Lovett or Leave It - Birth of a Discrimi-nation

Episode Date: June 15, 2018

Hollywood, baby! Home of rich celebrities, infuriating traffic and the systemic suppression of marginalized voices. We'll discuss Tinseltown's history of government censorship, the secret motivations of Candace Owens, and we'll even meet an audience member who hasn’t seen Ghostbusters or The Dark Knight. Nicole Byer, Hannah Hart, and Tre’Vell Anderson join Lovett to figure out whether L.A. really is a liberal La La Land, or if there might be some conservatism hidden deep under the La Brea Tar Pits. City Of Staaaaaaaaars!

What is up Los Angeles? West Hollywood. Guys, we're doing our southern swing. We're going to... Eh, southern-ish. We're going to Atlanta. We're going to Durham. We're going to Nashville. Atlanta and Durham are sold out. But we have two shows in Nashville at the Ryman Theater for Pod Save America

and Love It or Leave It. There are tickets available for both. More for Love It or Leave It are left. It's okay. All right. Look, tonight we're going to do something a little bit different. We normally cover the week's news and share in a group catharsis over the fact that the most powerful man on the planet

doesn't know the words to God Bless America. But do any of us? Oh yeah, yes, I know all the words to God Bless America. At least the first verse. I know all the words. God Bless America. At least the first verse. I know all the words. Oh, I know my land is your land. I know the Neil Diamond one.

But sometimes we do lose the forest for the trees, so once in a while we're stepping back to dive into an issue instead of whatever hellish nightmare just happened to happen over the previous seven days. Tonight, we want to talk about something that has divided our culture and infuriated the present. We want to talk about something that affects every aspect of our day, from the music we listen to, to the clothes we wear,

to the gifs we annoy each other with. Or do you say gifs? Gifs. Ugh. Do you say gerrymandering? Ah, I think it's supposed to be gerrymandering. So, you know, we all have a lot to learn. Yes, today we're going to talk about Hollywood.

With the White House ramping up the culture war leading into the midterms, we want to take a step back and talk about what Hollywood actually stands for in 2018. We have an incredible panel to help have this conversation. He's a film reporter at the Los Angeles Times. Please welcome back to the show Travelle Anderson. Hey, everybody.

How y'all doing? She's a New York Times bestselling author, Food Network host, online content creator, which is broad, and host of the podcast Hannah Lies This.

Please welcome Hannah Hart. Hi, Hannah. How are you? Doing very well, sir. How are you? Good. She is the host of Netflix Nailed It and the podcast Why Won't You Date Me. Please welcome the very funny Nicole Byer.

Hi, Nicole. How are you? I'm a little tired, I won't lie. I've been shooting Nailed It all fucking day. I found this fascinating. It stopped me if this is too much shop talk. It didn't occur to me that you watch

them bake it all from beginning to end. Yup. Every day for 13 days I go, oh, cakes go in the oven. They came out. They frost them. It's the same. And then a producer will be in my ear and be like, Whoa! Wow! Look at Amanda's cake! It's cooked! And I'm like, yes!

That's how an oven works! That's a good transition. Leads naturally into the topic. Let's get into it. What a fantasy land of progress and hope with a deep undercurrent of greed, nostalgia, and systemic abuse. All right. Since Hollywood became Hollywood in the early part of the last century,

there's always been a relationship between this city and politics, and that idea of liberal Hollywood has been taken for granted, not just by people who use it as a punchline or the industry of conservatives convincing people that they're victims in a culture war. It's also taken for granted by Hollywood itself. And Hollywood sees itself as liberal, and in many ways movies and TV can lead to acceptance and progress

by telling stories about marginalized people like Tim Allen. But Hollywood has certainly not lived up to its own image of itself as a beacon of tolerance, progress, and equality, even though Roseanne was canceled. Travelle, Hollywood has this reputation as a liberal place, yet right now we're in this debate about inequality and compensation and representation, about harassment and abuse. We're spending a lot of time grappling with the ways Hollywood isn't liberal. What does that tell you about Hollywood's image of itself? isn't liberal. What does that tell you about Hollywood's image of itself? Is there an adjustment that's going on right now because Hollywood's finally facing up to the ways it wasn't liberal?

What do you think? What it tells me is that, you know, white people's perception of Hollywood is finally catching up to black people's perception of Hollywood. Because I think people of color generally, marginalized communities generally, we know Hollywood not to necessarily be as welcoming and as supportive and as liberal as the images might say. And so it's great for white people to come along finally and for us all to, you know, really get on the train to try to, you know, change some stuff. But Roseanne was greenlit, right? And so we see that there's a sentiment in Hollywood that we need to cater to or provide programming for certain types

of people who might be in the flyover states or they might have gone to high school with me in South Carolina for example. You guys still in touch? No. Could you imagine? I mean, I can't imagine. I can't.

I don't know what they would. Never mind. But yeah, I just think we're finally seeing, or some people are finally seeing Hollywood for what it is. And let's be real. Let's look at the people who are controlling all of these studios, who's really getting in all this money. I'm interested to see who they vote for. I'm interested to see what

policies get them to sit up in their seats. I can promise you it's not necessarily the policies that talk about pay equality. Nicole, Dennis Miller, funniest comedian of the decade.

