Pheaturing Seth Rogen

 

Hey, kids, welcome to the Phile for a Friday. How are you doing? Three black women have shared a series of videos on TikTok after they were falsely accused of shoplifting at T.J. Maxx by a police officer who claimed the incident was "reported" to him, but then is seen backtracking on his story. The videos seem to clearly illustrate an incident of racial profiling. While walking to their car, carrying items they had purchased, the women said they were stopped by a police officer claiming to have received a call that the women were being "suspicious." As the women repeatedly point out in the videos, they believe they were considered suspicious simply "because we're black." In the first video, the three women are forced to watch as the police officer has a store clerk check all of their receipts. The video, which has already garnered 2.6 million views, shows the police officer changing his story. Despite first claiming that he received a phone call about them, he then says nobody reported them. Talk about suspicious. He then claims the person who reported the shoplifting was a "black male" who "doesn't work here," but he can't verify who it is. In an attempt to defend himself and downplay the situation, he says, "Listen, I got told that there was shoplifting, so that's why I'm here. If there's no problem, then there's no problem." But, as the women explain in the video, there is very much a "problem": they were publicly humiliated while patronizing a store and spending money they earned. The women then decided to return their purchases. Because who wants to spend money at a store that (allegedly) called the cops on you?! In a second video, the women filmed themselves going through the process of returning all their items, as the police officer watched. The police officer then tried to undermine the women, again, implying their guilt by asking, "Why are there so many receipts?" And telling them they have to "explain" why there are five receipts. This is when a black shopper stepped in to defend them, arguing that they shouldn't have to explain the number of receipts they used, "I can use a million American Express if I choose to. I could use a black one, I could use a silver one, I could use a gold one." In the third video, things get heated as the officer seems to struggle to keep his story straight. His story changed again after he claimed he wasn't called, but approached "in person." T.J. Maxx denied being involved in the incident, releasing this statement to the Daily Dot, "We can confirm that the plain clothes detective and police officers seen on this video do not work for our company, and that the Associates working in our store did not initiate these actions. Involvement from our Associates was at the direct request of law enforcement." There is certainly a lot that is "suspicious" about this story, none of it pertaining to the women who were just trying to enjoy a day of bargain shopping at T.J. Maxx. Yeah, I get most of my news from TikTok nowadays. Haha.

Welcome to another day in the Divided States of America, a country deeply-polarized on issues ranging from abortion to the COVID-19 vaccine to whether or not Ross was in his right to cheat on Rachel with the girl from the Xerox shop (they were on a break!!!!!!!). Regarding the COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC says it is "safe and effective," and recommends all adults get vaccinated in order to stop the spread of the virus. But the vaccine has become a highly-politicized issue, with many people, especially conservatives, refusing to get vaccinated. Apparently Candace Owens is one of those conservatives. The controversial political commentator recently stated on Twitter that she and her entire family will not be getting the COVID-19 vaccine, on the grounds of their rights to "medical freedom." 

Of course, getting vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus is a choice. But many people on Twitter argued that by choosing not to get the vaccine, Owens is putting people in danger and contributing to the spread of the virus. For anyone concerned about getting the COVID-19 vaccine, the Internet has a slew of useful resources, like this website debunking various myths: publichealth.org/public-awareness/understanding-vaccines/vaccine-myths-debunked/. And this article in which an infectious disease expert weighs in on various vaccine-related concerns: ucsf.edu/news/2021/01/419691/covid-19-vaccine-fact-vs-fiction-expert-weighs-common-fears. Also, this CDC-sponsored website will help you find out where you can get vaccinated near you: vaccines.gov/search/gclid=Cj0KCQjwxJqHBhC4ARIsAChq4avGxe49XM_hA79ihJ_DYSWv7vS4Ki6QwgpeI4fk8lZw3mWck7m9VXIaAvljEALw_wcB. 

