 Oh everyone welcome to the first ever out of frame out of frame live stream For those who don't know me or haven't seen my face. I am Sean Malone I'm the creative out of frame a producer and writer of out of frame and Creative director for the foundation for economic education, which Which supports out of frame and and pays for everything that we do here with me today I'm so thrilled that Eric's my first guest Eric July who you will know from YouTube young Rippa 59 on YouTube you also know him from Twitter massive Twitter following at a bleeds just at Eric July is that right Eric D. July. Yep, Eric D. July and And of course as the front man for the hip-hop rap metal group backwards, which has I think you guys just got a new music video Just come out pretty recently as well Yeah, we got some more stuff coming out Everybody's been asking about getting this back on the road and yeah We're gearing up for album number two. So I'm excited. Well, thank you man. Thank you so much for joining me I can't first of all, I can't think of anybody better to kind of To link up without a frame in a lot of ways because a lot of the stuff that you and I Talk about although we we do it in pretty different ways, but I think we talk about a lot of the same stuff Which I love and I think I've always I just always feel like you and I agree on pretty much everything Which I I have a great great time watching your show and and so yeah, man Thanks so much for joining the life course man. Appreciate you guys having me man So I guess the first question I want to address here a little bit is is basically what are we doing? Because we've never done an out-of-frame live like this before and and I can't take take credit for the idea This is actually Paul Nelson's idea. He's one of my podcast hosts and he's he works with me at fee Paul had this idea a while back to invite people on to talk about their favorite movies And so I thought it's a really cool idea and a really fun thing to do live because obviously like what we like to do An out-of-frame is take a movie or TV show or whatever and Break it down and talk about the ideas in the show and and talk about like the philosophy behind it economics Like all the kinds of things that you know, I'm passionate about I like talking about and you know Obviously the man with the Tom soul poster behind him in the in the shot here Obviously cares about some of the same stuff and so I just thought it'd be super cool so I put it to Eric to pick a movie basically and Eric, why don't you tell the people what what movie you chose? Tell us of course, which is no my favorite film, but it's not even close And I believe also the most portable film and that's the big Lebowski I have been quoting that film all afternoon now to my my pretty my poor producer has not seen the big Lebowski And it was a tragedy. I told him I thought I told him I thought it was a perfect film and I have ever since been quoting lines from the film that he does not have any context for so Things like like ah man, it's I'm sure it's down there. I'll let me take another look Yeah, yeah, you know things like that. You just if you have no context. It's not gonna work But yeah, I do it all the time people that follow me on Twitter. No, I randomly post a big Lebowski Quotes it a lot of people catch it, but it's funny to see those few that So we're gonna we're gonna get into that in a minute And I definitely I couldn't be more thrilled that this is like this sort of the inaugural Version of this because the big Lebowski is is just one of the greatest films ever made and I'm I couldn't be more Excited to talk about it But honestly first and this is kind of breaking news in a way So I kind of wanted to get this out of the way and and talk about it first because there's a really big story that just happened Today or at least it broke today that Alec Baldwin Was on the set of a movie. I think the movie is called rust and they were shooting was it in New Mexico? I believe and Somehow accidentally shot His director of photography Ah Halina Hutchins who had done Really not a lot of stuff up until this point She had done this movie and she did a movie called arch enemy. I don't Eric. Did you see arch enemy? Do you know what that is? I actually I have seen it I wanted to I wanted to see it in theaters and it was like right in the middle of everything being a mess And so I like missed it for some reason, but I ended up watching it at home And it's it's a really weird movie you might you might want to check it out because it's about a guy played by Joe Manglonello Who claims to be he basically is like a drunk homeless guy who claims to be a superhero from another dimension and He's like Claims that he's lost his powers and he's he's on this side of reality But in his reality he had like saved the universe or whatever And so like a lot of the movies sort of about like whether or not you believe him or if he's just a lunatic, you know And it's it's pretty interesting movie and it's it's a little bit Kind of like some of the a-23 movies that are outright and like the Nicholas Cage stuff It's kind of shot with a little bit of that kind of vibe. So I don't know man It was it was interesting, but this this thing with Alec Baldwin. I Just don't even know where to go with it. I don't know how it happens like it's I Mean, it's a bizarre story Just as a guy that I have a little experience doing TV stuff and being on sets. Yeah, definitely in this day and age I know people bring up Brandon Lee and accidents that have happened in the past That's like 30 years ago. Yeah, exactly a lot has changed so much since then In which they do stuff to prevent things like this not only from happening But even if you look at the whole dynamic of like TV more in the Hollywood since maybe not in the independent system In the Hollywood since where everybody has their own individual jobs You can't knock over a chair or something like that with and pick it up Because someone else has to go do that because that's their job a lot fake jobs Hollywood as well that ascended around that so for a mishap to happen in the way that it did in which the cinematographer gets shot Unfortunately passes and the director then gets hit like so much would have had to go wrong For that to happen in the way that it did and obviously they're doing whatever investigation that they're doing to see what happened But it's a big hole somewhere in there because that's such a bizarre instance I mean when you consider that that it had to been a live round and then you like how to heal it a live round getting in You know be the prop Said like happen, you know, I so I've been talking to some people today about this because a lot of people don't realize that a Lot of prop guns are actually just real guns But you use you know use blanks or you use like squibs or you remove the firing pin or something like that to make sure that it's You know not functional You know, it's there's different ways of doing it, but quite a lot of the time It's just a real gun that they've either rendered inert by taking out some of the components that will allow it to fire Or by using rounds that do that and the reason obviously you'd want to use blanks sometimes because you want to get that muzzle flash You want to get the bang You know live on set and and you want that that same explosive power of the gun also probably to You know to to be on camera, right which is cool and I get that but like You know if you're gonna do that you gotta be insanely careful not to you know not to mix a live round in with your blank I mean that would be just like the biggest screw-up you could possibly make as a prop master So I don't I don't know man like it's it's a really weird Like I said when you when you look we break it down like in the way that you just did Again, something is not being said because there's so much that would have had because even if we assume that to be the case Let's say that an actual a live round made it into the gun that they were using The fact that it even got to that point to where he's in a position of where he's firing it where it hits a cinematographer and a direct like there's so much that would have had to go wrong For that to happen in terms of these coincidences, so I think there's gonna be I don't know we don't know Yeah, so it's hard to speculate on what's going on, but something something's up Yeah, obviously this is a breaking story and we're not I mean there's you know, we're obviously not experts We weren't on set or anything, but like It's just so weird man like and I I mean It's amazing to me that it hasn't happened in 30 years, but like the fact that it happened at all is super strange Yeah, yeah, because it has that again that Brandon Lee situation kind of flipped the industry on his head Yeah, it happened and you saw a lot of different changes Definitely, well you just in guns in general and how they use it on set has just changed from back when they were doing You know ponderosa stuff, you know to me back in the gay doing Westerns to where we are now It's just it's entirely different But again, I'm saying as a guy that's been on a lot of these sets It's just it's just a different scenario and for that to happen and just knowing how careful they are with who does the jobs and And that that person is only responsible for this you got a prop guy for the prop guy Somebody had a yeah there and it's it's weird. It's just weird. I yeah I have to imagine on any movie that's got Baldwin in it. I mean there's got to be a Specific armorer, you know a specific weapons master There's no way that you just have like a random, you know, it's like if you've done I don't know if you've done like short films or if you've done like your own stuff or whatever like really low-budget So obviously you've done music videos and things just about the same But like, you know when you're working super low budget a lot of the times It's like you just get whoever you can possibly get but the thing is you do not do that with guns, right? Like that's just the worst idea imaginable and it's it kind of reminds me a little bit of that That I don't remember the name of it now But the independent film a few years ago where there they were like shooting on train tracks We're like shooting a dream sequence on train tracks and then but it was like actually a live train and then the I think it was It was like actually an assistant camera operator on that one who had died because she got like hit by a train You know and it's I don't know man. It's it's funny I was on a podcast the other day talking about and I actually may have just come out today. Honestly, I'm not sure But we're talking about the strike, you know, we're talking about all the the stuff and I Like I have I'm a little bit of two minds on some of this stuff because I think