Funniest comedian of all time. You don't have to comment on that so we're having this conversation about diversity i think to dravel's point i think the image is catching up to the reality of just how much of hollywood was closed off to people but i feel like a lot of the public debate has been around some of the highest paid people, not just in show business, but in the world. We see these kind of strange things about, isn't it a great thing that the male actor who was making three million will now be making the same as the female actor who's going to make three million? It's like, okay, but she was at 1.3 before. So, I mean, it's cool, but let's not, it's not like a crisis.

But there is a crisis for people that aren't going to get those kinds of stories written. Is this change trickling down to the people that work on sets that are day players that are trying to break in? Like equal pay? I don't think it's trickling down. On my set, I think there's one female camera

operator, and there are six cameras. And I don't even know if she's an actual operator, she might just be a digital, not just, I think she's a digital loader. But like, the sound guys are all dudes. There's just so many men on that set. Even my handler is a man. And it's like, I'm usually like, I'm getting dressed, and he's like, there. And it's just, I'm usually like, I'm getting dressed and he's like there. And it's just, I just, it doesn't, I think what needs to happen is men need to take women under their wing. So like the way you have diversity hires on TV shows, a diversity hire is a person of color who is free.

It's not part of your budget. They're free from the network. who is free. It's not part of your budget. They're free from the network. I feel like more shows should be inclusive in a way where networks provide money for women to be able to learn. Because writing,

you only need one job to have a fucking career. You could be a god-awful writer, but you get that one job and everyone goes, hey, Ted can write. And like, Ted's stupid, you know? Ted sucks. Yeah, Ted sucks so hard. But he gets job after job because he got the first job.

Because he got that first job. So people need to realize that you need to give women a chance. And I try when I go to colleges, if a girl's like, how do I do comedy? I'm like, you don't say no. You just keep getting up. You bomb. You do it. You keep fucking doing it.

And then you bring another bitch with you. Like, you just, like, we have to pull each other up. So I agree with, obviously I agree with that. But at the same time, the idea of, like, a diversity slot in some ways also lets off the hook the people in hiring positions. Because there's this idea that, oh, you know, the pipeline's not there. We would love to hire more women or we'd love to hire more people of color. We'd love to hire more queer people, but we don't know where to find them. You know, the people that the agencies send us, the people that the managers send us,

they're all white guys or they're all, you know, they're not diverse. The person needs to speak up. When I was hiring writers on, loosely exactly, Nicole, streams on Facebook, I was reading scripts and it exactly Nicole streams on Facebook I was reading scripts and it was just a bunch of white dudes so I finally said the only way I'll read another script written by a white guy is if it's so good he's hired on another show and I can't have him I don't want to read it give me women give me people of color and like gay men just give me give me

those people those are the people who understand my voice like when I go the road, I ask for a female comic or a gay man. Because that's my, my audience wants that. And that's what I want. I don't want a 65-year-old man, which is what happened in Naples, being like, and I'm like, what are you saying? You know? So I like the diversity hire specifically because sometimes people of color and women aren't necessarily, the opportunities aren't available and maybe the education isn't available. Maybe they couldn't figure out how to get to a screenwriting class.

Maybe they couldn't afford to fucking go to NYU. So you get hired as a diversity hire and then it is on your showrunner to teach you how to write. That's what that program is and I don't think a lot of showrunners understand that. You got to teach us, because if you throw a black person or a woman into something and they weren't prepared, then you're like, well, women suck. Black people, they dumb. But like, you just have to teach us. White dudes get a lot of opportunities, and when white men are just like, oh man, it went ethnic. I'm like, no, no. No, if there's like three or four black or female EPs, guess who the staff writers are? White dudes.

Because that trickles down. It's a reverse effect. I get real upset about it because I don't understand how people can't see the whole picture. It's like character actors. A lot of white character actors are like, oh, when ethnic? Nah, bitch. If the two leads were an Indian American and a black person,

guess who gets to be the side character? A friendly little white man, you know? That's how that shit works. Let us in. I think I'm the friendly little white man today. Hannah, so one of the ways I think I'm the friendly little white man today. Hannah, so one of the ways I think change has been instigated recently is that a lot of people have gone around the gatekeepers, and they're making shows on YouTube, they're making their mark online,

whereas before, I think people who were either marginalized or just kind of weird and not somebody who could do well in a room because they didn't know how to speak the language of a Hollywood meeting, which is, I think, the language of a kind of white elite culture. And there are plenty of people who just aren't good at that conversation. It makes it hard to get a job. There's a lot of people who are able to make their mark online and say, here, I can prove myself without you.

And that helps get them in the door. I mean, do you think that kind of thriving weirdness on the internet and a place for people to just try things out has helped kind of show people that Hollywood can be more diverse and can bring up more voices? I don't know what the internet is today. I mean, I got my start online back in 2011, so that was seven years ago, and I had no idea that YouTube had kind of a subculture of media then at the time. For those of you listening via the podcast, I am a white person, just FYI.

And if I hadn't been a white person, I don't know if I would have had a viral success, because I probably would have been pigeonholed by my race. My first show I did was My Drunk Kitchen, so it was me cooking, getting drunk. But, you know, I think that if I had been a person of color, it would have been like, it wouldn't have been able to be viewed as this kind of universal par, which is the issue that you run into in traditional media and in digital media today. I mean, if you look at the biggest, most popular digital media stars by race from 2006 to today, you'll see that it has become, as YouTube has become more mainstream, it has become more white.

