One of my favorite TV tropes is when two characters who have spent tons of time together in a group setting realize they have nothing to talk about when it’s just them. It happened in “The Dog” episode of Seinfeld after Jerry bows out of seeing a movie and George and Elaine (“Just me and George?”) have an awkward realization that the only thing they have in common is making fun of their friend, and it happened in the second episode of Atlanta season three.
After Earn (Donald Glover) wakes up late in Copenhagen, he asks Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) to pick up Van (Zazie Beetz) in Amsterdam for him. They hop into a van together, and the uncomfortably strained chatter commences. “And you and Earn? You guys gonna… pop out another baby?” Darius asks Van, who responds that she has a boyfriend. When she asks him the same question, he replies, “I can’t procreate. I had my balls crushed when I was a kid in Nigeria.” Following a few moments of interminable silence, Darius (who later admits that he doesn’t “do well” at small talk) asks, “You ever seen the movie Foodfight!?” Check out the trailer, he insists. “It’s intense.”
Something tells me Van will not be checking out the trailer, but you should.
If you listen to enough podcasts about bad movies, you already know about Foodfight! (I recommend The Flop House‘s episode). But just in case: it’s a 2012 animated movie with a reported $65 million budget — even though it looks like it cost 65 bucks — that made $73,706 at the box office. Look, I’m no financial expert, but that seems bad.
The plot follows Dex Dogtective, voiced by Charlie Sheen, a dog detective (in case you weren’t sure by his name) who brings together mascots of registered-trademark products, like Charlie Tuna and the Twinkie kid, to stop the evil Brand X. Foodfight! is basically “what if Toy Story was about product placement… and also it sucked.” The voice over cast includes Wayne Brady as a squirrel, Hilary Duff as a cat named Sunshine Goodness, and Christopher Lloyd in his most famous role, “Mr. Clipboard.”
From a 2013 AV Club write-up:
Foodfight! was apparently made for a very strange, very specific audience of small children, branding super-freaks, furries, perverts, and people who’ve always fantasized about f*cking Mrs. Butterworth. This would be creepy and leering even if the parties involved weren’t from different species. It’s a testament to how shockingly lascivious and sexual Foodfight! is that an actor synonymous with violent, cocaine-fueled orgies with high-end prostitutes being cast as its dashing hero actually represents one of its less sketchy and offensive aspects.
Like Darius said, “it’s intense.” Enjoy!
https://twitter.com/jackrosstheboss/status/1507205158626893824
https://twitter.com/AjayMadala15/status/1507235818443747328
It was cool that they mentioned Foodfight! in Atlanta in the 2nd episode
— Jim Rot Video (@JimRotVideo) March 25, 2022
Nah, Foodfight is one of the weirdest, worst movies I ever seen in my life lmao #AtlantaFX
— ShakGPT (@ShakExcellence) March 25, 2022
The new episode of Atlanta referenced Foodfight, which is the worst film I’ve ever seen and it caught me off guard
— Danny Casillas (@Danny_Casillas_) March 25, 2022
they did not just make a foodfight reference in atlanta
— carol (@bearlover153) March 25, 2022
If you don't look up the trailer for Foodfight after this episode of Atlanta, you're a damn fool.
— Ross Bonaime (@rbonaime) March 25, 2022
https://twitter.com/Billyshears888/status/1507192113489928192
It’s good to have you back, Atlanta.