that like the union system in Hollywood is is a mess And it it creates Way more complicated way more expensive products than they need to make and and a lot of it is just Like you even said like it's guys who have one job and that job is it's basically useless, you know Yeah, there's a whole lot of that stuff But at the same time I don't blame many people for wanting better working conditions say for working conditions There's so many movies that get made where people are working 16 17 18 hours a day and they're doing it in environments like I remember stories about Michael Bay Shooting the island and they shot like a whole chunk of the island in this, you know Like abandoned warehouse kind of thing that they had filled with water, but it was like There were like toxic chemicals in it It was like sludge that people were it was making people sick and sewage and all this stuff And they were making like Scarlett Johansson and you know McGregor like walk around in that stuff It was just like dude, you know, I get it like there's there's a You know, there's a Legitimate claim there for a lot of those guys. It's just it's a weird industry, man Otherwise it seems to get more and more bizarre but that in itself and What you're mentioning definitely with these with these unions and these fake jobs that a lot of That are out there is almost wide that that Alec Baldwin situation is that bizarre because of that when you got that's how they That's how they operate. You know, they got prop guys prop guns or prop guys for the prop guys Probably another one that's thrown in there and it's just for something like that happened And this day and age and this climate with a guy of that caliber in terms of listening as an actor Some went disastrously wrong for that to happen. Yeah, we're gonna have to see man I'm sure you're gonna pay attention to it. I mean, I'm gonna pay attention to it This is this is a really wild story. So anyway, thanks for thanks for like doing this tangent right up front I just felt like we kind of had to address it because we're going live today and it's it is the big news for today but yeah, let's let's talk about the big Lebowski though because Man, this is a great movie It's it's hard for me like because it's from 1998 I'm sure a lot of people were watching this probably, you know, haven't seen it. Maybe don't know about it necessarily It was I Think you and I are pretty close to the same age at like that's For me like 1998 was a really good time for great movies to come out because it was like right where it's just sticking in my Memory and everything but this is a movie that I I really do Look at as a as a perfect film and I've revisited it many many times There's not a scene that I would cut there's not a moment in the film that I would like replace with something else There's nothing that I feel like is missing that like needs it to be complete like there's it's just such for a movie that is like really bizarre and Surreal in a lot of places and odd the story is super clean and super clear and Like the editing is tight like every bit of it just feels like it doesn't have the any kind of fat on it And yet it is like it's just one of the funniest movies. I've ever seen it's one of the smartest movies ever seen So with me doing that, why did you pick the movie? Why why why for you like what is it about this movie for you? When I was obviously very young when it when it came out, you know I remember seeing it at an um, you know with a with a kinfolk and Then when I was older I saw it like two more times when I just hit college and I was like man each time I watched this This is like way better than what I even remembered it And then I probably have watched it at least like once a couple of months now at this point because I absolutely Love this this this film and you're right in the fact that it's it's a bizarre when you like read the plot I was remember, you know, I've watched a bunch of the you know The actors that are that are involved like Steve skinny talk about this and he's like he refers read the script and he's like The hell what is this like? What is that? I don't get I don't even get it And it seemed that way like if you look if you just if you just looked at it Yeah script or you'd be like this. There's no way this is any decent, but when you consider how you know like Walter the character of Walter is like near near perfect in terms of his dynamic with with the dude It's just yeah, it just it was so clean You put it very like there's no fluff like we see it at a lot in movies That are just there just for the like parts that are just there just for the sake of seeming to have more runtime We're asked to this one. It's not like that at all And it's clean as bizarre as the story might be it's a near pray We're one of the most hilarious damn stories that movies that I've seen if not the most Hilarious movie and it's kind of weird how that dynamic ended up looking like like that Yeah, go ahead. Oh, no, I was just gonna say like you you could take and I'm this is like We'll kind of spoil the movie, but I don't know if there's like any I don't know if there's any spoiling this movie really like there's so many twists and turns and weird stuff that happens in the movie We can tell you all of it, but like it's it's an experience and if you like I don't think you guys could really spoil it But I will say like so when the dude ends up at this garden party, right? Like you would think that this is this opportunity to do Maybe this is a complete detour that has nothing to do with anything else, but it's driving the plot forward It's giving the dude information. He didn't have before about sort of his role in this kind of weird mystery That's happening with with bunny and everything else. It's introducing other characters that that You know are actually important to the story or connects back to like mod and connects back to The nihilists and connects back to all this other stuff and then it gives you all of this great comic Stuff like like Jackie tree horn I won't tell you what he does but like what he scribbles on the notepad like the dude goes over there and like All this stuff like just gives you perfect opportunities for great Completely organic comic beats and then it ends with the cab kick the cabbie kicking him out Yeah All of these lines man like all these just scenes are just so quote like you said They're so quotable and so so brilliant and yet it adds to the story every step of the way It's not just like you know one of the problems I think I have a little bit with with modern comedies in general is that the Paul Feig model of just sort of like putting What you hope are like three or four really funny people in a like in a wide shot And then hoping that if they improvise enough and long enough that you'll get something that you can cut out of that but like that's It just it ends up kind of sucking a lot of the time because it's not constructed like there's nothing about that that somebody thought through to set up and Then pay off something in you know that actually works and fits inside the structure of the story that you're trying to tell So it's all these like really random bits the big Lebowski has what could seem like random stuff But none of it's random it all it all connects it all like Yeah, that's the great thing about it You know that as they're going on this sort of journey to figure out what's what's happened You know to this The actual big Lebowski it just gets more and more crazy, you know what I mean? And they are Connected with these other individuals that are part of this this plotting are important because they're the door It's basically low-key detective work What you think about as a scene that we're watching right here This is one of my favorite sayings like dudes little dude stole all of them You know And it's not gonna seem like this that we're looking at right now Yeah, like it's what's so hilarious because you see it and if I would imagine if you read something like this Oh, this is there's no way that this is gonna be funny, but it's absolutely hilarious Larry's like Larry's just completely oblivious like deadpan the entire time. That's no idea The also like the fact that like Walter goes into this scene like just Just talking up his dad like oh, he was the writer for branded and and this is just my favorite sir You know, this is really truly under your deepest fan and then minutes later. He's out there smashing the This Corvette man, but it's like Amazing like you killing your father Larry. It's it's hilarious. I absolutely love this this scene It's so good, but it just really doesn't but what this film is about where it's an instance like that Obviously a dude car end up getting screwed up because the car guy's car that he's growing up isn't Larry's obviously and It's something so simple, but and the reads crazy, but it's a scene that is Iconic there's so many quota boost Out of that if you heard people that haven't watched this movie that you know the whole, you know Does your home work Larry? That's the scene where yeah, where that come from. It's hilarious Just had so many things man. Just like even just talking about this like like Walter You know like the the maid are answering the door and Walter's like well I didn't want to give you that impression ma'am. I'm not you know We're not officers of the law, but we're here to speak with well It's just like all of this stuff is just incredible, but man. I don't know if I want it So I'll explain the plot we're kind of working backwards a little bit here But I'll explain the plot just a tiny bit because for those who haven't seen it the story is actually really simple basically like The dude played by Jeffrey Jeff Bridges is gonna say Jeffrey Lebowski But played by Jeff Bridges is this like just you know Hippy who has kind of like his life He's just done kind of absolutely nothing with his life for years and years and years He he ends up his apartment gets broken into by a bunch of guys who are Upset with him and want some money that he doesn't have and it turns out that they believe that he is the husband of This woman Bunny Lebowski played by Tara Reid who seems to have disappeared right? That scene by itself is one of my favorite scenes actually probably you could roll the the Toilet like the house break-in scene because that is one of my all-time favorite things in any movie and just the quote from any of That kind of stuff, but but basically like it's it's pure mistaken identity He figures out. Yeah, this this scene is amazing like you do just gets home and Gets rolled by these guys that gets like shoved in the toilet and it's just honestly one of my all-time favorite lines And this is one of I quote all the time which is You know it's it's down there. Let me take another look which they're