Everything happening in pop culture biohacking comedy, resistance in art.
The art of the album is not lost.
Mr beast yo, this is insane mountains of cash.
Have you guys heard of boy throb?
We love a man who yearns.
It's called a media minute.
Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Hot Pursuit, a podcast about creating conversations where nothing is off limits.
This podcast was produced by Asian Boss Girl.
I'm Em.
I'm Jen.
And I'm Madeline.
We're super excited.
We've been cooking, chatting this up for a while, brewing this new concept and format that we're gonna try out.
We're gonna experiment with it, but it's called Media Minute and it's gonna be just us talking about all our thoughts, our takes, our commentary, our analyses, our feelings about everything happening in pop culture music movies tv, social media, content creators.
There's so much happening in our space, and Something that the three of us are very passionate about is seeing how much media shapes our desires, tells us what narratives that we are in, what stories we are in, what stories to aspire for.
And so we always are like chatting together about it all the time.
And so we're like well, let's hit record and see what happens, and see if y'all like this and want it.
So we're trying out.
I've always been so fascinated by pop culture and I think right now, especially in this time that we're in as a country, it is more important than ever to understand how to decipher art.
And you don't have to like it, you don't have to agree, but this is the medium in which people will be communicating, and so I think It's easy right now just to get quick hits and just kind of like take whatever, but not really look into the deeper meaning of what people are trying to say.
And I think this is a skill that I feel really deeply that people need to be urgently learning right now.
And so pop culture has always been around, has always been relevant and is always interesting.
But part of why we want to do this is to encourage people to think critically about the media that they're consuming and what their thoughts are like, how to reflect on it and understand that this pop culture and media is probably the single most powerful source of communication in the world.
You can always hear about people saying, this album changed my life.
This song changed my life.
This movie changed my life.
It made me think differently.
It made me see myself differently.
It made me feel seen and heard.
And so this is so powerful as a way to shape all of us.
And we are being shaped by it.
So I don't know.
We just have so many thoughts about this all the time.
So we really just were like we feel so strongly about this area and we're excited to talk about it together with everyone.
Yeah.
And the rate at which we receive news and information is so much faster.
It's more succinct.
And sometimes, for example, like social media, we get snippets. of a grander idea.
And I feel like, because it's so easy to access, it's easy to form a very quick opinion without thinking critically about the whole, the whole idea.
So I think it's fascinating how, especially in the United States, we've become so divided with the onset of short form media, with the onset of TikTok and reels and everything.
And it's interesting to see how politics and pop culture come into play.
You see very clearly examples of resistance in art.
And it's always been there.
And we talk about it in textbooks, but is there a way we can look at it now and talk about it now?
And that's what we want to do with this Media Minute.
Something else that I think has also been so exciting for us to just like, do together and sink our teeth into is that we each kind of are gravitating towards and get excited about different realms within the media landscape.
So maybe we could each share, like what are the types of media that we can find ourselves consuming so much of and getting excited about?
Because I love like hearing both of their commentary about different areas which where they're way more plugged in than I am.
And I'm totally checked out of those areas.
And so it's been such a mutually like exciting experience to talk about stuff.
Yeah, because we each bring such different perspectives.
And then hearing things that you'll like notice, that I never noticed, like those things are so, so thrilling.
So maybe what is the media?
That you just find yourself like I'm getting sucked into this world and I love it.
Well, you like film.
Yes.
Mine is film and TV.
She has a film podcast.
Go check it out.
If you ever watch a movie that confuses you, you can go to her podcast and she can dissect it for you.
Salt burn free.
Yeah.
After I watched Salt Burn, I was like, I need to go find the episode.
I was like I wonder if Jen did an episode, because I feel physically sick to my stomach and I found solace in her episode.
I was like, oh, thank God.
Someone who understands me, someone who's able to call out the discomfort.
Yeah, she is so good at dissecting a film.
Whenever we watch a movie together, we're always like, what is Jen thinking?
Yeah.
I don't watch very many films, but when I do, I immediately afterwards go to see if she has reviewed it on her podcast, because I want to know what she has to say.
I think part of what makes consuming media so fun is discussing it and then finding different perspectives and arguing about it to see what other people think and what was brought to light for one person that was not even noticed by the other person.
Yeah, go check it out.
