Transcription
Several months ago, people began talking about the new adaptation of Animal Farm acquired by Angel Studios and coming out soon. And a lot of people pointed out that, uh, the trailer makes a, a, a story that is supposed to be anti-communist, anti-capitalist. And I will say, you are all correct.
Now, let me tell you the story. I put out a tweet on this one and generated some controversy, I suppose. But, and I was asked by people, "Why would you do this? It's so stupid." I said, "Well, here's the story. Uh, this movie is coming out soon."
I was reached out to by our ad team, as they normally do, and they said, "Tim, here are the sponsors coming up for Timcast IRL." And in the sponsor, uh, list for the week was Animal Farm and Angel Studios. And I immediately said, "What? Why would we run a promo for Animal Farm?" They, they took a book about the, the Bolshevik revolution criticizing communism, and the film, at least from the trailer, makes it anti-capitalist instead of communist. And, uh, I was like, "I don't, we can't run an ad for this."
And, uh, to be fair, to be fair, I said, you know, I, I've only seen the trailer. I've not actually watched the movie. So let me just pause, give you some, uh, clarification and some backstory. The trailer comes out. It involves deeply anti-capitalist sentiments in the trailer, and it is obvious from the trailer alone that it is changing the core elements of a story that was rooted in opposing communists and turning it into a story opposing capitalism. That was the presumption people had from watching this trailer because it was, they laid it on pretty heavy. I mean, there's a new corporatist villain, and it's literally Elon Musk's mom driving a Cybertruck.
Okay, so anyway, we get this, uh, uh, uh, script, and I'll tell you what I found disturbing or offensive personally and professionally. The first thing was, uh, as, as I just stated, right? Animal Farm is a very important classic story from George Orwell criticizing the rise of the communists and how they manipulated, seized power. And, uh, at the end of the story, for those that aren't familiar, it's not a very long story. The pigs and the humans were indistinguishable from each other. It was a story of despair and a warning, and it is considered to be a classic. Well, the movie is nothing like that. The trailer is nothing like that. And so I said, "Fair point. Let me actually watch the film."
And I'm not going to do a heavy review just yet because I don't believe it would be, uh, fair necessarily. I want to at least provide some respect to Angel Studios, who I've deeply respected in the past. I think have done tremendous work, great work. Uh, however, this one missed the beat massively. And I'll give my thoughts on how I think this came to be. Now, uh, we may have the Harmon brothers come on for a special episode of IRL, maybe on a Friday or something to debate and discuss the film and the shift in our culture, but this one is, talk about wearing our culture like a skin suit.
So, the script they send me, uh, I'm not going to go into great detail in the script, but it includes basically me like, they, they're effectively asking me in my own words to say, "I should have watched the film before criticizing it, and that I'm wrong." And I said, "I understand the point they're making. I don't want to say it's like they came to me personally and said, 'Tim, we know you don't like the movie. Change your opinion and we'll pay you.' I don't want to make it seem like that. It was more so a, 'Please watch the movie first, then you're going to understand why you were wrong.' That's, that's how it came across."
But either way, what was personally offensive to me was the, "No, no, the interpretation you got from our trailer was incorrect. Watch the film." And, okay, I, I take this with the tiniest of morsels of, "To be fair, I did not see the film and was only criticizing the trailer." So, okay, fine. I get a little emotional saying, "What? I'm not wrong. I watched that trailer." But fair point. Fine.
And then when I watched the movie, that's when the script hit me. When they, when they were saying like, "Watch the film and you'll see that you're wrong." And then I watched the film, and not only was I right, I was more right than anyone realized. And everybody else is right about it, too. The movie is explicitly from the start anti-capitalist. 100%. The trailer captures only a tiny morsel of this.
So, let me show you, uh, my tweet. I'll show you some of the commentary, and I'll show you the response from Angel Studios on this one. But, uh, I tweeted this announcement: "Tim Castyrell has been asked to run ads promoting Animal Farm next week, which is being distributed by Angel Studios. Angel Studios has done tremendous work in the past and I have been a fan for some time. However, I am rejecting these ads outright as the film is shockingly offensive, that is, as it is pro-communism and anti-capitalism. The film in its entirety is a critique of capitalism from beginning to end, and even has pro-leftist terrorism elements. I understand that this statement may be one of the stupidest things a company in the business of running ads can do, but I am so offended by this film, I decided I must publish this statement. I hope Angel Studios corrects this error and gets back to promoting positive films and messaging as they have in the past. But I will not be party to nor defend such an egregious insult to a classic book and important message."