Remember Donald Trump? He was the President of the United States from January 2017 to January 2021, a period in which the world quite literally revolved around his moods as chronicled on his Twitter account. After his rhetoric resulted in the deadly insurrection of the Capitol on January 6th, Trump was permanently banned from posting on Twitter "due to the risk of further incitement of violence." Facebook's Oversight Board upheld their ban for the time being, and the former Poster-in-Chief is pissed. On Wednesday, Trump announced that he is suing Twitter, Facebook, and Google for alleged censorship, and legal experts announced that the suit is likely Dead On Arrival. "This lawsuit is a stunt and it’s unlikely to find traction in the courts," Jameel Jaffer, executive director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said in a statement. "The argument here that Facebook should be considered a state actor is not at all persuasive. It’s also difficult to square the arguments in the lawsuit with President Trump’s actions in office. The complaint argues that legislators coerced Facebook into censoring speech, but no government actor engaged in this kind of coercion more brazenly than Trump himself." The lawsuit is predicated on the argument that Facebook and Twitter are an arm of the government, and that is objectively not the case. Plus, Trump is claiming to be representing a "class" of people, when he is the only individual to have been banned for using the Office of the Presidency to incite violence. Within seconds of the announcement, Trump's team proceeded to fundraise off of the lawsuit. Reporters and lawyers are speculating that the fundraising is the true purpose of this exercise. Another indication of how unserious this lawsuit is is that it was filed in the wrong jurisdiction. Oops? 

The push to get more people vaccinated continues, and it's not just governments or corporate workplaces advocating for vaccination. Places like Krispy Kreme started offering free donuts to people who can prove they were vaccinated, there have been lotteries exclusive to vaccinated people, and a bevy of celebrities have jumped on social media to post about getting vaccinated in hopes of inspiring fans. Well now, the ranks of vaccine endorsements have been joined by another unexpected group: The Teletubbies. Yes, you read that right, the bizarre doll-like creatures from the television show with a baby-faced sun have jumped on social media to announce their vaccinated status.

For those uninitiated, the Teletubbies were the stars of a popular children's show in the 90s (which got a reboot in 2014). The rag-tag group of soft alien-like creatures hang out with a vacuum cleaner, have televisions on their bellies, and communicate with a sun that has the face of a baby. With that in mind, their social media post celebrating vaccinations came off deeply funny and bizarre. It wasn't long before the Teletubbies vaccination post went viral, and people jumped on the thread with a myriad of responses. Some people were confused by the fact that the vaccination cards said the Teletubbies were born in 2003, when the original show aired in the 1990s. The real question at hand, is whether or not you are on board for a hot Tubby summer? 

The first-ever film to be released by Marvel after almost two years since the pandemic hit is here with Black Widow and it seems that fans from across the globe who have waited for so long are eager to get their first dose of an MCU film as it proves a triumphant return bringing in $5 million on the very first day of its international release. The comeback is real for the MCU as it sets a benchmark for the international release of a film during the pandemic bringing into the box office $5 million on the first day of showing in theaters overseas. The much-anticipated solo film of the belle of the Avengers started releasing on Wednesday in 11 countries which included the U.K., Italy, and France, and having $4.9 million on the day of the release in a report from Deadline. The total did not include that of Korea just yet as it got $1.8 million there on its first day in theaters. With this trend, it is also predicted that the film will have more or less $50 million when it releases globally. Considering that there are still restrictions in theaters having a limited capacity, the film is already on the top spot as the most-watched film in theaters in the pandemic era and with just that, it could easily set off the industry back on its feet. What a triumphant return of the MCU, indeed.

If I had a TARDIS I would try to meet Steve Jobs at his house, but knowing my luck he'd be with Bill Gates discussing the PC’s future. 

Sometimes when I get bored I go on Twitter and look up certain words. One of those words I look up is "Foghat" and here's a tweet I saw recently...

Hahahaha. Any stroll through a store would have you believe that "pink is for girls" and "blue is for boys" are the associated gender roles are the very backbone of our society. Products from nail clippers to hand lotion are assigned genders when last time I checked, inanimate objects don't have gender identities. Like this cartoon hand for example...

So, one of the best things about the Internet is you can see porn and so easily. But if you're at work or home you might get in trouble. So, I came up with a solution...

