Episode 245 – THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

Runtime
93 minutes

Show Contents

0:00 Introduction

3:45 Know Your Enemy: Courtney Small

22:11 The New Slang: THE TRIAL OF THE CHICAGO 7

73:00 The Other Side: Courtney and Ryan talk further reading after Aaron Sorkin’s new film

Thoughts From Your Host…

Participating in film discourse is getting harder and harder as time goes on. Social media makes any much of the conversation so very mercurial, that it wears one down to even read it…let alone partake.

Take the film at the centre of this episode. Over the weekend, there were takes and tweets about the films flaws…what it got wrong…whether it was even worth taking seriously. In response, some even said “Fine – let’s not have nice things and just keep cranking out comic book movies for the next decade!”

I don’t understand this. I don’t understand how things either have to be perfect, or they are garbage. When did we get so mercurial, and what good does that do us?

Spoiler alert: I wasn’t crazy about the film at the centre of this episode either – but it still made for a great conversation with my guest. We got into the subtext and the greater themes. We acknowledged what the plot and the creators were trying to do, what they couldn’t do, and what they made us think about perhaps by accident.

Art is not pass/fail. Whether a film is a large commercial blockbuster or a tiny indie passion project, there are a lot of moving parts that merit discussion. The more we speak in pejoratives and dismiss these works out of hand, the worse off we are all going to be.

I’m thankful that this film arrived and that my guest on this episode found so many elements of the work to bring up in conversation. He brought so much more to the table than anyone on my social media feeds, and even more than I had mapped-out when charting where I thought the discussion would go.

These are the conversations we should strive for in response to the art we consume. Not whether they are amazing or trash – but what they make us think about, and why.

At this moment, I can’t help but think about where I was a year ago this time. One Saturday night, I saw a film that took my mind to some vulnerable and introspective places. I had a review sketched-out at a time when writing wasn’t coming easily to me anymore (related: it still doesn’t).

Before I sat down to start writing, I saw a similar mercurial moment about the film in-question unfold on social media. People dug their trenches. Pejoritives were slung. Torches were lit and battle cries were called.

It all left me disillusioned, and not wanting to have anything to do with the discourse. I never did write that piece, and now I truly regret that.

If this episode was scheduled for a day later, I might have scuttled it too in the wake of these unsavoury attitudes. That would have been a shame since the conversation and the company was easily the highlight of my very shitty week. I’m truly grateful that the film we chose to discuss today made for such a lively conversation – and more so that my guest and good friend elevated the episode with his insight, intelligence, candour, and humor.

Consider the conversations you have publicly about art – whether it’s art you love or art you hate. You have no idea who might read it or hear it, and what it might do to their passion and interest for the things that make this world richer.

Links Mentioned on Episode 245:

Trailer for CHICAGO 10: