Armchair Expert with Dax Shepard - Flightless Bird: Independence Day

Episode Date: July 4, 2023

This week on Flightless Bird, David Farrier sets out to investigate what the heck is going on with Independence Day, one of America’s 11 officially mandated holidays. What makes this day so American and how is he meant to spend it? To learn about Independence Day the day, Farrier turns to Independence Day the movie. Farrier talks to film critic David Chen of DecodingEverything.com to find out what made this film so patriotic it was literally named after the 4th of July. Farrier then tracks down Phil Grucci, President and CEO of “Fireworks by Grucci” - America’s so-called “First Family of Fireworks”. Grucci’s company holds the Guinness World Record for the "Largest Fireworks Display" ever recorded and he educates David about why fireworks are practically baked into the Declaration of Independence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

I'm David Farrier, a New Zealander accidentally marooned in America, and I want to figure out what makes this country tick. If you're listening to this episode on the day it comes out, you'll find it's Tuesday, July 4th, 2023. And how could Flightless Bird, a show that comes out every Tuesday, arrive on this particular Tuesday without turning its focus to Independence Day? Yes, the day where America celebrates the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the founding document of the US, 247 years old today.

Independence Day appears between the other public holidays of Juneteenth and Labor Day, one of 11 officially mandated holidays here in America. 11 holidays is pretty good. It's above Taiwan, which gets 8, but full short of New Zealand, which has 12. Nepal gets a staggering 35. So, without further ado, let's fire up that grill, pop open a bottle of cold beer, and get patriotic, because this is the Independence Day episode. I want to make it very clear that of every episode I've done, I've prepared the least for this one. My mind is empty when it comes to Independence Day. Okay.

I learned some things in the documentary about what makes America tick. But after making the documentary, I realized I still know very little. I just want to get that out of the way. Okay. Well, I'm confused. Like, isn't the point of you, aren't you supposed to be teaching us stuff yeah i am i'm sort of meant to be teaching myself stuff but i just gonna be honest i didn't learn a lot in this episode look i got very distracted by the movie independence day which becomes very clear in the documentary an experience i often have here and it's partly because i'm here i guess as a

freelancer and i don't have a day job every public holiday that happens in america is a surprise to me and suddenly it'll be a monday and someone will say it's oh it's this so-and-so day and i'm like i didn't what is this and like and another day what was that all your public holidays are so sort of foreign to me and i don't know what they all mean and i guess i'm just saying to you what's your relationship for the public holiday do you care about them do they factor into your life very much do americans love public holidays are they just waiting for i can't with a long weekend we're gonna go skiing because we've got an extra day, you know? Yes. People love long weekends because, duh. But I'm feeling myself, what's it called when the porcupine needles like-

The quills go- Poke up. You're sort of swelling with- Anger. Anger. Yeah. Okay. And patriotism, I guess.

Okay. Because- Me, you're angry. A little bit. Your quills are coming in my direction. A little bit. Okay. And patriotism, I guess. Okay. Because. Me, you're angry. A little bit. Your quills are coming in my direction. A little bit. Okay. Because when you started to play the intro, I felt just the teeniest 2%, my eyes watering.

Oh, this is incredible. This is so good. Because. Wow, America. This is in you. It, America. This is in you. It's deep. It is deep. Actually, 4th of July, I do get really saccharine around.

Yeah. Because my parents came from another country. Yeah, totally. And I have my beef with America. It means something to you. Like you could come here and be what you wanted to be. Yes. And I do believe that my family and I have ultimately lived the American dream as promised.

Oh, my God. I love this. And it's beautiful. I really think it's beautiful. And on July 4th, I always do give a little shout out. I don't call them because that's too much, but I just shout out to the universe a thank you to my parents. Well, to my dad. Yeah. My mom came with her parents. So to my dad and my grandparents on my mom's side for doing this really scary thing which is leaving their country something you've kind of done yeah and no that's scary i think it's interesting

because you have something that i don't have yet i think it's really neat that you've got pride i'm into it but that's something i don't have at all and i think that's so interesting that there is a huge difference between us in that way. For some reason, the right, it seems, has commandeered American pride. Yeah. Which is so silly because every American should have it. Yes, and I have it. And so I don't. What are you about to cry over there? You need some tissues.

Can you get Monica some tissues? Just 2%. It's passed. But when I hear the national anthem, I feel it in my body. I feel gratitude for this country, even as fucked up as it can be. It's also a really good place to live. Yeah. And I'd say the same thing about New Zealand.