And now the biggest, most popular stars online are all white people again. So I don't know if that was your question. That was the question, and then you answered it, and I learned something, which I think is the goal of asking and hearing the answers. I will say, though, that it's interesting because as a queer person, I find that people often, when I'm trying to get something, like right now, I have this dream. I really just want to make a rom-com that I can relate to in any way,

just shape or form, you know? And, like, I love love. You know, we all love love. Who doesn't love love? But I have watched people fall in love for the last 31 years and I would like to watch two women fall in love and nobody die and that would be great. That would be great for me.

And it's interesting because in response to me trying to get these kind of things off the ground, I have a lot of people being like I don't know if it seems gay enough. I mean, which one of them is coming out? And I'm like, neither of them! One's a doctor! I mean, which one of them is coming out? And I'm like, neither of them.

One's a doctor. Or something. I don't know. A genie. I don't know. Maybe one's a witch. Yeah. I don't know.

I'm trying to get this thing made. Okay. JaVale. JaVale. So even as I think we are having a good cultural conversation about how Hollywood can do better, there's been this strange moment of Roseanne and Tim Allen's show coming back and this idea that there's whole swaths of the country that we're also not appealing to. So along with Hollywood not being diverse,

along with there not being diverse, along with there not being enough places for queer people and people of color and women to have their voices be represented, there's also, now we're learning, according to some, that white people in the middle of the country, they don't have anybody entertaining them. So who is going to the movies? Is it people of color and the women in the cities? The white people in the middle of the country? Is anyone going to... Do you want to just talk about the issue? Just pretend I didn't ask a question.

No, who's going to the movies? Who's going to see all of this content that's out there? Well, I mean, it should be known that people of color, particularly Latinos, go to the movies the most. They spend the most money going to the movies, yet they're the ones who really don't see themselves. Them and Asian folk, there's no movies for them. That being said, I'm particularly tired of this mantra that we hear about people in the flyover states or, you know, the lower income white folk, blue collar folk not seeing themselves.

I've spent 26 years of my life not seeing myself on TV and seeing myself in white folk and white men and Brad Pitt and whoever else. You can do it for a couple years. You can see Issa Rae or Donald Glover and find something in those characters that resonate with you the same way that I've had to do in my entire goddamn life. I can see myself in Brad Pitt. Oh! Well, he needs to see himself in me, okay?

How about that? All right? What's that quote that's like, it's that equality feels like oppression to the oppressor? Yes. That's how it goes? And I think that the real issue that we're facing, not only as part of the liberal community,

is trying to find a way to make progress without divisiveness while understanding and acknowledging that all of our experiences have been incredibly different. So somehow needing to be bigger than ourselves and thinking about ourselves in the curve of history and recognizing that people have suffered and recognizing that people like me have a natural privilege in this place.

And I'm totally okay with saying that. And that doesn't mean I'm great. It doesn't mean anything's getting better. But it does mean that I don't need to express my hurt feelings about it. You know what I mean? You remember when the safety pin issue came up remember that wait what was people pricking themselves i don't remember this issue well what was people were wearing a safety pin being like i stand with you

um talking about god i think it was in response to black lives matter and like yeah it was like white people wearing safety pins to show other other folk folk that, you know, I'm a safe person for you to talk to. I'm going to support you. And it's like, that's cute and all, but what I need you to do, right, is I need you to put your body on the line for these movements that you say you're supporting. I need you to put your money where your mouth is and support these movements. I don't, a safety pin doesn't do anything for me. But what if I'm lost somewhere and I don't know who to talk to? I find the nearest safety pin. But so what happens is, is this crazy moment where you have people that are like, I'm going

to do something for you. I'm putting on a safety pin. And then people are like, rightfully so, like, listen, seriously, that is not enough. And it pisses me off that you think that's enough. And then you have, you have a choice in that moment, which is either to be like, oh, my God. Well, excuse me for trying. Or to be like, oh, yeah, definitely safety pin's not enough. I mean, I get that, but, okay, what can I do? Where do you get a safety pin?

Probably Joanne Fabric. Sewing kit. But, like, to go back to Hollywood for a hot second, and not Hollywood, and not having diversity in movies or inclusion, it's befuddling. You make a movie, you have no other options. People will go see it.

Do you know what I mean? So, like, it's not like seeing yourself in something. It's like if you just cast an Asian person in something, no one's going to go, Ew, I can't watch him. It's just not going to happen. People will go to the movies. Like Black Panther. There were so many black

people. Everyone was lit well. You could see them all. Which was a real blessing. So many people went. You know what I mean? It really baffles my mind that people are like, well, I don't know.

Girls Trip was an anomaly. That's it. Oh, thank you. That was a struggle for me. And then there was Amelie. Yeah, and then Amelie. People saw that fucking trash. This bitch had her bangs cut up here.

Put the soundtrack. Yeah. I was like, yeah, I mean, like as... Think about them little bangs. That's all I remember. That's all I've retained. It was light

and there were bangs. Was it in French? Maybe. I don't know. That's the thing. People put out a fucking weird bang movie where everyone's like, bonjour, and people saw it. You know? If you put it out there, people will see it. I definitely remember how rare it was to see gay people in movies and how important it was to me and how much it meant to me and how deeply unsatisfying it was.