they're asking me like where's the money Lebowski? Where's the money? It's like It's down there, but Yeah, so he goes and meets the the big Lebowski who's the the actual husband of Bunny and he makes a deal with him to to be the courier for for a million million dollars right and ransom money and Basically shenanigans ensue from there. I mean like that's that's really the story like the story is he he makes a a Drop and everything goes wrong pretty much. Yep. That's exactly what happened I mean it from that and that's what we were talking about and that there's no fat in it because that in itself starts everything off and that obviously Makes the dude aka that Jeffrey Lebowski Upset and he goes to bowl with his guys and that's John. What do we meet finally Walter and John? John Goodman's character and Steve is young in and and John John tutorial Yeah, yeah, yeah that that scene in itself is hilarious because they're discussed ago Or what happens next and that's why and Walter's introduction to this story is near perfect because he's part of what what what? Turns this thing into what it turns into because you know, he has this he thinks that rather he has expertise You know I fought in Vietnam. I'm yeah I understand how these guys sort of operate and you know that that's when the shenanigans certainly ensue. So Walter I love so there every character in this movie is is it's Totally specific and and really it's very clear what all of them like who they are and what they want. Yeah, I mean John tutorial in this movie is amazing Just and it's funny because this is such a scene-stealing role because he's barely in it He's he's one of their rivals as a you know in their bowling league or whatever, but Jesus Jesus Quintana, and it's just Oh, it's just amazing. I mean all this stuff is so iconic but so like the thing that I love about Walter right is that Walter is is actually like he's kind of an idiot in a lot of ways But he's his heart's always in the right place So you you feel for him even though he's this screwing absolutely everything up Constantly, especially for for the dude like really is the catalyst for like everything that really goes wrong With him because he gives him all the bad ideas, right? Like I can get you a tow man like, you know Hey Just saying right here is absolutely go when we first meet him and it absolutely is a scene-stealing Aspect because you know, it's coming in where this for the or after rather the the iconic scene of Walter bringing a gun to the bowling bowling alley, and you know, Jesus is like, you know, hey You know, we heard about that and then I will do something with that That you bring that yeah bring we can't Inappropriate for my audience unfortunately, but but yeah, it's just his response to that is Amazing and then of course Walter is just like totally chill about it And it's I've drawn obviously a lot of inspiration in the sort of that style in my in my writing and other things that I do and like Yeah, you know we Not you got a trim the fat sometimes or really all the time You don't want there to be like these mundane parts of anything that is that you're that you're doing again for I don't care What kind of genre of be it in film be it in like in my space and can a comic book space or whatever it is You're doing there's so much to grab From the just the construct of the actual movie itself and how it's laid out It's like you said a near and perfect film everything's connected even though it's hilarious It does the hilarious bits don't seem random enough to where they're just completely aside from the plot It's just it's a good form film and anybody can take anything from that and draw some sort of inspiration I absolutely love it. Yeah, um, by the way, we got a copyright flag on that So I think we're probably done playing clips for a minute, but but Man that yeah, there's so much about this movie that I that I love and and I think I think you know, I was gonna say David Mamet said something that always stuck with me Which is that basically like drama is life with the boring bits cut out And I always thought that was just a great way of Framing that and I think when you get so let's let's actually let's talk about modern Hollywood a little bit because I know like They're really critical of a lot of things and there's a couple things that that you've said over the the last I don't know year or two that I really That I totally agree with one. I think that there's just an awful lot of of Just bad content that gets produced just for the sake of of throwing out trash But a lot of what makes it bad is that people have the wrong Like they're not thinking about story first. They're thinking about their politics first They're thinking about how to cram in some aspect of their own, you know, sort of well this this came up the other day actually so the Gosh why the last man right which is a Brian K. Vaughan's series on TV. I don't know if you've been watching that at all but so it didn't get picked up for a second season and And actually so I don't know if you know Remy monosophy But Remy introduced me to why the last man comics years ago and and he was like his favorite comic One of one of his favorites and obviously Brian K. Vaughan did saga and like there's just really he's done some really good stuff, right? But when Brian Vaughan tweeted about the fact that the show didn't get picked up for a second season all he talked about What he didn't talk about the story at all He talked about how there was representation in the cast and that was like oh, you know We had just this great team of female writers on this thing We had all these you know all of our directors for the series and and all this kind of stuff But like it was and I saw a friend of mine had posted something about this and made this point like Like look at look at Brian K. Vaughan, but you're not talking about the story Like nowhere in this tweet was like we had so much more awesome story to tell our characters were amazing Like I stand by the choices that we know it was all about this like meta context of like hey Look what look at the like the diversity that we brought into this show and you've talked about that a ton And so I'm I'd be interested in your take a little bit because like the big Lebowski like there's no part of the big Lebowski for me that feels like it's something that is That's like just done for the sake of You know Like some of these politics are checking a box. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, not at all You can obviously and this is why I think it's loved by people You know on different sides of a really any political spectrum Look, that's that's the problem that we have going on in entertainment right now being movies Obviously comic books is book and comic book based material is really my specialty and what I talk about Yeah, and a lot of it is Unfortunately, you know despite having that frame of reference where they can go look at the Books and draw a lot of influence in terms of who these characters are a lot of them get brought in because they are trying to check a box A lot of these characters get changed for the sake of checking box I mean and it's it's lousy because they're not leading with the story They're not leading with anything that's gonna be intriguing certainly to a person like myself And it's it's hilarious because when it does it inevitably in some cases We've seen let's say not be as successful as what it maybe should have or could have been They fall back whether be the creators the actors the actresses fall back on their social political views Something along those lines as to why that's it's just so so loud We've seen so many examples of that in the last few years But I mean like I like the the you know, I mentioned Paul Feig right like the Ghostbusters thing like same exact thing Right like that Ghostbusters trailer came out. It got ratioed so hard, right? And and but it was terrible like and I I've seen I've seen that movie I am cursed now like if I use a voodoo for my Like that's like basically where I store all of my like digital movies and stuff and like you can't get rid of one And I have I have Ghostbusters 2016 in my voodoo. So like every time I'm scrolling through stuff I'm like oh man that movie still in here And it's like it's a reminder of just they made Bad choice after bad so it that movies not funny in any way like the only thing hilariously The only thing that's funny about it is Chris Hemsworth, which Even that is like really bizarre because it's like they were trying to take the Janine character from the original Ghostbusters and Make him this dumb secretary, but Janine was never a dumb secretary. She was great, right? Like she was a You know, she was tough and she was funny and she like brought something to the to the role that like It's weird man. Like it's just this weird thing, but then Paul Figue, you know turned around and said well This is just trolls, right? It's just it's all trolls. It's all fake. You know, everybody actually loves this It's really it's great and everybody's gonna love it But then of course the movie came out at bombs and and you know But They believe that they believe like some look we saw that Ghostbusters was 2016. That was dead on a robber For sure and anybody that it would have a brain could see that but that's I feel like what was the start of a lot of what We've seen with these franchises That are just completely disconnected from their audience I'm definitely the ones that have established audiences Which unfortunately seems to the ones that they always try to look for to ruin what's next They go for the ones that already have them. They've been built up. You know, they've already have people All this stuff we grew up on all of that. So it's intriguing So they take that run it into the ground and they're like all well It's just the trolls that don't like this or it's just the man babies in the end sales or whatever Nonsense that they throw out there because God forbid someone doesn't like that trash or recognize it recognizes as trash Yeah, man that I was just now I'm cursed and now I'm thinking about the stupid Ghostbusters move There's a running joke in that movie With Melissa McCarthy talking about getting soup ordering soup and having it come with fewer noodles than she would like That's a running joke in them that comes up multiple times in that film like at what point did somebody look at that like the all the editors and you know assistant editors and editor and you got your producers and And feed himself and like all of the comics in the cast like at what point did all of those people sign off on that and go like Yeah, this is the best we got This is the soup the soup joke. We'll keep the soup joke in a movie. That's like two hours long We could shave off five minutes of this movie cut