♪ I came in style ♪
♪ I was reborn, cousin ♪
♪ In reflection of ♪ ♪ the future's written time ♪
♪ Go ahead, ♪ ♪ it's in your knees ♪
♪ And I'm watchin' everyone ♪
♪ Just die ♪ ♪ from their disease ♪
We were born during Vietnam.
We were kids during Watergate,
in our mid-late teens for Irangate.
And now we're all grown up for Desert Storm.
We've only known a government
that doesn't tell us the truth,
and so we've been taking it in our own hands
to find out our own truth.
We were all probably about 10 years old
when the Reagan-Bush administration
got into office,
so our view of democracy
is pretty much completely comprised of that.
Our generation is the first generation of people
who government is not a force for good in our lives.
We need to give our youth
the opportunity to run this country
because all the older ones, they've fucked the country up.
I've been in a hurry for a long time.
To achieve what?
Recognition,
appreciation,
money.
Not truth.
I'm taking you into my hero's church.
We're going to Charlie Chaplin's studios,
which is now A&♪ Records.
I'm going here for another reason,
but this is, like, my church,
and I come here, and, uh,
ask questions and usually get answers.
I won't say from who.
What interests me about Chaplin
is not so much that he was a comedic genius
but the fact that he seemed able to...
be a social critic
and, uh, and creative at the same time.
This is the stage.
This is where the films like City Lights,
Modern Times, The Great Dictator.
They were all shot here.
If you're gonna spend all the time and energy to make a film,
you might as well have it be something
that really reaches out
and does more than entertain people
because, uh...
because you give a lot of your life to do it,
so it might as well really matter.
What's my agenda? What's my agenda?
Keep going.
What's my agenda? What's my agenda?
Keep going.
What's my agenda?
I'm only starting to get a sense of this,
and it seems like the bottom line is educa...
Educat... edu...
It was good up till then, wasn't it?
Yes. Any time.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Wait.
Just cut for a second. Let me gather my thought...
Why don't I want to look in the mirror?
Because I'm, like, uncomfortable
with what I see sometimes.
Because I know myself too well.
I know I have to change.
I mean, what's this? That fear of change.
Fear and denial on the campaign trial.
Heads up. Heads up.
You are standing on a ladder,
in case people think I'm Dustin Hoffman.
Let's go, Bill, White House!
Governor Clinton, just once,
can we ask you one question
on the youth vote?
Do you intend to have anyone under 30
address, uh, address the convention
to talk to the youth vote, youth of America?
We are going to have some young people
in their 20s invest... Address the convention.
I know that there will be some.
Okay, I'm available next week
if you need any extra help.
Thanks. Bye-bye.
Hey, have a good vacation.
I promise a chicken in every pot.
I promise that science and progress
will lead to all men's happiness.
I promise if I get caught telling the truth,
I will lie my way out of it.
For me, I call it, you know,
like, the good boy and the goat boy...
You know, those... those parts of me that, uh...
that are only out
for my own instant gratification.
Delayed gratification is not something
that I was raised with a concept of.
It's important for me to stress
that it's not a frog,
that it is a goat,
and it's just I haven't honed it yet.
If you repress the goat, then he'll nail you.
I think it's interesting
that we have these two out here.
One's a Fool, which represents the youth
and the... and the...
The, uh, openness to new experience
and wanting to jump off into new things,
almost foolhardy.
The young spirit is ready
to take off into the new phase of life.
I knew that this had to do
with your visiting the conventions,
but I thought... I kept getting the feeling
that you either had been a president
or very close to a presidential candidate,
and I thought, "Oh, that's natural
"that you are discovering who you are
on this trip, aren't you?"
There is a movement in this country
and I think, really, on this planet
toward, uh, self-realization, if you want to call it that,
toward spirituality,
um, which is...
It's come about, really, out of crisis
because we are a planet in crisis.
My father came in and said, "Everything's fine,"
and we went, "Okay," and then we went to sleep.
I think probably an accurate, uh, analogy
is that of a dysfunctional family.
We have this idea that we are a society
in which a lot of dysfunctional families exist,
but I think we're missing the point
that, because of that,
we are a dysfunctional country.
My mom and dad were the... the kind of couple
that people always said would never split up.
They'd always be together. They were the perfect couple.
And then, when I was 12,
uh, well, I'll never know why.
It's really, I guess, none of my business.
I have my own ideas.
But they split up.
And my sister went with my father,
I think out to California,
and I moved to New York with my mom.
Hi, Dad.
Hi.
Mmm.
Why did you make me ugly and shiny?
Look at me.
Who did?
You did it.
I have zits, and I'm shiny, and I'm not happy.
You mean you're blaming that on me? Yeah.
I think 2/3 of him was awake for a long time,
and a lot of what we did to ourselves he's done, too,
and he's missing some fucking pistons.
I'm okay. It's a long day.
Let's talk about the election, Dad.
Fuck you, the elections.
Listen, it's so obvious.
If you don't vote this...
This is the worst I've ever seen it in my life,
and if you don't vote this time, you know,
you shouldn't even be alive.
My dad was an underground filmmaker.
My mother was an actress.
Our house was a place
where we came and watched the dailies
of whatever film my dad was making at the time,
and, you know, I would give him foot rubs
and, you know, smoking pot
and incense and...
Seattle Kid.
I think that, uh,
a lot of us did things
and thought it would be hypocritical
to not have our kids participate
in marijuana and stuff like that,
so we thought it was cute to let him smoke it.
It was an idiot move on our parts, a lot of us,
to share that with our children,
but look, he's okay now.
I can't find my goddamn car keys.
Sorry. I can't find the car.
So anyway, there is something to that,
but generally, I don't know.
I'm just happy he's here.
That's all.
Were you ever worried
that he wasn't going to be here?
Many times.
What do you think they...
That's none of your fucking business.
Okay?
Anyway, I think it's great
that you're doing this.
I never would have figured you
for a political animal.
I'm not. I'm just starting to get into it.
Well... I'm learning some stuff, though.
You know a lot now.
Did you even vote in the '60s?
I don't remember you getting in the polls.
No. No. I voted for Kennedy
because he had a great-looking wife.
Yeah?
And there was no...
It just looked so obvious to me
that Nixon was a drag.
I mean, it was that stupid. Uh-huh.
Since then, it hasn't been much,
but this country's been in such bad form for so long.
We just got to hope
whoever wins this just can rise to this occasion.
♪ There's ♪ ♪ a running maid in... ♪
This is very important.
Any interesting dreams?
No. I have a bit of a boner right now, though.
So you got that from sleeping together in the hotel, huh?
Sleeping... Sleeping...
Sleeping next to Josh does that to you?
When someone says "Al Gore" to you,
what goes through your head?
Do you have any reaction?
Pineapples.
Better learn up on all this legislative,
judicial, and executive nonsense,
so I can make sense of these nonsensical candidates.
"Constitution of the United States government.
Key terms... impeach."
...of four years each,
but the 26th Amendment is very important.
What was that?
It lowered the voting age to 18.
♪ Yeah, people, ♪ ♪ how you doing? ♪
♪ There's a new day dawnin'
♪ For the Earth Mother
♪ It's a brand-new mornin'
♪ Such a long while
♪ Been such a longin'
♪ But now the sun is shining
♪ Let's roll back ♪ ♪ the awning ♪
...with your mouth. It's distorting.
Thank you. Hold it right there.
Around here? Okay?
What are you doing here?
I'm making a movie about the elections.
What are you doing here?
I'm making a movie about you.
Oh, how's that coming?
All right. This is Payback to Bitch.
What's your name?
Bill Davis.
You having a good time?
How you doing?
I don't know what to make of it.
It's like a game show.
It was like being in an excited mall
with a lot of different, uh, food stops.
Young people have become so apathetic and indifferent.
They're like couch potatoes
vegetating before the boob tube,
you know, mesmerized by MTV
24 hours a day, seven days a week,
365 days of the year.
Silver spoons in their mouth
big enough to offset the trade balance
between Japan and the United States,
and all they got to say is "I, me... I, me."
For young America,
you know who their leaders are?
Axl Rose.
Mm-hmm.
Chuck D.
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
And... Oh, Michael Jackson.
And what these people do is great.
They're entertainers.
Michael Jordan, he's... He's a great artist.
I mean... But I don't think...
