This is the left's Bud Light moment.
Or to put it another way, now we've got a game.
You may have seen that Disney kowtowed to DeSantis in Florida. Assuming you care. And most people do not, because they don't live in Florida, never mind Disney's enclave.
But Disney's entertainment tentacles? They seem to reach EVERYBODY! On both sides of the screen, from the producers/actors/talent to the viewers. And can the Mouse House afford to alienate this many of its customers, when it's in a battle for streaming eyeballs with Netflix?
Image is everything. And therefore Bob Iger was caught between a rock and a hard place. Does he satiate the government or the company's customers. Cave to the administration or go its own way. And let's be clear, it's not about right or wrong, but DOLLARS!
You can destroy a venerated enterprise in a minute. Which is what happened at Warner Music. Bob Morgado, who was power drunk and knew nothing about artists, let Interscope go in the wake of complaints about Ice-T and "Cop Killer" and begat a power shift we're still feeling to this day. MCA, an also-ran record company, became a juggernaut with the addition of Interscope, and after Doug Morris got fired at Warner, he ended up at what came to be called Universal too, building it into a monolith! I won't say that the record division was sold for peanuts, but the $2.6 billion Warner received for the assets was far below true market value. This is not tech, where what you have today might be worthless tomorrow, but a bastion of intellectual property, rights that go on for decades after the death of the creators!
But the soft power element was worse. Mo and Lenny were gone, who wanted to sign with Warner after that?
And there began the long, slow decline of Warner Music, from the tippity-top to an also-ran in the recording world.
What is the future of broadcast television? What is the future of late night television? One thing is for sure, it's declining. To put these assets before the streaming division, to alienate talent and voters to satiate affiliates, would be short-term thinking. Iger HAD to bring Kimmel back.
But it was the anti-Disney blowback that sealed the deal. The cancellations may have been de minimis, but they were not insignificant. I wrote about a movie streaming on Hulu, and readers responded they wouldn't watch it. A Lilith Fair film premiere for Hulu was held in Hollywood last night and the red carpet was canceled, for fear of protests and talent not showing up. Distribution may be king, but if you've got nothing to distribute, you're nowhere.
Meanwhile, Kimmel refused to compromise. That was Disney's first request. Deliver a mea culpa and move on. But Kimmel stood his ground. Put his livelihood at risk. Who else is willing to do this, for what's right? Sure, Jimmy's got a ton of bread, but Jack Paar gave up the "Tonight Show" and his career never recovered. Never underestimate the power of being on television screens five nights a week.
Even Michael Eisner backed Disney.
But the true crack in the armor was Ted Cruz, hated not only by the left, but many Texans, a man who was notoriously on vacation during a natural disaster, came down on the FCC re Kimmel.
As for the Democratic elected officials... They went on record, but they didn't lead. They didn't say to cancel Disney subscriptions, after all, Disney is a donor. And this is why the Democrats lose. They put their finger to the wind, they do the research before they say anything, before they take any action, whereas Trump shoots from the hip and is loved by his acolytes for this.
No, this pro-Kimmel groundswell came from the literal ground, the people, with no lead. They organized online, sent e-mails urging cancellations. Proving the power of the people, something we learned in the sixties and John Lennon even sang about, something that the Democratic party, which refused to tell Biden to go and then foisted Kamala on the public without a primary, still doesn't know.
This is what the denigrated internet has wrought.
Yes, have you been following all the anti-social media screeds in the wake of Charlie Kirk? It's the devil, control it, shut it down... But without the internet, how could the public rally around Kimmel and pull their money from Disney? And this effort and its results were not followed in the mainstream press, but online, that's where you got the story.
In other words, the internet and social media are the left's 2nd Amendment, their gun control. Republicans say they need guns to fight a wayward government...maybe in the eighteenth century, but good luck today. But words? The power of the internet? That's modern technology, that's power, and it was exercised here in support of Jimmy Kimmel.