Great reviews there.
You see a totally different side of Jen that is so insightful and so intelligent.
Ever since like becoming oh, we were talking about like ever since you guys moved to LA, we've been watching a lot of movies.
We've been going to the movies a lot.
Like I haven't had that much popcorn with that much butter.
No, same.
It's so fun.
Yeah, I didn't grow up watching movies.
I don't really seek them out on my own.
But now that Jen is my roommate, I will happily ride her coattails.
And so I've watched just so many movies.
She shows us the beauty of cinema.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And you both have different areas that I am not plugged into at all.
You'll be like, have you heard of blah, blah, blah?
And I'm like, no.
And you're like, oh, well, that was viral like six months ago.
And I'm like, I live under a rock.
No, you just live under that rock.
I live under this rock.
And you live under the other one.
Yeah, so I gravitate towards social media.
So, short form, long form anything YouTube anything TikTok, Instagram.
I love exploring trends.
I feel that trends are very powerful.
Short form, and the onset of short form, has been um, very illuminating.
It has opened the world to so many people to get their voices heard, and it's been the algorithm on these platforms.
No one has ever had this opportunity for this kind of reach.
It's it's crazy how many people now are disappointed if they don't get a million views, me included, which is crazy to think about, because if you think about 10 people viewing just like watching you do laundry, that's crazy.
Um, so i feel the the rate at which people can communicate, can discuss and talk to each other through these platforms.
It's just gargantuan.
I can't even, they're numbers to me, but I don't even know like the full, the reach of it.
And I feel like it's a very powerful medium to talk about thoughts opinions politics, and I feel like it's mind control, because even in doing- I agree with that.
Even in doing certain trends, the participant may not be able to know the full extent of why this trend is popular.
And and it's like there's so many accounts that kind of go into um, how do you, how do you make an effective short form video?
Basically, how do you hijack someone's brain to make them stay and stay for the entire minute and a half?
And so it's a really crazy like psychological experiment.
Also with youtube, that's a completely different animal and i feel like i saw a study that more people are watching youtube than than tv shows right now.
And the ease of access in which you can get your ideas out and just upload a video.
You don't have to go through a production company, you don't have to go through like networks or anything like.
These platforms are for the people, by the people.
And so I feel like it is a very accurate way to get your hand on the pulse of what people are thinking nowadays.
Yeah.
So it's crazy.
It's scary, but I love it.
Biohacking.
Biohacking.
It really is.
You're also in comedy, I would say.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like learning the art of comedy and understanding the landscape of that, which is its own art form.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I love it so much.
Like what makes people tick?
What makes people laugh?
You can also get a feel for generational humor will make sense to some people.
Does it make sense to others who you're talking to?
Depends on how you get the message across.
It's like a huge experiment on communication.
And if you want a wide audience, what do you have to filter in order to get this important message that you think is so important across?
Versus like, let me just film my dog like pooping on that person's yard.
It's so funny.
It feels like there's been an explosion of comedy in the past couple years, so it's a good time, for we need to laugh everyone.
Comedy is also so honest too, and it is such a distilled, like emotional truth which is like your superpower, and so you being able to give that to the world and make people feel seen of like i felt that emotion, but i didn't know it was okay to um and permission to feel it and it's all kind of whimsical is like really, really powerful too.
So comedy is a way to convince someone to think something without giving them like three points or whatever.
You just use common sense.
Yeah, you use logic.
Once they laugh, then their hearts are open to you.
Biohacking Media Minute's tagline is just biohacking.
Laughter is the best medicine.
It's also the easiest way to disarm.
Also essential to life.
Yes.
Yes.
So essential.
Survival.
Yeah.
I love comedy so much.
And then Mads, you are passionate about?
Hello, I love music.
She loves music.
Yeah, I discovered music a little bit later in life.
So I kind of feel like I'm playing catch up a little bit, but I got Spotify for free when I was like- In college.
Yeah, when I was like 21.
And so that's when I started to kind of really expand what I was listening to.
So I feel like there's so many great artists out there and I love you know, dissecting an album from beginning to end in order.
The art of the album is not lost and we must preserve it.
And there's yeah, there's just so many great musicians and writers out there that I love to consume music.
And a really cool intersection is seeing film and music kind of mesh, but we can get into it later.