I think it's unfair
that we should expect
Michael Jackson and Michael Jordan
to affect or to lead us out of the wilderness
for the problems that are in this country.
Can we make a difference?
Shit, yeah. The attitude is...
If you... You don't understand.
He says we can't make a difference.
Make a difference. She says you can't
The rest of us say it. You say it.
Everybody else around here says we can't make a difference.
Well, there's...
Then you got 10 million people
saying we can't make a difference,
and those 10 million people can make a difference.
A lot of young people are involved in...
On a grass roots activist level,
but we know nothing about electoral politics,
and I thought that we don't have power
because we're out there on the outside,
while all these people on the inside
are doing all the work but doing the wrong stuff,
So I want to get people my age in my generation
more involved with electoral politics
so we can work on the outside
and know how that inside works.
Well, I was in school one day,
and we were getting ready...
A bunch of friends of mine were getting ready
to go to a Young Republicans meeting
because they didn't have anything else better to do,
and a lady said, "Well, I'm not young,"
and I looked at him,
and I said, "Well, I'm not Republican,"
and so... Why?
Why am I not Republican?
Yep.
Honestly?
Uh, okay.
Because I think they're assholes.
Yo!
We went over to Madison Square Gardens,
a bunch of us girls,
and we introduced ourselves to the delegates,
and everyone was there,
and we told them all about Goldfingers
and asked them to come on in.
So I hear you have an interest in politics.
Yes, I do, actually. I'm a registered Republican.
People generally would think
that anyone who's a concerned enough citizen to vote
to even take interest in a party
would be a more conservative individual.
And yes, I am very conservative
in, you know, my real life.
You know, this is the fantasy life.
This is... This is a job. It's nothing more.
Girls.
Try to make that scenario work, you know?
That whole... It's like your first acceptance
of women and sex and...
Somewhere along the line,
I became really intimidated
by the idea of, um...
of a real trust and closeness, you know.
I mean, that would show up in, like, you know,
not being able to get it up or flipping out or...
If you're at a place where you're really...
You're uncomfortable with life...
You're like, ugh, you're spawning, you know?
When you see... The idea of a vagina,
it brings up a lot of fucking resentment.
This is very intimidating to us men.
It is? Yeah.
Um, you shouldn't be intimidated, not you.
Oh, okay.
Women's Action Coalition, huh?
It's only six months old.
It was born out of the frustration women felt
and kind of galvanized
by Anita Hill, Clarence Thomas hearings.
We held our first direct action
within a week of forming.
George Bush, have no doubt,
women want you out!
George Bush, have no doubt,
women want you out!
What's your opinion?
My opinion is everybody should have the right to choose.
God gave us the right to choose.
Why can't other people?
Unless you're, like, a straight white male,
I mean, you're basically fucked.
Men are always the superior,
and they will always be considered that
and get paid more than a woman.
Because women have to sweep the nation!
After the House, clean the Senate!
What do you mean?
Well, one of his aides called him, and...
It seems you've really been able
to mix your personal and political life.
Watch yourself!
It's not true?
How have you been able to make that happen?
Well, that's a real good question
because in this kind of, uh...
this... What do I call it?
The...
It's like somebody might say,
there's no virgin in a whorehouse.
It's kind of hard to talk about virtue
when everything around you
is going in the other direction.
It's a very superficial kind of bond
that is created in politics,
often driven more by power and money, uh, and glory,
and that's not enough to pull people together.
There has to be a connection at a deeper level.
Keep hope alive!
Keep hope... Everybody.
Keep hope alive!
Don't give up!
Keep hope alive!
Stand tall!
Keep hope alive!
I love you.
I mean, awareness and education
are the only ways to prevent AIDS right now.
It's ridiculous. People are dying,
and they're too embarrassed
to say the words sex and homosexuality.
I mean, ever see George Bush talk about anal sex?
Do you think that everyone's
going to have to know someone
that died from AIDS
before people will really start taking action?
Well, certainly, when there's, like, a face to it
and you know them, it's going to affect you a lot more.
Sometimes you get fed up,
and you get really frustrated
when you're doing service work,
and you're watching the people
that you want so much to save
die, and there's nothing you can do to stop it,
and I get fed up with that,
so I go in the streets.
This is why people die!
I dream about the day
when there will be no more AIDS,
no more tears, no more pain,
and no more dying.
What do you want to say to President Bush?
That he can give thousands of dollars to the wars,
when we go and fight battles and stuff,
but then he says that he has no more money.
If he could give that much money,
why can't he give a little, at least, to AIDS?
Let's march together!
Let's pray together!
Let's educate our children together!
Let's build houses together!
Let's fight for health care together!
Let's change America together!
Stand together and keep hope alive!
Keep hope alive!
So this is where it all happens, huh?
Wow. How's it going?
Pretty well.
There's a lot of gear in here, huh?
We don't know how much... Much of it works.
I know how to do this.
I tried to get that right in the middle of her face,
but it just doesn't look the same.
What do you think of Ann Richards?
I love her.
How come? Huh?
She's funny.
She's a great governor.
Uh, she is a recovered alcoholic
who knows who she is and what she is.
Thank you. God bless you.
It's quite a 12-Step platform this year.
We got all these recovering men and women.
It's kind of like one nation under rehabilitation.
♪ Standin' on shaky ground ♪
♪ No, no,
♪ Ever since you put me down
If I would not have wanted to get well,
if I would have continued along that same pattern,
then I would have died, you know,
but my brother and my mother
instilled strength in me,
which we all do.
My brother has said to me over the years,
when times get tough,
it doesn't matter how tough they are.
It doesn't matter because you make it.
It just doesn't matter,
so don't worry about it.
Uh, it's real simple.
It's sort of like the Just Say No deal, you know?
People say "You can't do it by just saying no."
Well, the fact is you can if you just say no.
Once you say yes, it gets a little tougher.
Well, the same thing here.
He would always tell me to, quote, suck it up.
You know, I've been through treatment,
and when you come out,
you've got some guidelines of how to live life.
And then you go back out on the streets,
and it's like there's very few people
who are really applying that kind of stuff
in their own lives.
Today's the Unconventional Smoke-in.
The Democrats are in town having their convention,
so we're having an un-convention because there are two
admitted pot smokers on that ticket.
Meanwhile, we're both being thrown in jail,
and they're running for a government office.
When you get stoned, it's like a little death, you know?
That's why this guy's singing, you know, about the politicians.
They should get stoned
because that's gonna be a little death for them,
and then a little death for their egos.
Well, for me, you know, growing up in school
was just, you know, smoking pot all the time, you know?
And then went to Samohi. Loved the friends.
Drugs in my family, drugs in a lot of my friends' families, you know.
Drugs in the '70s, in general,
at least from where I was at.
And I started really young, you know.
And abuse comes in when you don't understand
what drugs are supposed to be for.
Or, like my dad says, "When the ritual becomes habitual,
it's time to quit."
You would rather sell drugs to get a car than go to school
'cause you could do it quicker.
Whoever got the most money,
whoever got the nice cars,
whoever fucking the most girls,
et cetera, et cetera, man.
It's like a thing. Like, you know...
Come on. The thing was a thing, and it's still a thing.
It's like, you know, I seen somebody else doing it, and I wanted to do it.
On and on and on. It's still going on to the day.
Ain't getting no better.
I got shot nine times. Twice in the head.
What happened? And I lived.
Killed a couple of friends, an aunt.
You know, they tried to rob me. I'm making a lot of money selling drugs.
Stick-up kids... They tried to kill me, take me out.
Then tried to kill all the witnesses that was there
so nobody couldn't talk, but it happened so I lived.
Lucky to live. You know what I'm saying?
Yeah! Yeah, baby! Oh!
Yo! Aw!
♪ I know 25-to-life, ♪ ♪ that's what I'm facin' ♪
♪ But who brought the drugs ♪ ♪ in the nation? ♪
♪ Been goin' on ♪ ♪ from generation to generation ♪
♪ Now you want it to stop, ♪ ♪ so you hire more cops ♪ ♪ to get Pop ♪
♪ Money and drugs ♪ ♪ is all politics ♪
♪ Lawyers and judges ♪ ♪ on the road to get rich ♪
♪ We just some young brothers ♪ ♪ caught up in the system's mix ♪
♪ Kept both eyes on the fight ♪ ♪ and still couldn't tell ♪ ♪ it was fixed ♪
♪ Big A with a final word ♪ ♪ to say ♪
♪ I know I'm guilty, ♪ ♪ but, hey, who killed JFK? ♪
So this is your first time at one of these things?
