The Daily Zeitgeist - Live-Action SebasTrend 2/27: Little Mermaid, 4-Day Work Week, Dilbert, Damien Lillard, TikTok Live

Episode Date: February 27, 2023

In this episode of Live-Action SebasTrend, Jack and super producer Becca discuss the live-action ‘Little Mermaid’ creatures, the British 4-day work week, the death of Dilbert, Damien Lillard’s 71-point game, and the “wasteland of weirdness” that is TikTok Live!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult. And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me for I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me for I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

I'm Keri Champion, and this is season four of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.

Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have

changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry Caitlin Clark versus Angel Reese on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcast. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports. Hey, I'm Gianna Pardenti

and I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation,

then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hello, the internet, and welcome to this episode of the live-action Sebastian from the Little Mermaid live-action

remake. I'm Jack. That's Super Producer Becca Romo! Hello, hello. Happy Monday. Happy Monday. Happy Monday unto you as well. So people think they have gotten the first glimpse of Sebastian from The Little Mermaid. This is a danger we saw coming a mile away. This comes from a perspective of somebody who did not think the liveaction Lion King was good. Yeah, agreed.

I thought it was bad. Because the animal actors are not emoting in these dang things. It's such a weird concept to me, because it's like you're basically almost watching a live stream of some animals at the zoo,

but like, Beyonce is their voice. Yeah, and their lips are moving. And it's uncomfortable. Right. But I mean, it definitely, it's one of the top 10 highest grossing movies of all time. So I think it was like a thing that a lot of people went and saw.

I'm assuming a lot of people were like, there's something missing here. But not enough that Disney would have gotten that message because it again made all the money they made so much money they made so many more live action movies right so they're still coming fast and furious so this little mermaid one we had the question what will they do with the animals? Like in the last trailer that dropped about a couple of weeks ago, we saw the puffer fish friend, um, whose name I am drawing a blank.

I think flounder is not a puffer fish. I think flounder is one of the other fish friends, but we see her in her, we see Ariel interacting with a puffer fish and the puffer fish just has like the cold dead eyes of a fish you know like fish don't have the most expressive oh it is flounders the puffer fish i'm i'm a fool uh but just like i don't know they didn't read like oh there's going to be emotion behind those eyes that we can all get behind the real question was around sebastian so many questions with sebastian so many questions with sebastian

crabs are just not animals that i i think in any photorealistic sense you ever get a vibe other than this is a alien species that wants to devour me um they're so creepy looking they're so like real crabs if it's not like mr crabs crabby patty uh spoonful mr crabs i i they're like the spiders of the sea they give me the like the heebie-jeebies you know yeah so we're getting a we're getting a correction from super producer victor coming in saying that flounder so this is what flounder in my brain was this yellow and blue fish, which I think that's right. He's like a striped yellow and blue little guy. He is neither Flounder nor is he Pufferfish, I don't believe.

Yeah. So I think there's a Pufferfish character or moment in the animated film, but I can't be trusted because I haven't seen it in a long time. But anyways, the crab looks pretty much like a crab in this. And again, this is not from a trailer. This is from the box of a puzzle

that appears to be pulling characters from how they look in the film. So we don't have official, like, a cell from the film, but we do have them at least representing Sebastian in what looks like a just a to be further corrected jack so sebastian is a lobster not not technically a crab this is a debate that brian you're getting false information sebastian is a crab i think technically but then a lot of people have claimed uh because of the way he was designed in the original movie, he looks like a lobster. But also, I just pulled up this image.

I forgot how jarring that Sebastian looks in the original. I'm like, this is a terrifying little thing, too. He's got human teeth. He's got little eyes. I would argue that SpongeBob did a better job. Yes, for sure. For sureongebob did a better job yes for sure for sure spongebob did a better job and if they made a live action spongebob movie where all the characters were what they looked like in an aquarium it probably would not have worked

very well no yeah so you can go look up the image yourself. It just looks, looks like a crab. It does. And that is going to be, I have seen nature documentaries that are photographed so beautifully and like up close that you do kind of read emotions on the animals, like in a way that these films seem to, I don't know if the technical challenge of just like getting their lips to move is so,

so daunting that they don't even, they're like, yeah, well, well, whatever you'll make good with the fact that we just made a crab speak and sing a song. Issue has always been with the new animation,