So finally, someone has stood up and pushed back at Trump's creeping autocracy. And if you're on the right and deny this... I mean Trump goes on record he wants the rest of the late night hosts gone. One thing about Trump is he does exactly what he says he will, why don't' people believe him?
And Trump's Big Beautiful Bill is so despised that they're rebranding it:
"Trump's Tax Cut Is Underwater. Can a 'Refund Boom' Save It? - Republicans are hoping a new name, along with larger refunds for many Americans next year, can buoy an economic agenda that polls show is unpopular."
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/22/us/politics/trump-tax-cuts.html
So the farmers are freaking and the fallout from the rest of Trump's policies is starting to take hold and we we still haven't felt the full effect. Did you see that "Wall Street Journal" article about people resorting to Hamburger Helper to save money? And how cardboard sales are off, because shipping is down?
I don't want to overstate the impact of Kimmel's reinstatement. Let's be clear, it's not about the show itself, but Kimmel's suspension. Yet for the first time in seemingly eons, the left had a rallying cry that was heard by the powers that be, illustrating the power of the pocketbook.
The right should be happy Kimmel is coming back too. Because issues of speech cut both ways, and if you push too hard...
That's the issue here, will there be further reaction to Trump's actions? Is this just the first, or the only one?
We will see.
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Monday, 22 September 2025
Sunday, 21 September 2025
A Movie and More Mike Campbell
NIGHT CALL
Trailer: http://bit.ly/42F0i5q
I found out about this via the "New York Times" Watching newsletter. I highly recommend you sign up for it. Not everything mentioned is great, but you can triangulate, do research, before you dive in.
Once again, I find streaming algorithms and media hype unreliable.
To give you an example, advance word was that "Black Rabbit" was a tour-de-force. It is not. Jude Law is almost unrecognizable, he disappears into the role, it's a phenomenal job of acting. Jason Bateman is always good, and likable, but the story is predictable and ultimately reviews were not good, but knowing that it was launching on Thursday, instead of pulling up a new series on Wednesday, we watched this movie.
It's on Hulu. And I highly recommend it.
I thought it was American... If something appears appealing, I stop reading the review, but it turns out it's set in Belgium. Having said that, if the film was American you'd know about it. It's gritty and fast-paced like an American production, but with the intensity and three-dimensional characters and emotions you get in a foreign film.
And yes, at times there is violence, and those who can't handle it might be tempted to turn the movie off, but don't...this is not a blood and guts/gory film, although it does have those elements. It's kind of like "Run Lola Run," but not really. As in the protagonist is on a timed adventure.
But you won't know that for a while.
So yes, this is a crime film. It's more than surface, but not incredibly deep. But it's fiery and it flows and it keeps you involved. You won't know what is going on at first, but then it'll all come clear, and then maybe it won't.
I must admit the ending did not have the impact of the rest of the film, but if you're looking for a ride, something that will take you away from regular life, check this out.
THE MIKE CAMPBELL BOOK-2
The first half is about making it, the second half is what transpires after making it. And two sequences stood out in the latter half...
Bob Dylan... He's seen as an obfuscating brooding icon in the world, but if you know him...
The guy knows hundreds of songs, can play them on a whim, and is not concerned about feedback and in all is unpredictable. Maybe the most insightful words on the Bobster ever.
And, Jeff Lynne.
Who was second banana in the Move, but then drove the ELO bus himself, and that band was kind of faceless, but then he was in the Traveling Wilburys and had production credits...
He's fleshed out here. Well, his techniques are.
Tom and the Heartbreakers are used to working with the likes of Jimmy Iovine. Belabored productions based on getting it exactly right. Whereas Lynne works fast. If it's right, there's no need to redo it.
He leaves Petty's vocals dry, which is one of the reasons "Full Moon Fever" stands out. The songs are written quickly. The emphasis was on the process, as opposed to constantly worrying about whether the work would be commercially successful.
And it was.