some fat But no, let's keep this running gag about how this Chinese Restaurant that's in the basement like won't deliver soup that she likes It's amazing, right? This is why you know for example me coming up with my own comic book stuff And hopefully we get that announced within the next couple of months and it's a big venture of mine and one of those things that you know, you kind of realize as you're Writing is that there are opportunities to kind of organically if you will introduce certain concepts certain characters and What have you but you know you you strap yourself down when the immediate first thing because obviously with the Ghostbusters The whole thing was about it being female ghost. Yeah, that was Selling point right which again is it's not it's it's not the same thing is saying like we've got an awesome story to tell And it just had so happens to revolve around several female characters, right? Which there are plenty of movies that do that and that are amazing, right? And we could we could sit here all day and it and people have run through the litany of movies like that I mean gosh even You know the book series that I'm really sorry. This is totally tangible the book series. I'm reading right now is amazing it's Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn series and it's it would make an awesome TV show and you know primary Protagonist is 16 year old girl. She's great the entire time and yet like we don't get that What we get instead is like let's start with What if the Ghostbusters were we're women? Not really I was not at all and and when you lead with that your art your art shows, right? You can see that when you're leading with okay I'm trying to check the box first and everything else story, you know We're worried about that after the fact but if you lead with that then yeah, it comes off as something That's not organic and we all call it out. We make fun of it We laugh at it because that's your face now. You're a troll. You're a fake troll. You don't exist Man baby in sale all of that because that those are the only types of people that will call something out there at the like That which is why they kind of operate generally on these very kind of fault that kind of very faulty premises Where they act as if like folks like ourselves Have some sort of issue would seem like a female protagonist like oh well you didn't like this movie You didn't think it made sense. No, it's not that it's because you have an issue with strong female leads Is what they always saying it's like no that that's never been the case We have a long list of other movies that have had Female protagonists especially in the comic book space, which we hear this a lot We've been there. We've done that like and I think that's that goes to show how Eric in a lot of current and creators are and which what they attempt to do is to Act as if they're doing something new like we saw this with Shang-Chi stuff, right? Yeah, what we know it's like all Asian finally you're in a movie And I was like do like did you miss like a an entire two decades worth of like Asian? heroes and Asian protagonists like or and movies with that it would exclude the Asian cast like what is going on? I so I think it's interesting like you've talked about I mean this is an obvious one really but like Wesley Snipes Blade right like yeah, yeah, blade But so what I love about revix I revisit blade like at least once a year because I actually the whole the whole series I don't like everybody hated blade Trinity. I I like blade Trinity. It's like early Ryan Reynolds and he's still funny to me in that Even he's exactly the same guys. He is today I I love it all and I've watched all three of those movies a million times And I always think about like the way that stuff like that was handled or or I think a critical drinker at one Point was talking about Predator and Predator is a similar sort of situation where you've got like what by today's standards You would say is like a diverse cast right except You don't even think about it when you're going through the the film because it has no bearing on like It's just these are the guys. These are all the right guys for these roles. You know what I mean and it's like when You know I first saw him blade came out in what 1999 or 2000 or something like that and and like There was never any question about it back like there wasn't even like nobody did PR around it Nobody was like, oh, this is groundbreaking like it didn't it was just here's an awesome character that you're gonna want to go see And it's funny because they didn't even lead with the fact that it was a comic book character Which is why even a lot of people to this day. Don't even know that, you know That plate is a Marvel character because you only thought like kind of the beginning of the movie where they bring up But like the promotional schemes really wasn't even centered Certainly around that you just had a cool action movie. Yeah. Yeah, so exactly what it was So they just lay it with the story and the concept in itself, which obviously being influenced by the comic books They led with that and it sold itself and this is why like, you know, again It's these cocky sort of producers that they think that they're pushing the envelope with this A lot of this representation and diversity stuff and a lot of stuff has already been done I mean, we brought this funny. We're talking about Big Lebowski. We're talking about blade. Those are like in the same era You know, yeah a lot of stuff. We were already over this hump man Like everything that they think that they're doing right now in terms of we already it already happened Like it already you're not doing anything new it already happened and it was far superior Even though they had at this to less less like tacking and and all of that it was they clearly were able to make something that was great It's it's almost cliche at this point to bring up alien or or terminator and stuff like that But I mean it really just it aliens another really good example much like predator where we're like the cast is is What you would call today. It's a very diverse cast and it's a female led property and and everything and but it was None of that it like it's never worn any of that on its sleeve It didn't need to right because it it was a Strong story and then what I what I tend to believe is like an actually strong character Which is a clear character character with with good motivations Not necessarily good like being a good person, but clear motivations like strong motivations goals that the the audience understands a Personality that stands out. It's not just You know kind of whatever focus group thing. We've we've kind of figured out today or whatever like it's it's it's a character That really stands out as as an iconic memorable unique person an individual, right and And that's for me like every time I see a film today Where there is like a really defined character that's just got a really unique interesting personality It just it stands out in the sea of like like I said what Paul called hashtag content or whatever It's just it's just like the sea of stuff that just gets thrown up on Hulu and you and you know Netflix and and Amazon Prime and like just show after show after show or or movie after movie. That's just like totally forgettable to me Yeah Yeah It's so bad a lot of this content that's coming out even and it does I mean we were I was talking about this not only on my own show, but on other people's channels Well, like it's getting to the point to where we're having to look at content or rather movies and shows that simply Aren't for example with some people demons quote-unquote woke and we have to look at and we're like oh man That's decent and I've had to real my guys back in I was like well Just cuz it's not woke doesn't mean that it's like good, you know We do know right like that's it. That's a danger, too, man. I think the So you I so what I one of the things I love about you in general, but I think like as You tend to approach the world as like properly an individualist, right? Yeah, and you talk about that a lot on the show too And and I think that like one of the things that I think is really important about that is that it allows you to I would hope anyway if you're really serious about and you've really Internalize that conceptually like it should allow you to step back and say look This guy is aligned with me on this this and this but like that doesn't make him cool Right, there's a lot of things over here They does that are not good and I think one of the things that people really struggle with is that that like they think really in Super binary ways where it's like this guy is either with me or against me And so if he's if he's with me, then like he's totally on board. This is my team if he's against me I'm against everything and so I think like you really need to like step back sometimes and go like yeah, man Like that's that's a good movie even though it is woke or this is a terrible movie Even though it's kind of like not doing any of that and being able to separate those things and say like Look there are elements of this that I don't you know that are kind of not for me Or I'm not into but it's actually great No, and on the other side going like there are a ton of elements in here They were like theoretically made for me, but I hate it because it's just it's it's been made poorly in its trash It's not like and that's the that's what a lot of people in terms of Entertainment have an inability to separate I talk about this so so much man And that's just looking at things from a more individualistic standpoint anyway It gets you to a point to where you can acknowledge it for what it is Like a lot of people have this misconception that for example with comic books like everything that let's say I don't like Is uh is um like I would say it's bad and I was like that couldn't be anything further from the truth Totally. Yeah that in fact I've highlighted. Yeah stuff that is solid that may not the character Isn't something that I'm generally going to be that's been the beauty of comic books is that there is something for generally everybody Yeah, yeah That's been the beauty of it But yeah, like some people because they themselves are They're just not capable of separating those two concepts from what they like and enjoy from good versus bad It's funny. I was we just had a had a stream on another show that I do on tuesdays Talking about that like in a rap sense right and like their music sense Like there's a difference between your favorite artists or favorite rapper because there are like measurable things that you could talk about Because it is a skill set involved. Sure. There's a difference with favorite and for what's good and what's bad You know, I might not like jz as a