So we don't know what format we should do for these.
But one thing that we're going to try today is a smattering of things that we've watched consumed, inhaled over the past couple of days.
And we're going to just chat about them.
Maybe you've seen it.
Maybe you haven't.
Maybe you're intrigued after hearing us yap about it for a little bit.
But we've got a smattering.
The hope too, is that it would create interest for you as a listener, to discover pieces of art that perhaps you would not initially, but that you would at least give it a shot and then come back with a reason for why you do or do not like it.
This is an episode of passion.
Yeah, we get to share our passions and you get to be a part of it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think we should start with Mr. Beast.
Yo, Mr. Beast.
Jimmy.
I will say I was I did not know.
I'd never seen a Mr. Beast video until like a couple of months ago.
And I didn't realize he was like the, the hugest, the biggest YouTuber of all time, like 450 million subscribers, probably higher now.
And then we looked it up one time and we were like that's like like 08 of the entire world's population, let alone one 16th of the world's population.
Okay.
Yeah.
It's just crazy.
That's more than the United States knows who he is.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think isn't most of his demographic actually younger boys from not America?
Yeah yeah, i think um, a large audience is children, kids.
So like he he, i know he he structures it to be more family friendly.
Yeah um, but i know It's like kids and dudes watch him.
Yeah.
Do you remember the first time you watched your first video?
And what was your running thought?
I do, you do, i do.
I also discovered recently because i was in target and i saw a pack of gummies.
I love sour candy, so i saw a pack of these feastables and i never heard of that before and i thought the marketing was terrible.
But i looked at it and i'm like what?
What the heck are these?
And then i saw i think one of my friends told me about mr beast later and i decided to look him up because i'm like what?
I don't, what is this?
Yeah, you know.
So then i watched the video of him in the pyramids and i was so shocked that an entire large world existed and i had never heard about him before.
Like he is boy world to the max.
And uh, there's just so much happening, guys.
He like dominates the world.
He has lunch.
He has a food line.
He has like so many businesses he invests.
He has, he's broken like all the world records for. for all the things.
For all the things.
He builds schools.
And currently he is having a PR run for his show, which is what?
Beast Games.
Beast Games.
Season two.
Yeah.
Which is fascinating because I literally just watched maybe 10 minutes with Emily the other day when we were building Jen's birthday gift.
And I was shocked at how eerily similar it was to Squid Games.
But it's Squid Games RRL without death.
Yes.
But it's the same social engineering.
It's the same creepiness, you know, but like eliciting the worst human behavior possible with an incentive that you can't turn away from.
It's crazy, this shit is insane.
He's trying to push like, what would a human being, a normal human being actually do for money?
When they are sitting on top of a mountain of $1 million, $5 million, what would they actually do?
It's fascinating.
And these are social experiments that people just don't do.
They're too afraid to do.
They're too afraid because it's a lot of money too to create these productions.
Oh my gosh.
The sets that he creates are like insane.
Just piles of mountains of cash manifest into like, I don't know, a ring and then whatever.
But whenever there's some one, something that has captured like that many eyeballs, I always am wondering like what is it about this that is so exciting that people are engaging, watching regularly?
We've discovered like friends of ours that we didn't realize watch like every video.
Yeah, like every boy.
We're like, what?
Yes.
Every man.
Ask every man in your life if he watches Mr. Beast, he will probably say yes.
Like 90% yes.
Yes.
It's insane.
It's crazy.
I was at a party and I went to all the girls, do you watch Mr. Beast?
No, who's that?
Do you watch Mr. Beast?
No, who's that?
I go to their boyfriends, they're like who doesn't?
Yeah so like, even within very close relationships, one person can be completely unaware and one person can be like, a very avid consumer of this, of this brand.
Yeah, it's crazy.
Yeah, and i think because he's Constantly creating these scenarios that are essentially trying to press the human to see what decision they will make.
Who are they really?
His whole thing is like, what is the essence of human nature?
Are we going to be self-seeking or are we going to be selfless?
You, as a viewer, are asking, maybe yourself, the same question of like okay, what would I do?
Like would I betray and steal the money or am I gonna be generous?
And he's putting like normal human beings in those situations to see like what comes out essentially.
And the more impossible it is, the more exciting it is to see like, okay, so who are they really?
