WEBVTT 1 00:00:23.199 --> 00:00:26.559 We're Tomy Lorenzo and this is the Bitter Kitten Movie Club. 2 00:00:26.600 --> 00:00:29.199 Hellicit's welcome back to another edition of the b k MC, 3 00:00:29.480 --> 00:00:32.600 a supplemental edition of the PSO podcast where we take 4 00:00:32.640 --> 00:00:35.119 a look at one film per week and give it 5 00:00:35.159 --> 00:00:38.479 the t low treatment. This week's film is Dolomite Is 6 00:00:38.520 --> 00:00:40.560 My Name, and this is the first time I haven't 7 00:00:40.560 --> 00:00:43.920 screwed up the intro. So yay me, we are officially 8 00:00:44.039 --> 00:00:46.520 a podcast because I can get through the intro without 9 00:00:46.520 --> 00:00:49.799 screwing it up. Okay, So, this week's film is Dolomite 10 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:54.159 Is My Name, by director directed by Craig Burwer, starring 11 00:00:54.600 --> 00:00:59.479 Eddie Murphy as the semi legendary Rudy Ray Moore, also 12 00:00:59.479 --> 00:01:03.000 starring d I enjoy, Randolph Keaty and Michael Kay, Wesley 13 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:08.040 Snipes and just an a list collection of black actor 14 00:01:09.200 --> 00:01:13.799 and honestly, we had so much fun watching this. Now. 15 00:01:13.840 --> 00:01:16.840 I have seen this film when it first came out, 16 00:01:18.120 --> 00:01:21.319 and in fact, we had a it's still floating out 17 00:01:21.359 --> 00:01:22.680 in the world. I don't know what's going to happen 18 00:01:22.760 --> 00:01:26.560 with it, but we had a movie costume book proposal 19 00:01:26.640 --> 00:01:29.640 where we picked a bunch of movie costumes to talk about, 20 00:01:29.640 --> 00:01:33.000 and one of them was the lattice work pink suit 21 00:01:33.079 --> 00:01:37.760 that Eddie Murphy wears by costume designer Ruthie Corder. I'm 22 00:01:37.799 --> 00:01:40.480 going to get into all of that, but my point 23 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:43.799 is that this movie's actually been on my radar for 24 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:45.680 a long time. We loved it when we watched it 25 00:01:46.200 --> 00:01:49.959 the first time in twenty nineteen. I have written stuff 26 00:01:49.959 --> 00:01:55.319 that you haven't seen about the costume design, and yet 27 00:01:55.439 --> 00:01:57.719 I came away with something new, and that is what 28 00:01:57.760 --> 00:01:59.560 I want to talk about in this podcast. We're gonna 29 00:01:59.560 --> 00:02:00.560 talk about all of it. 30 00:02:00.719 --> 00:02:00.879 But. 31 00:02:02.840 --> 00:02:06.079 So Dolomite is not Let's start with this. Dolomite is 32 00:02:06.079 --> 00:02:09.400 My name is Joyous, right, I mean, that's such a 33 00:02:09.439 --> 00:02:10.479 feel good movie. 34 00:02:10.639 --> 00:02:14.360 It's as you said, we watched it back in twenty nineteen, 35 00:02:14.520 --> 00:02:16.680 and I when we sat last night to watch it, 36 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.319 I could. I was like, I know what it is, right, 37 00:02:19.319 --> 00:02:22.919 I don't remember everything, but and I forgot how funny? 38 00:02:23.039 --> 00:02:24.560 How I mean funny. 39 00:02:24.800 --> 00:02:26.599 Eddie Murphy is so good at this. 40 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:30.759 He's bigger than I mean, he's just insane. He explodes. 41 00:02:30.879 --> 00:02:33.599 It's just the role of a lifetime form. Yes, and 42 00:02:33.759 --> 00:02:36.759 it is honestly so tragic that he did not get 43 00:02:36.759 --> 00:02:39.560 nominated for her Now, I can't believe that was an 44 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:43.039 Oscar winning performance. It was like the ultimate Eddie Murphy 45 00:02:43.080 --> 00:02:46.560 performance and just the like I said, feel good, like 46 00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:48.199 at the end of the movie, how can you not 47 00:02:48.240 --> 00:02:50.719 feel good at the movie? It's like the highest number 48 00:02:50.719 --> 00:02:54.000 of motherfuckers you lover hear in any two hour movie, 49 00:02:54.280 --> 00:03:02.960 and yet it's just so joyous. So we both this 50 00:03:03.080 --> 00:03:06.520 morning came to a different came to the same conclusion 51 00:03:06.560 --> 00:03:10.120 for different reasons. One is, I'll start off just start 52 00:03:10.159 --> 00:03:11.400 off saying what you noticed. 