If you're at all knowledgeable about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Heartbreaker" is a must-read.
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Trailer: http://bit.ly/42F0i5q
I found out about this via the "New York Times" Watching newsletter. I highly recommend you sign up for it. Not everything mentioned is great, but you can triangulate, do research, before you dive in.
Once again, I find streaming algorithms and media hype unreliable.
To give you an example, advance word was that "Black Rabbit" was a tour-de-force. It is not. Jude Law is almost unrecognizable, he disappears into the role, it's a phenomenal job of acting. Jason Bateman is always good, and likable, but the story is predictable and ultimately reviews were not good, but knowing that it was launching on Thursday, instead of pulling up a new series on Wednesday, we watched this movie.
It's on Hulu. And I highly recommend it.
I thought it was American... If something appears appealing, I stop reading the review, but it turns out it's set in Belgium. Having said that, if the film was American you'd know about it. It's gritty and fast-paced like an American production, but with the intensity and three-dimensional characters and emotions you get in a foreign film.
And yes, at times there is violence, and those who can't handle it might be tempted to turn the movie off, but don't...this is not a blood and guts/gory film, although it does have those elements. It's kind of like "Run Lola Run," but not really. As in the protagonist is on a timed adventure.
But you won't know that for a while.
So yes, this is a crime film. It's more than surface, but not incredibly deep. But it's fiery and it flows and it keeps you involved. You won't know what is going on at first, but then it'll all come clear, and then maybe it won't.
I must admit the ending did not have the impact of the rest of the film, but if you're looking for a ride, something that will take you away from regular life, check this out.
THE MIKE CAMPBELL BOOK-2
The first half is about making it, the second half is what transpires after making it. And two sequences stood out in the latter half...
Bob Dylan... He's seen as an obfuscating brooding icon in the world, but if you know him...
The guy knows hundreds of songs, can play them on a whim, and is not concerned about feedback and in all is unpredictable. Maybe the most insightful words on the Bobster ever.
And, Jeff Lynne.
Who was second banana in the Move, but then drove the ELO bus himself, and that band was kind of faceless, but then he was in the Traveling Wilburys and had production credits...
He's fleshed out here. Well, his techniques are.
Tom and the Heartbreakers are used to working with the likes of Jimmy Iovine. Belabored productions based on getting it exactly right. Whereas Lynne works fast. If it's right, there's no need to redo it.
He leaves Petty's vocals dry, which is one of the reasons "Full Moon Fever" stands out. The songs are written quickly. The emphasis was on the process, as opposed to constantly worrying about whether the work would be commercially successful.
And it was.
If you're at all knowledgeable about Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, "Heartbreaker" is a must-read.
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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--
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The Katrina Doc
"Katrina: Come Hell and High Water": http://bit.ly/46L7rDM
I don't watch documentaries of events I lived through.
I'm going to need to re-evaluate that position after watching this three part documentary on Netflix.
The levees breaking, like in that Led Zeppelin song based on the Memphis Minnie original.
The flooding of the 9th Ward.
The heat and the insanity of the Superdome.
The rescue of Fats Domino from his home.
It was in the news for a week straight.
But really, we had no idea.
This is a racial story. This is a governmental story. This is a people story.
The first episode is all about the lead-up. Was the hurricane going to hit... Live in the east and it's a regular feature, hurricane warnings. Happen all the time, but how often does the storm live up to advance billing? Very rarely, but when it does...
So what do you do?
That's the question confronting not only those in the path of the hurricane, but Jews constantly after the Holocaust. Do you slowly boil in the ever-increasing temperature of the water, or do you bolt? When do you bolt?
Now prior to this doc, we watched the Christopher Reeve doc on HBO. How much interest do I have in Christopher Reeve? Almost none. I've got nothing against the man, but I lived through his career and tragic accident and thought I knew enough. However my sister Jill strongly recommended it.
Reeve's mother wanted to pull the plug. His wife didn't want him to. What would I have done in that situation?