One of the things in the film world with screenwriting that is often talked about is you take your character, that's a protagonist, and you walk them through the two hour film and you constantly are putting them into higher and higher stakes situations to press to see who are they really.
They are maybe like a family man, a father, at the beginning of the film, but in more and more extreme situations do they show these other sides of themselves that contradict what you saw earlier?
And it seems like that is also what he's doing too.
It's like normal people, you and me, what will we be?
Who will we do?
What decisions will we make?
And he tends to blindfold his contestants before a challenge because he wants the genuine reaction.
He does not prepare them for it at all.
So he's like, okay, we're going to bring you into this challenge.
All they know is like there's a challenge, but he doesn't know they're going to be buried alive for a certain amount of time.
They're going to be in control of all this money.
They get to decide if they get to take the full, the full package, or disperse it between their friends.
And if they are given that control, it's kind of like Stanford experiment to the max.
Like what would they truly do?
It is insane.
He is the definition of spectacle.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well Em, something that you talk about a lot, especially in the social and content creation space, is that people love reactions, which he seems to understand, because everything is like throw something else more dramatic and there's constant shots of like real human emotion, whether it's joy elation tragedy, whatever it is.
He's mastered the art of reactions.
And in his videos, I noticed that he is the master of retention.
So every five minutes, he'll throw a different curveball to make you stay.
Because I think, Jen, you said you watched.
His videos are very long.
They're 30-plus minutes.
37 minutes, 40 minutes.
And he'll conduct these experiments and it won't just be like let's watch these hundred people stand in a circle.
The last person to leave wins.
So it's not just you watching people leave the circle.
Like he'll throw in curve balls.
Like, does anyone want to leave for $10,000?
And then like five minutes later, does anyone like let's have a dodgeball tournament and get like half the people out?
Yeah.
So he's constantly upping the ante, upping the stakes to see oh, the prize pool is actually going to double.
And so you're just like, oh my gosh, I have to stay.
And by the end of 45 minutes, you just watch through a whole video.
Yeah.
So today we're going to see how many of you are going to get one step closer to $5 million.
He has a cadence too.
Yeah.
Which is also biohacky.
It's kind of comforting.
Every next video I watch, I'm like, it's familiar.
It's like your mom's voice.
It's welcoming you back.
And he always has that smile like, welcome back to Beast Games.
Bring out the guards.
Bring out the money.
I presume that most of our audience is most likely Asian American women.
So we are curious to know if you've heard of Mr. Beast.
Do you watch him?
What are your thoughts on him?
Do you keep up with the drama?
What do you think about him?
There's so many controversial opinions and he has just been infiltrating our world lately.
Yeah.
It's kind of like when you start shopping for a car that you've never seen before and then suddenly on the road you see the same car over and over again.
It's kind of like that.
He's everywhere.
We'll see his chocolate bar feastables everywhere now, ever since being introduced to this world.
You were...
I was literally visiting my brother in Bangkok in a mall and there was a life-size cutout of Mr Beast.
I'm like, guys, I can't escape.
This guy's everywhere.
He's genius in figuring out the business and commerce side of creation too, because he'll weave in Mr Beast products into the videos as props.
And then they'll do like a quick little bit of like, and we have these available at Target in four flavors.
And then go back to the video.
Such a business man.
Yeah.
Like if two contestants are trapped in the sky, he's like, are you guys hungry?
Would you like my feastables?
Yeah.
Now available at Walmart.
Another thing about him that is really admirable, I suppose you could say, is he is always on what's hot.
So like one of the things that he brought to my radar was boy throb.
Boy throb.
He was so fast on that.
Yeah.
Have you guys heard of boy throb?
I heard about it like two, three weeks ago from Em.
So, okay.
Not online.
So Boy Throb is, I don't even know how to describe them.
They are a up and coming boy band.
It's four members.
An internet sensation.
They are a viral internet sensation.
So basically, it's four members.
One member is stuck in India.
We don't know if this is satirical or real, but it's this boy group.
We don't even know if they're good at dancing or singing, but they have a very good, recognizable visual brand.
I think I saw them in WeHo.
I remember seeing these pink jump very pink velour jumpsuits with like the back it says boy throb.
And I remember seeing them and I was like, is that like a magic act?