Because when there are so few gay leads in movies, they have to be universal. They don't get to just be characters. They represent people. And then you look at that and you're like, well, that's not me. You know, I remember being

in high school and seeing Queer as Folk and being like, I don't know how to, this isn't how I, these people, I don't want to be friends with any of them. It's making me sad.

That's not how it's going to be for me Is it? Oh no Well Ellen came out Maybe that's how, I don't want that either You didn't love Queer as Folk? I've seen every episode a hundred and two times I think I wasn't ready I think I wasn't ready

Well it's a poorly written show I don't know if you could call it acting It was a wild show, I love it But isn't know if you could call it acting like it was a wild show i love it isn't it but isn't it crazy though that in this era of like revivals that you have a show like the l word which is now coming back and it's like to me as somebody who was watching the l word i was like wow this is dramatic there's a lot of different things happening here. Has anyone in this room seen The L Word? Every episode. Oh, every episode got that woo. But it's interesting that people are rebooting something

as opposed to spearheading something and that everyone is so afraid. I mean, to be honest, I don't even think you could do an all-white cast and have a movie be a success right now because it's really about the structure of the medium and the cost of it. And we're all trying to make it this issue about representation because that is something that's

socially relevant and that does matter but at the end of the day i think it comes back to capitalism and the frankly people aren't going to movies because they're too expensive movies are too expensive how much is it to go to a movie i don't know it's like like $15, $16, $17. $16, $50. Yeah. And at the Arclight, they try to tell me where to sit, and I say no. No, I pay too much. I'll sit in the where the fuck I want. For me, it's a movie ticket,

it's a hot dog, it's nachos, it's a soda, it's Reese's Pieces to put on the popcorn. Girl, you spent $100. You forgot parking. Yeah, you gotta park. Try to get somebody else to drive. You ever bring a full bottle of wine to the movie? It's a good time I've heard you discuss this on the show

See, I feel like You don't need to bring a bottle of wine Because you can eat an edible An hour before the movie And then you've smuggled that in your bloodstream. Well, how do you know where I'm putting that bottle? Put it right up in my pussy, waddle in. I'm single.

When we come back... Okay, stop. When we come back, OK Stop! Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back! Now it's time for OK Stop. We'll roll a clip, and then the panel can say OK Stop at any point to comment.

Celebrities, why won't they just shut up about politics? Luckily, Fox News brought on Pampers Goebbels, Charlie Kirk, and Kanye Whisperer Candace Owens to give us a rundown of why celebrity athletes just need to shut their mouths and play football. Let's watch. What we're really seeing is a window

into the narcissistic, egotistical mind that is the celebrity brain. They actually think... Okay, stop! Fuck you! What? What?

This bitch! She's so rude! Egotistical... You... I'm just flapping your stupid gums, talking about bullshit. I think she's talking about herself. Anywho. ...more honor and more respect and more dignity than our veterans and our troops, and they're flapping his stupid gums, talking about bullshit. I think she's talking about herself. Anywho.

More honor and more respect and more dignity than our veterans and our troops, and they're unwilling to work with this administration simply because they have a complex. Okay, stop. Didn't Trump uninvite them? Yes. So how are they unwilling to work with the administration? Oh, you know.

Oh. A separation of the church and the state between the celebrities and the White House. Okay, stop. What? Separation of church and state between celebrities and the White House? Whoa!

Oh, my God. My head hurts. I didn't know celebrities needed... Are we the church or the state? I guess we're the church? I'll take that. I think we're the church. I'm not saying we.

I'm saying Hollywood. I get it. In the backs of Barack Obama, who was honoring these celebrities and making them feel that they were better than the American people. But Candace, I think that what they would say is, and picking the national anthem was probably a huge mistake, was we don't like the way law enforcement acts towards minorities in America, and that's the way we're standing up to it. Do you think that could lead to a conversation with this administration? it do you think that could lead to a conversation with this administration i don't take that problem to be one of the big problems that is facing the black people oh my god

what a dumpster bitch what are you talking about what that's not a problem. I hate her. No, she's trapped. Is she in the sunken place? Is that what it is? Absolutely. Is that what it is? Yeah, somebody hurt her. I just want to know what world she's living in.

Right. What news is she watching? I mean, we know what news she's watching. But, like, really? Look, she's living in a world where she's wearing a white jacket over a white shirt sitting next to a stone-cold racist on Fox News at 6.30 in the morning talking to the dumbest people

to ever sit in those chairs. That's where she's at. Okay, we had 16 unarmed black men that were shot and killed by law enforcement last year. The bigger problem is black on black crime until the right stop. Hold up. Hold up. Hold up.

OK, I'm really tired of conservatives using, quote unquote, black on black crime as a defense for why it's OK for us to ignore police brutality and overuse of power when it comes to policing communities of color. What we really need to be looking at is like the subtext and the reason why there's quote unquote black on black crime is because you overpopulate and you stack all these black people on top of each other in the hood

and you don't let them get jobs, you don't let them get any type of way of economic empowerment, and so they have to turn to alternative ways to support themselves. And so yes, if they're robbing you, maybe let's work on getting them some job education, okay? Let's work on some other things. It's just, it's similar to how

Harvey Weinstein's lawyer said he didn't invent the casting couch, and it's sort of like, I'm sorry. He sat his ass on it. It's not, the rules of crime are not, you only punish the first person to do something. That's not how crime works.