You're welcome. Everyone wants to find love, right? But sometimes we want to find love so bad, we get scammed over it. A woman recently emailed the Phile to ask for advice after she exposed a catfish to her friend... and the friend blamed her. It's a tale as old as time. Well, it's a tale as old as social media... but you get the picture. Here's her story. At first, she was happy to see her friend got engaged.

"Years ago I had a casual friendship with a lady at church, we'll call her Sally. We are Facebook friends and have 20+ friends in common. A few months ago she posted that she had a new love in her life. Then she posted a photo of an engagement ring and said she was engaged. We all sent congratulations, however she never answered comments from us asking how they met, when they were getting married, etc. She said she was going to become the stepmom to his 13-year old (she is 70). A mutual friend messaged Sally and was told a long tale about this "fiancé"... they never met in person, he was from Europe working in Canada, had a thick accent, was widowed, they used Google Hangouts... all obvious signs of a love scam. A few days pass and a new FB profile appears with this fiancé  a quick reverse image search proved the man on the profile picture was not this fiancé  We were concerned our friend would be the victim of a financial scam, she is elderly and on a tight fixed income. We shared the evidence with Sally via private message, as gently as we could. She reacted by going on a tirade about how we shattered her world, plotted against her and gossipped to all her friends (we didn't, we shared our findings with no one), and said we took away her only happiness in life and now she has separated from the "fiancé." We wanted to protect her from being scammed out of her money.... are we wrong?" You absolutely did the right thing... She is probably heartbroken to discover this. You definitely helped her in the long run, but maybe give her some time to process everything. This is probably hard for her. The fake fiancé is clearly an asshole and a catfishing scammer. Sally is, somewhat understandably, having an emotional time dealing with her happy idea crumble around her. The lashing out does make her wrong but thats very much a reaction to save face which I would take as forgivable. Honestly, it seems like her world IS shattered and yet you all did NOTHING wrong. Seems like you actually protected her from possible financial abuse. It's understandable she might be angry, but her anger shouldn't be at the messengers... it should be at the catfish. Unfortunately, older generations and those with confidence issues fall into these traps because they get complimented by people who they deem to be better looking than themselves and fall into the charming persona presented. I wouldn't be surprised if this man has already asked her for some money, presumably for his "motherless daughter," pulling at emotional heart strings. You and your friends did the right thing. Her current reaction is shame and embarrassment that she would easily fall for this scam and she does not want to admit you are right. Give her time to process her emotions, to come to terms with this fantasy she was drawn into, and be there to support her when she is more open to it. So there you go. When your friend's being catfished, the best thing to do is tell them... whether they get mad at you or not. And hey, they'll get over it eventually. If you have a problem and you want my opinion on it then email me at thepeverettphile@gmail.com. Now from the home office in Port Jefferson, New York here is...

Top Phive Things Said About The Teletubbies Getting "Vaccinated"

5. It's illegal to lie about your DOB on medical forms. Ahem. For real though why not just make that their birthday?

4. This complicates the Teletubby lore immensely. Assuming this is canon, it confrims that Teletubbies takes place on Earth during the current time period (huge, very disturbing and worrying revelation). The Teletubbies are susceptible to disease. There is some kind of organization presumably called Tubby/Teletubby Disease Control, modeled after the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 

3. How come I haven't had my second vaccination yet but these multicoloured fucks are all ready to go? Presumably they got the first jab then said "AGAIN AGAIN" and the spineless doctors did what they said because they're celebrities. Corruption is RIFE in this cesspit!

2. Let me get this straight. Tinky Winky is vaccinated and a whole half of the USA is not? 

And the number one thing said about the Teletubbies getting "vaccinated" is...

1. Bro, who stuck a needle in the Teletubbies?

If you spot the Mindphuck let me know. Okay, let's take a live look at Port Jefferson, shall we?

It's raining there just like it is here in Florida... it's Elsa. 

On speaking German in German...

Okay, now for some...

Phact 1. The exact reason behind Mozart’s death is still unknown. Researchers have proposed at least 118 causes of death, ranging from influenza to mercury poisoning. 