53 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:15.599 Well, here's the thing. I completely forgot who was in 54 00:03:15.599 --> 00:03:18.840 the movie aside from him. So Divine is there, and 55 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:22.639 I'm like, oh my god, and she's amazing. From from 56 00:03:22.719 --> 00:03:26.159 scene one, yes, she's amazing, absolutely amazing. I kept watching 57 00:03:26.159 --> 00:03:29.400 her the whole time, her character especially. 58 00:03:29.080 --> 00:03:32.919 And they had a pseudo romantic but not relationship. 59 00:03:33.000 --> 00:03:35.479 As I said, I forgot about the movie and I 60 00:03:35.479 --> 00:03:37.639 didn't know all the details, like all right, he's gonna 61 00:03:37.680 --> 00:03:39.879 end up, you know, having a relationship with her, and 62 00:03:39.919 --> 00:03:42.360 nothing happens, andthing happened, and then when he gets to 63 00:03:42.400 --> 00:03:46.360 the sex scene that they're shooting. 64 00:03:46.080 --> 00:03:48.680 The movie, and he's clearly uncomfortable and she's. 65 00:03:48.520 --> 00:03:51.520 So supportive, you know, She's like, no, we'll figure this out. 66 00:03:51.520 --> 00:03:54.120 We're gonna do I was like, that's interesting. 67 00:03:53.879 --> 00:03:56.080 Okay, so I just don't say what I can't. So 68 00:03:57.000 --> 00:04:00.680 I'm watching it last night and like the film. It's 69 00:04:00.759 --> 00:04:03.159 one of the great things about this film is that 70 00:04:03.240 --> 00:04:07.639 it pays the man so much respect while also acknowledging like, yeah, 71 00:04:07.639 --> 00:04:09.560 of course he was a hustler and a clown and 72 00:04:09.599 --> 00:04:12.120 these were not high quality films that he was making, 73 00:04:12.240 --> 00:04:19.160 but they gave him his due as the godfather of rap, 74 00:04:19.199 --> 00:04:22.720 which is something most people probably don't know. And they 75 00:04:22.839 --> 00:04:27.800 spent time showing how he literally took African American oral 76 00:04:28.160 --> 00:04:32.879 storytelling traditions and codified them and turned them into a 77 00:04:32.920 --> 00:04:36.519 form of entertainment. And all I could think through those 78 00:04:36.560 --> 00:04:39.000 scenes was all the research I had done we had 79 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:45.639 done when we were writing Legendary Children, which was a book. 80 00:04:45.680 --> 00:04:47.399 If you haven't bought it, you really should buy it. 81 00:04:47.399 --> 00:04:51.079 It'll be great for pride months for your pride reading. Anyway. 82 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:55.399 It's an examination of gender non conforming queer artists and 83 00:04:56.040 --> 00:04:59.319 mostly drag queens, and how queer art has been and 84 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:01.399 the history of art and how it has been created 85 00:05:01.439 --> 00:05:03.639 and all everything that he was doing in those scenes, 86 00:05:03.680 --> 00:05:07.879 I was like, Wow, this is so queerer, and I 87 00:05:07.920 --> 00:05:10.800 remember feeling a little guilty and thinking to myself, I 88 00:05:10.800 --> 00:05:14.439 really can't make that connection because, you know, in the podcast, 89 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:17.959 are in the write up, because as a gay white man, 90 00:05:18.040 --> 00:05:21.839 I don't want to claim kinship with what is clearly 91 00:05:22.319 --> 00:05:26.079 a black cultural tradition. But I kept thinking about how 92 00:05:26.759 --> 00:05:29.800 what he was doing was exactly what queer artists doing. 93 00:05:29.839 --> 00:05:32.399 And I kept thinking about, you know, the cultural tradition 94 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:34.560 that he was codifying was called the dozens, which is 95 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:37.240 where you do these one up stories with it that 96 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:41.120 rhyme and tend to insult one another. You know, people 97 00:05:41.160 --> 00:05:44.079 go and it's it's the precursor to things like rap battles. 98 00:05:44.079 --> 00:05:49.000 But it is also clearly a cousin to shade and reading. 