Like, who are they?
They were just like walking on the streets.
And so they I think they started their Instagram account late last year.
So maybe like November, December, they've become a worldwide sensation.
And so their whole shtick is like, we have one member who's stuck in India.
We're trying to get him an O-1 visa.
Is it O-1?
It's like extraordinary talent visa.
We're trying to get him yeah, we're trying to get him an o1 visa to come to the united states so we can finally be a group of four as a boy band.
So it's so hilarious because they'll perform at nursing homes and it'll be three of them in person.
And you see the fourth member his name is darshan on facetime, dancing right next to them like on the computer.
So they still operate as a four, four member boy group, but he's always just like calling in.
I don't even know what time it is for him, maybe like 4 a.m.
So their whole goal was like we need a million followers to prove to the US government that this is extraordinary talent that they need to bring.
And so because of that, it's kind of like, oh, we're bringing in our audience.
They let their audience name their band.
Yeah.
Wow.
So the audience named the band.
They're like, oh, thanks for your suggestions.
We are now Oithrob.
This is a democracy.
You have named us.
Now you can help us get Darshan to America.
So within three months, they already they've been to the Grammys.
They were sponsored by Redken.
They I love that for music videos, they'll clip art him in.
It's so funny.
They'll come up from the bottom and just come back down.
I think they're coming out with an album.
They already have their first hit out right now.
It's called finger.
It's a very catchy pop song, and is it their catchphrase?
Don't stop the yeah, or like can't stop the throb.
It's hilarious.
And their fans are called throbbers.
It's hilarious.
So like they've built this crazy internet cult following and people love an underdog.
They love someone who is underestimated um, but genuinely seeking success.
So like, it's like kind of like they've invited us to follow their journey.
And I just think it's so fascinating that like, I'm still confused.
Like, I don't know if this is real.
I don't know if this is fake.
How did they form?
I have so many questions, but the, The overarching fact is they want to win a Grammy.
That is what they're going for.
They're shooting for the stars and they're inviting us on this journey.
The reason why we're talking about that is because Mr Beast hosted this Super Bowl live stream and he had invited them to sing the national anthem.
It's just so funny because they're just brand new, but they're what's hot right now.
They're like number one in the search engines and everything.
And so Mr Beast flew them over and he's like please sing the national anthem for my Super Bowl live stream.
They sang and then that was it.
What do you think it is that is catching fire?
Because I watch their stuff, and I'm like, it's just so whimsical.
It's over the top.
There's permission to be silly and funny.
And the other thing that you mentioned about them that I thought was interesting is you were like We all don't know if it's unironically ironic or ironic.
We don't really know if they're serious or not, which is part of the intrigue too.
What do you think it is about them that is catching fire, bringing people joy?
I think in this digital generation, people are so afraid of being cringe.
They're so afraid of pursuing something outwardly for the world to see.
And so it's kind of refreshing to see these people, this group of four boys that really, really genuinely want something.
They want to win the Grammys.
They want to be a boy group and I think the charm of them is like you think it's a joke.
They look like a joke, but they have never ever, in any of their interviews, let you into.
Yeah, we think this is a joke too, and they will rise to the occasion.
Yeah, it's the thing, like they will grind for it, which is, And when they sing that national anthem, it sounds good.
So you're like, oh, so they are good at singing.
You know they're trying really, really hard.
Yeah.
So are these entertainers?
Are these singers?
Is there a back story?
Is there some underlying layer?
You just don't know.
And it's so intriguing because you're like what are they doing?
Hmm, like i don't know what they're doing, but i think like i'm watching.
Yeah, they're so funny.
You're like is jar sean gonna make it to america?
And it's.
It's hilarious because in their videos they have their immigration lawyer right there too.
Like They'll include her in the video.
So you're like, is this a real immigration lawyer?
Is this an actor?
We don't know.
And then at the end of the Mr. B's livestream, he's like, here's $10,000.
Get Darshan to America.
So it feels like a group effort to get Darshan to America.
Will he make it?
We don't know.
The narrative.
The editing is also very good, I have to say.
It's hilarious.
I watched a video of them dancing at the zoo and the fast cuts of like just zooms in on like a rhino being like in their pink outfits.
It's great production, you know?
And they have just like a clip of Darshan singing in his own room. just panning across and out.