Phact 2. The Church of Scientology ran several smear campaigns against author Paulette Cooper, one of their critics, including Operation Freakout, the goal of which was to have her admitted to a mental institution. Another, Operation Dynamite, used Cooper’s fingerprints to send bomb threats to the Church. 

Phact 3. Rather than use the marketing budget on ads for "Total War-Rome," the game developers hired a group to create (entertaining) YouTube videos about the Punic Wars and Roman History. And, they suggested this group not to mention or market the game, “Just teach history." 

Phact 4. The largest member of the hawk owl group and the largest owl in Australia is named the Powerful Owl. 

Phact 5. In 2003, Brazil became the first country in the world to totally ban indoor tanning for anyone of any age. 

This is fucking cool. Today's guest is a Canadian-American actor, comedian, writer and filmmaker. His memoir Year Book is the 153th book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. Please welcome to the Phile... Seth Rogen!

Me: Hello, Seth, welcome to the Phile. I am so excited to have you here. How are you? 

Seth: Great, man. 

Me: So, I have to tell you... years ago my friend Steve and I saw you at work (Star Tours at Disney's Hollywood Studios) and were so excited to see you. I wanted to say hi but you were surrounded by people and I didn't want to get in trouble. Haha. 

Seth: Aww, man, you should've said something. You worked there? 

Me: I still do... I am a coordinator in Attractions there. I have been at Walt Disney World for over 33 years. 

Seth: That's great. 

Me: Okay, enough about me, let's talk about you. Your book is the 153rd book to be pheatured in the Phile's Book Club. Anyway, I know you explain in the book how you first got into comedy but can you tell me here? 

Seth: I first got into comedy as a kid and my first act was about my grandparents. 

Me: What can you tell me about your grandparents and why they were so funny? 

Seth: It's just how different we could be from the previous generations. My grandmother was born in a caravan fleeing from the pogroms of Eastern Europe in the early 1900s. My grandfather was born in Winnipeg but her was very tough, he fought in World War ll. He played football. They didn't like me. very much, my entire childhood they were not that interested in me. When my sister was preparing for her Bat Mitzvah, she was 13 so I was 10 and I didn't want to go to Synagogue so my parents would drop me off at their house every Friday and that was the first time I started to spend a lot of time with them and when I was 10 or 11. They were hilarious and they were deaf and that was the main thing, they would deaf and they would scream at each other all night. They didn't know what the other person was arguing about but they were just screaming at each other. So my first jokes were about my grandparents. 

Me: And were they into it? 

Seth: My whole family was into it. Right now what I'm dealing with is my sister is not happy that she's not in the book more. I wasn't expecting that either, I was worried that my grandparents that they never liked it but the truth is when I started writing jokes about other things they were very insulted. LOL. 

Me: Did you have fear about doing stand-up so young? 

Seth: No, I was much more afraid speaking to a girl like one on one in class than I was getting up in class in front of 200 people telling jokes. I look back honestly how little fear I had when it comes to stand-up. 

Me: Why do you think that is? 

Seth: I ascribe not to I think I was just young and I just didn't understand the stakes of it. They weren't my friends and my peers and I don't think when I look back probably had a lot to do with it. It specifically people I was never going to see again. Because I was underage that fact was even more compounded. They were old people I was never going to see again. I really didn't care what they thought that much which is not a good thing for a stand-up but that was I felt genuinely was I somewhat intimidated by audiences because I felt like they were adults and I genuinely was not that swayed by what they thought. LOL. 

Me: So, do you still feel that way? 

Seth: As I've gotten older I've grown much more sensitive to putting myself out there in some ways but I've also been become more calloused probably over the years. LOL. 

Me: I don't know how to ride a bike and will never ride a bike because I know what happens when I fall. It's a similar thing, right? 

Seth: Yeah, in the book I make the analogy of those little Chinese acrobat kids like they don't know how dangerous it is what they're doing. They're getting tossed 30 feet in the air. If they knew the stakes they would not be allowing that to happen. LOL. And you could ride a bike, man. You probably pulled off harder things like that working at Disney World for all those years. LOL. 