or at least with the Lion King specifically, it's like they didn't make their faces really emote it was just making their mouths move so it was like watching like like live animals and then they're just like kind of talking over the movement of these animals and they're not emoting in their faces which it's like what is the point of doing all the CGI if you aren't going to make the faces emote because we could have just done some like old school 90s you know animal movies because I remember I feel like in the 90s there were so many live action animal movies and you just like dubbed over their voices like you didn't make their mouths move yeah you just had live action dogs and just dubbed over their mouths and that

was better in my opinion than trying to animate these very realistic cgi animals and then not having them a mo or you got to take a lesson from narnia i feel like the lion in narnia he really he had that he had feelings yeah he had feelings yeah so i don't know what's happened to performances these days maybe they're just like in the same way that acting has become more naturalistic over time. Like in the forties, it was like, this is how you acted.

And this is how you talk. You see. Uh, and now people mumble and mumble, just talk the way them and their friends actually talk. Like maybe they're trying to do that with animals. They're like, actually we've hung out with some lions and this is actually more,

this is closer to, but anyways, yeah, that's a really with some lions. And this is actually more, this is closer to. But anyways, yeah, that's a really good point. Like, Homeward Bound and all those. I guess it was because they were dogs. And dogs have, like, faces that were specifically evolved to pull at human heartstrings. And again, this is why. Like, Lion King feels like missed opportunity. You could have worked with the faces

of these beautiful animals. Crabs, I'm like, you have painted yourself into a corner. A corner, yeah, absolutely. This is going to be a hard one. This is going to be a tough one to pull off. Anyways, we're going to release a three-hour cut of this trending episode

where we talk about nothing but this, but we should move on. Dozens of British employers are sticking to a four-day work week. And in fact, so the number is of 61 British companies that participated in a pilot program testing out four-day work week, 56 said they would continue. Both employers and employees reported benefits. This is being reported in NBC News, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal? I mean, I remember when this topic was really starting to bubble during the pandemic, when there was a lot of revolution with the work from home movement and people being like, well, do we just take this a step further and do a four day work week? And I remember that's when they started testing in European countries, the four day work week, and that a lot of countries were seeing if this is beneficial i feel like when i worked at um other agencies during the pandemic pre my time in

podcasting i had uh french clients that they were doing this and they seemed very happy yeah it feels i mean european jobs seem to have always been like a little bit more flexible and less like got a rise and grind motherfucker than American work culture. But it does feel like even in American cultures, like I feel like people are ready for this. And if companies are and the media is, this could be a nice win for human beings around the world, not just in Europe. Absolutely. But I think like you mentioned off mic, Jack, the note to be made is also that companies hopefully in their greediness of capitalism, they aren't cutting people's pay because I don't think that is the inherent benefit here is like, oh, well, yeah, we're only paying you for four days now because I think like as a basis, salary is kind of a sham and really evil in a lot of ways because you are selling your yearly time to, you know, this job at a salaried yearly rate, no matter how many hours you work. And it reminds me a lot of like almost teaching where people think oh

educators you know they get three months off like how wonderful but they only get paid for the nine months they work in the year like they don't get paid those three months like they can choose their pay periods depending on the state and the you know um school system if they want to get paid out bi-weekly or however monthly that they do their paychecks, but spread out their salary throughout the whole year so that they do get paychecks during the summer, even when they're not working, or they have to do the math to save up during the year during those three months that they're not working. So I hope that that is not what happens if America starts looking at the 40-work week. Right.

They're like, and this is a great way to save and get shareholder value, which seems to be like the bottom line. Now, yeah, I guess I was just a little suspicious that it was like the New York Times and Wall Street Journal were both being like, hey, look at this, without it ultimately coming out as, hey, look at this. This is a great way to

save on your bottom line corporate absolutely so we'll see but all in like the idea as i've always heard it discussed is that you do a four-day work week without cutting people's pay and i'm hoping that everyone gets more work done yeah exactly dilbert appears to be finally dead. Like it was, it's amazing that it came to this to finally get his comic strip canceled, but he literally called black people, a hate group, uh, in a racist YouTube rant and has been dropped by several major newspapers. Uh,

also his distributor. And according to Adams, also his literary agent, which, but he's just a great example of like why cancel culture isn't real like if you look at what this piece of shit had to do to finally get his strip canceled yeah um he was years and years and years so many chances yeah he had recently tweeted about how he seriously considered murdering his stepson