So funny.
Yeah, I think it's like the refreshing, genuine pursuit of something that you want, that we don't see.
I feel like people nowadays would just call that very millennial and cringe.
But to see someone pursue that and not back down, I think that's what makes them so alluring.
Yeah.
It's earnest.
You can root for them.
Yeah.
They can see themselves.
Yes.
Throbber for life.
Yeah.
All right, so that was the social media sphere.
Let's get into film.
Okay, so the talk of the town right now is Wuthering Heights.
The marketing for this film has been incredible.
They clearly have money.
It's everywhere, the billboards, the installations.
And rightly so, you've got Jacob Elordi, who is like, Gorgeous.
A hot piece of meat.
Everybody loves him.
The charisma is there.
Margot Robbie, who's a darling of the industry and done both very artsy fartsy roles but then also will do very commercial pieces too.
And so she's just captured everybody's heart to the film world's heart and also all of us.
And it's in like a spritzy, like set to be this like Gothic romance that's supposed to be sexy and whatnot.
And it's coming out around Valentine's Day.
So it's like set to be like commercial success.
And I think it has been.
A lot of people are going with their girlfriends to go see this movie.
We watched it for Valentine's Day.
We watched it for Valentine's Day.
My review of it is I think it's not a great film.
I actually really love this director.
It's Emerald Fennell.
She's someone who really swings for the fences in the industry fearless bold, does what she wants to do.
And I just wonder, with Wuthering Heights, how much the marketing and the commercial, the studios, are shaping the narrative for this to be like palatable for everybody to go see.
It's a film that like almost feels like three movies in one.
Like it doesn't commit to like any of the bold directions it could have.
And so it feels a little bit metal to me.
I've also just been really fascinated by how much Jacob Elordi and his character Heathcliff, is like, portrayed to be like this love story of a generation and like the man that has been faithful to you all of these years.
I've watched so many TikTok videos of girls talking about just thirsting after him, partially because it's Jacob Lord and he's just a hot man.
But I think there's something around in the film the obsession that he has with Kathy that is alluring.
I think, like in general, we love stories of obsession because it feels nice to know that you are worthy to be obsessed over.
And so if you look at so many like love stories, the toxicity in the obsession is kind of like intriguing for us to watch, and so there's something there that i think they've like put out into the world that is really alluring and capturing a lot of attention.
I don't think it's the best film, but i also wonder how much corporate grabby hands got their their fingers on it and it has now been what it is.
So i'm curious both of your thoughts about weathering heights as well, because we got to see it together.
I feel like what you were saying about obsession and pursuit.
That's like the fairy tale that we were sold and that's the fairy tale that they continue to sell.
And it's also marketed as something that's almost virtuous, obsession and yearning.
Yearning is a huge buzzword in the social media space nowadays.
We love a man who yearns like don't match my freak, yet match my yearn, and so, like he, he did the best he could to to yearn as much as he could and and like i, i felt like there there could have been more More urine, more sexual tension, more great sex scenes.
I think they did the best they could with the script, but I think there was not enough pain in his eyes.
Yeah.
Interestingly, when I was watching the film, I felt and this is probably wrong, because I'm not the actors, but I felt that they had difficulty connecting with their characters.
I don't watch that many films so I don't know if I'm just making this up, but that's what I felt watching it.
If you feel it, yeah.
I don't know that Jacob Bellorti really feels that much of this character more than he does others.
So it fell flat a little bit for me.
I think I was initially interested because Charli XCX wrote a soundtrack kind of to accompany the film.
And she is obviously a left fielder in the music industry, has always been pushing things forward. is so creative um but so i was really excited to listen to her music and see how it would amplify this film um i think she's great her hands are all over so many hits that you guys wouldn't even know about um she's a genius but i was a little disappointed i think in the work that she not in the work that she put out but i don't think that this film was the vehicle for her to shine the brightest like she is so insanely talented and i mean she made good music but i wasn't like i'm not going to recommend this first you know as a soundtrack um and then as a film i uh would recommend others.
Like Marty Supreme.
Yeah.
Which we could talk about.
I feel there has been a shift in filmmaking where we're not just exploring these very common storylines of two people in love and they finally make a way to each other and it's like, it's pure, it's virtuous and we're rooting for them.