Now, of course, the Harmon brothers, who, uh, run Angel, have responded saying their takeaway from this was anti-totalitarianism and anti-cronyism. And I'll tell you what I really think, and we'll talk to them about it, too. But here's my opinion. My opinion is that, uh, Animal Farm was adapted into a movie that was meant to be family-friendly by a bunch of leftists who didn't understand or intentionally wanted to, to destroy the original message.
So, uh, the villain, yes, absolutely, is Elon Musk's mom. And that is not a joke. That is not an allegory. Guys, I am telling you right, like I'm talking to my, my, my family, and I'm saying, 'cause I'm like, we're, I'm watching this film over the holiday weekend. It's my homework for these advertisers. Uh, believe it or not, guys, when we get, when we get sponsors, I try the products. I make sure we stand by them. We reject sometimes. And so, I watch this and I said, "Wow, the bad guy is not even the pigs anymore. The bad guy is Elon Musk's mom in a Cybertruck." And they're like, "Okay." Like, but it's a cartoon. No, the bad guy is Elon Musk's mom in a Cybertruck. And they're going like, "But it's like a sci-fi vehicle." I'm like, "No." And then I, like, I pull up the trailer and I show them, "This is a picture of Elon Musk's mom. This is the villain." They're like, "Whoa, it's literally like a drawing of Elon Musk's mom. Here's the vehicle she's driving." "Oh, that's literally just a Cybertruck. They added wheel wells to it, but it's literally a Cybertruck." Wild.
And, uh, the motivation, I'm not going to get into key story elements, only focusing on the trailer. But let me just say, having watched the whole film, it is not a critique of totalitarianism or cronyism. It is overtly a critique of capitalism. Now, I don't want to get into any story elements. I am not here to, uh, do a review of this or anything. Uh, so I'm not going to get into key story elements. When the film comes out, maybe I can talk a little bit about it. But what I can say is this. Um, I, I think a lot of this is already in the trailer, but some things that must be said.
The, uh, in the book, for those that are familiar, and I've read it, there's, um, a farmer who is neglectful, and the animals revolt against him. This is not the movie story. Uh, kind of, but it glosses over these important elements. Uh, prominent characters that are in the book have less prominent roles or, or outright don't exist. And, uh, in the movie, they add several young characters.
Um, let me, let me phrase it like this because again, and then I'll show you what the Harmon said. I, I don't want to give up, keep story beats. Having a hard time. But let me just say, in the book, the pigs basically lie about everything after the revolution against Farmer Jones, who is neglectful and drunk. They say, "He is not feeding us. We're not taking care of us. We need to take over." And so they do. And then they make rules. Slowly over time, the pigs start to break the rules, rewrite the rules, and eventually become indistinguishable from the farmer. That's, that's, that's not the movie.
This movie is a critique of private equity companies. It villainizes, uh, general, like, you know, look, by all means, criticize loans and the banking institutions, but the movie, uh, without going into, basically, the villain is no longer a neglectful farmer that the animals revolt against. The villain is a financial, it's, it's the financial structure of the country and corporatists who are trying to accumulate wealth. And instead of being about pigs becoming totalitarians, the story is about, uh, and this is, this, I'm, I'm keeping this vague without going into story story points, but the story shifts the focus into basically, uh, instead of becoming a communist dictatorship, they become a private equity firm. And, uh, instead of the film ending on a, on a sour note of like, in the book, the animals look into the house and they see that the pigs and the humans are laughing together. The movie ends with leftist terrorism that, uh, I'm trying really hard here, guys, but it's, let's just say, um, leftist terrorism, uh, uh, uh, the murder, LOTS OF MURDER. And, uh, I watched this and I was floored. Absolutely floored. And the, the ending is a message of pro-communism. And, uh, that's anyone who's saying otherwise. Like, I think the Harmon brothers are desperately trying to salvage this, and, and I get it.
Let me, let me, let me scroll down and I'll read some of the comments for you. Um, if they, if they're okay with me doing a beat, you know, having review, having watched the film for review. It's coming out in a month. You know, I, I'll, I'll, if they're okay with me explaining some of the, uh, uh, more vague plot points, I don't want to spoil it, but, uh, uh, uh, I will, you know, maybe explain some things. Let me just say this. Uh, the movie starts with the animals, uh, fighting financial institutions and corrupt corporatists trying to, uh, rig the, the capitalist game, as it were. Uh, a lot of it does, like, they took beat elements of Animal Farm and connected it to a broader message of how capital is bad. And the ending is, instead of the pigs and humans joining together, uh, that, that, don't get me wrong, like that's still a standard component of the film, but instead of being communist, they become a private equity firm. And, and again, that's not a story, like I'm, I'm, I'm analogizing. I am not, like, this is not literally a point of the movie. I am saying functionally, the film is about how the pigs launch a private equity firm. And, uh, let's just say that the result is leftist terrorism massacring employees. And it's just, it's, it's wild. It's wild.