In the same way, you cannot, if you were on trial for murder, you couldn't stand up and say, yeah, but did you hear about some other murders? It's like, we're not talking about that one. We're talking about your one. We could talk about that one later, but right now we're talking about you.

You know? Talk about the deeper issues that are rooted in our communities. I will not take seriously this war on our police officers who in fact save black lives. Oh, it stopped itself for us. I just also

I'm very pleased that guy didn't get to say anything while she was talking. He just sat there just sort of like... I think he was too busy possibly holding her hostage. But I just find it so curious that she doesn't understand

what she is. She's a prop that makes it okay for people to think these awful things because a black person's saying it. And it's like, that doesn't validate your nasty fucking thoughts. Yeah, I mean, it's such a sinister economy, because whatever she believes,

clearly playing that role is lucrative, right? You can be all kinds of tokens for Fox News and be used in that way. All you have to do is hate yourself enough and have such a dismal view of the world that you want the money more than you want, I don't know, respect? I don't think she's doing it for a paycheck.

I think she's doing it because she's brainwashed. That could be both. I think it's maybe a mixture of being fed information that finally you're like, oh, I guess I buy into it but they pay her like they pay her enough for her to afford that ugly ass suit you know and I think being on television is a factor because you're like well this is

my jumping off point like I say all these awful hateful things like Tommy Loren or whatever the fuck Tony whatever the fuck her name is spouts all these things that I don't know if she necessarily believes. And I think money and fame are enticing, and I think the way you go about it sometimes is real fucked up.

I think maybe before she goes to bed, she's like, I know, I know, sorry Jesus. I mean, she's being manipulated. This reminds me so much of Omarosa. I don't know how many of you know, but she has family members that have been victims of gun violence. And we brought her to the National Association of Black Journalists convention last year in New Orleans. And she caused a whole scene.

Google it. There's video. The NABJ? Yes, sugar. And she caused this whole scene using her trauma and the grief that she had but spins it on its head to allow people like Fox News

to use her as a token as a linchpin for you know we have this good black person here who supports us come on over to this side but also Omarosa does all that shit but then she goes on Big Brother

and then she's like Trump is bad the worst is coming and it's like well where the fuck do you Big Brother and then she's like, Trump is bad, the worst is coming. It's like, well, where the fuck do you fall? She's playing the game. Yes. I think a lot of these people are playing a game. And I think we're saying that there's

trauma. I'm not discrediting you saying that there's trauma, because there might be. But I do think people are manipulative and they, like, everyone wants money and people like attention. And I also just, I think people are complicated and they, like, everyone wants money and people like attention. And I also just, I think people are complicated and they justify things to themselves and there's the old Upton Sinclair line

which says it's impossible to convince somebody of something their livelihood depends on not believing. So, that was deep. That was beautiful. Can we get her on the show next time? We all hang out. And just be like, hey, are you okay?

No, we can't. We come back, a new game. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It and there's more on the way. And we're back. Hollywood. Bastion of liberalism, Priuses, fundraisers for centrist Democrats, and gay, gay, gay, gay, gay.

Sometimes we don't notice that a lot of great stories Hollywood tells can have a conservative bent, and a bunch of liberals will get together and tell it, which is fine. There's nothing wrong with that, but let's be honest about it. So let's look at some hit conservative films in a game we call Roads Where We're Going We Don't Need Roads Because We Refuse to Fund Public Infrastructure Projects. Ooh, that got me. Would anybody out there like to play the game?

Hi, what's your name? Elliot. Elliot. Nice to see you. You too. Where are you from? I grew up in D.C. I go to the University of Cincinnati.

Sweet. All right, cool. What are you doing in L.A.? I'm interning at the Feminist Majority Foundation. Awesome. Work. Yes. This is going to be a lightning round game,

so it's just you and me. Okay. You ready? No. Okay. You got this. Do you know movies? That's a no.

Okay. In this 1984 film, the federal government targets a local small business, ultimately bullying the owners into shutting down their operation despite the negative consequences for a community. Here's a short clip. I'm not interested in your opinion. Just shut it off.

Shut it on! Who said that, and what was the business he was shutting down? Somebody out there. He knows. Tyler, you can help her. EPA, Ghostbusters. You got it. That was the character Walter Peck, an inspector from the Environmental Protection Agency,

and the business was the Ghostbusters. In the 1994 film Legends of the Fall, Anthony Hopkins' character says the following, which captures the thesis of the movie. Huh. Screw it. Screw it. What did he say you didn't get it let's see the rest of the clip yes he Screw! Screw on! Screw the government! Yes, he says, screw the government. Why does Colonel Ludlow, played by Anthony Hopkins, hate the federal government? Is it A, the toll of World War I, B, the betrayal of the Native Americans, or C, the intrusiveness of prohibition?

I'm going to guess A. I have no idea. It's all of the above, Elliot. I need you to be confident. I need you to be aggressive. Question three. Let's hear the clip. Beautiful. Isn't it? Beautiful.

