Elisabeth Sparkle
Movie character
19
MENTIONS
11
EPISODES
11
PODCASTS
Search complete. 19 mentions across 11 episodes found for "Elisabeth Sparkle".
Oct 23, 2026
Harlow HarlowGUEST
No, and I think that I will give The Substance credit for that.
Harlow HarlowGUEST
Even though she doesn't have really an external life at all, we don't know about Elizabeth Sparkle, which is Demi Moore's character in The Substance.
Harlow HarlowGUEST
We really don't know about her history with... family or even marriage we don't really ever hear about like ex-husbands which for the genre of hag horror which typically revolves around actresses like the aging of actresses we hear about those husbands glorious want you know norma desmond we hear about the husbands or we hear about those kind of past lives or we get that with baby jane because of the sister dynamic But in The Substance, we really don't.
Harlow HarlowGUEST
But at the same time, what I love about The Substance is and what I feel like connects it to Camp Miasma in a modern way is that you still feel for her.
Ian HarriesHOST
day.
Ian HarriesHOST
Um, so it, uh, follows aging celebrity, Elizabeth Sparkle, who's played by Demi Moore.
Ian HarriesHOST
Um, she takes this mysterious drug and ends up waking up as, uh, a very, uh, a younger, more attractive woman.
Ian HarriesHOST
Um, Obviously, in the Muppet version, it would be her taking this drug and then waking up as Miss Piggy.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
So in a film like The Substance, which I'm glad you brought up- That's a film, you know, that's really taking head-on the question of female monstrosity, really making us think of the female body as sort of disgusting, dysregulated, broken, and all of these things.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
And then what I love about the film is in the end, it ultimately, the, it reveals that the real monster is sort of the corporate, the industrial goons who put all this pressure onto Demi Moore's character, Elizabeth Sparkle, to remain young forever, such that they even literally get blood all over their hands, right? So the monster, in the whole film, you're, you're trained to think that the monster is the old crone, and then eventually the kind of hybrid Alyssa Sue character, but the reveal of the film is that the real monster is the corporate goons.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
I love that.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
That's a very feminist move.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
So in a film like The Substance, which I'm glad you brought up, that's a film, you know, that's really taking head-on the question of female monstrosity, really making us think of the female body as sort of disgusting, dysregulated, broken, and all of these things.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
And then what I love about the film is in the end, it ultimately-- the, it reveals that the real monster is sort of the corporate, the industrial goons who put all this pressure onto Demi Moore's character, Elizabeth Sparkle, to remain young forever, such that they even literally get blood all over their hands, right? So the monster, in the whole film, you're, you're trained to think that the monster is the old crone and then eventually the kind of hybrid Alyssa Sue character.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
But the reveal of the film is that the real monster is the corporate goons.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
I love that.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
So in a film like The Substance, which I'm glad you brought up- That's a film, you know, that's really taking head-on the question of female monstrosity, really making us think of the female body as sort of disgusting, dysregulated, broken, and all of these things.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
And then what I love about the film is in the end, it ultimately, the, it reveals that the real monster is sort of the corporate, the industrial goons who put all this pressure onto Demi Moore's character, Elizabeth Sparkle, to remain young forever such that they even literally get blood all over their hands, right? So the monster, in the whole film, you're, you're trained to think that the monster is the old crone, and then eventually the kind of hybrid Alyssa Sue character, but the reveal of the film is that the real monster is the corporate goons.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
I love that.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
That's a very feminist move.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
So in a film like The Substance, which I'm glad you brought up, that's a film, you know, that's really taking head on the question of female monstrosity, really making us think of the female body as sort of disgusting, dysregulated, broken and all of these things.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
And then what I love about the film is in the end, it ultimately it reveals that the real monster is sort of the corporate, the industrial goons who put all this pressure on Demi Moore's character, Elizabeth Sparkle.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
to remain young forever such that they even literally get blood all over their hands right so the monster in the whole film you're you're trained to think that the monster is the old crone and then eventually the kind of hybrid elissa sue character but the reveal of the film is that the real monster is the corporate goons i love that that's a very feminist move it's very well executed it's very well presented what is a little, I don't know whether to say annoying or unfortunate, both annoying and unfortunate about the film is that in order to stick the landing on its plot points, the film has to totally fetishize Margaret Qualley's body.
Eleanor JohnsonGUEST
And every time the camera like lingers on her butt, uh, I feel a little disappointed.
Ryan DoesHOST
This movie, uh, was released at the Cannes Film Festival early on in 2024 in May, but then it got its wide release in September, uh, of the, of the same year of 2024.
Ryan DoesHOST
And it follows a fading Hollywood icon, Elizabeth Sparkle, played by Demi Moore.
Ryan DoesHOST
Uh, she is brutally discard...
Ryan DoesHOST
Uh, she is really discarded by a exploitative studio executive, played by Dennis Quaid, named Harvey, simply for turning 50.
Ryan DoesHOST
So she's consumed with crippling self-hatred.
Ryan DoesHOST
She injects a black market serum that allows her to birth a younger, more perfect version of herself to take her place, named Sue, played by Margaret Qualley.
Ryan DoesHOST
However, as Sue thrives in the industry and takes Elizabeth's spot, she starts to take more and more time.
Ryan DoesHOST
There's a process by which they switch and share this life, but Sue starts taking more and more and more, and it starts to have these grotesque ramifications on Demi Moore's body.
CrystalHOST
Yeah, it's great.
CrystalHOST
And then we cut to the Hollywood Walk of Fame and we see Elizabeth Sparkle's name getting installed in the Walk of Fame.
Baby LameHOST
And Cam Clue here, obviously, because we're referencing very hard Death Becomes Her, which is brilliant and like i love that this film isn't afraid to kind of really reference that movie
CrystalHOST
oh my god it's all over it yeah but
BrianHOST
[laughs] So yeah, a quick recap of The Substance.
BrianHOST
As we mentioned, it is Demi Moore as Elisabeth Sparkle.
BrianHOST
She is this, uh, aerobics instructor, like-
SamHOST
Mm-hmm
BrianHOST
... she turns 50, and the, Dennis Quaid, the network, the whatever it is, decides she's gotta get out.
BrianHOST
We need something newer and younger.
BrianHOST
And this eventually leads Elisabeth Sparkle on this kind of, uh, quest of discovery of who she is.
BrianHOST
[laughs] But, uh, basically she gets into a car accident.
Joshua HunterHOST
That, that, that's the other one I was trying to think of.
Joshua HunterHOST
But th- uh, this movie in question, we go ahead and we follow, uh, this woman, Elisabeth Sparkle, who is played by Demi Moore, who's been this, uh, Hollywood, uh, staple- Uh, for years.
Joshua HunterHOST
They don't really tell us how long, but you could assume it's been a couple decades.
Joshua HunterHOST
And she basically is told, "You're too old to host this show anymore, um, but thank you so much.
Joshua HunterHOST
So let me start with the good.
Joshua HunterHOST
Um, Demi Moore should get an Oscar nomination for this.
Joshua HunterHOST
Um, her portrayal of Elizabeth I think is beautiful.
Joshua HunterHOST
I think it's heartbreaking.
1 more episode mentions Elisabeth Sparkle.
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