If I hear the national anthem of New Zealand, I will get like, you do feel it. It's embedded in you. The country that you most identify with. It does become a part of you, whether or it's embedded in you the country that you most identify with it does become a part of you whether or not you believe in tribalism it is real on your typical independence day this is out in the future on july 4th july 4th let's pretend happy july 4th happy july 4th what are you doing today i am currently on a vacation with friends. Cool.

Have you got little American flags that you're holding? I'm holding an American flag. I'm wearing red, white, and blue. Beautiful. By an American designer. Are you having a barbecue? Yes. Barbecuing, drinking, and there will be fireworks.

Do you all get around together and sing the anthem? No. No, okay. That's taking it a step too far. I know, I thought maybe you would. I thought, you know. But I do like to play music that's American-based, like Bruce Springsteen and the playlist, the 4th of July playlist.

Yeah, I like those on that day and i love fireworks yeah fireworks are exciting we get into some fireworks have you ever seen fireworks uh no it's gonna be my first time today seeing them yeah no i have seen fireworks okay why they have them on guy fox but you have them on guy Fawkes. We have them on Guy Fawkes, a very different sort of reason. But I am interested to see what happens today in America. I can't. Where was I last? Was I in America last year for the 4th of July? I don't even know.

You were. Because we went to San Francisco right before then. Yeah. I'm just trying to think where. No, I was. I watched the fireworks off my friend's balcony. And they're really beautiful. Yeah. They'm just trying to think where. No, I was. I watched the fireworks off my friend's balcony. And they're really beautiful. They're really good. But yeah, should we play this documentary? And I'm going to teach you.

I guess I just feel like you aren't respecting it the way it deserves to be. No, I respect it, but I've just gone to learn about it in a bit of a sort of a creative way. Okay, let's hear it. As I've said many times before, I grew up in New Zealand learning about all things America by way of American movies. I learned about American politics by watching The Pelican Brief.

The Supreme Court of the United States, our ultimate symbol of law and order. And everything I know about American sports came to me via Jerry Maguire. Show you the money. Oh, no, no, you can do better than that, Jerry. I want you to to learn about Independence Day, I would do so via the language of cinema. To help me, I reached out to film critic and reviewer Dave Chen. To help me, I reached out to film critic and reviewer Dave Chen.

Dave knows movies better than anyone I know. He's got a film podcast called Decoding Everything and a website about all things film and TV, decodingeverything.com. And perhaps most importantly, in an episode about Independence Day, Dave Chen is an American. I grew up in Lexington, Massachusetts, which is where one of the first battles of the Revolutionary War was fought. And we were indoctrinated on, I think there's a movie called April Morning starring Tommy Lee Jones. It kind of tells that story. The regulars are on the road tonight.

One day in history. The king's peace is slavery. shot right heard around the world this is going to be the greatest day of my life a nation is born men and boys we've done all of our lives are going to try and stop an army and the idea of independence day is the idea of triumphing over, vanquishing this monolithic enemy that has way more resources, way more power and influence than you. And I guess that's what the American idea of Independence Day has meant to me for a significant chunk of my life. Dave's parents moved from Taiwan to the States when Dave and his brother were kids. He's been here a lot longer than I have. So I was curious to know how he grew up experiencing Independence Day. My dad owned a Chinese restaurant and he worked for many years, every single day

of the year, except for four days. New Year's Day, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Independence Day. And I was very romantic about the American dream when I was younger, you know, and this idea that my dad could come to America with almost no resources and with my mom build a Chinese restaurant and send us to school and college and stuff like that. And it very much felt like I was part of this American dream that people had told me so much about. And for some reason, whenever I saw this restaurant will be closed on Independence Day, it reminded me of that idea. Now, as I said earlier, Dave is a film critic. So it was time to turn to Independence Day.

Not the day, per se, but the movie. Today is the 4th of July. And you will once per se, but the movie. Opening on July 4th, 1996, Independence Day contained one of the most famous speeches in cinema history, and turned Will Smith into a superstar. With Will Smith, that speech, the score and the visual effects, German-born director Roland Emmerich managed to make one of the most American films of all time. And it's through this film, Independence Day, that I'll learn about the day, Independence Day. When I was younger, it was easier to believe in an idealized form of America. to believe in an idealized form of America.

And Independence Day, the movie, really was a filmic embodiment of that idea. Like Top Gun, I think Independence Day is very well executed propaganda about America. It's like a 90s disaster movie version of Top Gun. It stars and basically helped to create one of the planet's last great movie stars, Will Smith. It's about America squaring off against an unnamed, kind of faceless enemy.