Unethical. Dangerous. That comes from the movie Dark Knight. What is he describing? Have you ever seen a movie, Elliot? You've chosen three movies I have not seen. I'm sorry. The Venn diagram of people who have not seen Ghostbusters,

Legends of the Fall, and Dark Knight. That is, I'm not, these are not niche films. I've seen them. I've seen them, just not enough to quote not niche films. I've seen them. I've seen them, just not enough to quote them directly enough. Have you seen Amelie? I need an answer.

Can anybody help Elliot? I think I know. I think they're talking about the Batmobile. No. They're not talking about, no one ever calls the Batmobile unethical. I don't know, it's got a lot of stuff on it. They not talking about... No one ever calls the Batmobile unethical.

I don't know. It's got a lot of stuff on it. They are talking about a massive surveillance system that allows Batman to spy on anyone, anywhere, at any time, allowing him ultimately to defeat the Joker and save Gotham. Bonus question. The Wall Street Journal ran a piece at the time that said, The Dark Knight, currently breaking every box office record in history,

is at some level a paean of praise to the fortitude and moral courage that has been shown by this figure. Elliot, you are fully panicking. You have not said anything for 45 seconds. I need an answer. The film came out in 2008. I know the person. I can't think of the name. You can't think of the name George W. Bush?

Elliot, you got it. You got it. You're doing so well. No, I'm not. Thank you for lying. Question number four. There's more? Elliot, you're doing a great job.

I just want you to know we are all here with you. Hey, you got three safety pins in your corner. All right, let's roll this clip. What if there's somewhere we need to go and they don't let us? We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own. That comes from Captain America's Civil War. That was the dulcet tone of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers.

After the Avengers literally caused the destruction of a good chunk of Eastern Europe, Captain America resists even modest restrictions on the use of force or any oversight by this international body. The UN? Yes! It's the UN! Elliot.

What? You won. Thank you for playing the long name game I won't repeat. When we come back, we're gonna take a look at censorship in Hollywood with another game. Hey, don't go anywhere. There's more of Love It or Leave It coming up. And we're back. Donald Trump has a love-hate relationship with Hollywood. He loves his residuals from

The Apprentice and hates everything else. Especially when we speak out against him. He loves the Hollywood glamour, but hates that he can't have it. Kind of like his daughter, Ivanka. He spends... Yeah! Anywho. There is a proud tradition in this country of politicians attacking Hollywood at first with words and then by the force of law,

so we thought we'd explore some of those ugly moments of government censorship in a game we are calling G-Men Days of Future Past. Would anyone out there like to play the game? This person here has had both hands up and isn't a friend of the pod shirt. Thank you. Hi, what's your name?

I'm Ian. Nice to meet you. Hi, Ian. How you doing? Good. Awesome. Are you's your name? I'm Ian. Nice to meet you. Hi, Ian. How are you doing? I'm good. Awesome. Are you ready to play? I am. Question number one.

In 1907, Chicago passed an ordinance that required all films be submitted for police approval before release, and a few years later, the city created the position of, quote, censor of public morals, which banned any film that depicted a crime. What else did the censor of public morals ban? Is it A? Any cinematic dancing that involves, quote, vigorous hip gyrations or thrusts? Is it B, an instructional dance movie on how to dance the turkey trot?

Or C, buckle up, all dancing and all rock music, that is, until years later when a passionate rebel named Kevin Bacon moves to town, falls in love with a girl, and convinces the whole town to kick off their Sunday shoes and dance while also quietly pushing for a comprehensive sex ed, paid family leave, and no-fault divorce as the ban on dancing was just a symptom of systemic misogyny. What do you think, Ian? I really like C's delivery,

but I'm gonna have to go with all of the above, actually. No. Oh, really? It was... See, I see where you went wrong. It could have been A or B, but it was B. It was the turkey trot.

Thank you. Ban the... And thank you for liking my performance. No worries. Question number two. In 1947, inspired by a hatred of liberal media and overblown fear of communist propaganda, the House Un-American Activities Committee, or HUAC, held congressional hearings into whether or not communists were using Hollywood to destroy our freedom.

This witch hunt led to a blacklist of around 300 so-called communist sympathizers. Which of the following people was not on that list? Was it A, famous alcoholic and sled aficionado Orson Welles? Or B, one trick pony and a Hitler impersonator, Charlie Chaplin? Or C, Marilyn Monroe's husband and the luckiest playwright in the world, Arthur Miller? I know it's not B because I remember wearing this in school. This was that McCarthy crap.

I don't know. We should go. It was crap. You're right. Sorry, Ian. I'm going to go with A. It was all of the above. Dang. They were all on the blacklist.

These three were famous enough to continue working years later, but most on the list could not sustain the lack of income and had to change careers. Question three. During the early 20th century, in response to a growing movement for government censorship in the film industry, Hollywood decided to censor itself. The precursor of the MPAA worked alongside a Republican lawyer

and a Jesuit priest to create the Hays Code, which set the rules of what could or could not be seen on screen. Which of the following was banned because of the Hays Code? Was it A. Handshakes that lasted longer than quote, the time needed for appropriate greetings. B. Any romantic scenes

where a woman did not have at least one foot on the floor. Or C. Films made by Zack Snyder that don't have any sick slow-mo battles in the rain. C just sounds cool, but I'm going to go with B. You got it. Yeah! The Hays Code also included a ban on remarriage, infidelity, interracial couples, and homosexuality. But if you look real close, you can find the gay characters because they're there.