rapper, but I can't deny that he has talent You know what I mean like that may not be something that I want to listen to and but a lot of people It's muddied for him and they have and they're just completely incapable of separating that I think one of the things that helped me with that was was honestly it was going to music school and spending a lot of time in In art school, you know because one of the things that it sort of forces you to do Is actually sit there and assess Different kinds of content like different, you know different composers music for me Anyway, I went to you know for school for composition So like I spent a lot of time listening to what other composers did and there's a lot of stuff that You know it spans hundreds of years Where I would go, you know, I don't want to listen to this on a regular basis But I can appreciate it and I can appreciate the craft of it and I can appreciate how good it is And I you can do that in every art form, you know, like filmmaking There's so much craft involved in filmmaking That like it would be really silly of you I I gave this example on our show at one point or no actually one of the more recent examples is is um The green night which I which I saw and there's a lot of really good craft in that movie And I really kind of hated the movie like I don't like the movie very much at all, but craft on a craft standpoint It's great. There's another movie. I think about a lot, which is a weird one probably nobody saw it But it's called mr. Turner Which is about jmw turner who's a painter in the I think early 19th century painter Used to paint like british seascapes and his paintings are amazing like he does stuff with light But he's kind of an impressionist so anyway The movie is a movie. I will never watch again. Uh, timothy spall played uh, jmw turner And he is just he's a miserable person the entire way through the movie I don't want to I like I don't want him on screen at any point because he's just miserable. He's mean to everybody He's just an awful Like the character timothy spall did a great job, but like I hated that character so much But bill pope who was a cinematographer that movie Honestly, it's one of the best It's one of the best shot movies I've ever seen in my life And so like being able to assess those things and step back from it and say like okay So there's things about this movie the characterization of jmw turner is really an off-putting thing for me But cinematography is amazing the acting is really good Like there are all of these pieces that you can assess and it would it's just be such a shame to like Just look at that and go well. I didn't like it Therefore, it's bad. Like I didn't like it. Like that's that that's an opinion. That's different Like that's a whole other question But like whether or not it's it's got you know good or bad qualities. That's something that you can analyze Yep, those are two different concepts and it definitely from a reviewer standpoint I think in order to be honest like that's kind of what you have to do You know, I've talked about this many of times like when I talk about reviewers Yeah, yeah, I know right a lot of those guys are hacks, right, but you know, I for example When I was doing like my in-depth detail reviews of comic book stuff Definitely the older stuff and I would do like, you know, we go through the book and I talk about everything You know, comic books has all of these different aspects for those that don't know, you know, you got the penciler You got the ink or you have to color Right. Yeah, most people most people don't realize that those are all separate jobs, right? Like you got multiple layers of you've got a colorist and shaders sometimes you'd still hold By the way real quick before we go on I just want to throw it out there Eric and I will answer some questions. So if you want to put questions in the chat on google You know Throw your questions up in there and I'll I'll probably see them at some point and we'll uh, we'll get some questions later But anyway, go on dude. Sorry No, no, no Perfect segue because yeah, like, you know My thing is looking at comic books and that being like the medium that I enjoyed a lot of Same thing with video games you have video games that have different aspects of it as well Like all the combat systems really well, but the story itself is like these are things that Because it takes a bunch of different individuals to make these things come to life That you can assess individually and assess honestly And this is where a lot of people reviewers people that try to analyze content are so lost in their regards Well, they look at it once one sector and one sector only or one aspect when it's almost always like and it really It's funny because it comes back to do I like it? And their assessment of do I like it is does it fit my political priors? Like does it does it tell me the things that I wanted to hear Which is a weird it's a weird place to start as a reviewer. I think yeah It is like it's again. You can't be honest if you are Doing that, but that's where we're at now. I will see that and I don't The excuse the comic book space you see in the video game space as well. It's like does this legitimize Myself, you know what I mean and catered my individual Look at look at the the the closer right look at the chapelle special just came out, right? I mean like like the the gap between Reviewer scores and audience scores unwrote tomatoes. It's just it's just insane that difference and I think You know, I haven't I've obviously done this analysis or anything But I I would be willing to bet that the that gap has widened over the last Five to ten ten years, you know like I just It just seems like reviewers are increasingly farther and farther away from What you know audiences are actually interested in which I it's fascinating completely out of the loop and I think it's because a lot of it has become more Um It's kind of hard to find what the what the word is but it's it's a lot of pay to play You know what I mean involved? Yeah, I learned that industry like almost Uh in this last decade that a lot of this stuff is smoke and mirrors man. Oh for sure You know, and it's access media. It's you know You say certain things because you know, even if you're thinking it Maybe you don't say that maybe hold a punch a little bit because if you say this you may get to not This early access like this is all part of the review culture now Shang-Chi is a an interesting example of this. I'm I'm trying I'm blanking on the actor's name. He's in uh, like uh, shang chi, but Um, I'd have to look it up now. Um, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah Um, he you know, he was actually saying stuff against communist china at one point Right, and uh, and it was like it seemed to me like that was just like nope hush Like just take take that on down like man Like don't even get there because his parents. I guess emigrated to to canada or whatever as You know kind of dissidents right which a lot of you know, obviously a lot of chinese people have left over the last 50 years for for those reasons, you know, and it's it's like He said some stuff in some interview. I don't remember because I'd have to look this up now But it was just it's funny because it was like He is otherwise he was out there like like sort of being like this ultra woke Kind of guy like the whole time and then like he said like one or two things that were like Oh, no the chikami's party isn't good and then it was like Gone like nope. Let's just not talk about that at all and then obviously That's part of the process right now that that that it went it That little part that little part right there makes a person just uh, they they try to bury that But that's all in the kind of the review Uh process a lot of it's it's fake. It's it's smoke There's a lot it's a lot of pay-to-play and entertainment And it's a little more like corporate entertainment where it's funneled through and what the people deem as more Mange I think you can see that I think you can see that so well with The late night shows right like you see the the press tour that happens and just everybody And because we all know I think we all I don't know about everybody But I certainly you and I do like you know how the that works right like you understand that like There are producers who will sit with you or sit with your publicist and they will go through like You know, let's let's figure out what your top three funny stories are and then let's punch them up Let's actually bring in comedy writers and like punch the stories up a little bit And then you go out there you tell that story and then what you end up seeing is and the youtube makes this Sort of unbearable for me now because you you get this in you could almost do supercuts of this now Which is like jimmy fallon james cordon Seth meyers jimmy kim like just the same story this one that one that one that one that one and there's no Originality to it. It is all just exactly the same story told exactly the same way set up exactly the same way And like just repeated again and again and again at some point you I think everybody does really have to sit down and realize that like that's just pr right that's just purely Some literal pr firms saying this is what's going to be best For you and your brand and the movies brand and the studios brand. It's all fake. It's all it's all for the most part fake It's not even like welcomed To be like original and like that's a great great point We're seeing that in other industries as well, especially with like Like music it's like a line that you kind of that you expect Oh, and if you step out outside of that then they look at it like a threat I mean sometimes yeah, it is on ideological or rather political lines But oftentimes it's like they have I remember Um, like in in a music scene. I remember there was this term that was always thrown out regarding Like contracts and like between, you know, musicians and let's say label and the term was always industry standard Right. Yeah. Yeah, and you'd hear people always mention that And I would ask questions because you know, I came from I came from a different scene like when I was doing Uh, I came up doing like, you know Rap hip-hop stuff and then I was in the middle scene kind of when I was in my early the 20s, right? Yeah across that so I'm coming from a different perspective and I was like None of this makes sense like, uh, what do you mean a three four album option deal where, uh, you know, you get basically everything and the money I don't even think any money like until like they say well, you're like, let's say 20% goes to the artist 80% goes to the label It's not like 20% goes to you immediately. No, it's 20% has to pay off what they spent on the album And then you make money after that and it's like Why