Now I feel, Even with Marty Supreme, we're exploring stories of people who are just selfish and there's no character development.
And you get to see the ends of what a selfish person who never self-reflected the cost and the distances they will go to get what they want.
And, as a consumer, for me, i love a happy ending and i was just like what the heck like?
You followed your heart, you were selfish and you still didn't get what you wanted.
This is for withering heights or for for both?
For both yeah, yeah it just it didn't feel, I didn't feel release.
Yeah.
But maybe that's the shift in the industry as well.
Which is really interesting because, you know, art reflects and shapes culture and society.
Yeah.
In the films and a lot of TV too these days, there's a lot more cynicism.
Those are the storylines that are being told and written, compared to the 80s, where we got a lot more archetypal characters, we got feel-good endings, we believed in the good guys.
Which is, I think, also why Marvel is really compelling, because we can see those that are trying to do good and achieving that, and there's something cathartic and hopeful and inspiring about that.
On the flip side, we have Wuthering Heights.
We have something like Marty Supreme, which is about a protagonist who is seeking success at all costs.
I think because of the state of the world and society and there being like a lot of public figures that are that we're seeing that also reflected in the stories we tell.
It's almost like our way to try to explore that or also feel some sort of comfort in seeing that, like I can try to understand this character, to understand the world around me as well and what their motivations might be.
Yeah, Marty Supreme to me is an example of why we want to do medium in it, because I think the makers of the film are trying to send a message and it's a great story baseline.
But if you dig a little bit deeper you see what they're trying to say about the state of society and the state of the world right now.
And I think they really believe in this message that they're trying to send, especially to young people.
So I
It first came on my radar because of Tyler, the creator.
Again, my only foray into the film is just through the music industry.
But I love that they included him, because Tyler's audience is probably vastly different than what Marty Supreme originally would have brought in.
He was really funny.
And I think the character of Marty Supreme is a much more complex person.
There's so much more to work with.
And he's so polarizing that you can't help but watch.
So I would recommend that film.
If you have to watch a film, I think there's much more to talk about there.
Yeah, because you see his decision making.
He makes a good decision.
Then he makes a bad decision.
So you're just like, who is this person?
Is he a good person?
Is he a bad person?
I don't know what to do with him.
So it keeps you hooked because you're just like, he has this goal that he wants to achieve.
How is he going to get there?
Is he going to make the right decision?
How is he going to um address like this roadblock?
Is he gonna try to take the shortcut?
Is he gonna take the high road?
And you're?
You're rooting for him, but at the same time, you're just like i don't know if i should root for you or if i shouldn't.
That's kind of like what you said in your podcast yeah, check it out.
Yeah, check out.
Yeah, jen's episode on this was so good, so good, it's so good.
Yeah, and i think, separately from just the story alone, i loved um.
I think just josh safty is the director right, i loved seeing what his mind is capable of producing.
I have never seen a film by him before but um, it was like amazing how he was able to put things together, because i feel like i got a glimpse into someone's and I am so curious to see how he sees the rest of the world, you know.
And like when you see someone produce something like that, you think this is where the money should go, because he has something to say and he has a way to say it.
So go watch it.
Yeah.
And let us know your thoughts.
Yeah.
Tyler Creator, Charlie XCX.
I love when the worlds collide with each other.
I think it's really healthy and it's cool.
It's healthy to see the industry like co-collaborating with others.
And Mads, you mentioned that these musicians and artists are often referring to the film world, but talk about the music world.
Oh, well, so there was another film that came out recently.
Charli XCX is on a huge run right now.
I think she's coming off of Brat Summer and she released this film which is kind of called a mockumentary but it's called The Moment.
And I think it's only in select theaters, but it's basically a satire on her being on tour and having this hugely commercially successful album called Brat.
It's just so funny.
I think it was really well done in the same way that you can see Josh Safdie's view of the world.
I think this is a glimpse into Charli's world, and it's nice to see it visually, because I've been listening to her and seeing her fingerprints all over uh, music and pop culture for so many years that it's nice to see her have commentary in a different way.
Um yeah, i watched it with with jen, and you don't really know that much about her, but you found it entertaining, right?
Yeah, she has a lot to say about um, how art gets made, which I think is something that's really fascinating for all three of us.