You can find them. We're always there. They're always there. Final question, number four. In the middle part of the 20th century, many performers and comedians were being prosecuted for obscenity. Which of the following is not a real case of this happening? Is it A? In the 50s and 60s, Lenny Bruce was prosecuted for obscenity in San Francisco,

Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. In New York, he was arrested by undercover police who caught him using swear words, including the word schmuck. You did not say that

like somebody grew up in a Jewish household on an island. Well, darling, far from a Jewish household. Or is it B? In 1972, George Carlin was charged

with obscenity after he performed his Seven Dirty Words bit in Milwaukee. The bit includes many bad, evil, scary words, including the president's favorite dirty word, piss. Or is it C? In 1962,

Gallagher was arrested for obscenity in Montgomery, Alabama, after using the same hammer to smash watermelons on both the white and black sections of the ground. Which one wasn't real, Ian? You're just giving her all the best ones. A. What? No, the Gallagher one's not real.

Yes, you dumb dumb, come on. You were trying to pick a real one? I was, yeah. You know what, Ian? Can we give him a bell? You got it. Thank you. Ian, against the odds, you've won the game. And I called you a dum-dum,

but I mean it in a loving way. And guys, I think it's pretty much guaranteed that we can see Ian and Elliot on the upcoming Love It or Leave It Tournament of Champions. When we come back, the ran wheel. Don't go anywhere. This is Love It or Leave It, and there's more on the way. And we're back!

Now for a segment we call The Rant Wheel. Here's how it works. We spin the wheel. We rant on the topics on which it lands. This week on the wheel for our Hollywood show, we have black film myths. We have Sam Bee saying the C word. We have arguing about movie trailers, diversity before the line, something we discussed earlier,

PR for monsters, after credit movie scenes, avatar, and underappreciated art. Let's spin the wheel. It is landing on Avatar, and honestly, I don't have much of a rant, but I do, once in a while, as a public service, want to remind everyone that we got four Avatar movies, and they're coming down the pike. Buckle up, people.

Get ready. Stock up with canned goods, because all of a sudden, we're not talking about Avatar right now. There's no Avatar on the TV. It's not a big topic of the conversation. It left absolutely no imprint on the culture. We cast aside 3D shortly after, although people still get suckered into it, and then all of a sudden, like a low rumble,

all of a sudden those Avatar movies are going to be coming and we are going to be absolutely pummeled, trampled by Avatar related content for literally a decade. I just want to once in a while take a time

to say it's coming. The Avatar sequels are coming. James Cameron has been hard at work at them for literally a decade. It's his greatest commitment. He's never believed in anything more. He has committed a

decade of his life to those aliens and their metaphor for the film, Dances with Wolves, and that's all I wanted to say about that. The Navi. The Navi. Yeah. I'm just trying to remind

everyone what those aliens were called. I just want you guys all to remember things like I see you, Jake Sully. These are things you have forgotten. I have to say... You can get uploaded into a tree. These are things you have stopped thinking about but you will think

about them again this is what I think about every time I hear the word Avatar besides The Last Airbender and also my small cartoon icon

of self on the internet is the time I saw when I saw Avatar in the movie theater there was a man sitting next to me for some reason we were there

at the premiere because it was like 3D for the first time I don't know I was a man sitting next to me. For some reason, we were there at the premiere because it was like 3D for the first time. I don't know. I was a big nerd, midnight movie kind of kid. The guy sitting next to me, during the scene

with like their hair fucked each other. The guy sitting next to me. I forgot about that for a decade till this moment. When their hair has sex with itself

or whatever, the guy sitting next to me literally went, by the way, I was like 15. The guy sitting next to me literally went, by the way, I was like 15. The guy goes, mmm, baby girl. And that's why we're getting four more. James Cameron's like, I just

want to fuck a big blue thing. Also, has Zoe Zaldana ever been herself in a movie or is she in blackface, a green person or a blue person all the time? They never... She's like... She was in Guardians of the Galaxy. She is a green woman.

And then in the Nina Simone biopic, they put the bitch in blackface. Sure did. She's light-skinned. And then Avatar, she blew as fuck. And Star Trek. Somebody said Star Trek 2 they made her... She was herself. She was herself And Star Trek. Somebody said Star Trek 2. They made her. She was herself.

She was herself in Star Trek. All right. Look, we all love Zoe Saldana. Is she fucking here? Does she want to be on the L Word with me? Hey, hey, hey. Zoe Saldana's fine. We don't need your IMDB page. Reddit us.

Let's spin it again. Also, it was a joke. Calm down. It has landed on Black Film Myths. I believe, Travelle, you wanted to talk about the myth that black films don't sell overseas. Right. And Nicole mentioned it a little bit earlier, but right, there's this myth in Hollywood that black films don't travel, that films with Latinos in it don't travel, that films with Asians in it don't travel, despite the fact that white people aren't the only people on this planet, you know, just going to throw that out there in case you weren't aware. And so, you know, we talk about how Black Panther has kind of blown that myth out

of proportion, but really there has been so many films before Black Panther that have done very well internationally. I'll give you some recent ones, Hidden Figures, Moonlight did very well internationally, but I'll also take you further back, right? The Bad Boys franchise did very well. You had Big Mama's House franchise did very well. You had Coming to America 30 years ago that did very well. So actually, there are a lot of people across this world that like seeing black people on screen. They don't think we're going to kill them. They don't think we're going to steal their money or anything like that. They actually enjoy seeing us on screen.