I'd have pulled the plug. No judgment of Reeve's choice, but I don't think I could have confronted the uphill climb to...far from the mountaintop.
But what struck me vividly in the Reeve doc was how time had passed by, children had grown up, people had aged. After all, the accident was thirty years ago. And the mother of Reeve's first two children...
You could see the years gone by in her face.
Which made me think about the years gone by in my own face. You get to the point where you can't look in the mirror. It's too scary. It's not only that you look old and different, but that you ARE old and different. As for plastic surgery... At this point the only person who has defied the odds and still looks like herself is Susan Sarandon, do you really want to take that risk?
So twenty years have passed since Katrina. And everybody is twenty years older. Kids now have kids. Dark hair is now gray. Time keeps on marching on. I wonder about that, what am I not going to live to see? I can't even conjure that up. We never did get our flying cars, but the internet, the smartphone? They were unfathomable, along with a Black president and legal marijuana.
Or did we live through a great leap forward technologically, and things will be relatively static after I'm gone. Or will you be able to fly to Europe in twenty minutes. I don't know. But I do know that time keeps marching and there will come a time when it does, but not for me.
So anyway, the first episode of this Katrina doc concludes with the storm itself. Am I the only one who wonders if I'd be able to fight the winds, who wonders what it would be like to be out in the elements? It's kind of like jumping off a bridge, you're not going to do it, but what would it feel like?
And then it's calm, the sun is out, the land is dry, and then the aforementioned levees break.
And everybody is unprepared and doesn't know what to do. Not only the citizens, but the government.
And this is where it gets ugly. The suffering people. The Black people. If this people had all been white?
Or is it just that Louisiana depends on New Orleans economically, but has contempt for the city.
Or is it that D.C. is just too far away.
But Brownie was doing a hell of a job. I remember that.
But it was much worse.
And the narrative was wrong. It was all about crime when that was not much of a factor. Showing how the media gets it wrong. What else does it get wrong?
And when it's all over, where does that leave us?
With a hell of a lot fewer Black people in New Orleans.
You wonder how poor people can survive when the rich are flaunting their wealth in front of us 24/7. Well, money and accoutrements don't mean you're happy. This doc focuses on culture. People, conversation, laughs, music, dancing, fun... New Orleans was definitely not like the rest of the country. Which was fine with the residents of the city, until they and their culture were thrown aside in the rescue and rebuilding of New Orleans.
This documentary is about more than the hurricane. What's it like to be a minority in America? The racism is palpable. You're disadvantaged. Occasionally you're paid lip service, but...
This is not an episode of "Behind the Music." Life just peachy, then a tragedy and then a rebirth. The renaissance...there has not been a return to normal and there may never be. And a lot of choices were ignorant, or made without consideration of the people involved.
Everybody in America should watch this doc. It should be shown in every school.
But in truth, people don't want to see the underbelly of America. They don't want to be shown that the country doesn't always work. That you may be left out alone in the cold, that the government may not help you much.
We prefer the two-dimensional cartoon narrative. Good and bad. Your team and mine. But the people underneath...
I couldn't stop thinking of the Depeche Mode song...
"People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully"
--
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--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
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I don't watch documentaries of events I lived through.
I'm going to need to re-evaluate that position after watching this three part documentary on Netflix.
The levees breaking, like in that Led Zeppelin song based on the Memphis Minnie original.
The flooding of the 9th Ward.
The heat and the insanity of the Superdome.
The rescue of Fats Domino from his home.
It was in the news for a week straight.
But really, we had no idea.
This is a racial story. This is a governmental story. This is a people story.
The first episode is all about the lead-up. Was the hurricane going to hit... Live in the east and it's a regular feature, hurricane warnings. Happen all the time, but how often does the storm live up to advance billing? Very rarely, but when it does...
So what do you do?