then people say well, yeah, you kind of got to go rock with it because industry standard And I was one of the guys in my band backwards. We were one of the guys that said No, no, like I understand that everybody else is doing that But why you know it but that's what it is like people look at it like well, that's what's best Uh, this is how we've been doing it. Uh, this is what we think works No matter how mundane no matter how nonsensical that this deal is and that is is representative of so many different industries from an artistic Uh standpoint from an economic contract contractual standpoint and you know It sucks because in a day and age where innovation should be at its all time high It doesn't feel like that does it, you know, because not in the not in the main industry, right? No, not at all. Not at all. Like it's all happening outside of it. It's all happening like out You know underground. Yeah, that's the only place you get it where you think now because we have access to so much Uh technology that otherwise we didn't have you used to have to go through the proper channels to do things and now you don't Uh movies in itself again the technology cgi and all these other things they've been able to do accomplish And and these experiences still seem actually more mundane than what they felt back in the 90s later half of the No, yeah It's gotten weirdly homogenized, right like over over the last like 20 years or so like things have Have kind of stabilized with a lot of the different major networks Especially like major studios major tv networks and then obviously like the the music studios and stuff to where You're right, man Like the late 90s, you know thinking back to I mean some of this is just like old guy Telling you how great it was when I was a kid but like Some of this is like it really is It was a really diverse range of stuff because you had you know you you had if you can believe it right you had ska and uh And and neo swing music you had you had like literal like jump blues bands on the radio like, you know like, uh You know royal crown review or you know ska bands like real big fish or bucko nine or whatever And then you also had like hardcore punk bands and you had hardcore hip hop bands and and and uh metal and metal was like Kind of going off in its own direction. Yeah, it was in it was in the main that was a point in time When you went on the radio system of a dad was on there and you know, you had like metal And then you had some of my I mean some of my favorite bands from that era Don't even fit any of those like like the wall flowers or cake or like just totally off Like and and it was but it was all stuff that you could like if you listen to top Like top 40 if you listen to like a kind of a cool station like you would get all of it Like you would get corn and limp biscuit and then suddenly you would get like, uh You know like a violent fem song and then you'd get whatever right and it's just all over the place And now it's just it's so regimented in a lot of ways, but I so we have some questions I want to get to that in a second I want to say one thing first though, which is like this is a little bit of a fee plug in a way but Like one of the things that we talk about a lot as an organization is Entrepreneurship and economic freedom and I think that one of the things that people I think a lot of times unfortunately they see Like corporatism and they see big companies in bed with government and they see that as capitalism They see that as as like this is what the free market is even though like there's nothing free about it But whenever you see like all of the innovative stuff happening It's happening in an environment that's not Uh hyper regulated that's not overly controlled and it's where people can be free to be entrepreneurs And I think with the the beautiful thing with the arts is that there's still a lot of space For that there there's obviously there's a lot of big companies out there that get you know Public subsidies and they get tax breaks and then all kinds of special stuff that like you wouldn't be able to get You know If you're just running your own film production company or whatever, you know comic studio But there's still a ton of room out there to just like self publish or just go out there and do your own Thing and I know that that's something that's Important to you so I guess I wanted to put that out there and then let's let's go to questions But yeah, I mean can you talk a little bit about your journey to kind of self publishing? most definitely like it's um For the reason I just mentioned, you know, I talked about like the industry standard stuff And like because I was more in the hardcore kind of middle core scene And all of that before I kind of gotten a position that I'm in right now And yeah, like just from a it's liberating is the term that I would use and being in a position that I'm in To do so much stuff. I've lived I mean, I'm a I'm a younger cat But I've lived the life Of like 17 careers man And in this short period of time between doing the music doing music of multiple genres and seeing success in it And then being knowing them being in the commentary space being in the voice acting space being in the now We're in even in the comic book space Not only just as a commentator, but now we're entering as a self publishing Like this is this is it's a liberating feeling because It's not just about those things of um, you know from an art standpoint like yeah, I get to see my own vision come to life Which is obviously a big part of that's a huge thing that drives me personally Like it's it's why I went the direction that I went instead of staying in in Los Angeles and continuing To like grind for other people like I wanted to make my own stuff Yeah, and that's what it's about, you know, it it feels good because I look at that and I say well If this fails, it's something that I generally control. I can't put it off on and some people are scared of that That's why a lot of people Yeah, I mean it's it's responsibility. It's like the freedom responsibility Thing, you know, I mean like that's the trade-off right like you it's yours and you own it and and but you own it Right like if it fails Fails to succeed. It's my still own it Yeah, it's mine and that's a liberating thing a lot of people shout away from that They're feared a fear of that which is why they like to be tied to these mega corporate entities in terms of things It is that they do because it's less of a burden on themselves Um, and they can point the finger at that this person and that person any of it that it does Uh fail But for doing like what we're doing and doing what people that are kind of in our spaces are trying to do Is a very liberating thing But you don't have those constraints that are that are associated with being tied to like kind of these these mega corporate entities And thank god for the power of the internet Because it's allowed us to do exactly that where I say, yeah It was a point in time where if backwards wanted to be listened to by people you had to go through those channels I had to I would have had to go Radios to the djs and all that stuff didn't have to do that at all. I pressed it We pressed a button uploaded it to youtube and well, uh, just like that it caught on Um, and that's liberating it's a liberating thing and unfortunately a lot of people shout away from it Because they don't think that it's in their own individual capacity to be able to do Uh, uh that and it is it's very achievable. You can do it. Yeah, I totally agree man. So We got some really cool questions. Um, and uh, I'm sure there there's there's more that'll probably come in But I don't know how many we'll we'll have time for but start like there's um I'm gonna actually I'm not gonna I'm gonna just kind of take these like in the order that I feel like taking them in So like the first one is kind of interesting, which is what are your thoughts on companies like the daily wires stepping into the culture war Uh, and um, I'm gonna assume that this is really about bench pier like actually Trying to make You know feature films, right? Yeah. Yeah, that's what they're trying. How do you feel about that? Uh, it's necessary. Um, I will say, you know, everybody needs to be careful But it's a it's a very necessary thing and I commend those guys, you know Just because of stuff I do with the blaze a lot of crossover with that audience I've obviously been on a lot of some of the shows over there And what they're attempting to do is what I've been screaming at libertarians to do For the better part of the damn decade to be completely honest and which I've said guys This is a cultural influence here. Yeah politics is the that's that's on the downstream The courts have changed the politics changed by default. We have virtually no sort of Say so we're not in these cultural spaces. We might think we have the best ideas in the world Which we do but we're not in these spaces So what they're attempting to do is obviously what I'm attempting to do and it's finally an effort now Who knows how it's gonna do? I have said that this is the part where I'll say everybody needs to be careful because I've said that being an alternative, for example, isn't good enough Um, that's what you need to do be an alternative But you need to be a good one, right? Don't feel like you're warranted or old support simply because you are And an alternative so hopefully they have people that know what they're doing that are part of these projects You know the you know coroner everybody's looking forward to whatever she's gonna do Not having this sort of exclusive deal with them But there's a lot of other different spaces that are doing the exact same thing So to the answer the question. Yes, that's an important thing I commend that effort and we need more of it. We just need to be Uh precise in how we handle that and how individuals do go handle that and take the craft serious and beat on it And do it in the best way possible because you got to understand who your competitors are And if it ends up becoming a situation where there's like this parallel economy, uh, fine Awesome awesome people can finally maybe give money Uh to people and from an arts escapism standpoint that don't hate them. You know You've talked about that a ton and I I'm sympathetic to it. It's hard, right? Like your your idea of like just 51 percent, you know, like just 51 percent to people who don't hate you And I like I'm pretty sympathetic to that But it's it's tough because like well first of all like what I do is I I mean I see pretty much everything So it's almost impossible for me to do that because like the vast majority of stuff that gets made But to your point though, this is something that I mean I've also been harping on for years and years and years and I