99 00:05:49.759 --> 00:05:52.600 And when we wrote Legendary Children, we did say that 100 00:05:52.680 --> 00:05:56.199 shade and reading were strictly African American traditions that black 101 00:05:56.279 --> 00:06:01.079 queens took into gay, you know culture. So I'm thinking 102 00:06:01.120 --> 00:06:03.120 all this and I'm like, I don't know, I don't 103 00:06:03.160 --> 00:06:04.680 know if I want to make this connection as a 104 00:06:04.680 --> 00:06:08.560 white man, because I might be overstepping my bounds. So 105 00:06:08.639 --> 00:06:10.680 I get up this morning and I'm doing some research 106 00:06:10.720 --> 00:06:15.279 and it turns out he was probably gay, Rudy, they say, yeah, 107 00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:19.879 and well, frankly, when someone says that about someone, and 108 00:06:19.920 --> 00:06:22.759 I don't mean when someone identifies BY, but when someone 109 00:06:22.839 --> 00:06:26.360 says that about someone, they're just saying they're basically covering, 110 00:06:26.680 --> 00:06:30.360 but they probably have no connection with ever seeing them 111 00:06:30.439 --> 00:06:30.920 date women. 112 00:06:31.519 --> 00:06:33.800 The feeling I get when someone says stuff like that 113 00:06:33.879 --> 00:06:37.600 is that about another person, about another person specifically, my 114 00:06:37.639 --> 00:06:39.680 feeling is always like, Okay, the person is gay, but 115 00:06:39.720 --> 00:06:40.800 I'm letting that person. 116 00:06:41.120 --> 00:06:42.759 I'm not giving them a backdoor. 117 00:06:42.920 --> 00:06:43.120 Yeah. 118 00:06:43.160 --> 00:06:49.279 And also it's not my place exactly, especially people Rudymore's direction. 119 00:06:50.000 --> 00:06:52.199 I am not and we are not suggesting that people 120 00:06:52.240 --> 00:06:55.480 who identify as BY are not really By. That's not 121 00:06:55.519 --> 00:06:59.160 what I'm saying. We're saying it's that people often misidentify 122 00:06:59.240 --> 00:07:03.120 gay people by because they don't want to call him gay. Anyway, 123 00:07:04.199 --> 00:07:09.480 I was shocked by that, because I wasn't shocked by it. 124 00:07:09.480 --> 00:07:11.480 Anybody can be gay. I've been around long enough to 125 00:07:11.480 --> 00:07:13.399 know you don't have to fit a stereotype. Of course, 126 00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:15.120 Rudy rymwore. And if you look at some of the 127 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:19.600 costumes that guy wore, especially later, extremely flamboyant, like Elton 128 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:20.920 John level of flammable. 129 00:07:20.920 --> 00:07:23.759 Also, he's frying at the store played by Titus you know, 130 00:07:23.920 --> 00:07:27.519 he's gay. So interesting because the movie really dances around 131 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:30.000 the gayness. At one point, titus burg guest makes this 132 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:34.360 so comment about sucking dick in prison. Yea, and Eddie 133 00:07:35.759 --> 00:07:38.079 just sort of waves off the comment in a way 134 00:07:38.120 --> 00:07:40.839 that he didn't seem. Let me put a to you 135 00:07:40.920 --> 00:07:41.240 this way. 136 00:07:42.000 --> 00:07:46.160 The film is very I have to give a credit 137 00:07:46.279 --> 00:07:50.680 clever about if you know where to look, it's there, 138 00:07:51.040 --> 00:07:53.240 if you really know where to look. Now, as two 139 00:07:53.319 --> 00:07:58.439 gay men who are culturally tuned into queerness, we picked 140 00:07:58.519 --> 00:08:01.079 up on it, but even we were like, we didn't 141 00:08:01.079 --> 00:08:04.240 think it was. I did not finish the movie thinking 142 00:08:04.279 --> 00:08:07.560 that that guy was gay. And I can't tell if 143 00:08:07.600 --> 00:08:09.439 I think that's a failing of the film or not, 144 00:08:10.639 --> 00:08:15.240 because here's how I feel. Do you remember that, right, 145 00:08:15.319 --> 00:08:18.600 of course you do. That Ryan Murphy miniseries Hollywood, and 146 00:08:18.759 --> 00:08:20.240 part of it was we've talked about this. 147 00:08:20.160 --> 00:08:22.920 Before, based on a book and some of it, Yeah. 148 00:08:22.680 --> 00:08:25.600 But part of the miniseries had a fictionalized Rock Hudson 149 00:08:25.639 --> 00:08:29.399 who took his black boyfriend to the Oscars. You know, 150 00:08:29.439 --> 00:08:32.879 it was a totally fictionalized