Yeah, it's my first time.
I thought yesterday was just a circus.
Nothing was said. Nothing.
It was just like bread and circus, Roman dough.
These people were, one after the other, getting up there
just splurging out this bullshit hypocrisy
about inner cities,
homeless,
and nothing concrete was being offered.
What about this... Having a convention?
Some people say it's outdated.
What purpose does it really serve besides
having the acceptance speech and all that kind of party nonsense?
What do you think? I think it's like publicity. It's like a big commercial.
♪ Everybody rappin' ♪ ♪ like it's a commercial ♪
♪ Acting like life ♪ ♪ is a big commercial ♪
♪ So this is what I got ♪ ♪ to say to y'all ♪
♪ Be true to yourself, ♪ ♪ and you will never fall ♪
The televisions are our public airwaves.
They're ours, and they've been leased,
basically, to 23 corporations that control America...
The American media.
So, there's no way that you can have a serious debate,
serious discussion or serious campaigning
under a private system.
♪ My name is MCA ♪
♪ I've been comin' ♪ ♪ to where I am from the get-go ♪
♪ Find that I can groove ♪ ♪ with the beat when I let go ♪
Generally speaking, it takes cataclysmic events
to really rock us out of complacency,
and, certainly, the hypocrisy that we see here today.
♪ Get up and groove ♪ ♪ with the rhythm in your soul ♪
♪ And now I'd like to pass ♪ ♪ the mic ♪
♪ To my brother Ad-Rock ♪
♪ Come on ♪ ♪ and shine like a light ♪
What are you guys all doing down here?
Going up to three floor.
Three floor? What's going on up there?
Civil unrest. Yeah?
This whole place was like a war zone.
Cars on fire, buildings, places were getting looted.
Why? 'Cause we all got fed up.
Fed up with the old police state out here.
Do you think every one of those guys would fuck you up
without thinking twice about it?
Hell, yeah. Drop of a dime.
Why? Every one of them?
They're on a power trip. That's a blanket statement.
Put it this way, guarantee, if I walk down the street
with this beer in my hand, by myself, probably nobody...
I guarantee you at least one or two cops out of a posse of at least ten,
will at least come over to me... "How you do"...
Boom, throw me on the wall,
knock the 40-ounce out of my hand,
and proceed to search me for no apparent reason.
That's just like they're saying, as a blanket statement,
"All you guys are drug dealers. None of you guys are creative.
"None of you guys are doing anything to help the community.
You're all fucking it up worse. You're just trying to get a fast buck."
It seems like neither of you are willing to give much on each other.
Let's just say there was an old record back in the days
called "Revolution Won't Be Televised."
Here you got the revolution.
We're getting tired of the government
coming down here like a big bunch of giants,
treating us like hookers... Fuck us one day,
give us money and then step.
Okay? That's how they doing us.
Come on. Let's go.
'Cause you know that in Middle America,
Americans seem to be afraid of guys like you.
You know what I mean? See, they're afraid of what they don't know about.
See, that's the thing about this country.
What they don't know about,
they either try to take it over or kill it.
Do you think that these riots help or hurt?
The violence helps or hurts... I think it hurts ourselves
to be burning down our own neighborhoods, and destroying...
You know, burning buildings with people in it
and looting our own stores.
But I can understand the frustrations,
on the other hand, through the people.
When you talk and talk and talk, and you write your congressmen,
and you do all those... The avenues... the right...
You know, you use the things you're supposed to use in a democratic society,
it seems that doesn't work, especially for minorities and whatever.
Have you lost some friends up here?
I lost a lot of boys, man. A lot.
A lot of boys.
There's not much hope out there for a lot of kids, you know?
It's like... It's serious as a heart attack.
Now they come for New York,
where Eleanor Bumpurs was killed,
New York, where Michael Stewart was killed,
New York, where Yusef Hawkins was killed,
New York, where Marcus Godfrey preached,
New York, where Malcolm X preached,
New York, where Adam Powell preached.
And they claim us two Southerners with a Southern agenda.
This ain't no justice! No peace!
No justice! No peace!
What do you want from Governor Clinton?
I want Clinton to address the issues.
If he wants to be the president, of all the peoplepresident
and address all the pain... Police brutality,
criminal justice, racial violence, infant mortality.
I don't want him to throw out an economic plan
and act like that we don't have criminal justice problems.
But Denzel...
Here in America,
racism is interwoven into our fabric.
I mean, when you're talking about America,
you're talking about baseball,
apple pie and racism.
And most of the times, racism is tied into economics.
When I lost my job, my friends just went.
What was that like?
It was horrible, man.
I mean, it was horrible, man. Real horrible.
Once you get a job, man, you're somebody.
You feel good about yourself, you know?
You go in there, do your eight hours,
come out, go home.
You feel good about yourself, man.
All right. Come back a little.
You ain't gonna tell me you got the technology
to put that man on the moon and bring him back,
then tell me that you can't get...
That I can't have no job,
I can't have a place to stay.
You got people working on Wall Street,
making all the money in the world.
They go home to their little homes.
They feel like their world's secure.
They wake up one day like I woke up,
and sleeping inside of a bridge
or sleeping on a park bench,
and realize, man, America ain't the dream that they thought it was.
America has changed from being the land of the American Dream
to the land of the American nightmare.
This isn't a country based on freedom.
It's based on slavery, you know?
And there's so much racism and crap like that going on here
that it's almost not cool to live here anymore,
unless you're just, you know, a stupid, ignorant sheep
just bleating out in a field and saying, "Ignorance is bliss," you know?
That's not what it's about anymore.
This country's going down real fast.
I mean, you ask the people watching this movie
how many of them own MX missiles.
Chances are, none of them will say yes.
You ask them how many of them own VCRs, they'll all say they own VCRs.
See, America makes the wrong thing.
We make missiles. We don't make VCRs and stuff like that,
so our economy sucks.
If money is evil, then that building is hell.
This is the most obnoxious group of money-hungry,
low IQ, high energy, jackrabbit,
fucking wannabe big-time,
small-time, shit-talking, bothersome,
irritating bunch of motherfuckers
I have ever had to endure for more than five minutes.
...of dollars, and I never really learned.
The '80s, for me, was like, So...
keep buying, keep spending.
You're making a lot of money. Keep going for it.
And I'm fucking tapped, man. I'm really pissed off.
I'm really p... If you look into a paper, you saw the classified section.
There are hundreds of jobs that are offered to people.
If you don't wanna get up and you wanna be lazy, I can't see...
First of all, bullshit.
First of all, if I pay taxes,
why should I give somebody who's not working, quote,
who years ago were called "bums"...
Now they're called "homeless."
For a guy to wake up at 8:00 in the morning
and sit in the corner and drink beers and wine
and not go look for a job is a bunch of bullshit to me.
Why should I pay my tax for that guy?
I pay a lot of goddamn money when I pay taxes. I think it's bullshit.
We don't deal with the guy on the street.
We see dollar bills, trades, money, prospectuses,
things on the Street going up, up, up.
We see lines going up.
What goes through your head when you see a homeless woman
on the street with two children.
Actually, it's really upsetting to me,
because when I first moved to the city,
it really, really, really upset me, and...
And it doesn't so much anymore? I'm totally desensitized to it.
What about Milken and Boesky and all the fucking crooks...
Let me tell you something. Yeah. Why?
'Cause you know why? The guy made a lot of people a lot of money.
Made a lot of people a lot of money? He also ripped off my grandmother!
So what? "So what"?
You're great, but you're a fucking mercenary.
What's going on? What's going on?
You're the Green Beret guys of Wall Street,
and it's like devil-may-care,
women and children first, take them all out. No, no, no.
You know what I mean? Slow down here.
All right. I have a wife and three kids at home.
Okay. Okay?
You do? Yes, I do.
I'm leaving.
Let's slow down. Let's slow down.
If materialism is good, greed is good,
and we ought to give... That's good?
I like that. Greed is good.
And... You're my...
See, we can agree on something. Why is greed good?
Greed makes jobs, but money
makes the world go around. Money makes the world go around.
Greed pays the bills. Money is the root of all evil.
Money is not the root of all evil.
What's the root of all evil?
Well, we can talk about it later. Okay.