oh my god the highland shooting and every fentanyl overdose death among the young are teaching us the same lesson and we refuse to learn it when a young male let's say 14 19 is a danger to himself and others society gives the supporting family two options watch people die or kill your own son those are your only options i chose number one and watched my stepson die i was relieved he took no one else with him so it was like a wild sentence yes a wild a wild way to put that instead of being like hmm let's maybe look at the systems as to why fentanyl is even being distributed in our country yes just uh has been saying racist shit forever like back in 2011 he defended a republican meme portraying president bar President Barack Obama's parents

as monkeys, then created a fake account to defend himself and was immediately caught. It's just like, yeah. How many, how many chances? Well, it's been written, I guess, you know. Yeah. We'll see how long he stays actually canceled, but all right, let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. But all right, let's take a quick break. We'll be right back. I'm Jess Casavetto, executive producer of the hit Netflix documentary series, Dancing for the Devil, the 7M TikTok cult.

And I'm Clea Gray, former member of 7M Films and Shekinah Church. And we're the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and LA-based Shekinah Church, an alleged cult that has impacted members for over two decades. Jessica and I will delve into the hidden truths between high-control groups and interview dancers, church members, and others whose lives and careers

have been impacted, just like mine. Through powerful, in-depth interviews with former members and new, chilling firsthand accounts, the series will illuminate untold and extremely necessary perspectives. Forgive Me For I Have Followed will be more than an exploration. It's a vital revelation aimed at ensuring these types of abuses never happen again. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I always do. One session, 24 hours. BPM 110, 120. She's terrified. Should we wake her up? Absolutely not.

What was that? You didn't figure it out? I think I need to hear you say it. That was live audio of a woman's nightmare. This machine is approved and everything? You're allowed to be doing this. We passed the review board a year ago. We're not hurting people. There's nothing dangerous about what you're doing.

They're just dreams. Dream Sequence is a new horror thriller from Blumhouse Television, iHeartRadio, and Realm. Listen to Dream Sequence on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. When you think of Mexican culture, you think of avocado, mariachi, delicious cuisine, and of course, lucha libre. It doesn't get more Mexican than this. Lucha libre is known globally because it is much more than just a sport and much more than just entertainment. Lucha Libre is a type of storytelling. It's a dance. It's tradition.

It's culture. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask, a 12-episode podcast in both English and Spanish about the history and cultural richness of Lucha Libre. And I'm your host, Santos Escobar, the emperor of Lucha Libre and a WWE superstar. Santos! Santos! Join me as we learn more about the history behind this spectacular sport

from its inception in the United States to how it became a global symbol of Mexican culture. We'll learn more about some of the most iconic heroes in the ring. This is Lucha Libre Behind the Mask. Listen to Lucha Libre Behind the Mask as part of My Cultura Podcast Network on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you stream podcasts. And we're back.

And I always like to highlight athletic feats that, you know, Becca, I know you were kind of up on. You were chomping at the bit. I was so ready to talk about this. You have no idea. I actually brought the story. Yeah. Damian Lillard put up 71 points. It's the second time somebody has put up 71 this season.

In a single game, correct? In a single game, he put up 71. We've been talking on Mad Boosties about how, just like out of his mind this man has been just locked in he is one of the most fun because he's six feet tall so he's like you know much smaller than most of the players on an nba basketball court but just like an amazing shooter from anywhere on the court like as long as you're over. Like, he's just taken range to a new level. Like, kind of like Steph Curry, but when he's locked in, it's really incredible.

And so, his last 10 games had been just an incredible run of scoring. And he topped it off by putting up 71 last night. Congrats, Damian Lillard. Yes. So, a lot of fun. Great to see that. Also, I'm getting excited about the Lakers, despite myself, because they've constructed an interesting team around LeBron and Anthony Davis. So I don't know. More to come. Yeah, more to come on that. So let's talk about TikTok Live. Yes. Which is not a thing that I was aware existed. I mean, TikTok Live, I think there's always been a question on how creators make money on TikTok.