Me: I've got bad gravity and I am clumsy. 

Seth: I feel you could still do it. I know very uncoordinated people who ride bikes. LOL.

Me: Ha! Okay, so, you have a good friend names Evan Goldberg. When did you realize you would be best friends? 

Seth: Pretty soon after we met. I think at that age that happens pretty fast. I knew Evan a little bit but I was at this girl Julia's Bat Mitzvah and it was a very pressurized situation this whole year going to Bar and Bat Mitzvahs which I did when I was 13. Every weekend I was at a Bar or Bat Mitzvah. I was going to go to high school next year, I was nervous about that, there's a lot of dancing Bar or Bat Mitzvahs, it was kind of like the first foray into maybe like a romantic world for me. I was kind of preoccupied what the other kids thought of me and I remember seeing these two kids at Julia's Bat Mitzvah just cutting open the glow sticks and dumping the glowing ooze on themselves. They seem to be having a very good time and I went over and met them and it was Sammy and Evan who went on to become my best friends and the namesakes of the characters in Superbad are named after them and myself. I truly think by the end of Julia's Bat Mitzvah we were best friends. We were literally chemically bonded by the noxious ooze we were dumping on ourselves throughout the course of the evening,. LOL. 

Me: How old were you when you started writing Superbad, Seth? 

Seth: Evan and I wrote it when we were 13 or 14-year-old kids. 

Me: That's crazy. What made you kids write a movie? 

Seth: Probably the same thing again that makes me do stand-up. Blind hubris and a total lack of understanding of how there world works to a degree that I was willing to just try a thing that probably I had no right trying. I really thought we could do it and so did Evan. She just thought why not, that's a funny thing with art is like people try to apply this to art I thought but is it not the case. There's no precedent for art for having to have done it for a long time to be good at it. I think like other jobs people want man experienced surgeon, you want an experienced dentist, airplane pilot maybe things like that. There's very famous example of actors who who their first role is incredible and timeless and something people look back on for decades as a marvel. There's Orson Wells made Citizen Kane when he was 24-years-old. He had not been making movies a long time. What's interesting it's a job that there is no precedent for experience lending itself to quality. So I think some part of us recognize that and we're like why couldn't teenagers write a movie about teenagers in high school? If anything were the best suited people to be doing this. Why do we have to be old to write a movie about this? If anything it'd be weirder if we were old trying to write a movie about this. Again with art it was why do we have to be doing this a long time in order to be good at it? Haley Joel Osment was a good actor when he was 8-years-old or something. He doesn't have to be acting a long time to be great at it, this kid's been alive 8 years and he's great at it. There's this thing with art that's interesting which is like we could be good the first time out. 

Me: Do you think your movies later are as good or better? 

Seth: I very much recognize that we probably can't and the first thing we made is probably by most metrics considered our best thing. But I think a part of that is probably because it was our first thing. It's different because of that because it's the first time people were exposed to our writing and our sensibilities and our take on things. In the 15 years or whatever it is since Superbad came out out it's not as fresh as it was simply because you have received product from us before. I'm amazed that we're still able to make anything that people are remotely interested in anything, I don't think it's like a marvel that the first thing we made is our best thing. I think it's more incredible that things we made subsequently are considered to be remotely as good as that thing which some of them are which I'm very happy about. 

Me: When you write with Evan what are you trying to do? 

Seth: We're not trying to recapture anything. If anything we're honestly trying to push ourselves to do new and exciting things that we find very personally entertaining. That's like first and foremost what we are chasing is what do we want to be watching and that changes over the years. 

Me: Is it harder now though than before? 