And it's about the ingenuity of America and its military industrial complex. Plus it features heroes doing incredible aerial acrobatics and jets. Now, before Independence Day came out, aliens flew around in tiny saucers on our screens, but no longer. When I think of Independence Day the movie, I think big, big things, just big things. Literally the word big, large. I had never seen city-sized alien saucers before. I think they're 15 kilometers

in diameter spaceships that can just level an entire city at once. And then I think about how in the face of these insurmountable odds, the United States was able to win. This is a movie that came out during the Clinton administration, well before 9-11, when a massive attack on America, let alone New York or Washington, was basically unimaginable. Roland Emmerich would go on to make other disaster movies

where things attacked Earth, including Godzilla and the moon. Yes, in Moonfall, the moon falls onto the Earth. And just when you thought they were done, just when you thought, oh, wow, I've seen the buildings blow up, something else comes along. I'm seeing 50 jets go towards this ship. I'm seeing Will Smith flying an alien ship, going up into a bigger ship.

Just when you thought you're done, another thing comes an alien ship, going up into a bigger ship. Just when you thought you're done, another thing comes to like one up the previous thing. And it was just an incredible theatrical experience. This was at a time when non-Marvel movies could be massive cultural events. This is one of those movies where it's being cross-promoted everywhere. You're seeing Super Bowl ads. You're seeing ads at convenience stores on drinks. You're hearing it advertised on the radio. You're seeing TV ads nonstop. And of course, Independence Day was released on Independence Day in 1996. The entire marketing campaign was based on this one fact. A lot of movies come out on holidays.

Memorial Day historically was like a huge day. I remember, I think The Lost World came out on Memorial Day, if I'm not mistaken, and that was like a huge deal. But it wasn't like The Lost World Memorial Day was the title of the movie. It's rare to have that. The poster didn't even have the movie's full name on it. It just said ID4. It was basically nonsensical. Why was an alien invasion film so obsessed with a date, besides a good marketing opportunity? Well, in the movie, humans launch their counterattack on the aliens on July 4. But really, it's to do with a speech delivered by Bill Pullman, one template for any big movie speech from that point forward.

More specifically, the movie's title has to do with the very last sentence of a very long speech. I'll play it from the top, and you can guess how it ends. Today is the 4th of July, and you will once again be fighting for our freedom. Not from tyranny, oppression, or persecution, but from annihilation. We're fighting for our right to live, to exist. And should we win the day, the 4th of July will no longer be known as an American holiday. But as the day when the world declared in one voice, we will

not go quietly into the night. We will not vanish without a fight. We're going to live on. We're going to survive. Today, we celebrate our Independence Day. And with that one passionate final line, the film's title was Sealed. But in amongst all the patriotism, the film contains some shocking moments for Americans to watch, like the annihilation of famous American landmarks, including the White House. Dave recalls a piece from The Hollywood Reporter looking back on Independence Day. In it, the movie's writer, Dean Devlin,

outlined how shocking this scene was at the time. So Dean Devlin was saying that they were telling him you can't actually blow up the White House in a TV spot. And Roland Emmerich asked why. And Fox said, well, because of what happened in Oklahoma City, where there is a bombing attack in 1995, could be seen as insensitive. And then Dean Devlin responds, yes, but that wasn't done by space aliens.

And Roland Emmerich said, we'll test it one spot with the White House blowing up, once without the White House blowing up. And when they saw the test result, they decided that they would put it as the first commercial in the Super Bowl. And it made a huge impact.

An image of the White House exploding during the Super Bowl was huge. They cut through and started a whole new trend in movies where America's favorite tourist spots were gleefully destroyed. What I think was so daring about the movie is not its politics, which are very, very simple, and America can come together and so can the world.

That's kind of what the movie's trying to say. But in how willing it was to show America being laid low. When it exploded the White House on its big trailers and its big ads, it was genuinely shocking and transgressive. But Independence Day wasn't just about high-powered explosives. That's not what makes Independence Day a truly American film. One thing I think the movie does really well is also, and this will become the template for many Roland Emmerich movies moving forward, is showing lots of different people from all around America.

You have Randy Quaid's crop duster family and Jeff Goldblum, who's a savant with radio codes, I guess, and Will Smith's fighter pilot and his family and the president. It's showing you that all these different groups of people make up America. And that's kind of one of the things that makes America awesome. It is at its best a melting pot of all these different groups of people. So you can sort of see, Monica, my idea is kind of working, right? Like, let's learn about Independence Day via the movie Independence Day, which I've just learned You haven't watched I have not seen Independence Day

It's really good And you'll genuinely love it Maybe I'll watch it today Honestly I think you should It's so patriotic You might When Bill Pullman was giving a speech in that clip I almost saw you welling up

I didn't. Over there, I think, a little bit. No, it's mainly the national anthem. I've sang the national anthem at a sporting event. My chorus class in middle school sang the national anthem at a Braves game three years in a row. Three years in a row? Mm-hmm. How did that feel?