Let me show you some of the comments. Right. Ed Kran called me woke. Sure. I don't understand. Uh, Jeffrey Harmon, one of the founders of Angel Studio says, "Tim, I'd love, I'd be happy to come on, come back on your show and debate your point of view. I came away from the film with the opposite view as, as you did." I said, "Let's do it." And, uh, there's another one of the Harmon Brothers responded, but it's an algorithm, so I don't know who it's, who it's going to show. Uh, let me see here. I don't know. He's in there somewhere. Uh, Phoenix says, "I canceled my membership because they wouldn't respond to any of our concerns regarding this movie, and the only reply I got from Jeffrey Harmon was a mocking retweet of Angel Studios."
Here's, uh, Angel Studios says, "You caught us. If Animal Farm triggered you, make sure you don't watch this clip of Carl Marx from Tuttle Twins. Yoohoo, it's me, Carl Marx, and I just need to say, do not watch Tuttle Twins. It's a cartoon that teaches kids terrible things like free markets and critical thinking and how communism has murdered tens of millions of people." That's not true. It's murdered a lot more than that. Anyway, think of the children and do not download the Angel app to watch the Tuttle Twins for free. And do not subscribe to get access to all episodes. The stupid guest stars like Mike Ro and Dr. >> Anyway, yeah, you get it. You get it.
Um, so, you know, I'm going to say this. Uh, it's the stupidest thing in the world, of course, when a sponsor reaches out and says, "Here, we're going to pay you money, do this ad," for me to then go on X and say, "I am rejecting these," and, and say all of these things, uh, considering they're probably never going to buy ads from us again. And I was asked immediately by, uh, colleagues and, uh, representatives saying, "Tim, why would you do that? Why would you not just call them and talk to them about it first and say you don't want to do?" And I said, "Um, because this is bigger than that. Because there's people already running ads for this who have not seen the movie and they don't seem to care."
And, uh, one, I, I, I am a little personally offended that it was like, "We know Tim Pool criticized the film in the trailer for these points, and now we're going to offer him an ad deal. He can watch the film and then say admit he was wrong and take the money." And I was like, "Fine, I'll watch the film." And I watched it, and it's worse than you even realized. And, uh, and then I said, like, "Bro, are you kidding me?"
I look, guys, Angel, I don't, I don't know who you think you're kidding with this one, but we'll have, we'll have the conversation. We'll have the debate. And I fully recognize, one, I am not getting paid any money. We, I, I have said no to this. I will not accept money from Angel Studios regarding this. I know people have already said, "Tim, isn't this going to promote the film anyway and generate controversy? It's probably good for them." And maybe fine, whatever. But I'm like, there are people that are promoting this film with this canned message of, "No, no, it's about anti-cronyism." Well, the book wasn't about anti-cronyism anyway. So, why not make the book as an actual representation of, of anti-communism? Can't we get any media that criticizes communism one time? And you took Animal Farm and you turned it into a critique of private equity and, and, uh, uh, corporatism and capitalism, and you've added new fake villains, Elon, Elon Musk's mom in a cyber. I'm just not interested, man. Give us an actual take on it. You want to make it hokey and family-friendly? Fine, I guess. But this is weird. This is, in my opinion, Hollywood saying, "Let's take Animal Farm, beat it to a pulp, turn it into anti-capitalist propaganda."
And here's what I think happened. I think Angel Studios has done great work. And I think they've really tried hard to get films with A-lister celebrities. I think one of the strategies for taking over, taking back these institutions is to get prominent A-listers on board with your company. So, to put it simply, when you have a studio that promotes a lot of Christian messaging, you want to be viewed as legitimate and mainstream and massive, you're going to have to get these prominent celebrities on board so that you are a part of the standard institution that you are part of this ecosystem. So along comes Animal Farm. And again, this is just pure speculation, and I'm sure the Harmon brothers can clarify for me, but here's what I see in my mind. Word gets out in Hollywood that a film has been made adapting Animal Farm or it's about to wrap production, and it's got prominent celebrities in it. It's got Woody Harrelson. It's got Kieran Culkin. It's got a bunch of people. And so, uh, Angel Studios says, "Animal Farm is a traditional anti-communist story. This would be massive for us. It's going to be hugely popular, and this is the kind of messaging we want." So my presumption is, without seeing the film, they bid on distribution and won it, and it was probably very expensive. And now, after seeing the film and the trailers, I'm, again, pure speculation, I think the Harmon brothers were well aware because I don't know how you get past it when you watch this film. I don't know how you get past it. Like, literally the movie starts with banking institutions, finance, all of that stuff. Like, the first thing that happens, not in the book. And I imagine they went, "Uh oh, well, it is still showing corruption indeed. So let's call it anti-cronyism." And then make it about, you know, like capital and communism and these things. You know, it's, it's totalitarianism. That's the message. Yeah.