Seth: What came to our advantage is we came up in the studio system. Superbad was a studio movie, the first sets I was on was The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Anchorman, "Freaks and Geeks" was an NBC show, I was a writer for a Fox network show. That was my first job. I actually came up and I recognized this more and more with a lot of my friends who came up in a more independent world is like I came up and it's like as infra structurally a mainstream setting as I could basically. The first movies I worked on was Universal, Columbia Pictures, real studios. It's funny, my wife still talks about it when we first started darting was between when we shot 40-Year-Old Virgin and when it came out. There were no trailers or commercials for it or anything and I remember inviting her to a screening for it and being like I made this movie and we're doing a test screening for it. Do you want to come and I remember the Universal logo came up at the beginning and she was like it's a real movie. Yeah, it's a real movie. She didn't think it was a real movie, she thought it was like a little tiny movie that maybe one day would see the light of day. She went to film school, she grew up and came up in an independent world so it was not her assumption that was not what we had made. Again my first job was I was on NBC and Fox and things like that so in my head a movie was a movie, it was a studio movie. Independent movies were honestly not something I was interesting in pursuing. That wasn't the audience that I was trying to capture. 

Me: When you decided to write the book what did you want to get across? 

Seth: I was trying to make something funny. 

Me: What has been the feedback like? 

Seth: Honestly one of the encouraging messages I've been getting a lot on social media in the last few months since the book has come out is is a lot of people are saying this is the first book I've read in ten years. That is honestly the kind of audience I was going for is people who don't generally look to books for the thing that they they want which is just like entertainment. That's something that I thought a lot about as I was writing there book and trying to reconcile it was one of the things of the hurdles I thought was like entertainment is not what books are always for. When I make a movie I want it to have lessons and insight and all this stuff but it's for entertainment. It can't be boring, it has to be funny, if I'm making comedy it has to get laughs every few minutes or I'm failing. I wanted to focus on making a book that was very honest and about me and my experiences but first and foremost I wanted to make something that was a form of entertainment. And I think I order for something to be entertaining it has to tick more boxes than just be funny, it has to be relatable, it has to feel honest and it has to at least feel like it's trying to provide some insight even if its just into the person that is writing the story. 

Me: So, I tell jokes on this blog and I tell jokes on TikTok, like dad jokes and stupid jokes, and I wonder if comedy is valued enough. What do you think? 

Seth: I can tell you for sure as someone who has done this for a very long time nothing is valued less on this planet creatively than comedy. It is by far the least valued creative output. My wife has done puzzles that have gotten more praise than an entire comedic film that we've made. That is factual. No one thinks anything is easier than comedy. It is not viewed as something that is hard to do. It is not rewarded, it is not acclaimed, it is not lauded. It's almost like this ratio where the less funny my comedy is trying to be the more acclaimed it gets. A Wes Anderson movie is funny, it's not trying to kill in a theater. It's not like his goal is I want people like laughing hysterically every minute. With our movies we're trying to destroy and we're also trying to have great stories and great chatters and emotional moments and things like that. It's almost like how funnier the movie is the less people in general think that we worked hard on it. 

Me: So, are you unhappy with the feedback your movies get or happy? 

Seth: I've come to the place that I'm incredibly grateful that it's not a part of my career experience is trying to be rewarded for our work in any way beyond audiences living it and we like it when critics like our work as well. I think that helps audiences like our work if it is viewed as good by the consensus of those who view these things. 

Me: So, you don't try to win awards with your movies? Hahaha. 

Seth: As far as awards go no, that is not part of my current. It's not something I consider and it's not something I care about. I honestly thank God for that because if it was it would take up so much more time and energy that my job already does. It already takes up quite a bit of time. 

Me: That totally makes sense. You just want approval then, right? 

Seth: We're only chasing the approval of our audience. We're not as much change the approval of our peers. For better or for worse. LOL. 

Me: Okay, I gave to mention The Interview. I'm not going to go into all the shit that movie and you went through but did you think you were gonna die? 

Seth: Ummmmmmm. No more than I think I'm going to die on the average day to day basis which is like somewhat. I was maybe as always if anything more worried about a crazy American person killing me which again could be said about pretty much 24 hours a day, seven days a week predating The Interview. That was more my fear. I wasn't afraid if a North Korean against coming to West Hollywood to get me. I was more afraid of some crazy American person. I can't even rationalize why but mostly that's what I was afraid of. I wasn't losing sleep over it. LOL.

Me: What was it like to live through all that? 