Really good. Yeah, you must feel like proud. Really American. Wow. I nailed those harmonies. Did you? Mm-hmm. Oh, I'm really proud of you.

I was an alto, and I was embarrassed about being an alto. Why were you embarrassed? I felt like that's not feminine. Is that lower in the register? All right. Anyway, I do like what you're doing here, mixing the two. Pop culture, America. I really like hearing his story.

Similar story to yours about why you feel so patriotic about this country. Yeah. I let you be what you want to be. That is. And both of us are podcasters. This is true. Yeah, he's the podcast that i've been listening to for like the longest he runs this podcast called the film cast and i've been listening to it for probably like

20 years or something so it's crazy i love that his dad closed on yeah independence day that's so heartwarming it is right it's really beautiful okay do you want to learn some more yes okay get those tissues ready i've been watching a clip on youtube of the US Navy band performing America the Beautiful, which is apparently the song most entwined with July 4th. America, sweet America. Like Independence Day the movie, the song's not exactly subtle. And that brings me to another unsubtle part of Independence Day the day, which also has a lot in common with Independence Day the film.

Explosions, pyrotechnics, blowing shit up. It's fascinating that America chose pyrotechnics as one of the ways in which it celebrates its independence. It feels extremely appropriate. It's not like the way we celebrate Independence Day is we stare at a reflecting pool all day. We blow things up, and that's according to the National Anthem, a lot of how we got to be a free country in the first place. I'd never read the lyrics of the Star Spangled Banner, but there it is.

of the star-spangled banner. But there it is. And the rocket's red glare, the bombs bursting in air, gave proof through the night that our flag was still there. With those lines in mind, I got Phil Grucci on the line. Phil is the president and CEO of Fireworks by Grucci, the head of America's so-called first family of fireworks. His family business has been around since the 1850s and holds the Guinness World Record for the largest fireworks display ever recorded. He's out doing a site visit when I call him on his cell phone. Grouchy Family and Fireworks by Grouchy is a sixth generation family business.

So I represent the fifth generation of our family business and my son and my nephew, my son Christopher and my nephew Corey, are part of the sixth generation. No one knows about America's relationship with fireworks better than Phil. And he tells me they've changed a lot over his lifetime. And before, when he was listening to them whilst nestled in his mother's womb. I experienced this industry going from lighting our fireworks one at a time with a torch and lighting the tip of that fireworks fuse and watching that show rise into the sky. And the audience would ooh and ah and there'd be some seconds in between each one of the shells to our first electrical program where we connected basically a wire to a bridge wire that glowed hot when you put energy through electricity through it and it was very crude just like flicking a light switch to now

where we're displaying with computers and we're firing things wirelessly and at long distances and multiple items firing thousands of items firing simultaneously at the same moment today phil's company does fireworks displays all over America and all over the world. One day, they'll be manufacturing fireworks to fire off in Dubai. The next, they're customizing fireworks so the Department of Defense can run simulations. Fireworks are in Phil's blood

because they're in America's blood. The man who signed the Declaration of Independence made sure of it. It's very special for us to have the opportunity to celebrate that with fireworks. When we signed the Declaration of Independence, John Adams penned a letter to his wife at that time saying that on this day and every day forward, on the 4th of July, we shall celebrate with bonfires and illuminations from coast to coast. So it was almost as close as writing that into our bylaws of the country. And so, almost 250 years later, Independence Day is a particularly big day for Phil.

It is the peak period that we're preparing right now for, where we'll have in excess of 400 pyrotechnicians in most of the states in the United States, from here in New York all the way out to Hawaii. As this episode comes out, his company will be lighting the fuse on about 80 fireworks shows across the US, each curated with a minimum of three pyrotechnicians, and some with as many as 30. So many explosions, which of course brings us back to Independence Day, the film, the day Will Smith exploded an alien aircraft. The simple fact is, 26 years before Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on stage at the Oscars, he punched an alien in the face.

