It was such a treat to join my dear friend Sherin Nicole on her show Geek Girl Riot to talk to my friend and colleague the wonderful Chaz Ebert (see my tribute to her here).
Storytelling & Uplifting Young Voices
Chaz kicks off the show with a story about the Cannes Film Festival, which leads to a conversation about storytelling. Then she talks about No Malice AKA the film competition she set up to encourage and uplift a new generation of young filmmakers and activists. Chaz also gets into the legacy of RogerEbert.com and how she and her husband Roger launched it together.
Ebertfest & Gene and Roger (Roger and Gene)
Chaz tells the story of connecting with Roger and changing careers to become VP of RogerEbert.com—and how that changed her life for the better. She also teases what’s happening at Ebertfest and the importance of bringing joy and happiness in times like this. Since the date of this recording, the film festival has been postponed until April 20–23, 2022 to ensure everyone can enjoy it safely. Stay tuned for more details!
Chaz also chats about the new podcast Gene and Roger, hosted by Brian Raftery, which discusses the impact famed critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel had, not only on film criticism and coverage but also on filmmaking itself.
She begins with Idiocracy, which it’s star Dax Shepard jokingly calls a “documentary,” the wildly satiric story of a present-day time traveler who arrives in an America of 2505 to find that everyone is corrupt and, well, idiots. Nicole writes:
IDIOCRACY worried me in 2006 because it seemed plausible. We already had criminals pleading not guilty to crimes because they “were shooting reality TV shows.” Intelligence had begun to be a liability; people would fight you if you made them feel dumb. And beverages at the movies were served in plastic buckets so large you could pour a 2-liter into them and still have room for ice cream.
However, IDIOCRACY didn’t become an Essential Political film until 2016. Looking back on it from today’s vantage point, Mike Judge didn’t make a stupid slapstick throwaway, he made a smart satire about “how stupid we peeples r.” Sounds ridiculous, I know, but there are several parallels between Judge’s 2505 and our now: Logic and reason are shot down while lies and nonsense are repeated. Bullying and misogyny are desirable traits in a politician. We’ve gone back to glyphs to express ourselves. Reality TV stars are revered as purveyors of culture. And the kicker, the president is a wrestling enthusiast, former reality TV star who uses foul language and fouler gestures, incites violence, and has inexplicable hair.
And then there’s Night of the Living Dead. When it was released, no one realized that a low-budget horror film would be so influential, inspiring an entirely new genre of zombie films. And its filmmakers did not realize how revolutionary it was to cast a black man as the lead actor and hero of the film and how prescient the ending would be. She writes:
Yet, the final scenes are where NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD truly leaves a mark. After repeatedly risking himself to save his comrades from a horde of ravenous dead, Ben finally survives the night. Help arrives as the local sheriff and a group of militiamen sweep the area. As a viewer you feel a sense of relief — our guy made it through — but when Ben approaches a boarded up window, the darkened lighting tells us something is wrong. One of the militiamen sees Ben’s silhouette and fires his shotgun, putting a bullet through our hero’s forehead. He’s a good guy with a gun but they kill him and they burn him the same as the monsters.
Fifty years later and earlier this month, armed security guard Jemel Roberson had successfully subdued a violent shooter outside the bar where he worked in the suburbs of Chicago. Those who were wounded that day must have felt such relief when Roberson stopped their attacker. More help came afterward but not for their rescuer. When officers arrived on the scene they shot Jemel Roberson dead. He was a good guy with a gun. A black-American hero. They shot him anyway.
The parallels are painful.
The essay is highly recommended. And all of us should think about what movies today we think will and should give us insight not only into where we are now but into where we are going.