version of his life. These 151 00:08:32.879 --> 00:08:39.240 things could have never happened back then. And I remember 152 00:08:39.279 --> 00:08:44.120 getting into a tussle with another queer culture writer on 153 00:08:44.200 --> 00:08:46.320 Twitter at the time because I said, I found the 154 00:08:46.320 --> 00:08:50.159 whole thing offensive to Rock Hudson's memory, And he said, 155 00:08:50.159 --> 00:08:52.840 don't you think Rock Hudson would have wanted to be 156 00:08:52.879 --> 00:08:57.039 able to do that? And I said, honestly, no, I 157 00:08:57.080 --> 00:09:00.360 don't know that Rock Hudson, someone born in like nineteen twenty, 158 00:09:00.360 --> 00:09:02.679 whatever year he was born in, as a queer man, 159 00:09:03.039 --> 00:09:06.559 I'm not sure him someone of that generation, would have 160 00:09:06.600 --> 00:09:10.200 had that dream to take his boyfriend to the Oscars. 161 00:09:10.240 --> 00:09:12.519 And I'm not sure rud Ray Moore would have wanted 162 00:09:12.639 --> 00:09:14.879 his story to be that's the story of a gay man. 163 00:09:14.960 --> 00:09:17.279 The problem that I have with that that type of 164 00:09:17.320 --> 00:09:20.000 far and thank yeah, no, I mean the guy on 165 00:09:20.039 --> 00:09:24.679 Twitter is that you are reinterpreting history. You're you're presenting 166 00:09:24.679 --> 00:09:27.679 a history that never happened, and at the same time. 167 00:09:27.919 --> 00:09:29.879 You act like you're doing that person a service. 168 00:09:29.960 --> 00:09:33.159 Yeah, you hiding what really happened, and that. 169 00:09:33.200 --> 00:09:35.559 His struggle was his life. So the fact that he 170 00:09:35.679 --> 00:09:37.240 couldn't do those things. 171 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:40.000 So if you're a young person today, a queer person today, 172 00:09:40.000 --> 00:09:42.159 and if that's what you watch, you don't really know 173 00:09:42.840 --> 00:09:46.159 what really happened, because you know, we tend to not 174 00:09:46.240 --> 00:09:47.120 no history at all. 175 00:09:47.759 --> 00:09:51.440 It's like the bridgetonization of fictionalized history. And I'm not 176 00:09:51.559 --> 00:09:53.639 I mean everyone, I think everyone looks at Bridge gen 177 00:09:53.720 --> 00:09:57.919 it's the fantasy that it is, but it is. You know, 178 00:09:58.200 --> 00:09:59.840 this is not what history was like. This is not 179 00:10:00.039 --> 00:10:02.080 what it looked like, right, I. 180 00:10:02.000 --> 00:10:04.679 Mean, it's complicated. It's the same thing going on Blue 181 00:10:04.679 --> 00:10:05.720 Peter and Jonger right now. 182 00:10:05.799 --> 00:10:08.360 You know with the Odyssey exactly, well, that's not history, 183 00:10:08.399 --> 00:10:10.679 that's myth. You can cast anybody in those things like 184 00:10:11.039 --> 00:10:13.600 that's just silly right wing shit, I know exactly. 185 00:10:13.720 --> 00:10:15.360 So it's complicated. 186 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:18.200 But when it comes I remember when Little Richard died 187 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:21.240 and we did write a piece about him under our 188 00:10:21.320 --> 00:10:25.840 legendary tag which was basically for queer Figures, and tried 189 00:10:25.879 --> 00:10:28.200 to pay homage to the fact that he was a 190 00:10:28.240 --> 00:10:32.639 clearly gay black man and it informed his artistry, Like 191 00:10:32.720 --> 00:10:34.759 you can't look at some of his work and not 192 00:10:34.879 --> 00:10:37.440 see the queerness in it. But at the same token, 193 00:10:37.559 --> 00:10:41.000 he was till the day he died. He I mean, 194 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:43.000 he flirted with coming out a few times, but for 195 00:10:43.039 --> 00:10:45.480 the most part, he was not of a generation that 196 00:10:45.679 --> 00:10:48.759 wanted to make that part of his life public and 197 00:10:48.879 --> 00:10:52.320 did not want his work to be classified that way. 198 00:10:52.679 --> 00:10:56.360 And I do feel with queer artists, especially when you're 199 00:10:56.399 --> 00:11:00.799 talking about like people from marginalized communities, like black artists 200 00:11:00.919 --> 00:11:04.159 from fifty years ago, sixty seventy, eighty years ago. It 201 00:11:04.200 --> 00:11:09.840 was the same thing with Gladys Bentley. I