#54: RuPaul's Drag Race/Paris Is Burning

Have you ever felt your oats? Have you ever gotten your JUSH? Well buckle up, Mama, because this episode is about to serve you all of the above, okkkkkurrrrr? Resident Snobbers Matt and Sean welcome back Adam, guest Snob and super fan of RuPaul’s Drag Race, to laugh and kiki while we discuss the notorious 1990 documentary film Paris Is Burning alongside an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race.

Join us, listener, as we travel outside the realm of "bro-flicks" into this place of shade-throwing and Extravaganzas. While Tim Curry and Swayze garner a mention or two, it's RuPaul, the Great Mother, who speaks to us in this snob, listening always and guiding our continual drag performances. After all, we are all born naked, and the rest is drag...

#53: Into the Wild: Or, Into the Sean Penn

Into the Wild is an award-winning autobiography of a man named Sean Penn, who is an actor, a writer, a much-lauded grump, and a carrier of rifles through post-Katrina New Orleans. Sean Penn is also a man who really hates people who believe Americans have the right not to vote, such as General Snobbery mentors Trey Parker and Matt Stone. In fact, we have heard *rumors* that those who promote non-voting are quite often murdered by Sean “Sean” Penn himself. Thus, after this episode, we are both very afraid that Old “Man” Sean is going to off us with one of his many drones. 

That’s not to say we think you shouldn’t vote. But you know who DOES think you shouldn’t vote? Eddie Vedder! Ha ha. Just kidding. If that was true, then Sean “Penn” wouldn’t have forced him to do the music for this film. But the person who would likely say we shouldn’t vote it the one known as Chris McCandless, the stand-in for Sean Penn, minus the non-voting initiative.

Chris “Mac Daddy” McCandless was a guy from a city who had very rich parents. One of those parents is William Hurt, who represents Sean Penn’s abusive father (explored also in Tree of Life, which Sean Penn *reportedly* forced Terrance Malick to make). William Hurt is a bad guy in this film. He also thinks he is God. That’s silly. As Mel Gibson said, “Only Jesus is God.” 

But hey, maybe Chris “Light A Candle” McCandless had some Jesus in him. That might be why he sees a light when he dies at the end. That’s not a spoiler. Everyone knows that happened because many American teenagers are forced now to read this book. Because of that fact, most American teenagers watch this movie instead. Thus, Sean Penn has successfully brainwashed most American teenagers to think they should go to the Alaskan wilderness because it’s super cool and an Eddie Vedder soundtrack will follow you as you do it. You might even meet Vince Vaughn on the road. He’s super cool. 

So it’s a polarizing film about a polarizing character. Who is the Real Sean Penn? Will he stand up? Please? And if he does, will he have the courage to sue General Snobbery, as we have challenged him to do? Tune in to this episode to find out, dear listener. And if we never return after this episode, which is highly likely, it’s because Sean Penn murdered us both. 

#52: Friday and Boyz n the Hood (with Greg Buckman)

DAAAAAAAMMMMNNN, Sean and Matt had quite the adventure with this Snob. Three Snobs, two movies, one incredible theme about the hopes, triumphs, and tragedies of the intercity. O yea, and how Ronald Reagan was a very racist person. 

At the suggestion of fellow Snob and guest for the day, Greg Buckman--a man wise in the way of race relations and the untold narratives of American history--Sean and Matt devote this wonderful Snob to two films: Boyz n the Hood and Friday. One a drama, one a comedy. Both deeply human with moments of sadness and those wonderful aspects of the human spirit that we generally call hope.

These two movies are triumphs of 90s cinema that continue to carry prophetic messages about race in America. What is perhaps most amazing about these movies is how similar they are, considering one is very very sad and the other is very very funny. Like, roll on the effin' floor funny. Like, piss your effin' pants funny. 

Join us listener, because great stories and splendid cultural criticism await you if you would just hit that play button. Many special thanks to Greg for making this Snob possible.