That's the question confronting not only those in the path of the hurricane, but Jews constantly after the Holocaust. Do you slowly boil in the ever-increasing temperature of the water, or do you bolt? When do you bolt?
Now prior to this doc, we watched the Christopher Reeve doc on HBO. How much interest do I have in Christopher Reeve? Almost none. I've got nothing against the man, but I lived through his career and tragic accident and thought I knew enough. However my sister Jill strongly recommended it.
Reeve's mother wanted to pull the plug. His wife didn't want him to. What would I have done in that situation?
I'd have pulled the plug. No judgment of Reeve's choice, but I don't think I could have confronted the uphill climb to...far from the mountaintop.
But what struck me vividly in the Reeve doc was how time had passed by, children had grown up, people had aged. After all, the accident was thirty years ago. And the mother of Reeve's first two children...
You could see the years gone by in her face.
Which made me think about the years gone by in my own face. You get to the point where you can't look in the mirror. It's too scary. It's not only that you look old and different, but that you ARE old and different. As for plastic surgery... At this point the only person who has defied the odds and still looks like herself is Susan Sarandon, do you really want to take that risk?
So twenty years have passed since Katrina. And everybody is twenty years older. Kids now have kids. Dark hair is now gray. Time keeps on marching on. I wonder about that, what am I not going to live to see? I can't even conjure that up. We never did get our flying cars, but the internet, the smartphone? They were unfathomable, along with a Black president and legal marijuana.
Or did we live through a great leap forward technologically, and things will be relatively static after I'm gone. Or will you be able to fly to Europe in twenty minutes. I don't know. But I do know that time keeps marching and there will come a time when it does, but not for me.
So anyway, the first episode of this Katrina doc concludes with the storm itself. Am I the only one who wonders if I'd be able to fight the winds, who wonders what it would be like to be out in the elements? It's kind of like jumping off a bridge, you're not going to do it, but what would it feel like?
And then it's calm, the sun is out, the land is dry, and then the aforementioned levees break.
And everybody is unprepared and doesn't know what to do. Not only the citizens, but the government.
And this is where it gets ugly. The suffering people. The Black people. If this people had all been white?
Or is it just that Louisiana depends on New Orleans economically, but has contempt for the city.
Or is it that D.C. is just too far away.
But Brownie was doing a hell of a job. I remember that.
But it was much worse.
And the narrative was wrong. It was all about crime when that was not much of a factor. Showing how the media gets it wrong. What else does it get wrong?
And when it's all over, where does that leave us?
With a hell of a lot fewer Black people in New Orleans.
You wonder how poor people can survive when the rich are flaunting their wealth in front of us 24/7. Well, money and accoutrements don't mean you're happy. This doc focuses on culture. People, conversation, laughs, music, dancing, fun... New Orleans was definitely not like the rest of the country. Which was fine with the residents of the city, until they and their culture were thrown aside in the rescue and rebuilding of New Orleans.
This documentary is about more than the hurricane. What's it like to be a minority in America? The racism is palpable. You're disadvantaged. Occasionally you're paid lip service, but...
This is not an episode of "Behind the Music." Life just peachy, then a tragedy and then a rebirth. The renaissance...there has not been a return to normal and there may never be. And a lot of choices were ignorant, or made without consideration of the people involved.
Everybody in America should watch this doc. It should be shown in every school.
But in truth, people don't want to see the underbelly of America. They don't want to be shown that the country doesn't always work. That you may be left out alone in the cold, that the government may not help you much.
We prefer the two-dimensional cartoon narrative. Good and bad. Your team and mine. But the people underneath...
I couldn't stop thinking of the Depeche Mode song...
"People are people, so why should it be
You and I should get along so awfully"
--
Visit the archive: http://lefsetz.com/wordpress/
--
Listen to the podcast:
-iHeart: https://ihr.fm/2Gi5PFj
-Apple: https://apple.co/2ndmpvp
--
http://www.twitter.com/lefsetz
--
If you would like to subscribe to the LefsetzLetter,
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