cried telling 202 00:11:09.840 --> 00:11:12.279 those stories on our book tour. Gladys Bentley was a 203 00:11:12.360 --> 00:11:16.919 non gender conforming female present you know, assigned female at birth, 204 00:11:17.279 --> 00:11:19.960 but she wore the I'm going to use female pronouns 205 00:11:19.960 --> 00:11:23.120 because she did her whole life. And this goes to 206 00:11:23.159 --> 00:11:26.440 my point of you need to respect where people were 207 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:31.240 in their lives. Yes, and Gladys Bentley wore tuxedos and 208 00:11:31.720 --> 00:11:35.240 openly dated women and sang raunchy songs in Harlem about 209 00:11:35.399 --> 00:11:38.960 you know, eating out women and stuff like that. And 210 00:11:40.559 --> 00:11:45.759 in the nineteen fifties she found Jesus and started wearing 211 00:11:45.840 --> 00:11:48.679 dresses and married a man and spoke out against all 212 00:11:48.679 --> 00:11:52.000 her sinful ways. And we wanted to include that story, 213 00:11:52.039 --> 00:11:54.080 and it was very important to me in the telling 214 00:11:54.200 --> 00:11:57.440 of her story to say it's it's easy for us 215 00:11:57.480 --> 00:11:59.480 to say how sad for her, how tragic for her, 216 00:11:59.559 --> 00:12:02.159 and I'm not suggesting it wasn't. But at the same time, 217 00:12:02.320 --> 00:12:05.720 we need to pay respect to who she was and 218 00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:08.759 where she was. Who am I to claim that a 219 00:12:08.840 --> 00:12:13.519 mid century lesbian black woman or non gender conforming black 220 00:12:13.559 --> 00:12:17.200 woman made the wrong choices? Who am I to sit 221 00:12:17.320 --> 00:12:19.519 in all my priv So I feel that way about 222 00:12:19.559 --> 00:12:23.600 Rudy ray Moore, and and I do in a lot 223 00:12:23.600 --> 00:12:25.720 of ways. I respect what the film has done because 224 00:12:25.759 --> 00:12:28.039 they really do give it all to you without taking 225 00:12:28.080 --> 00:12:29.200 you right up to it. 226 00:12:29.240 --> 00:12:31.279 I mean, it's not even the sex scene for the movie. 227 00:12:31.399 --> 00:12:36.600 In the movie, it's pretty much lady read lines when 228 00:12:36.600 --> 00:12:39.600 she says, you know, like when she says, you know, 229 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:42.279 thank you for making thank me for putting me in 230 00:12:42.720 --> 00:12:45.440 your movie. And you know, I've never seen myself like that, 231 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:48.159 that kind of conversation that a queer guy would have 232 00:12:48.240 --> 00:12:48.759 with a woman. 233 00:12:48.919 --> 00:12:53.600 It's so true. Yeah, But the thing is, Eddie Murphy's 234 00:12:53.639 --> 00:12:56.879 been charged with homophobia a lot in his career, and 235 00:12:56.919 --> 00:12:59.879 I'm not here to unpack that. I'm not sure if 236 00:13:00.120 --> 00:13:04.240 I have the knowledge to unpack it. But I do 237 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:06.080 get the general sense that he is not a guy 238 00:13:06.120 --> 00:13:08.679 who wants to play gay on camera. Yeah, probably that 239 00:13:09.480 --> 00:13:11.960 was a big part of it too. I don't think 240 00:13:12.000 --> 00:13:16.039 that's something he wants to do, and whatever, you know. 241 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:18.000 I mean, I do come from a generation that tends 242 00:13:18.000 --> 00:13:20.159 to criticize that sort of thing, but actors are allowed 243 00:13:20.200 --> 00:13:24.360 to make their own choices. Like I said, I I 244 00:13:24.600 --> 00:13:29.559 picked up on the subtle queerness of it, and and 245 00:13:29.639 --> 00:13:32.039 I do think they were rather clever about it. And 246 00:13:32.600 --> 00:13:36.159 in a way, I think telling his story in that 247 00:13:36.279 --> 00:13:40.879 way is respectful to him. That's what I'm trying to 248 00:13:40.879 --> 00:13:43.159 get across. It is how he would have wanted that 249 00:13:43.200 --> 00:13:45.960 story told. He would not have wanted scenes of him 250 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:49.440 having sex with men as part of his biography. Probably 251 00:13:49.480 --> 00:13:53.679 just not it. And you know that's I don't know. 252 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:56.000 I don't have a problem with that. Moving on from that, 253 00:13:56.080 --> 00:13:59.000 the other thing I wanted to talk about, Actually, we 254 00:13:59.000 --> 00:14:00.960 should probably take a short break. Why don't we take 255 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:02.440 a short break, and when I come back, I want 256 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:06.559 to talk about the other connection that I felt the 257 00:14:06.600 --> 00:14:09.559 movie depicted to our book, Legendary Children. We'll be right 258 00:14:09.600 --> 00:14:13.120 back we're back talking about Dolamight is my name, and I, 259 00:14:13.559 --> 00:14:15.320 as I said, I wanted to make another connection to 260 00:14:15.360 --> 00:14:18.240 our book, but it is not a connection to queerness, 261 00:14:19.120 --> 00:14:23.039 but it's just a similarity. And it's when we wrote 262 00:14:23.120 --> 00:14:25.360 Legendary Children. One of the things we came away from 263 00:14:26.120 --> 00:14:30.360 our in our newfound understanding of cultural history is how 264 00:14:30.600 --> 00:14:36.080 much of history is just about people on the margins 265 00:14:36.240 --> 00:14:39.320 or in the underground doing what they need to do, 266 00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:43.639 turning their patch of dirt into a garden, creating something 267 00:14:44.080 --> 00:14:47.559 that is queer culture, but that is also one hundred 268 00:14:47.639 --> 00:14:51.080 percent African American culture. That is exactly and you know 269 00:14:51.240 --> 00:14:54.519 the beauty of African American well, I mean, it depends 270 00:14:54.519 --> 00:14:56.600 on how you want to look at it, but they 271 00:14:56.639 --> 00:15:02.120 created American culture essentially a Black Americans created the music, 272 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:05.200 created the humor, created the language that we that we 273 00:15:05.320 --> 00:15:12.440 use today. And I love the scenes of Rudy and 274 00:15:12.519 --> 00:15:17.000 his little troop basically creating this new form of entertainment 275 00:15:17.080 --> 00:15:20.200 and going around to small clubs or going around to 276 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:24.480 house parties and you know, recording records at house parties 277 00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:26.759 and with no more than twenty or thirty people in 278 00:15:26.840 --> 00:15:31.080 them and all makeshift curtain hanging up. But that's history 279 00:15:31.120 --> 00:15:33.399 to me, that is culture. To me, that is those 280 00:15:33.559 --> 00:15:38.080 people create culture. And I love when a story gives 281 00:15:38.240 --> 00:15:42.080 someone like that, gives scenes like that a place where 282 00:15:42.080 --> 00:15:45.320 we can because I mean, I'm some white guy. I'm 283 00:15:45.399 --> 00:15:47.159 not going to get invited to a black house party 284 00:15:47.200 --> 00:15:49.840 in nineteen seventies, so you know, I get to see that. 285 00:15:49.919 --> 00:15:52.720 I think the most beautiful part about the movie, I 286 00:15:52.759 --> 00:15:58.720 think is showing black culture, black history, the struggle, pure love, 287 00:15:58.919 --> 00:16:02.879 pure love, things you created to survive, to entertain yourself, 288 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:06.440 you know. And and the fact that Rudy ray Moore, 289 00:16:06.480 --> 00:16:08.919 you can tell he never takes a no, never takes 290 00:16:09.440 --> 00:16:13.840 because he understands that's all he's given, knows and and 291 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:16.080 he has to do something to get what he wants 292 00:16:16.080 --> 00:16:18.720 and he gets there. I also love the fact that 293 00:16:18.759 --> 00:16:21.240 he's not delusion about the movie. He knows the movie 294 00:16:21.320 --> 00:16:25.000 is not a great movie, but it's the movie that 295 00:16:25.039 --> 00:16:30.120 people want. And I think that's such a great message 296 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:33.360 because I think we're in terms of culture in general, 297 00:16:33.440 --> 00:16:37.759 we're so focused on what's going to please everybody, what's good, 298 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:40.919 the mass culture, the mass culture, the critics and all that. 299 00:16:41.159 --> 00:16:44.159 And if we and if weget that sometimes you make 300 00:16:44.240 --> 00:16:47.879 something to entertain people a certain segment of the population. 