That's why he gets the big bucks!
That's why you make more money than I do.
Yo, man, I told you not to go low in bonds!
I did it for the money.
Oh, is that right? Here you go.
Anything for money, right? Ah-ah.
Greed is good! Greed is good! I did it for the money.
Greed is good! Greed is good!
Our economy has been weakened fundamentally
by 12 years of conservative Republicans'
supply-side policies, so-called.
In fact... In fact,
supply-side was just another version
of the failed Republican dogma of 65 years ago...
Then called "trickle-down"...
Which led to the Great Depression,
and it has failed us again.
♪ You can't get away ♪ ♪ with that shit ♪
There's a lot of people walking around with a lot of air in their heads.
You may or may not be one of them.
♪ You can't get away ♪ ♪ with that shit ♪
It's hard to sift through the bullshit
and see what you really are,
you know, trying to fight for.
...the white men in South Africa!
Unite the people!
Protect the white men in South Africa!
I'm trying to get back in touch with who I really am.
Is it working?
I feel better.
Why are you looking stupid, sitting around in your Jockeys or whatever they are?
You know you got a zit on your nose?
I know that there's a lot of imperfections going on in my life,
but I'm trying to be comfortable with them.
Boots.
You want the boots on, too?
But my socks are wet. Can't I wait till they dry?
No. Give him a break. Come on.
Look at him. He's completely manipulating me.
Aw. Thank you.
Let's see what it says.
I bet it says, "How to... self-respect."
I know it's gonna say that.
It should at least.
You're supposed to eat the cookie.
I'll eat the next one.
"The world is always ready to receive talent
with open arms."
See, what you don't know is that
I might've been doing that as a protest.
Oh. Ah, a protest against boredom,
in which case I would've been protected
under the Bill of Rights or something like that
to be able to do it.
Who would you vote for if you could vote this year?
Clinton and Gore.
Yeah? How come?
Well, I don't know. I just have a feeling
that they're gonna keep their promises and things like that.
Mm-hmm. Are your parents Democrats?
No. They don't vote.
No, it's just that they don't wanna get into this stuff.
What do they do for a living?
My mom's a teacher, and my dad, I hate.
I don't know. I just don't like my dad.
That's understandable.
They're divorced, of course.
Yeah.
I'm scared, 'cause if he sees this,
he's gonna kill me.
We'll protect you.
Why would he kill you?
I don't know. 'Cause I tell him I love him,
and, you know, I'm telling lies and everything.
'Cause, you know, he's making my mom and mine... miserable.
He's jacking everything along.
Yeah. I remember when my parents broke up...
And I stayed with my mom...
It was real rough for us, too.
I felt like I had to kind of, like...
I had to do everything all of a sudden, you know?
Yeah. It's a drag.
But sooner or later, you move out,
get your own place and whatever.
I love my mom... Yeah.
...so I just wanna stay with her.
I wanna say something to every child in America tonight
who's out there trying to grow up without a father or a mother.
I know how you feel.
You're special, too.
The trailers. The Clinton trailers. Okay, let's go.
Yes. Mike, let's go.
No, no, that's in the press area.
I've got Robert Downey. I've got him right here.
Hold on one second. Do we know where we're going?
This is the man.
You know where we're going?
Now that we have changed the world,
it's time to change America.
Basically, it seems like everyone says that
they're going to change it for us.
And it seems like Clinton's the guy,
but then Brown got up and went on,
and all these people are holding up Brown signs.
It doesn't really make sense, but what I will say is
that I don't know if any of them are really going to change anything for me.
But I would like to change... I'd like to get a sandwich.
Maybe there's some in here.
Okay. Uh...
Hi. Are there any sandwiches in here? No.
Nothing at all? No. No food.
No free food? No free food.
All right. Thank you. Sorry.
It's okay. Bye.
Okay. Yep.
Them, the liberals,
them, the poor,
them, the homeless,
them, the people with disabilities, them, the gays.
We've gotten to where we've nearly "themmed" ourselves to death.
Them and them and them.
Excuse me. Where's the sandwich bureau?
Thank you very...
Hi. I loved you in Chances Are.
Thank you. I don't think so.
I... I...
It all comes together now in one fell swoop.
Oh, no, not this. There we go.
Oh, hi. How are you, Robert? How you doing?
Good. How'd it go? Did it seem like it went well?
Good. I hope you enjoyed the night.
Elizabeth, hi. How you doing? Come on in for a second.
Do you have any sandwiches? Yeah. Come on in.
Can I have a sandwich? Thanks.
Do you have a sandwich for Robert? Do you have a sandwich?
Yes. Thanks. I'm kind of exhausted.
I don't know if we have sandwiches, but shrimp and cheese...
Shrimp and cheese.
Oh, boy, I'm starving. My son Michael.
I'm sorry. I just want to get a sandwich if I can.
One nation
under God,
indivisible, with liberty
and justice for all! And justice for all.
I still believe in a place called hope.
♪ If you wake up ♪ ♪ and don't wanna smile ♪
♪ If it takes ♪ ♪ just a little while ♪
♪ Open your eyes ♪
Wow. Fleetwood Mac. This is the '90s.
♪ You'll see things ♪ ♪ in a different way ♪
♪ Don't stop ♪ ♪ thinking about tomorrow ♪
I flew 3,000 miles for Clinton, and I saw The Way We Were.
Okay? How's that?
That's what... Put the camera back on me.
That's why I'm here... 'Cause they're right.ange.
I would hope. Don't mock me.
I mock you? You're gonna mock me doubly. Don't mock me.
Was Clinton your first choice? Mock Me Doubly.
That's a great film, and you were brilliant in it. Thank you very much.
I've seen everything you've done. Of course he's my choice.
What other choice is there? It's like voting for Alf.
Who's your first choice in the primary? There's no one else. Come on.
You had a position in the convention earlier today.
They took your hat away. What happened?
That's right. They took my hat away.
We were escorting the film crew around...
You mean me and my buddies? That's right.
And you ran into Oliver Stone, and he invited us into a suite.
We had no idea whose suite it is,
so we went in and took the film crew in.
And now the story going around operations
is that me, Mike Evans,
busted into Ron Brown, the chairman of the party's suite,
and knocked over his wife to bring in the film crew.
She's just mad 'cause we stole her sandwich.
That's right. She wouldn't give us any sandwiches.
You were saying some interesting stuff
about your opinions on Clinton on the way down the escalator.
You remember that day? That's right. I think that Clinton
doesn't have a prayer of a chance,
and the reason I think that is,
I think that anybody that commits adultery
shouldn't run for president of their country.
Not that it bothers me personally. Let him talk.
Not that it bothers me personally. Let him speak.
Not that it bothers me personally.
It's just that the Joe Six-packs of America
aren't gonna stand for that, and the same thing... What about George Bush
had a girlfriend for 15 years? The same thing... the same thing...
George Bush had a girlfriend for 15 years. It's the same thing...
It's the same thing with marijuana.
It's not that he did it, it's how he handled it.
Each time, he screwed it up,
and he handled it with a change of story. I agree with that,
but I don't think he doesn't deserve to be president because... Let's inhale, man.
Why did you call him a buffoon?
I think that the main thing Clinton lacks
is he has no passion.
Hey! Hey, I let you talk, all right?
Compared to most of the countries in this world,
we have no choice.
The Democratic and Republican parties
anywhere else would be one party.
Let's blow our brains out. No.
We have to start somewhere, don't we?
Yes, that's what I'm saying. Let's make it the end of Taxi Driver.
We'll all blow our brains out.
I'm just starting to think, "You know",
"maybe you'd better, like, start thinking about
"some of the long haul things, you know.
Kind of the marathon of life rather than the sprint."
♪ I'm in the circle now ♪
♪ He is laughing how ♪
Now, being married
and having found, like, the right person,
and, you know...
For me, getting married was about the ultimate idea
of two people being in this ideal state that always said, "My God."
To be just excited and creative with someone,
and, you know, just a general sense of well-being about life.
"The only way to have a friend is to be one."
In bed. In bed.
With intimacy comes responsibility.
It's frightening to think that everything you do
to yourself or to others around you effects so many people.
Someone tries to rip off my TV yesterday.
Now, I'm married now. I have things to protect.
I don't really care if they take my television.
That's just a sign of the times and that things are rough,
and they need money for drugs to forget about the times,
or they're just hungry, and they're desperate.