Seth: It was very stressful at the time. And unpleasant. As I talk about in the book and I think this speaks to what a shallow person I am what really hurt was the movie itself was getting shit all over a lot. People seemed to be asking a lot of "is it worth to for this movie?" Which to me was just a very hurtful conversation to be having because it was very much attacking the quality of our work and implying that maybe if we were smarter that it would be worthwhile. Again that's an unpleasant conversation but truthfully I think it was a great recalibration for my gauges as far as what it actually controversial. I think a lot of comedians especially talk about controversy and being wrapped up in controversy and stepping into controversial waters and feeling as thought they're really the center of a big whirlwind of news or something like that. I look at a lot of it and think that what we think is controversial is not. Some people mad at me on Twitter, that is not controversial. I'm trending on Twitter for ten minutes because someone doesn't like what I say that's not controversial, unless the President is dedicating the entire news conferences for it. 

Me: Obama talked about the film, right? 

Seth: Yeah. There's university courses about it. That is controversy but what I also saw was how wrapped up in everyone's own shit and everyone is as much as I felt I was the center of the universe from it and had genuine general fear of will I be able to keep working, is this something that will stay on me forever, has this tainted everyone's perception of me in some way. I found that's no, people had forgotten about it like so fast. And they were so wrapped up in themselves. 

Me: Hahaha. People have short term memories. 

Seth: It's on TBS, Comedy Central. It could not be more normal now and that's what also so funny. As soon as a movie is airing with Tide commercials interrupting it this is not controversial anymore. LOL. 

Me: One of my favorite things was when you were on Billy Eicher's "Billy on the Street" and Billy would tell people you have died and you were there with the camera filming it. Hahaha. People have to check it out. What did you think when you did that? Did you think it was funny? 

Seth: What was sobering I would say, which is not a word I use lightly, was how few people gave a flying fuck that I died in any way shape or form. I would say it was uninteresting to most people would be the best word I could define it. LOL. It was very great and very freeing in a lot of ways. 

Me: How so? 

Seth: I think every famous person should be exposed to that. To see that as wrapped up as they are in their own shit is as important as as all this is seems to them like who the fuck knows. People hated Moby Dick after a hundred years that motherfucker died. The Green Hornet could be the greatest movie of all time in a hundred years from now. 

Me: I love The Green Hornet! What's your favorite movie, Seth? 

Seth: The General. It's a Buster Keaton movie and it's interesting because history on films kind of gets rewritten. What Rotten Tomatoes does is publications, not the same critic but the publication itself will resubmit reviews for certain movies. If the Hollywood Reporter gave 2001: A Space Odyssey a bad review in the 60s when it came out then in 1995 they'll publish another review that will like erase the old review and make a new one so that is why that movie has a 100% now on Rotten Tomatoes if you go to it but the truth is it was not a unanimously well received film when it first came out. The General is a Buster Keaton film that is now viewed as one of the best comedies of all time. When it came out everyone hated it, they thought it was too violent, they didn't get it, they didn't think it was funny, they thought int was too expensive, they didn't like how he was mixing violence and comedy and action and comedy. They thought that was in poor taste how people were dying in the movie. And now it's viewed as one of the best films of all time. 

Me: Okay, I'm not gonna ask you about pot or weed, as I feel everyone asks you about it but I will ask you this... what do you think the world or the United States would be like if weed was legal everywhere? 

Seth: I think it should be I think closer to how alcohol is treated is probably is better. In America alcohol does not seem that regulated. 

Me: Seth, thanks for being on the Phile. This was very cool for me. I'm wrapping the Phile up soon after 15 years and wanted to interview you for a long time so I'm glad I did. 

Seth: Thanks, man, good talking to you.

That about does it for this entry of the Phile. Thanks to Seth for a cool interview. The Phile will be back on Monday with actress Jillian Bell. Spread the word, not the turd. Don't let snakes and alligators bite you. Bye, love you, bye. 

Give me some rope, tie me to dream, give me the hope to run out of steam, somebody said it could be here. We could be roped up, tied up, dead in a year. I can't count the reasons I should stay. One by one they all just fade away...