March 27, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode, Paul, June, Jason, and guest Jessica St. Clair tackle the 1990 film The Forbidden Dance. The team dives into the movie’s notorious production history, its attempt to cash in on the lambada dance craze, its eco-conscious (but confusing) plot, and why this movie exists at all. From bewildering dance sequences to bewildering white savior tropes, the hosts dissect this infamous rush-job "rainforest PSA with grinding." Expect lots of laughs, trademark banter, and an unexpected amount of dance history.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The "Lambada Wars" and Production Background

• [03:01] Paul explains the dual-release confusion:
  • “There was a lawsuit...posters that label this movie the Forbidden Dance. But then an injunction made them take away Lambada…and another movie came out the same weekend called Lombada.”
• [08:55] How quickly the movie was made:
  • “December of '89...we need a script. Ten days later they get a script. In January, they start shooting. The movie is released in March. It is the quickest film ever to be basically conceived, written, shot and released.”
  • [09:36] June: “There’s so much connective tissue the movie just does not give you…it just cuts from set piece to set piece, montage to montage. But given the information you just told me—well done. It still holds together.”
• [63:11] History of Golan and Globus relatives racing to make competing Lambada films after a falling out.

2. What the Hell is the Lambada?

• [04:50] Jessica clarifies confusion:
  • “Lambada means a fast, erotic Brazilian dance that couples perform with their stomachs touching.”
• [05:16] Paul: “When I understood it, it was a dirty dance. It was like a fucking dance.”
• [06:14] June observes the era:
  • “It’s like…all the white people dance is like, that’s how people danced at this time, you know. Just, like, all upper body nonsense.”
• [06:34] Jessica: “For a lot of this movie, our main character Nisa is dancing the lambada on her own.”
  • Paul: “It’s kind of masturbation in my mind. That’s what I feel like the movie...”
• [07:11] June: “Dance scenes are the sex scenes—the sex scenes are instead dance scenes.”

3. Plot Breakdown: Eco-melodrama & White Saviors

• [10:10] Paul delivers the plot:
  • “This movie is about Nisa, a native Brazilian princess who travels to LA to stop an American corporation from destroying her rainforest home ... ends up working as a maid ... falls into a dance contest to save the rainforest.”
• [10:40] June: “They are bigots. They are straight up racist, hateful, racist bigots.”
• [11:11] Paul:
  • “She starts working in a club that’s also like a brothel—but she’s just dancing. And then finally Jason rescues Nisa from this brothel, and they decide to get on a television dance contest so they can spread the word.”

4. Dancing, or: Why Isn’t This Sexy?

• [12:39] Jessica is blunt:
  • “The dancing from our lead, Nisa, is terrible...she had more chemistry with that curtain.”
• [14:22] June:
  • “We see them training for what appears to be weeks working on the dance, and they never get better. And in fact, when they do the audition, they seem to be worse.”
• [15:38] Paul:
  • “She’s a master. He’s a learner…it’s not framed like that. It’s almost like they’re equals, and they’re not. He needs to be learning from her...He’s baby. Let’s be clear. He’s baby.” (16:06)

5. Characters & Cultural Confusion

• [21:29] Jessica on Jason:
  • “The next shot we see of him, he looks like a middle-aged man...It’s inappropriate that he still lives at home and is being treated like a child by his parents.”
• [23:17] Jessica introduces Gen Z slang:
  • “‘Chapel ganger’...they all looked like chapel gangers…should be those guys we remember from that time, and they are so not.”*
• [25:24] June and Paul lament '80s hairlines, with Paul admitting:
  • “When I was a child, ... I went to my barber, hairstylist, and I said, ‘Can you make me look like [Bruce Willis from Moonlighting]?’ And they said, ‘That’s a receding hairline.’ And I was like, ‘I want it.’”
• [27:04] The witch doctor Joa is compared to a Fred Armisen character.

6. Villains, Racism, and Subplots

• [32:25] Jessica on the "apology":
  • “One of the big problems I had with this movie was their apology at the end...‘I’m sorry that happened...’ And then she says, ‘No problem,’ and we move on.”
• [33:01] June on Ashley:
  • “How about this? You know who never apologizes and never gets their comeuppance is fucking Ashley, who sucks so hard and is the worst villain of the entire movie.”
• [33:14-33:42] Ashley’s wild ‘I’m all daddy’ villain dialogue is read aloud.