But what gets me going
is it makes me wanna go
make sure that I, like, know how to use my gun.
And then if someone fucks with me,
like, there's part of me that says, "Take him out."
Nice to meet you, man. Word up.
How's it going?
I've had guns for a long time,
but this is my first legal one.
Why? Well, hey, self-defense, man.
You need something for the house, you know?
If someone tries to break in, you gotta...
♪ Insane in the brain, ♪ ♪ get the bullet ♪
♪ A hole in your head, ♪ ♪ a hole in your head ♪
a hole in the head ♪ ♪ A hole in the head,
♪ A hole in the head ♪
So you got out of the gang scene
and into music. Yeah.
You know, when I make songs, like, about, you know,
violent songs, I say, "Well, look, you know,
"you could go pick up the gun.
"You can go rob somebody,
but it always comes back around to you, you know?"
When, you know, our songs carried over,
I figure, well, you know, the truth is the truth,
and the ones who don't like it, I figure,
well, that's... It's just like medicine.
Medicine never tastes good, you know?
Uh-huh. It's good for you,
but it don't taste good.
Now, when you were, uh...
When you were in... in the gang,
uh, I would imagine the same...
Some situations arise where you did some stuff
that you might have, uh, might regret.
Yeah.
Well,
I... I should rephrase that.
No. No, actually, no 'cause I never...
I was the type that I never went out
and caused the trouble.
I was always the one
where I was in the neighborhood
and they came and they shot at me
or one of my people,
so I was like, well, you know what? Fuck that.
Let's go get them back, you know?
Uh-huh.
What do you think when you look out
and see the skyline, the city, Los Angeles?
Uh, I could never leave it.
I mean, I know there's a lot of bullshit
within the... the suburbs and the ghettos
and this downtown area,
but all in all, you know,
it's... it's pretty much taught me
how to survive, you know?
They don't want anybody that close, okay? Okay.
She was down on Sunset,
and she got raped by six black guys.
I'm outraged that, you know,
a young girl like this could be on the street
and this could happen to her, you know what I mean?
It's... It's sickening.
I mean... Oh, it makes me sick.
I'm going to really be thinking about it tonight, you know.
People prey on each other.
In Hollywood, all the shelters
and all the things have been closed off to everyone.
Yeah. You know, if you're looking
for, like, Teen Canteen and LAYN
and The Way In, you know, just...
They're the only few people that come out and help us.
What kind of leader
do you think America should have?
A black lesbian mother.
All right.
Why?
Because maybe some shit will get done.
All right.
We need... My mother used to always tell me
"Don't go feeding anyone else unless your family's fed."
We're not fed in America.
I had nowhere to go,
and my stepmother wouldn't let me live with her.
My parents were dead.
And Hollywood's supposed to be this glamorous place
where stars were made,
and I wanted to be a screenwriter,
so I came out here.
What did you discover here?
Thousands of homeless people, dirty streets.
Uh, it's not so glamorous,
like... like Entertainment Tonight
or they say it's supposed to be.
It's a hard life. I guess it's, quote,
who you know and who you blow out here.
Say your first name again.
Rudy.
I think the President has to be blind
because I've been to the White House.
He could look out of his back window
and see homelessness.
I swear to God he must look out his window like this.
We do have an amazing ability
to not see what we don't want to see.
Reality's too difficult.
In other words, the same things that...
Uh, the same ways
that my father existed within his family,
he also existed as President of the United States.
He also, um, uh, fell prey to those same things.
Being the child of an alcoholic,
he had an incredible aptitude for denial.
Uh, we saw that in the Iran Contra scandal.
We saw that pretty much across the board.
I began by telling the President
that there was a cancer growing on the presidency.
Are there a hundred Watergates going on a year
that we just won't ever hear about?
Only about every four years,
when the vast power that is the Presidency of the United States
is being contested.
Politics is very hardball,
and people do mount intelligence operations
against the other side
because they want to know, 1,
what are the capabilities of the other side
and 2, what are their intentions.
♪ Whoa
Ollie North ran the secret arms
for the Contras in the early '80s.
Also negotiated the Iran Contra
arms for hostage deal.
Manuel Noriega,
ex-generalissimo of Panama...
Friend of George Bush.
Operation Just Cause...
Invasion in Panama to get him.
♪ Get off my back ♪
Richard ♪. Nixon, nicknamed Tricky Dick.
President from '68 to '74.
First President to resign.
Uh, helped, uh, George Bush's, uh...
Helped salvage his career
by making him the head of the Republican National Committee
during Watergate. Okay.
James Baker, nickname Bubba.
Hmm.
Secretary of State.
George Bush's best friend.
Potential savior.
Uh, head of the Houston Mafia.
Beautiful.
George Bush. Nickname.
Poppy.
Head of CIA 1976. Canned by Carter.
Vice-president '80 to '88.
President '88 to '92.
Beautiful.
If we had, like, the "Greatest Hits of the CIA" album,
what do you think some of the titles of the songs would be?
For real because I, you know...
This is a lot of information for me to take in.
I need the short list.
You got the Ballad of the Bay of Pigs,
words and music by Ted Shackley.
I mean, the latest thing is Panama.
You know, we go in there
to stop the Panamanian drug, uh, trade,
and, uh, and within two years it's doubled.
We finance covert operations with drug money,
and the major drug players are all CIA assets.
You know, there's this wonderful line in JFK,
where they're grilling the character,
and they're saying "Why are you doing this?
Why are you doing this?"
And he says "Because I'm afraid
if I don't do it, nobody will."
I am a sane, I think, United States senator.
Our government lies,
and it's extraordinary the degree to which
they will classify information
in the name of embarrassment
or political ideology
and avoid telling the American people the truth.
We're up against some really bad guys
in the world,
especially when the communists
were in charge of the Soviet Union.
Really bad guys.
And covert action was a great thing.
It... It deflated the Soviet Union
so we didn't have to have a big war with them,
and now people can enjoy themselves
without having the communist threat
and all these missiles pointed at them.
Now, a surfing Republican
is somewhat of an oxymoron.
I'm not the best surfer in the world,
but I am the best surfer in Congress.
Surfing is a lot like politics.
You're looking for the right wave
to carry you where you want to go.
The motto down here is "Give me liberty, or give me surf."
Now, how about that for Orange County, all right?
And that's what Republicans are all about...
Liberty and surf.
I like rock 'n' roll, I got a beard,
and I have a lot of fun,
and a lot of these old geezers
who are running the party
are, uh, really too conservative
in their lifestyle
ain't going to appeal to anybody.
If you knew what was going on
in Area 51 in Nevada,
would you tell me?
Um, sure, but... Well, if it's not top secret.
I don't know what's going on in Area 51.
Sure you don't.
Is that where the UFOs are? Yeah.
Is that right? That's right.
Holy God.
There's an alien civilization involved.
Maybe many alien civilizations.
We're talking about being in the backwaters.
We're the primitive people.
We're on one tiny little world.
Maybe there's thousands of worlds
linked up into a huge political organization of some kind.
I have this kind of fantasy
about having a space lover.
Well, based on people's testimonies,
uh, there is some kind of interest in our sexuality,
in our reproductive abilities,
and in our genetics,
uh, maybe in producing some kind of a cross-breed
between us and them...
For what purpose, we don't know.
Is... Is George a pretty good player?
Have you seen any of his action?
George? Yeah.
Bush. Poppy.
Do you know why I'm here?
No. Why are you here?
Well, I'm here because we're going to the Republican convention,
and it seems like there's a lot of golf there.
I'd kind of like to be able to fit in with them.
Left arm straight.
You kind of put it under your chin.
When people see you on the first tee
and you come up there and act...
And know and look like what you're doing,
they go, "Oh, watch this guy."
Uh-huh. He's a comer.
He's a... He's an up-and-coming comer.
Absolutely.
After 12 years, the Republicans got to either put it together,
or it's going to be a meltdown.
The biggest issue facing the United States
is how it is going to create new wealth,
how it is going to reindustrialize itself,
how are we going to be competitive, right?
In the future, in the 21st century.
Government has to have a strategy.
Who's got a long-term strategy?
The Japanese have a long-term strategy.
The Germans have a long-term strategy.
Does America have an industrial strategy,
an economic strategy? No.
Just as we had a space program,
just as we had a Cold War,
a national security program...