think that one of the things that is really It's been a struggle with because I've worked. I've spent the last 10 years working in nonprofits, right? And like watching people try to make content for different audiences and fail quite a lot of the time Because it's exactly for the same reason that we were talking about like 45 minutes ago Which is that they're they start with their message They start with the thing that they they want to say But they don't start with like what's a good story. What's a good joke? What's like a cool thing to do in music that nobody's ever done before like they don't start with that They start completely backwards from there And then end up with like a pretty mediocre product because they couldn't find anybody that had any craft or skill or And and so like one of the things that I've I've tried to do with with fee and I hopefully I've I've somewhat achieved this is is that like I've mostly tried to bring in people who are first and foremost really talented and then We can talk about ideas and we can talk about like the the intellectual side of what we want to say But it starts with like I don't want a guy Like for example, like, you know, I started in the entertainment industry and worked my way in here I I don't want like a graphic designer who like started as like a political science intern And then was like, oh, but I sort of okay with like, uh, microsoft paint So I could probably do a little bit of this, you know And then over time they sort of just find themselves as like the designer for the organization But that happens a lot. It's weird that that happens I want to say this a great segue to the next question here Which is what do you think the proper path would be to get libertarian minded individuals into creative spaces That are dominated. They're heavily dominated by the left and they mention live theater, which I think is an interesting thing But I you know, it's almost superfluous to say that are heavily dominated Yeah, yeah, it's right. Exactly. Uh, that's it's it's a difficult thing because it's um The particularly the left played the long game. Um, they played the long and this is stuff that they kind of While a lot of folks that were more liberty minded in the terms of their thinking they saw a lot of that stuff as trivial, right? Um, oh, yeah, I've I've met all of them who think that the guy if I've had so many people over the years They're like, oh, that's stupid. I don't even literally had a guy I literally had a guy who was responsible for for like signing off on video products Tell me that he didn't own a tv didn't watch youtube and thought it was all dumb And as well, okay Why are you involved? Why are you here? It's like they thought that stuff was trivial. They didn't care. They thought it was stupid and the other side thought Oh, well, yeah, this is something that's absolutely valuable. We don't even have to have the best ideas on our side We just we just uh, we get that they have better stories Yeah, exactly. So it's Like the first and foremost you have to do it Yeah, um That's one thing I get a lot of emails of being in the music industry, particularly in the middle scene Of people that are in bands that have done very well for themselves And they'll say something like yeah, I agree with a lot of what you say I can't see it. I won't but I agree and I'm like, yeah, you care You just choose not to and it will put a target on your back. Trust me. I know about that more than anybody in our scene however If there's to be a tide that's going to change then that's what has to be done So going back to what we just talked to is a combination of those things. Well, what we just talked about And you have to get good at what it is that you do first like a lot of folks don't understand Craft is craft is so important It's the most important you got to be good at they don't think that well I have the best ideas on my side and I know a little bit about something So I'm gonna be a creator in that space. No, like a lot of us can't I'm semi successful bands before my band my old band five are guys still going, you know I mean, that's still that's still kicking and doing all of their tours and stuff like that We uh other bands came from like, you know bad chapter and all those stuff like all the other band members So we like Alex for example was our bass player who people see he sings the clean vocals People have heard them the guys freaking phenomenal like this is a guy that grew up in the choir Uh, uh singing and they'll off he plays multiple instruments like these are very talented people that that I work with Um that I had a blessing of being a part of my band So we got insanely good at what it is that we do before we even put out one song You know what I mean and you saw the first song that we put out had a music video that was professionally done It looked about a very very well. It was competitive in terms of the marketplace that it was in That's the type of stuff that you have to do in order to get you've got to do it Obviously, but you got to work on your craft and then be bold enough to understand that. Yeah You don't lead don't got to lead with your politics But any event that you ever talk about that it's going to come with its set of Challenges, but that's okay. The more people just get out there and be good creators in those spaces The more uh, we find this to be uh, like the tide will at least shift in some regard So first libertarians have to do it. They got to do it, but you got to be good at it Stop a lot of so you got those two or you got bad people that a little bit not bad people but libertarians that Do something else, but they're not they haven't really beat on their craft And then you got those others who they thought that it was trivial who are now coming to find All right, maybe it wasn't as trivial because uh that stuff is very influential and very important Those are guys. I just need to get on the same page and I think then we'll start to see a touch You yeah, I so I totally agree with that man I think that one of the things I would add to this a little bit is that like you also don't have to like when you're If you're going to audition For a live theater show for example, like you don't have to tell everybody what you believe Today, it's probably not relevant to your audition like just go in there and crush it, right? And then you know, honestly, it depends on who you are because I've had guys who work for me who then like just by product of being Around like me and a couple other guys who are like are Pretty outspoken about stuff like they feel pressure And then people even like message them on twitter. Well, what do you think about this? What do you think about this? And honestly one of my responses to some people is like you actually don't have to get into it If that's not who you are and you don't want to do that You don't have to get into it But my my thing is this like Go have conversations with all the people that are on set with you Go have like all of your Fellow actors and performers and stagehands and your stage directors and your prop people Go talk to them Like if you're even if you're not comfortable being the guy who like goes out front and like, you know delivers a sermon or whatever That's fine, man Like just go out there and have Real intelligent conversations with people and see where that goes and then for The front men who are like actually out there doing this kind of stuff Yeah, I'm I'm with you man. Like a little bit more uh more courage Would do I have conviction and at least and that's what it tastes because look I learned really fast bad that man They they have a pack of hounds that will try to Get after you because they they've controlled it for that long And if you are not in that hive sort of mind of thinking you are a threat as far as they're concerned But we did it and we were unapologetic about it. You know, I was like, you know, hey, man This is who it is that we are um and thankfully, you know with myself and Alex being the more Vocal people that obviously being the ironically too vocalist in the band So we're the more outspoken about it But also just very knowledgeable on what it is that we talk about So I have a lot of confidence that I ain't losing my any arguments to these people because again They don't have any ideas That's the benefit that you have if you are one of us that you have the ideas on your side You have your ideas on your side So there's no reason to feel shame for being who it is that you are because you cannot out with them But if you cannot perform them as well, that that certainly helps you out because one thing ain't nobody ever Say we we knew how to throw throw a show, you know, uh, so yeah good You gotta get good So another question here that's sort of the flip side of this a little bit and I actually think it's equally important Is like what do you think about the idea of libertarian ideas pushing conservatives more in a libertarian direction? I mean for me, it's a no-brainer. I I don't like I get this all the time like the the right left thing all the time I do not see myself as right wing or left wing I never have and it's weird when I have those conversations with people because I can't really Wrap their brain around the idea that it's not one or the other You don't have to be one or the other And like I but so I I feel the same way that like the the thing is we talk a lot about the left Or at least I think you do and I do and I think part of that is just I'm talking about pop culture And I'm talking about media and arts and entertainment And that's what it is like it's just all over there But I am absolutely in favor of trying to bring You know Neocons and like Christian conservatives and like all these like the harder right people Got to bring those guys over too, man Like and so I guess if we're if we're like talking about the arts in a way And you want to do stuff that appeals to those audiences Awesome do that man like that's That's a good point. That's a great point. Actually. I mean look I do stuff with blaze tv. So obviously There's a reason for that, you know what I mean, because there I believe that's a A right crowd right that for the mess If I could utter the term capitalism generally to that crowd and they a lot of them won't like just say oh no You know what I mean? They they like to think that you know my old phrases, you know They campaign like libertarians and govern like democrats Is what it's in because a lot of their constituents are rather the people that generally support these people You can rattle off these sorts of ideas and they'll be generally in favor of them Do they extend them to logical conclusions? No, not all a lot of times. No Exactly. So that's the that's the issue There and what obviously we're trying to combat but they're in an art