I, my view is that they, they bid a lot of money on this celebrity family film that's expected to make a lot of money, and they don't want to lose that money. I think that the, uh, the Angel Studios members probably saw that Animal Farm was getting adapted and they all said, "Yes, yes, yes," because Animal, Animal Farm is a great story. And instead of saying, "This film is a mockery of the book and a critique on capitalism," they're trying to massage it in a way where they can squeeze a message out.
Let me, let me tell you something about, um, Squid, Squid Games. Squid Games, when it came out, and the second season was, but the first one, every, all these lefties were like, "It's a critique of capitalism." Everyone's so desperate for money. And I'm like, "No, it's a critique of communism." And they're like, "Tim's so dumb. The guy who made it said it was a critique of capitalism." Yeah, because communists are, are idiots.
So let me just put it like this. All these lefties come out and say that Squid Games critiques capitalism. Sure. Let's talk about what Squid Games represents. A bunch of people who, who are suffering, are offered an opportunity to live a better life. "Join us. Come to this special program, this special system that we've put together, and you might get ahead." Oh, okay. So they join. They're made to all wear the same clothing. They're made to all, uh, uh, uh, eat the same food. They are pitted against each other desperately, and they're killed off systematically for the entertainment of the powerful elites. And the message they said was, "See, that's capitalism." Because in their wackaloon goofy world, capitalism is when powerful elites hunt you for sport, make you wear the same clothing, eat the same food. Okay, here's my point. Uh, that's communism. There are powerful elites with guns. They are there without merit. They control the system. "Join us for a better world," they say. Sparking a communist revolution where everyone now is clawing for scraps and barely getting by. They're dying one by one. And that's supposed to be capitalism. Sure.
Let me add a few points to make it about capitalism by your own arguments. And I'm saying this, and again, I'll shift back to Animal Farm. I want to make this point. The left has this thing they do where everybody stands on a football field and they say, "Everybody starts at the same line." Now, if you're white, take one step forward. If you're male, take one step forward. If you're Christian, take one step forward. And then eventually they, they've got, you know, black people say they say, "If you're black, take one, take one step back." And then the white people are all forward. The men are even further up. The rich people are even further up. And they say, "Okay, now we're going to race to the finish line." And it's like, "Wait, wait, wait, that's not fair. The white people are already far ahead of me." That's the leftist argument of American western sis heteronormative capitalist systems, right? It's like that meme where they have three people standing on a crate up against a fence, and the short guy can't see anything. The, the presupposition of communism has always been that not everybody is starting off equal, and it's not fair. And so we need to have a system where everyone begins equally.
Take us to Squid Games where, for instance, when they're playing Red Light, Green Light, they all start at the exact same line, wearing the same clothes, on even footing, because y'all are equal. Now, go. That's never been capitalism, right? The argument for the left has always been that capitalism, everyone starts off at different points based on their wealth or access or privilege, in which case Red Light, Green Light should have started with all the men further ahead than the women, and the wealthier further ahead than them. No, this was communism. Powerful elites controlling a system, promising you your glorious revolution where everybody will be better off, and then they all sign up for this program, which turns out to just kill them. That's not capitalism.
Capitalism also, if it were in Squid Games, you'd be able to leave whenever you wanted. And they say, "No, no, no, no. You, you can't leave capitalism whenever you want because then you'll starve to death." Yeah. Let me explain something about like East and West Germany. If you tried to leave the Soviet Union, they killed you. If you tried to leave the West, they said, "Sure, okay, I guess."
So, let's try this again. In Squid Games, are you allowed to leave? No, they'll kill you. If it was capitalism, you'd say, "I quit. I'm leaving." And if the response was, "Then good luck getting back because you're on a deserted island." Like, that would be a fair critique of capitalism. If they said, "Okay, you don't want to play anymore. All right, 10 miles of ocean, swim, otherwise you're trapped." And then I'd say that's a better, like, if you were to decide to leave the capitalist system and go live in the middle of nowhere, you'll encounter hardship indeed because you're outside of society. Except in communism, you can't leave.