The national security in the 21st century
is economic power.
Uh...
I, uh, I spoke to Mike Evans last night.
Mike has totally infiltrated
the Republican Volunteer Committee, absolutely.
He's wearing a suit and tie every day.
Hey. How's it going, buddy?
Arms up.
Watch. Watch.
That's okay.
Empty your pocket. Put it in your hand.
Empty your pocket. Hold it in your hand.
Turn around.
Okay. Turn around again.
Empty your pants pockets.
You're good.
Thank you. Enjoy the show.
Maybe nobody trusts me here,
and maybe they're a little more hostile,
but it's roomier, it's cooler,
they've got more money,
and look at all these sandwiches.
Obviously the party in power.
President Reagan really accomplished
a lot of great things for the United States,
and he's really been maligned in the press and everything.
All the great accomplishments he's made
are just being overlooked
in favor of pointing out, uh, things
that he's supposed to have done wrong.
Like what... what stuff
has the liberal media lynch mob
been saying about him.
Uh, they've, uh...
My mind just drew a complete blank.
Why are charges being made that the press is so liberal?
Most of us in the mainstream media
tend to get accused by politicians
who are deemed to be in trouble.
The front-runners don't very often accuse the press
of being biased.
As far as I'm concerned,
the whole conservative movement in America,
and particularly the spiritual awakening,
has been youth-orientated and youth-driven.
Parents certainly are participating,
but the kids today is where the hope is,
and what I see today is... Is a real positive thing
happening among young people.
♪ I'm an American ♪
♪ Red-blooded ♪ ♪ one bona fide citizen ♪
♪ And I'm proud to be ♪ ♪ called a Republican ♪
♪ Because I love this nation ♪ ♪ I was born in ♪
♪ Yeah, that's right, ♪ ♪ I'm a black man ♪
♪ And I'll fight for the truth ♪ ♪ that I must defend ♪
♪ Because I love this nation ♪ ♪ that I'm living in ♪
Um, I come from a very, uh, interesting background.
My father owned nightclubs in Washington, D.C.
Uh, I often say I saw the female anatomy
before I even knew what female anatomy was...
What it... you know.
My father owned the type of clubs
where women danced in the nude.
There was drugs. There was alcohol. There was cocaine.
I come from a dysfunctional family.
In your rap, you're speaking about, uh,
about the power and hope for abstinence.
Yes. "Going to the '90s."
Oh, that's a good one.
Yeah. Yeah.
It's a little easier said than done
when you have all the hormones raging.
It's idealistic, yeah.
That's what Patricia Schroeder said...
Congresswoman Patricia Schroeder.
Democratic Congresswoman feminazi Patricia Schroeder.
I've practiced abstinence so far.
Wow. Hey, listen.
I've got as much desire
to go out there and do it as the next guy,
but, uh, we're more than dogs.
We're more than dogs. We're more than beasts.
We are humans.
We have the ability of cognitive, uh, processes.
We can think, we can decide,
even though our libido and our engines run
and we want to roar.
Boy, do I want to roar. I'm still a virgin.
I'm 28. You know I'm roaring.
♪ Ah, but it's cold outside ♪
♪ I've got the month of May ♪
♪ Well, I guess you'd say ♪
♪ What can make me ♪ ♪ feel this way ♪
♪ My girl ♪
♪ Talkin' 'bout my girl ♪
♪ My girl ♪
Do you think that we're coming here biased,
that we're coming here as liberals,
that we're coming here to make trouble?
I've watched...
I watched MTV for eight years,
and I've never seen them portray
anything political
from a open-minded viewpoint
where they showed the right and the left.
They showed the left every time.
To me... To me... Shh!
...PC and liberalism
is worse than McCarthyism ever was...
Whoo! Yeah!
...and has ruined more careers.
Wait a second. What did you just say?
I say the PC movement is more stringent,
it's more vindictive,
and it's more dangerous than the McCarthy...
McCarthyism and the McCarthy movement could have ever been
and ever was.
The media has shown the conservative view
as the religious right,
and that's totally untrue.
It's a small percentage.
The true conservative view
is everyone has control over themselves.
It's lassez-faire.
They have control over their own body.
Abortion...
Unfortunately...
What about the choice of a baby that's unborn?
What about the fact that if we're going to give...
...if we're going to give a woman
a choice in this country,
what about the women that are still in the womb?
What about the women that are forming in the womb?
The Supreme Court has already said
that life starts at conception...
How can a man...
...and we should allow those people...
We should allow those people
to have the baby come out
and let the baby decide.
All this sort of moralizing is really tedious to me,
and so I wish that wasn't even an issue
that we had to, you know, defend
and put all this political energy into
because the other social issues that need addressing
that could pre-empt choice being such an issue
and the, you know, 1.5 million abortions every year
that they're talking about being so lamentable.
Maybe there wouldn't be as many...
Maybe there wouldn't be as many unwanted pregnancies
if you had, you know, sex education
and contracepting...
Uh, contraception available to people
and, uh, you know, better health care and day care
and the welfare system was reformed and...
I mean, there are just so many other things
that need addressing,
and those are things that concern me,
but I have to fight for choice
because it's the thing that's in the way.
Please get behind behind the barricade.
You need to get out of the street
and behind the barricade.
They call themselves Planned Parenthood.
They're an abortion mill.
They do not plan parenthood. They plan death.
That's right. Amen. I agree.
The Bible says that the shedding of innocent blood
is an abomination to God,
and I submit to you that that's what you do
every time that you murder an unborn little baby.
Every time you kill a little innocent one,
you're killing Jesus.
You know better. Your mother taught you better,
sent you to Sunday school. Look at you.
You're doing wrong, and you know it.
You're not going to be able
to stop people from having abortions,
but the difference is,
is that if you guys have your way,
there will be a lot more illegal abortions,
and therefore there will be a lot more women dying...
We cannot stop... ...from unsafe abortions.
We cannot stop sin in any fashion.
That's a spiritual warfare
that's going on between God and Satan.
Satan is on that side of the street,
saying "Get out there."
Who is God? Is God Jesus?
He is the... The Lord Jesus Christ, yes.
Mommy! Mommy!
Why did you kill me?
Mommy! Mommy!
Why did you kill me?
Mommy! Mommy!
Why did you kill me?
Bush-Quayle '92!
Kind of try to sum up,
uh, your... your approach to the campaign.
In a way, you are, like, a Deadhead,
but you're a campaign head.
I kind of see this as a conceptual artist piece.
By going to the Democratic Convention,
I'm the only person that's worked on both conventions
and seen how both have run.
And from that, I can hopefully take that,
the hope create change.
I'm a true media child.
Ever since I've been watching
the Road Runner cartoons,
the entire media has geared my life...
The popular culture.
I have a Coke machine in my living room.
Um, I feel like I'm out to change the world,
and I want to work within the system
to try to do that.
We're in New Hampshire,
and we're up there working on some of the campaigns,
and Pat Buchanan was coming.
It was such a phenomenon up there.
The people were so crazy in support of him,
we wanted to go see him,
and he came to the Common Man's Diner,
of all places, for lunch,
and so he was there,
and he was getting ready to go inside,
and his handlers didn't want him to go inside
because the media was besieging him,
so as he was walking in,
he went into a revolving door,
and as he got halfway around the door,
I stuck my foot in the door and locked it
so Pat Buchanan was locked halfway in this revolving door.
And it was just so great
to have power over Pat Buchanan.
For these 30 seconds, he was under my control.
And then, the next day,
there was a full-page picture in the paper...
"Pat Buchanan stuck in the Common Man's Diner."
Oh, my God.
Thank you, Pat! Thank you, Pat!
Like many of you last month,
I watched that giant masquerade ball
up at Madison Square Garden...
...where 20,000 liberals and radicals
came dressed up as moderates and centrists
in the greatest single exhibition of cross-dressing
in American political history.
This is radical feminism,
and it's not the kind of change we can abide
in a nation we still call God's country.
Backlash boys!
Better check your attitude!
Look who's coming!
Drumming down the avenue!
Backlash boys!
Better check your attitude!
Look who's coming!
Drumming down the avenue!
We are pro-woman, pro-choice, pro-child, pro-minority,
pro-queer, pro-Earth,
prolific, profane, pro-arts, pro-change,
and anti-censorship
Patriarchal demolition!
Women's Action Coalition!
Patriarchal demolition!