301 00:16:48.080 --> 00:16:51.159 Yes, and that's that's the kind of culture. That's where 302 00:16:51.279 --> 00:16:54.440 I feel the connection to queer cultural It is about 303 00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:57.159 people who are like, I'm making this for my people. 304 00:16:58.320 --> 00:17:01.360 There's a line where a white movie executive says, you're 305 00:17:01.399 --> 00:17:03.720 just going to make you're going to play this movie 306 00:17:03.759 --> 00:17:05.240 for in the same five blocks. 307 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:07.079 Yeah, I have the quote here he says. He said, 308 00:17:07.160 --> 00:17:08.759 he says, you're not supposed to make a movie for 309 00:17:08.799 --> 00:17:12.039 the five square blocks of people, you know, And then 310 00:17:13.359 --> 00:17:15.799 he says, well, that's fine with me, because every city 311 00:17:15.799 --> 00:17:18.880 in America got those same five blocks, and those folks 312 00:17:18.920 --> 00:17:20.200 is going to love it. 313 00:17:20.480 --> 00:17:24.640 That is it right there. It's it's it's looking at 314 00:17:24.680 --> 00:17:27.880 your local community and identifying it as part of a 315 00:17:28.000 --> 00:17:32.480 larger connection of communities who have a similar culture. 316 00:17:32.960 --> 00:17:33.279 I think. 317 00:17:33.480 --> 00:17:36.799 And I just love, love love stories like that. I 318 00:17:36.839 --> 00:17:39.680 love when you give people like that a spotlight and 319 00:17:39.799 --> 00:17:43.000 elevate them and say look in their time, because we're 320 00:17:43.000 --> 00:17:45.680 reread to read more died penniless in their time. These 321 00:17:45.680 --> 00:17:47.960 people were not elevated, but we can look back at 322 00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:51.079 them now and see the good that they were doing 323 00:17:51.319 --> 00:17:53.400 for their community for their culture. 324 00:17:53.559 --> 00:17:55.240 He made he made millions. 325 00:17:54.920 --> 00:17:57.240 Right, No, I mean he died penniless, I read. 326 00:17:57.279 --> 00:17:58.559 I don't know. But he made a lot of money 327 00:17:58.559 --> 00:17:59.160 with the first movie. 328 00:17:59.400 --> 00:18:02.799 No, No, he had terrible business sense. I mean that's 329 00:18:02.839 --> 00:18:03.920 pretty clear anyway. 330 00:18:03.960 --> 00:18:06.400 But they made they made seven more movies. I think. 331 00:18:06.599 --> 00:18:09.000 I know the movies made money, but I don't know 332 00:18:09.079 --> 00:18:10.759 what that's going to be actually made all that. 333 00:18:11.119 --> 00:18:14.559 But the scene in the limbo, I love this. That's 334 00:18:14.759 --> 00:18:17.720 we're in the car and filmmaking and it's just gorgeous 335 00:18:17.720 --> 00:18:20.119 because they're reading all these reviews and that they're getting 336 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.039 they're trash in the movie, and they're getting upset. But 337 00:18:23.119 --> 00:18:26.839 then they see all the crowd outside cheering, And to me, 338 00:18:27.160 --> 00:18:29.759 that's more important than anything else, is the fact that 339 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:34.079 you created something that made someone Helpy happy. And I 340 00:18:34.160 --> 00:18:36.880 say that kind of like, you know, I get a 341 00:18:36.880 --> 00:18:39.160 little emotion because it's the same thing, the same way 342 00:18:39.240 --> 00:18:41.400 when we're we do what we do with our site, 343 00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:43.359 with our blog, and we feel like, yeah, whatever, and 344 00:18:43.400 --> 00:18:45.559 then we get an email from somebody saying that you know, 345 00:18:45.599 --> 00:18:49.359 I love your site, that you know your site has 346 00:18:49.359 --> 00:18:52.240 helped me blah blah blah. I just love these things 347 00:18:52.319 --> 00:18:56.200 because you forget who's out there, you do. You forget 348 00:18:56.200 --> 00:18:59.839 who's out there, who's reading you, who's listening to you, and. 349 00:18:59.720 --> 00:19:01.960 You other periods where you wonder if people care. 350 00:19:02.000 --> 00:19:05.039 Yes, exactly so. So that scene when they get out 351 00:19:05.039 --> 00:19:07.119 of the limo and they see all the crowd, Yeah, 352 00:19:07.160 --> 00:19:08.839 they see the crowd and they see all the people 353 00:19:08.880 --> 00:19:12.960 screaming and all that, and it's just beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. 