space There's people the only thing that the left did like both I mean no matter what it is conservative libertarian left progressive whatever it is you call yourself Someone is involved in some sort of like entertainment escapism something that that's there right everybody Now the only thing about I would say what when we talk about pop culture and everything else like the left control Generally controls that ideologically Because that was something they value whereas to the other side They more so thought of it as just a thing. So they didn't care Even though they they might have enjoyed star wars or something like that They didn't care enough at least to think that that was influential from a cultural standpoint And that's how they ended up losing So, you know, there's a message to be had for both of those arguments in the space or both of those sides, excuse me For the sake of Producing and and putting out entertainment and yeah, you if you can get something that appeals and brings those people in Yeah, you shouldn't be ashamed at all I think one of the things that people should realize and I really I believe this and I'll speak just for myself here But like I think one of the reasons why it it seems like You know, I'll end up criticizing quote-unquote leftist ideas a lot more in In the overall balance is frankly because that's what's being represented in the content that I'm reviewing, right? But there's also something I was thinking about too, which is that like I don't think you'd have anybody in your blaze audience who sees your tomasoul poster And if they know who tomasoul is they're all gonna be like, oh right on man. Cool Yeah, but like you're probably have a ton of people on the left who are going to see that poster and they're like, oh No, this guy is not okay. If they know who he is right like this guy's out like, you know And and we'll we'll kind of attack you for it And it's it's stuff that's as I mean To me, I don't see anything even slightly controversial about tomasoul, but like for some people That's enough to make them angry with you, which is a totally different attitude on Kind of that side of things which I I've always been And that's why it's so important Sean that you know I I've never been unashamed. I've I had this conversation with many libertarians about this like you can Not align with the mainstream progressive or the mainstream conservative the two dominating ideal ideals, let's say in america While also recognizing the differences there, right? I would I would argue that if you were going to be influential in any sense It would help you out in order if you actually understood those differences that are there You know what? I mean because certain things appeal to a crowd that may not appeal to it to another That's how you become influential in that sense. So like you mentioned, I get that same thing all the time It's like, yeah, you do spend a lot of time ragging on the left, but it's like, yeah, we'll also look what I cover Yeah, yeah, you're talking about comics. You're talking about video games. You're talking about movies tv shows Like that's where that's what all of that is You know, and if you were talking about God, I at this point I barely even know what I would say for the other side because it's just so anemic You don't have conscious cut. They don't have to have culture music anymore country. Yeah NASCAR maybe Possibly NASCAR probably not nfl like you're you're kind of you know Maybe the history channel if we just spent all of our time talking about the history channel I think we might we might get it But yeah, I mean it's or you know, just straight out fox news if you're just going to talk about uh conservative news media But I'm I'm actually not that interested in talking about any news media. I don't Really want to talk about any of that for the most part, but all right. I got uh I kind of want to wrap it up in the next like five ten minutes So I got one other question here Which I thought was was interesting and then maybe we can just kind of wrap it up on Just your thoughts about the general state of the world and everything But I like this question because it kind of ties into what we've been talking about Which is what actors and directors do you dislike personally? But still think they make great great films and characters. It's it's a question I like because I like I like showing people that you can reach across the ideological bounds and find good things Uh with with people even if you don't agree with them, you know, yeah, man directors Man, that's a tough one because You know, I mean you could generally pick and choose from any of those guys like ideologically They're certainly not gonna be libertarians But no I mean, that's that's such a tough one man for me It's but what it is there is an element of it. That's like well literally everyone like if there's anyone who's good That's that that's the hard part like I can't name anybody specific Because of that so I'm gonna let you take that one Sean, but boy Literally name anybody and it's gonna be just as true for the most part Yeah, I mean well it is actually that is that is kind of the tricky part about it because okay So I mentioned Dave Chappelle earlier, right like there's a ton of stuff There's a ton of stuff that I wouldn't agree with Dave Chappelle on But undeniably One of the best comics of all time Yeah, that's a good one and now and now chappelle chappelle's a totally other level for me now, especially after God I keep blanking on the name of the last netflix special the the bird Uh, what's the what's the name? I I literally just looked this up like two days ago because I can't remember the other part of the name But anyway, like the the previous netflix special not the george floyd won the one before that Uh, okay was to me that was like a a master class of like This is a guy who is so advanced in his in his construction Of comedy that he could tell stories that are perfectly threaded and perfectly connected from beginning to end of that special With amazing jokes and a great arc of like Like accelerating hilarity All the way up to a punchline that tied into the very first thing that he said and it just and it and it feels like Well, while he's doing it it feels like it's completely Improvised Right, which just mind blowing to me. That's just next level for me And I like that's a guy but okay So I'll like I'll actually stick in the comics from because bill burr is another guy Like I disagree with bill burr on all kinds of stuff when he actually talks about things bill burr still absolutely hilarious Right like undeniably hilarious. I think the question was about filmmakers actors directors and stuff but actors are like Man everywhere, I mean Like the probably the actor that I would probably agree with politically the most might actually be gary oldman Who I think is an amazing One of the best actors of all time, but like almost everybody else that I could name That I really like as an actor Matt Damon I watched in Matt Damon's new movie about the Um Uh, yeah, yeah, he was he was fantastic in that I don't agree with Matt Damon on like Like 10 probably like 10 of stuff to Matt Damon thinks it's probably I agree with Yeah, yeah Yeah, no, that's a good one Like I like the Dave Chappelle one uh because obviously definitely on some of these issues We're not gonna agree with uh, but you can reckon again goes back to our earlier conversation Which you'll be able to separate talent. What's good? What's what's decent from uh from a lot of that stuff and again, man If you're gonna honestly analyze stuff you kind of have to understand those two are separate Yeah, well, I think it again I think it totally helps uh, just it's It's a byproduct of believing the kinds of things that you and I believe because it's If you don't do make that separation, right? You're gonna have a very very very bad time Like like I had and I did have a I mean I I lived and worked in Hollywood Uh, right after graduate school and I went to graduate school in New York And then I went to Los Angeles and I worked there and and I didn't I I didn't know anybody in LA that actually agreed with me on much of anything and so I I spent Three years basically living Quietly trying to just have one-on-one conversations where I could And then otherwise just just being like yep, that's cool, man That's yeah, sure cool. Yeah Yeah, I'm gonna get the job done. Don't worry about it. You know like that was like You know and that's it's a kind of a miserable existence at some point It was part of why I left that environment because I wanted to be able to To associate myself with people that I I could have open Interesting conversations with like this forum right here like I wouldn't be able to do this if I was still Living in that environment trying to make a living Through those same channels It wouldn't be possible That's a good point. It's a great point. Great point. Yeah, same thing. I mean it's uh Being in this space is like we talked about earlier is very liberating And being able to be creative in it is even it's just a great feel that makes you love your job Certainly in that regards because I I've been there and I can imagine being kind of stuck up under Like what what the proper channels are and what they have historically been and being Like thinking like we do that could be rough This is to me. This is a great place to end. I think this is a great for me a great testament to free speech And great testament to like robust conversation that can happen When people have a forum that that does not, you know, totally control what they say youtube's not not perfect on this stretch, buddy But but without getting into that I I've loved this man. I I hope we can do this again I I genuinely mean that this is this is a like a totally new idea for out of frame And it's something that I I at least I thought was awesome Hopefully the the audience really enjoyed it and and whatever but um I would uh, I would be thrilled to have you back and have another conversation about you're like your second favorite favorite movie because we've Let's do it covered big musky, but thanks, dude. Uh, again, eric july you find him young rippa 59 on youtube great youtube channel one of my favorites Awesome commentary. I think you looks like basically every day at this point. I feel like you're yes stream every day 12 p.m Uh 12 p.m. We're we're streaming throughout the week on the channel man. So yeah, and then uh, yeah, eric d july on twitter and Yeah, man backwards. So check that out. Uh, as for me, I'm shon Malone Out of frame if you guys aren't subscribed, please subscribe to the channel. You're you're in it right now So definitely take take a second to do it hit that like button all that all that kind of stuff And uh, yeah, we'll see you next time. Thanks guys