There is a religious war
going on in this country.
It is a cultural war,
as critical to the kind of nation we shall be
as the Cold War itself,
for this war is for the soul of America.
I think that all this
is a lot of rhetoric is what it is.
It's something we have heard the last 12 years.
You know, when people have struggles and you see it on TV,
you feel sympathy for them.
But when it really happens to you,
you really don't understand.
I mean, you really don't understand
what it's like to go down there and get food stamps.
I want my children... I know they're young,
but I want them to know what we're going through.
I've told them that Daddy doesn't have a job,
and, you know, we can't buy as much as we used to,
and I'm telling my son we're here to get food stamps
because we need help and...
To buy groceries.
And that's what all these people are here for
is to... so they can get help to buy groceries,
and, you know, he told me just now...
He says, "Yeah, if they don't eat, they'll die,"
and...
you know, that really hits... hits home.
I always believed in the American Dream.
We've always believed that the next generation
would be a better generation.
And it's really disheartening to find out
that our generation may actually be worse off.
Hey, guys.
What's going on?
Hey, Steve. Hello, Alex.
Did you get your brake lights fixed?
Uh, yeah, temporarily.
Temporarily?
We got work to do on them.
Oh.
Say again?
Okay.
So what did you all think?
About what?
About the convention going on.
About the convention?
Where's Jessica?
I think it's raising a lot of morale.
Where's Jessica?
You know, there's not a country better than us anywhere,
so, uh, hey, that's number 1 in my book so far, you know.
We're in the biggest deficit we've ever been in.
Four times. It's quadrupled.
Second biggest recession we've ever had.
I just don't understand this hypnosis
of everything's okay,
and maybe things haven't hit
right here at your address yet,
but you know what? Oh, they've hit me.
They hit me about six months ago.
I was living in a one-bedroom apartment,
separated from my husband,
raising my daughter by myself, working.
And not... You know, working hard
and working to do anything I could.
Working as a waitress, washing cars.
But just because you've been there
and you got through it
doesn't mean that you are not supposed to be empathetic,
sympathetic to others who are there right now
because maybe...
There's a lot of people on food stamps
that, just like me,
could go out and work in a club
if they had to and didn't want to
and it demeaned the heck out of them.
But do it anyway.
We're all after making money.
That's what makes us survive.
No. No. I don't...
Okay. See, you don't agree,
but since you don't agree with that,
is it wrong for us to make money?
Of course I'm doing fine right now.
Maybe I'd feel different
if I was looking for a job, but, uh...
When you were, were you down on Bush?
When you were looking for a job,
when you had been fired and everything,
were you down on Bush?
No. Who were you down on?
Uh...
Who were you down on?
Possibly myself. Uh...
In the spirit of that,
your neighbors are having a rough time next door,
and what are you doing to help them?
Uh, I put my daughter over there, and I pay them,
and I give her first dibs every time
to baby-sit my daughter, okay?
Number 1, I give clothes next door.
Number 2, tons of clothes,
all my daughter's clothes because they have a daughter.
Okay, number 3, I've told them,
"Don't ever not ask if you need something,"
and number 4, I've told them,
"As long as there's bread at my house,"
"there's bread at your house."
♪ How would you like ♪ ♪ to come along with me? ♪
♪ Down our way ♪
So actors are politicians and politicians are actors.
We're sure of it now.
You know, I'm in entertainment industry,
and we're starting to get a little upset
with this cultural elite destroying America's traditional values.
Robert, if you look at what Time-Warner did
in putting out a recording called "Cop Killer,"
which directly threatened the lives of 600,000 lawmen,
the people that you and I call 911 when we need help...
That kind of activity creates an enormous sense
in the minds of the American people
that we've got a serious problem in Hollywood.
♪ Die, motherfuckers ♪ ♪ Die, motherfuckers ♪
♪ Die ♪
♪ Die, motherfuckers ♪ ♪ Die, motherfuckers ♪
♪ Die ♪
♪ Die, motherfuckers ♪ ♪ Die, motherfuckers, die ♪
♪ Die, motherfuckers ♪ ♪ Die, motherfuckers ♪
♪ Die ♪
Let me think. Wait, let me think.
Damn. Wait, wait, wait.
Downey? Is that it? Junior, right?
Is it Martin? No, it's not Martin.
Some people... It's Robert. Robert Downey, Jr.
We are sick and tired of you all portraying us on TV...
I'm sorry, when you mean "you," who are you referring to?
You're not referring to me, are you?
I was specifically speaking of white folks.
White America.
When people started rioting in L.A.,
they wasn't mad and upset because black people were killing white folks.
We've been killing white folks for over 400 years, in your wars.
They weren't mad because we were killing white people.
They were mad because we was killing white people without their fucking permission.
You know, half of young America,
we're just still trying to figure out what the fuck is going on.
How can we stop the killing in black America
when you white folks
bring in the guns to black America?
There's no black man named Smith and Wesson.
That is your name, so if you want to do something for us,
take out your guns out of our community
and let us know that you mean something,
because you've never done that for us.
You are in a privileged position to make change,
because white people will listen to white people.
So you all need to go to your white leaders with the program of change.
We can't go to them, because they think that we're just crazy and jungle bunnies.
Like the man said, they're afraid of us.
So why don't you go to your people
and do your best to make change?
But if you do that, you will never make another movie in Hollywood.
♪ Boy, boy, boy, boy, killer ♪
♪ I'm that motherfucking ♪ ♪ goddamn nigger ♪
♪ A brother that's tougher ♪ ♪ than any other you cover ♪
♪ The one you don't want ♪ ♪ to take home to your mother ♪
Your approach in music and your art...
It doesn't pull any punches.
And the message is that you feel that Rodney King is a sell-out.
Right, directly. He's straight-up a sell-out,
because if you're not trying to lead the black struggle,
you're trying to contain the black struggle.
And to me, when black people started rioting in L.A.,
that was the most attention we ever got from
the United States of America and the rest of the world.
He gets his dumb ass up there and says some dumb shit like
"Why can't we live together?"
When we haven't been able to live together for over 400 years.
Is this your area? Is this where you're from?
Yeah.
Anywhere they let us live and shit, that's where I live.
In 12 years, ain't much changed at all around this motherfucker.
We still got horses and shit.
I mean, until we overthrow the fucking government as it stands,
there's no future for black and white,
black people or white people,
Hispanic people, Asian people, nobody.
Because if we can't have, then y'all can't have, either.
You know what I'm sayin'?
If we can't live right,
if we can't drive nice cars and live in fancy houses,
then you can't have it, either.
And brothers are waking up to this shit.
All around the world, it's the same song.
It's not just abandoned buildings and run-down homes in L.A.,
this shit is right here in Houston, Texas, as you can see.
Jesus could actually come back within our lifetime,
and these days that we're in are leading up to that climactic event,
where Jesus himself will come back out of heaven
and take all the Christians away from here.
There he is.
Dan's my man. Dan's our man.
Dan's kind of a man. Dan's half a man.
This one-world leader's going to rise up,
who is going to be the anti-Christ,
and he's going to promise everyone peace,
but unfortunately, this man is going to deceive the world.
Hey, can you guys hear me?
Seriously, there's Secret Service guys here.
I don't want to get shot.
I'm stuck.
Hello?
Thank you, Lord Jesus. Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
The reports of the death of the religious right
are greatly exaggerated.
I heard that you caused trouble at a different place.
I don't like trouble. It's not in my genes.
I don't want trouble, so that's why I didn't let you in.
Why didn't you let me in?
Because you were with him.
And what did you hear we did there?
What trouble did you hear we caused? Just trouble.
I don't like trouble. It's not a matter of not liking you as individuals.
I don't know you as individuals. I just don't like trouble.
And if you guys bring trouble, I don't want it,
so you stay out, then there's no trouble.
I'm vindicated. I'm sorry, what does trouble mean, sir?
You're going to have to look that one up
and figure it out yourself.
♪ I'm so glad I'm living in the U.S.A. ♪
♪ I'm so glad I'm not some Communist gay ♪
Let's stop.
Lord, I pray for your protection.
But you said you came not to destroy lives,
but to save lives, Lord.
We are people that are positive in our approach.
We are concerned about the society,
and we want to be a people pro-life,
because you are the one who brings life, and life more abundantly.
Amen. Let's give Jesus the hand clap. Amen.