354 00:19:13.039 --> 00:19:16.880 It's, like I said, total feel good movie. I know, 355 00:19:17.039 --> 00:19:19.640 I think it did okay, I know critically it did well, 356 00:19:19.680 --> 00:19:23.000 but it really should be agree more of a classic 357 00:19:23.079 --> 00:19:26.519 than it is. It's just the perfose now, I mean, 358 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:28.960 all right, if we want to do some critical stuff here. 359 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:32.920 The entire structure of the film is a cliche. About 360 00:19:33.160 --> 00:19:36.640 is a show business cliche. It's just all dressed up 361 00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:41.279 in like sixty seventies ghetto Chitlin circuit style, but it 362 00:19:41.359 --> 00:19:44.599 hits every beat of all you know, club owners saying 363 00:19:44.599 --> 00:19:46.839 don't you do that on my stage? And then suddenly 364 00:19:46.920 --> 00:19:48.680 the crowd turns and it's a big hit. And then 365 00:19:48.680 --> 00:19:51.680 there's a montage where they just you know, all of 366 00:19:51.720 --> 00:19:57.000 that is there all and it's you know, emotionally It 367 00:19:57.079 --> 00:19:59.799 hits every single beat of those kind of biopics where 368 00:19:59.839 --> 00:20:01.519 he he stands up and he's like, I don't care 369 00:20:01.559 --> 00:20:03.759 what everybody else says. I'm going to do this where 370 00:20:03.799 --> 00:20:06.480 I'm an artist, blah blah blah. None of that's new. 371 00:20:07.920 --> 00:20:11.279 But I don't really see that as a draw back 372 00:20:11.359 --> 00:20:14.759 because it's dressed up and stuff in a black exploitation 373 00:20:15.039 --> 00:20:18.920 setting that gives it a nuance and gives it a 374 00:20:18.920 --> 00:20:21.400 feeling and gives it a joy that it might not 375 00:20:21.480 --> 00:20:22.400 otherwise have had. 376 00:20:22.599 --> 00:20:26.480 Oh what I love about it is that it shows 377 00:20:26.519 --> 00:20:28.880 that these people are not naive. They know exactly what's 378 00:20:28.920 --> 00:20:29.720 going on with the life. 379 00:20:29.759 --> 00:20:32.279 Of course, they're not business savvy, but they know what 380 00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:32.839 they're doing. 381 00:20:32.880 --> 00:20:35.160 They're knowing what they're doing. They're know that they're being 382 00:20:35.359 --> 00:20:38.920 exploited in a way, but they want to move on 383 00:20:39.039 --> 00:20:41.039 with whatever they have in mind. You know, they what 384 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:41.680 they want to do. 385 00:20:42.400 --> 00:20:43.680 And I think that's what they have a need to 386 00:20:43.680 --> 00:20:44.359 tell their stories. 387 00:20:44.400 --> 00:20:45.960 They have a need to tell the story and to 388 00:20:46.359 --> 00:20:48.519 do what. You know, he started with the records and 389 00:20:48.559 --> 00:20:51.240 then decided to make movies. And I actually went on 390 00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:52.599 YouTube and you can watch the movie. 391 00:20:52.720 --> 00:20:54.160 Oh yeah, you can watch the movie it's not going 392 00:20:54.200 --> 00:20:56.519 to send some links to any review that we do. 393 00:20:56.880 --> 00:21:00.000 So over the top, it's ridiculed. 394 00:21:01.559 --> 00:21:06.200 He was a real clown and a real hustler. And 395 00:21:06.279 --> 00:21:10.640 I just want to briefly touch on Ruthie Carter's costume design. 396 00:21:11.160 --> 00:21:13.519 We're gonna have more of that's going to be in 397 00:21:13.559 --> 00:21:16.880 the post that we accompanyed with this podcast, because we 398 00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:18.960 can use pictures and stuff. But I just want to 399 00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:23.200 point out that I think, you know Ruthy Carter. She 400 00:21:23.400 --> 00:21:26.480 has done She did Sinners last year, She's done both 401 00:21:26.519 --> 00:21:29.880