And the tension between staying true to your artistic vision but also knowing how to be strategic and compromising when you need to to get things made, to make them commercially successful, to reach the people that you want to reach.
He tackles that in a very humorous and entertaining way.
Alexander Skarsgård is in that film as well.
If you know him, he's been a bunch of stuff.
He's been in Succession and he plays a film director.
That's kind of like out of touch and like watching him interact with Charlie.
Very white male.
Yeah, it's very interesting.
Yeah, she plays herself.
She also pulled in Kylie Jenner.
But it was a great time and I think it really makes you think about the media that you're consuming.
And I really loved it because it reminded me of our favorite short film by our favorite band or Argentinian duo musician, our favorite musical duo, Catrio y Paco Amoroso.
They have a short film called Popota that we really, really love.
We watch it like twice a week at least, and it never gets boring.
I love showing it to people because it's true art.
And like whoever watches it, it's really revealing about that person, how they consumed it.
If they just saw and they're like well, that was weird.
Then you're able to see like oh, this person doesn't really consume media very intentionally.
They're just like a consumer.
But if they're able to kind of like ponder and laugh at it and and be like oh, this was illuminating, and you're able to like glean the authenticity from the artist out of it.
I think I haven't seen the moment, but I would like to see it because they have drawn parallels to Popota.
Yes.
The background behind Popota is there's this Argentinian duo that we love.
Their names are Catriel and Paco Amoroso and they made a tiny desk and they got featured and they blew up globally and they've been, they've been doing music for years.
But then uh, with the success of tiny desk, they kind of were launched into this industry and had to package things commercially to be successful.
And their short film popota, is a commentary on the industry and what it means to be a musician in a world that is not really caring so much about your original ideas, but they want you as the vehicle.
And so, uh, it's from the artist's lens.
And I think one of the most famous Argentinian directors was the kind of master mastermind behind that film.
And, um, It's really great.
You should watch it.
It's incredibly honest.
They cover imposter syndrome.
They cover losing yourself to chase fame.
They cover friendship and how those bonds are formed and sustained and all this kind of stuff.
It's very honest while also being very funny and whimsical.
And there's a lot of layers to it, but it's also, on its surface, just like very entertaining and fresh.
They mix so many like musical styles and um together and it gave me hope for music in a landscape where a lot is sounding similar these days.
It was like oh, this is so fresh.
There's this one song that kind of behaves as a conversation between the producer and them And they're saying like okay, you have to use words like vibe check, use a hashtag.
And they're like, okay, in the song, they're like, okay.
And so they sing a verse and they include vibe check, they include hashtag.
And then in the pre-chorus, they basically say what they are hearing from the producers.
They're saying like, if you want to be someone, you can't be you.
And if you want to be you, you're not going to be anyone.
And in the chorus, it's just all pop trash.
I don't know.
They're just like, all right, let's just say the word.
Let's talk about big pics.
Let's talk about cars.
And so I just thought it was such an honest and humorous adaptation of what an artist hears from the industry and what they have to say to be successful, versus the tension between like, what do I actually want to say?
And how is my voice being silenced in order to get my voice heard?
It's like, it's very interesting, a very weird tension.
And I just thought it was very brilliantly done.
There's commentary on AI, there's commentary on fast fashion, there's commentary on music industry and there's commentary on nostalgia.
It will get your mind going a little bit.
On friendship.
Yeah.
It's only 14 minutes.
We'll link it in the show notes.
16.
Oh, 16 minutes.
16 minutes with the credits, like into the show notes.
But that's an easy one that you could yeah, quickly.
Yes, thank you for joining us for this first installation of media minute.
As you can tell, we're very passionate about these um spheres of influence in the pop culture world and we're really excited to continue this.
So let us know in the comments, if you like this, What are your thoughts on all the pieces of media that we covered.
Are there any pieces of media you want us to cover?
Because we'd be happy to consume them.
This is a different type of conversation that we're really excited to have with you.
You can find us on at the Hot Pursuit Pod on Instagram and TikTok.
And we're on Apple Podcasts and Spotify and other podcasting platforms.
And we can't wait to just explore and see how Media Minute continues to evolve.
Give us your feedback.
It's really helpful.
And we really do read and listen and take it all in.
All right.
Hot Pursuit out.
Bye.