And, you know, there's the way that most people would think, which is sponsored content, right? Becoming, you know, a brand representative, brand ambassador. But there's also TikTok Live, which is, I think, something people don't normally think about, which is this gamified thing. I think it's different than Instagram Live. I've never gone live on either platform. But I think the idea on TikTok Live versus an Instagram Live is that people can like send you donations. And it kind of is gamified content in the sense that some people will create these scenarios where they're like, oh my God, if you send me this much money, then I'm going to do this thing. And it is a weird place of TikTok

internet. Like the for you page is a, an algorithm of your thoughts and anything you ever said out loud. Terrifying in that sense that it is watching you but tiktok live is a button that you accidentally hit maybe when you're trying to switch back to your for you page from your following and then all of a sudden you're in this dark web of like weird ass shit and the insider covered a one of the reporters the headline of this article from the writers kieran press reynolds i spent all night on tiktok live and discovered a wasteland of clickbait scams and other oddities it got stranger and darker by the hour he spent basically a whole evening just like i think 10 minutes per live he would scroll through

and just like how dark and weird it got and as someone who's also just accidentally clicked tiktok live weird shit happens like it's a weird fucking place just like slip down a hole and you're like in this weird underground that you didn't intend just by like accidentally clicking on a thing because they've designed it so that it's extra confusing because because their shareholders want to see them be like this is the thing about like before before we get into the details of like tiktok live i just think it's so interesting that every tech company wants to be everything to everyone like they want to so tiktok is good at a specific thing they're like okay but twitch is good at this other thing so we have to try to be twitch amazon is like we're good at

shipping things to people but movie studios are good at this other thing so we're going to be Twitch. Amazon is like, we're good at shipping things to people, but movie studios are good at this other thing. So we're going to be movie studio. And it's, I don't know, it hasn't really worked out that well when they just get into a thing that they have no experience or internal culture at doing and are like, yeah, this, this is our new thing. Yeah. And I feel like, especially in a place like TikTok, it is so questionable and i feel like especially in a place like tiktok it is so questionable and like unregulated in a lot of ways or it's like we don't know who's doing the moderating and the regulating so when you technically hear a creator when you're on your for you page saying they're going to go on live it is it feels more like the instagram version

of a live where it's like they're talking to their audience and that but when you just randomly fall on the live tab it is not that it is not the your creators that you like going on live to give you gossip it is like scammers like scamming you into giving them money for you know whatever um they're selling like they're selling like kitschy shit like um i don't know what is that QVC vibe. It also has like a Skinner box vibe where it's like like because what one of the ones you're describing is like people sleeping and then if somebody tips them it makes a loud noise that wakes them up. So you're just like getting to like disturb someone through the internet I guess. Yeah this quote from the article

that I really thought was crazy. When I ended the experiment in the morning, it felt like coming up for air after being submerged in a sea of cultural sewage. I was subjected to the lowest hanging fruit of content from apparent scams to fantastical role plays to clickbait titles. When I discovered some gems in the depths of the night,

it was mostly alarming and a little thrilling to be peering into the unearthed digital world. TikTok Live really is a wasteland of weirdness. Wow. And there's just a bunch of images in this article from like different types of lives.

Like one being like that sleeping scam. It's just a weird place. I encourage you to venture just to see how weird it is. Yeah, I'm very interested. This is the first time I've actually wanted to go on TikTok.

All right. Well, that's terrifying. What a resounding endorsement from that reviewer. Becca, such a pleasure having you. Where can people find you, follow you, all that good stuff? You can find me and follow me at Bex Ramos on all platforms. And you can find me at Mil Mundos Books in Bushwick every other weekend. Yeah, yeah, do it.

That's going to do it for us this afternoon. We are back tomorrow with the whole last episode of the show. Until then, be kind to each other. Be kind to yourselves. Get the vaccine. Don't do nothing about white supremacy. And we'll talk to you all tomorrow.

Bye. Bye. I'm Jess Casavetto, Bye. I'm the host of the new podcast, Forgive Me For I Have Followed. Together, we'll be diving even deeper into the unbelievable stories behind 7M Films and Shekinah Church. Listen to Forgive Me For I Have Followed on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Keri Champion, and this is Season 4 of Naked Sports. Up first, I explore the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese.

Every great player needs a foil. I know I'll go down in history. People are talking about women's basketball just because of one single game. Clark and Reese have changed the way we consume women's sports. Listen to the making of a rivalry. Kaitlyn Clark versus Angel Reese. On the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Presented by Capital One, founding partner of iHeart Women's Sports.

Hey, I'm Gianna Pradenti. And I'm Jermaine Jackson-Gadsden. We're the hosts of Let's Talk Offline from LinkedIn News and iHeart Podcasts. There's a lot to figure out when you're just starting your career. That's where we come in. Think of us as your work besties you can turn to for advice. And if we don't know the answer, we bring in people who do, like negotiation expert Maury Tahiripour. If you start thinking about negotiations as just a conversation, then I think it sort of eases us a little bit. Listen to Let's Talk Offline

on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.