7. The Rainforest, Corporate Evil, and 1990s “Issues”

• [35:35] June:
  • "So many of the clumsy themes of this movie could not be more prescient for right now. It is chilling."
• [37:09] Jessica:
  • “It’s a terrible dance...completely soulless and joyless. I hated it.”
• [41:08] June: “The rainforest is too important. I say, if Petramco is destroying the rainforest, well, then we should just boycott their ass.”
• [41:27] June: “That is the last line of the movie. There's no more dialogue. No, it's just dancing.”
• [41:42] Jessica: "Wouldn’t you love to live in a world in which people can win a dance contest, get on Kid Creole & the Coconuts on TV, he calls for a boycott, and substantial change happens?"

8. Favorite Memorable Moments & Running Gags

• [16:04] Repeated joke: “Jason is baby.”
• [26:31] Paul to Jessica on hair: “But here I'm gonna say, like, I can speak to this as a man who is bald...”
• [40:09] Debate over whether Kid Creole & the Coconuts are a real band. (They are—see 71:15)
• [46:07] Jessica finds it “kind of crazy” Nisa puts on her boss's dress and just goes out.
• [47:39] June: “Jason repeatedly turns down alcohol because he's driving...he’s portrayed as nothing but a genuinely good boy whose only vice is dancing.”
• [48:13] Paul: “Mother, I dance. I like it, and I’m good at it!” quoting the film’s Footloose-style dialogue.

Notable Quotes & Timestamps

• "[07:06] Paul: 'She's doing, like, solo lambada. It's a kind of masturbation in my mind. That's what I feel like the movie...'”
• "[16:06] June: 'Jason is baby.'"
• "[32:25] Jessica: 'One of the big problems I had with this movie was their apology at the end...it’s such a non-apology.'"
• "[33:01] June: 'How about this? You know who never apologizes and never gets their comeuppance is fucking Ashley, who sucks so hard and is the worst, the worst villain of the entire movie.'"
• "[41:27] June: 'That is the last line of the movie. There's no more dialogue. No, it's just dancing.'"
• "[47:39] June: 'Jason repeatedly turns down alcohol because he's driving. We never see them doing drugs...his only vice is dancing.'"
• "[61:15] June: 'Dance is the transaction that needs to like emotionally get you there. The, the dancing just doesn't seal the deal.'"
• "[66:19] June: 'It really is the ozone layer and the destruction of the rainforest which in this time period is...the only climate change level event.'"
• "[71:00] June: 'Once again, the dance captivated everyone, including Mama Coconut.'"

Other Fun Segments

Cultural References and Running Bits:

• Dirty Dancing training montages vs. The Forbidden Dance’s awkwardness (15:00)
• "Jason is baby" running joke (16:06, 49:12)
• Critique of '80s/'90s hairlines and pop culture standards (26:06)
• Side-rants on club subcultures and baffling costume choices ([51:06])

Behind-the-Scenes Trivia:

• Golan and Globus’s rivalry commented on in amused disbelief (63:15)
• The real-life identity and role of Mama Coconut revealed ([71:15])

Overall Take and Recommendations

The hosts unanimously agree that while the film is bad in almost every technical and cultural sense, it remains an amusing, bizarre time capsule of 1990:

• Terrible (soulless) dance sequences
• An oddly progressive yet incompetent ecological message
• Ridiculous dialogue and non-acting
• Accidental laughs and occasionally memorable set-pieces
• Worth watching for fans of “so-bad-it’s-good” cinema, with a few drinks and the right company

[73:23] Would you recommend people watch this film?

• June: “Absolutely.”
• Jessica: “I’ve enjoyed talking to you two about it...and we had some laughs.”
• Paul: “It wasn’t too long...most of the movie is a montage.”

Notable End-of-Episode Gags

• New merch: “Jason baby needs a Swayze” personal ad T-shirt ([74:22])
• Pseudo-PSA: “This episode is dedicated to the rainforest.”

Final Thought

A fever dream of a late-80s/early-90s culture clash movie, more notable for its context than its content. A perfect specimen for How Did This Get Made? fans—come for the accidental chaos, stay for the hosts’ riffing.

For Deeper Listening:

• Key segments to check out (approximate timestamps):
  • 02:03—Dual-release confusion and lawsuits
  • 10:10—Plot outline
  • 14:22—Dance rehearsal montage and critique
  • 21:29—Jason's age and casting oddities
  • 32:25—Villain analysis, racist friends
  • 41:08—Rainforest 'boycott' and abrupt ending
  • 63:11—Golan/Globus rivalry breakdown
  • 73:23—Final verdict: Should you watch this?

Memorable Quote:
[68:18] Akbar: “This was the most sensuous movie I've ever seen...Bow wow, five stars.”