So what I need, right, is for all the white people who run this industry to stop saying that bullshit so that we can start seeing more of ourselves on screen. You all should make sure you go check out Crazy Rich Asians when it comes out in a couple months. Okay? It's really good. We have to support all of these movies that have people of color and gay folk, etc. in them because that will show the old white men at the top of all of these studios that we actually care. They're going to ignore it

anyway and still put white straight men in front of all of the movies, but we can at least say we did our part. Let's spin it again. Do you guys remember Blade? Yes, Blade 2. Remember every Whoopi Goldberg movie? Yeah!

Those did so well overseas. So well. Fucking Sister Wreck, yes! It has landed on PR for Monsters. So you think Godzilla's got too much press? No. PR for Monsters. PR for monsters. As we've been watching all of these stories unfold around the Me Too movement

that has emerged in the wake of these sexual harassment and abuse allegations and reports and a revelation about just how much was going unpunished and undiscussed in the entertainment industry, in our culture as a whole, I think one thing that hasn't been looked at enough is just how many respected professional public relations fixers that are

well known in LA that are treated like respectable members of society have their list of clients and they have some of the biggest hollywood names on them and then also they have some of the biggest offenders names on them and i think that there's this idea that oh this person has clients and that's okay but these aren't lawyers doing you know public defender work this isn't a situation where everybody deserves a fair trial we're talking about people taking on lucrative opportunities to help spin on behalf of some of the worst people in this industry and attack women on a daily basis. And a lot of those people work at respected firms and have a bunch of clients who are part of the Me Too movement,

who are part of the meetings, who are at everything. And then they call up their PR person who has to go put Woody Allen on hold to take your call. If we're going to address systemic problems in this industry, it can't just be about punishing the bad actors. It has to be going after the system that actually protects them. And it's a system of lawyers. It's a system of managers. It's a system of agents. But it's a system of PR people that I think have not gotten enough scrutiny because it is every day PR people that are trying to grind it out on behalf of Woody Allen and trying to help Harvey Weinstein spin his story and that have been pushing for Bill Cosby. And they do that work behind the scenes every single day. And these are people that are treated like, oh yeah, they're just, that's just one of their clients on their list of clients. And I just,

I don't think that's acceptable and I think people who work with and they all know it too, these select it's so funny, I'm so close to saying names I'm so close. I'll say names Do it The fucking movie franchise Daddy's Home. Mark Wahlberg has a racially motivated attempted murder

charge on his record, yet he still gets to work. Mel Gibson is in the sequel and the literal tagline is more daddies, more problems. And it's like, what? Like it's so fucked up. And all the reviews were like,

Mel's back, he's family friendly. And it's like Mel Gibson? Mel Gibson hates women, Jews, black people, and everybody who's not white. So it's not just PR people. It's fucking movie execs that are letting these people do this shit. It's wild. And I think we have to start asking

ourselves, who do you work with that is over the line? Who do you work with where I'm not going to work with you anymore? A lot of people you see cast out, whether it's Roseanne or people that have been dropped. Where was Roseanne? She was at an agency for years and it wasn't until everybody decided that this was enough when there was plenty to call enough long before we got to that point.

So all that's to say that Hollywood only seemed liberal to the people for whom Hollywood treated them liberally. And that's something we're not accepting anymore. And I actually think it's part of a larger shift that I think in part is promulgated by Trump, which is Trump forced us to say that the stories we were telling ourselves weren't true. Stories we were telling ourselves about what America was and how it worked just wasn't true. We hadn't come as far as we wanted to, that Democrats weren't as popular as we wanted to be. And Hollywood is very good at telling itself a story, but it's been telling itself a story about how liberal it is for too long. And that not only has allowed conservatives to plaint this place as some bastion of immorality, but it's also allowed Hollywood to ignore its problems for a really long time.

So the truth is that Hollywood isn't liberal enough. And so we need to elect Ava DuVernay to run Hollywood. I don't know what else to do. That seems like it'll work. And I also want a gay superhero. I've been arguing that for a long time. And stop telling me how there's all these gay comic books. I want it in a Marvel movie.

I want it in a DC movie. I want it on a poster. And to Hannah's point, I want a gay romantic comedy, but a big budget one. Brokeback Mountain was a long time ago, and it was sad. Call Me By Your Name was niche. I want to see Andrew Garfield and Michael B. Jordan or any Oh my god, yes. Jesus.

Or any two of the Chris's. A Pine or an Evans. Pratt or Hemsies. One owns a pizza parlor. The other's from the big corporate chain. And guess what? They think they hate each other, but they are unloved. And it's not a slog about identity and it's not about fucking Gaza alright? It's a light romp with some hijinks, misunderstandings and guess what?

They fucking it. I want two of the Chris's to fuck in a movie. Make them fuck. You can chance it if you want. Make them fuck. Make them fuck. Make them fuck. That is how we will save Hollywood. I want to thank our panel. Travelle Anderson, Hannah Hart, Nicole Meyer.

The beautiful, great dance of Hollywood. Thank you guys so much for coming. Have a great night.