on stage at the Oscars, he punched an alien in the face. I've been watching key scenes from Independence Day on YouTube, and today I suggest you do the same. This is one scene where Randy Quaid's character, an alcoholic former fighter pilot and Vietnam War vet, sacrifices himself by flying into the alien ship, destroying it. Oh boys, I'm back! What I love about these scenes are the comments under them on YouTube. For a blockbuster about an alien invasion, they're strangely heartwarming. Here's one comment. I remember the scene. I was 21 at the time, they're strangely heartwarming. Here's one comment. I remember the scene. I was 21 at the time, in college, no children of my own. Today, I have three children, ages 12, 10, and 7, and seeing this scene again after all these years hit me

differently now that I'm a father of three. A father's love and sacrifice holds no limitations. mother's love and sacrifice holds no limitations. And as I wrap up my reminiscing with Dave, he brings up one of his favorite scenes in Independence Day, in which all the focus turns to a cute dog leaping to safety. One of the things that I think summarizes how much this movie gets the American population is when Vivica A. Fox's character is trying to avoid getting blowed up. And she grabs her kid and she's running into this tunnel and she needs to get her dog.

And she calls the dog and the dog like barely makes it out of the explosion alive. And the amount of people who are more invested in the dog than like the literally millions of people that are being exterminated is really high. In my opinion, I think shows one of the contradictions or absurdities of American life, which is that a lot of times people care more about the fates of animals than they do about humans. But ultimately, at the end of the day, Independence Day is a movie about Americans coming together to help save each other, and their dogs, and the world. And coming together to save a world seems like a good message to be focusing on as I spend this July 4th in America. It's a message Dave Chen will think about too.

I came here when I was 38. Dave came here when he was 2. He's had a bit more time to think about it than me. I think despite the complicated challenges that America faces, both outside and within the country, one thing that I don't forget about is how much this country has given me. The many things I am able to have in my life because of America. Patriotism. I love it. I just love it.

You know, I don't think you're going to have that ever. Ever. But. Yeah, I probably won't. I think if you have children here, they'll have it. They'll have it. Yeah. Yeah, right. My little American chidlers running around out there.

Because they'll understand. Do you remember when your dad came over and he got trapped in the States during the pandemic and did his podcast? Is that your narrative still? Trapped. You're trapped here? No, no. Luckily stranded. Luckily stranded. They will understand that they very easily could not have lived here. That's the part about racism.

Well, there's so many parts that are bad. There are so many bad parts. But one unjust part is that people who have an idea about immigrants, they're just so wrong because immigrants love America more than anyone. Immigrants really understand the beauty of America and have truly given up their entire lives to come here. Somewhat like eighth, ninth generation American doesn't have that. Yeah. No, that's so interesting actually just such a clearly stupid aspect of racism in america it's like but i get it they think that's

other that they associate with a different country but it's not true that immigrants love america it would literally make it tick like immigrantsrants America would grind to a very shocking, crazy halt. And I think people would be like, oh, whoa. Yeah. Honestly, I think you will like Independence Day. Make sure you watch the first one and not the second one. Okay. Part one.

It is this really idyllic thing of all the different types of Americans coming together for this one shared goal. And as cheesy as that is, that is a really beautiful thing. And imagine making the Super Bowl and seeing the White House going. It's really transgressive. What a big marketing moment. And it's also, there's so many baller stories behind the movie. Like they were arguing with the studio about what to call it. And Roland Emmerich, the director,

really wanted it to be called Independence Day. And the studio was like, no, we're going to call it this or that. And so he changed the speech, that really incredible speech, that ends on, this is the day we celebrate our Independence Day. He added that line. Oh, my God. So that line would be the biggest thing in the film, and therefore they'd have to call the film Independence Day.

Oh, that's so funny. And there's so many really amazing stories about how this film came to be. Tim Burton was due to release Mars Attacks that same year, which is another alien invasion movie. Yeah. And Roland Emmerich was like, we've got to beat it. We've got to have this coming out on Independence Day. It's got to be marketed around this.

We're going to beat Tim Burton. Wow. Which is another really American thing, this intense sense of competition and winning. Yes, it sure is. I love everything about it. And it's got Jeff Goldblum in it. Yeah, your fave. My fave. Yes, it sure is. I love everything about it. And it's got Jeff Goldblum in it. Yeah, your fave.

My fave. Oh, this was fun. I just want to say happy Independence Day, Monica. Happy Independence Day. Happy July 4th. Thank you. I am proud to be an American. And I'm very happy to be in your weird, strange, patriotic country.

I am. I like it here. I really like it here. It's a really messed I like it here. I really like it here. It's a really messed up, strange place. Yeah. I really like it. Yeah, there you go. Yeah.

I even like you, Rob. Thanks. Happy Independence Day. Happy Independence Day. Thank you.