Anyway, here's my point. I'm not playing these stupid games. This, we, we know what capitalism and communism is. Animal Farm takes shots at corporations. The villain is Elon Musk's mom in a Cybertruck whose motivations are purely based on capital endeavors. The actions of the pigs are no longer related to copu, uh, communist revolution. They're now related to private equity. The, the, the, uh, uh, the conflict that the animals are, are up against is corporatist structures and, uh, systems of monetary value, and not that there's an oppressive, you know, political regime. And it doesn't end with the message of despair like the book does. Is, I'm not going to tell you what the ending is, but I will say that a component of the story is that leftist terrorism is the only way to do it. Yeah.
Sure. I guess now I'm sure the, uh, the Harmon brothers can say that, uh, it's a critique of totalitarianism and cronyism, but I feel like, you know, I, like, I like the, the, the meme, the gag about, uh, Star Wars. And the joke is, this Star Wars is a story about a kid who gets radicalized by an, a religion on a desert planet to fly a cargo ship to a military base, planting explosives and blowing it up, killing millions. And then everyone laughs like, "Yeah, yeah, but the Empire was evil." Sure, it's a movie, and they cast villain. We know the Empire is bad. We know they're oppressive. And they've elaborated on that story. My point is, there's this trope about reimagining these stories from the perspective of the, uh, like, in the real world, there is evil, don't get me wrong, but there are political machinations, and everybody's got propaganda. And sometimes it's not about whether a system is evil or good. It's about the balance of the morality and figuring out when to stop something, etc., etc.
The point is this. One could take Star Wars and reimagine it. Darth Vader is a disabled war veteran who is still serving the Galactic Federation or Republic or whatever you want to call it. Now, of course, in Star Wars, they say, "We have dissolved the Senate. It's an Empire now." Yes. The joke is that's how you'd be viewed by the commies. Let's rewrite Star Wars and say there is terror, civil war, and violence after a massive. Actually, it's really funny. Like, if you were to take a look at the American Civil War and make it a conspiracy about how Abraham Lincoln intentionally fermented southern, uh, like Buchanan, it was all a big plan to force the country to be a singular union under one constitution instead of several others. You could rewrite Star Wars too. The Senate was failing. A trade blockade on on was it Naboo? Whatever planet, I don't know. Yeah, Naboo, I think, was being unresolved and it was sluggish. Remove the elements of Palpatine being an evil Machiavellian dictator and just strip to its bare parts, or or invert the narrative. The Senate can't get anything done. There's violence and civil war erupting. People are being captured. The Trade Federation is threatening to fracture from the Union. So, Chancellor Palpatine or the senator runs for Chancellor, or, or he gets appointed chancellor, whatever. I don't, I think he, I think he, uh, he wins an election or something, and then he says, "We're putting a stop to this." Very Abraham Lincoln. You could frame it as though, if you remove the machinations from it. Guys, I understand that people get so mad about this. It could be reframed that Palpatine is not an evil Sith. To put it simply, if you were making a propaganda film, you'd paint your enemy as an evil man who's like, "I'm going to kill children for no reason." Like they did with the, with the, with the first war in the Gulf where they said that some, they were pulling babies out of incubators, things like that. Make your enemy this villain. Rewrite it and Palpatine is a hard-lined leader, not an authoritarian, but who does violate rights of people within the Republic because the Republic is about to fall apart. And you can get a very Abraham Lincoln-esque story. My point is this. You could twist it that way. We know what the story is. Palpatine's a Sith. He's, he, he, he, he, he has fermented this, this, this fighting so that he could steal power and create an empire.
I look at Animal Farm and I'm like, I'm not playing this game where I try to twist and try to make it seem like it's not attacking capitalism. Let me just wrap it up by saying this. I will not take money to promote things that I think are bad for our values and our traditions, that bastardize and besmirch a powerful and important story about how the evils of communism, and this is exactly what it does. And they're doing it because they're targeting children. So while it's not lewd or lascivious like a child drag show, again, I see the point of this story is to poison the mind of young people, of children, and convince them that Animal Farm was always a story critiquing capital structures, banks, big business, and not communist revolution. The warning of Animal Farm is, don't trust these people who want to take over with military force and everyone's going to be equal. But that's not what that movie is about. It literally has Elon Musk's mom going in a Cybertruck. Seriously, I'm not joking.
Anyway, I'm not going to keep ranting on this one. I'll wrap it up there. Smash the like button, I guess. Uh, uh, I'll get into more detail later when the movie comes out and we'll, we'll review it more, more, uh, intently with spoilers, but not for now. Uh, thanks for hanging out, guys, and I'll see you all in the next segment.