315 | Fefe Dobson (Morningside)

My Summer Lair Chapter #315: What Does Scarborough Mean To You?

It takes about 3 minutes into the Scarborough inspired movie Morningside for somebody to suck their teeth.

And honestly? That took longer than I expected.

Growing up that sound was the Scarborough Anthem.

Located in Toronto’s East End this boisterous borough has unleashed a spectacular wave of impressive creativity often rooted in colourful communities.

You probably already know Brooklyn and you probably already know Compton even if you’ve never visited these places. They’re featured in so many movies plus all the music.

(On Californication Anthony Kiedis the lead singer of the Red Hot Chili Peppers sings: “Well, everybody’s been there and I don’t mean on vacation.” Which is true of Hollywood as well as Compton and Brooklyn and Scarborough.)

Scarborough is a fearless tribe of dreamers: visionaries who retain their magic eyes and can see beauty when others only view ruin or despair.

In Scarborough we claim Mike Myers who made you laugh either on Saturday Night Live or with the Austin Powers movies.

In Scarborough we claim the Weeknd who faces the Blinding Lights head on with all the bold courage of a Starboy. (Starboy is Jamaican slang, yeah?)

In Scarborough we claim actor Alex Mallari Jr. who has been on My Summer Lair twice. When we talked about his role as the Bad Guy in The Adam Project (a Ryan Reynolds Netflix movie) I asked him if gave Ryan (who hails from Vancouver) a proper Scarborough welcome. Alex and I laughed. Hooray for shorthand!

You can see Alex Mallari Jr. in Morningside along with Fefe Dobson. (In the movie Fefe as Steph is Alex Mallari’s boyfriend.)

In Scarborough we claim Fefe Dobson who often shares the contents of her heart in her music.

Filmmaker Ron Dias describes Morningside as a love letter to Scarborough. Morningside the movie Ron directed and co-wrote follows a group of Scarborough residents grappling with violence in their community, a rapidly changing city laced with fear and the loss of their local community centre to gross gentrification.

One of those Scarborough residents is Steph, a nurse played by Fefe Dobson. As you’ll hear in this MSL conversation Fefe Dobnson maintains a fierce pride for this borough. For our borough.

She clearly was able to express that pride in her Morningside performance.

You know Fefe Dobson as the singer-songwriter with popular hits like Bye Bye Boyfriend, Stuttering and Ghost.

In this My Summer Lair conversation we talk about growing up in Scarborough where she attended Wexford Collegiate, a creative arts high school. (In Scarborough it’s like our Fame school if you get that reference.)

(I went to L’Amoreaux Collegiate for high school, about 7 KMs from Wexford. Wexford got Fefe Dobson. At L’Am we got Maestro Fresh Wes. I can’t articulate why but that tracks. It works. It fits.)

Fefe and I get into hustling, how her leather jacket is her armour and the fight for the light in overwhelming darkness.

We end this local and often personal conversation with the power of manifestation. Manifestation is simply refusing to accept your current circumstances as fate. Crystal balls are only destiny if you choose to believe in Predestination. Otherwise the future is yours to craft.

Behold the Morningside trailer:

Morningside is playing in limited release at select Cineplex cinemas.

Morningside @ W • T • F

Host Sammy Younan

Recorded: Thursday February 20, 2025 at 12:50 pm (EST)

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