He's not ashamed to take on the liberal media
in defense of conservative values.
Dan Quayle.
They said that I was...
AIDS is killing America.
Sons, daughters are dying.
That is the American family.
This is not the place.
There is no place that is not a place for such a demonstration.
AIDS is killing America.
There is no place that is not a place.
Thank you for your support.
♪ The eyes of Texas ♪
♪ Are upon you ♪
♪ The eyes of Texas ♪
♪ Are upon you ♪
♪ The eyes of Texas ♪
♪ Are upon you ♪
Just pause for a moment to reflect on what we've done.
150,000 dead, where was Bush?
Join me in our new crusade,
so that we may make America safer
and stronger for all our people.
And may God bless the United States of America.
♪ And guide her ♪
♪ Through the night ♪ ♪ with the light of the dawn ♪
No more Bush, no more Bush.
Get fucking involved, because it's your friends.
It's the people you're going to school with
that are going to be dead in another 10 years,
if you don't get involved now.
You've got to fight it now.
You've got to work with every part of the government,
everybody on the street, everyone you know,
your family who thinks that everyone who's dead is worthwhile being dead.
You've got to do it, or you're going to lose everyone you love,
and perhaps yourself.
AIDS is a disaster, women die faster.
AIDS is a disaster,
women die faster.
AIDS is a disaster, women die faster.
The two times that my heart has sung in both these things
was at the AIDS rally in New York
and at this protest today,
and that's because you have people that are dying to tell the truth.
Every seven minutes, somebody dies of AIDS,
and that was the first time to me
when I actually thought about it.
When I'm, at night, sleeping,
every seven minutes, someone's dying.
I think Robert has gone through the same thing that all of us
have gone through on this film.
We've seen it now.
You've decided that you need to stand for something,
that there's something you believe in.
And maybe through this, you've come to the point
where you're ready to say something.
You can use this opportunity to have an effect,
and when people see you,
they'll think that maybe they should do something,
that they should get involved,
that they should help to create change.
The Cold War's over,
and now, America's new enemy is its own.
The liberals, the media,
homosexuals, minorities, women who want to be empowered.
If we could say the Cold War's over,
and the new American enemy is the other Americans...
If God has a plan, it's...
I better end the Cold War.
There's too many nuclear frictions.
If I get rid of that, maybe these little pinheads can figure it out.
There are a lot of them. Maybe they can figure it out.
They got to vote for the fucking shit-kicker.
Get him in there, and he'll rise from his shit-kicker occasion
to the occasion, and do all the right things,
or try, because he wants to be like Kennedy and be a good guy.
And the planet will be saved, just in the nick.
Is it too late or not for the American people to deal with?
Once they understand that a decision somebody makes in Langley or on Wall Street
has an effect on the drugs on their street,
has an effect on the guy that broke into their house last night
or the guy that raped their daughter...
That's when people get motivated enough to change something.
There's an old saying...
In a ham and eggs breakfast, the chicken is involved and the pig is committed.
We have to become a nation of pigs again.
There's this French phrase...
If you don't do politics, politics will do you.
And I've got a 16-month-old daughter
who's going to have to live in this place after I'm gone.
And so to whatever tiny degree
one can do a little bit of reading
and get some information out there...
Once you start to take a stand
and say something is wrong, and I'm going to find out what's wrong,
and you think you might pay a price of a month.
It winds up becoming your whole life.
Certainly, I think one of the most important things
that could be pushed for would be a legitimate third party.
Perot triggered something. He triggered a movement.
The time was ripe.
He came along,
and the man and the moment came together.
I think a lot of these people are actually going to stay politically involved.
My personal opinion is Ross Perot's best place is outside the system.
I think he can do more to shake things up,
and there's still a whole lot of shaking that needs to be done.
Downey? Mike.
I'm coming live via satellite right now. How do I look?
You look great. Is that you?
Yeah. Things are going really good at Little Rock.
I ended up working with James Carville
and doing satellite feeds all across the country.
I must say, man, you're really an inspiration to us all.
Yeah, well, I think the one thing is,
I've always wanted to try to create change,
I think that I see the way to do that is through the media now.
I see the media as kind of the nuclear weapon of the '90s.
...is now down to one endless, final day.
This is NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw.
Is the Chicken Man the best qualified man?
What scares me is... is... um...
Is... is the crossroads.
You know?
Personal crossroads for me.
It's such a, you know...
It's such a...
pivotal time in general.
And now seeing how pivotal things are outside, too,
it just brings me back to the stuff of...
Are you ready to let outmoded beliefs die?
Are you ready to do, you know...
Are you ready for a transformation?
Hey, that's the only thing that's inevitable in life,
is change, and if things don't change,
our planet's not gonna be here, basically.
I think when you're talking about this stuff, cynicism is death.
Then you're dying, you're not there anymore.
As long as you're here, you got something to hope for.
Individuals make the difference,
whether it's Robert Kennedy or Martin Luther King or Al Lowenstein
or a lot of people who risked arrest,
and ultimately even their lives.
Get organized. Come together. Come with a proper agenda.
And then come to that White House door,
knock on that door... Not even knock, kick that shit down.
These are the people that did it all.
The perfect song for them is "When the Saints Go Marching In."
My dad and I were frightened,
wondering if everything was going to fall apart
on the day of the election.
But my other mother, my father's second wife, Laura,
who has ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease and is physically challenged,
had been assuring him and I for weeks that everything would be all right.
As far as hope goes, the love I still see between them
has really inspired me, probably more than anything else.
Heavy snowstorms in Colorado
could keep voters away from the polls today.
Laura has a good question, I guess for Robert.
What is the goat party? She hasn't seen a foot.
I said, "Maybe Robert was here in another lifetime, and he was a shepherd."
"Or a goat. How the fuck do I know?"
This is one of the worst beatings in history.
He stayed the course,
after having been swatted down in New Hampshire
about his girlfriends and his pot.
I just hope this fucking guy does something now.
He proved he had endurance, and he's there tomorrow morning.
We better hear some shit already tomorrow.
I want to hear it.
With high hopes and brave hearts,
in massive numbers,
the American people have voted to make a new beginning.
Dad looked at me and he said it felt like the '60s tonight.
And he's never said anything like that.
He's not one to be nostalgic.
It's almost like he feels safe to care again,
like he might not have not since the '60s.
Come on, Bill! Bring it home!
Clinton, Quayle.
How about that, just to mix it up?
Good news is no news.
I'm using that in this fucking script.
"Good news is no news,"
said the hangman to the murderer on the scaffold.
God gave Clinton a decent day here.
This is nice up here. Yeah. Anyway, I think you're doing great.
I told him over there, when he said, "Why do you think Robert..."
I said, "Robert's awake more than you know."
"He was awake a long time ago.
It's just, he's clogged in spots."
Aren't you? Aren't we all?
Just because you blank out, so fucking what?
I want to show you something. Huh?
That's my goat boy.
That's who I really am.
Thanks for a wonderful day. Thank you. It was really fun.
I'm glad I know more about you than you know about me.
♪ I bring the start ♪ ♪ I was reborn ♪
♪ Because the inner reflection ♪ ♪ of the future should be torn ♪
♪ Your head is in your knees ♪
♪ And I'm watching everyone ♪ ♪ just die from their disease ♪
♪ And I'm trying to realize ♪
♪ Just where the world is going ♪ ♪ and look you in your eyes ♪
♪ They're torn ♪ ♪ and melted all apart ♪
♪ I have to stand here ♪ ♪ We call it all in all ♪
♪ You got it all wrong ♪
♪ If I took the time to know ♪
♪ About the adjustments ♪ ♪ of the homeless ♪
♪ Why they're ♪ ♪ always being more ♪
♪ There's cocaine babies ♪ ♪ in your eyes ♪
♪ And people way stoned out ♪ ♪ walking on the seven signs ♪
♪ And I know it's the worst ♪ ♪ I could feel ♪
♪ I know that ♪ ♪ you're following me ♪
♪ And been tracking down ♪ ♪ all my scars ♪
♪ Sold my guitars ♪ ♪ Leave me nowhere ♪
♪ You got it all wrong ♪
♪ I know I never ♪ ♪ amounted to much ♪
♪ But I don't need nothing ♪ ♪ I don't need your crutch ♪
♪ I'm standing here ♪ ♪ in the darkness ♪
♪ Watching people ♪ ♪ walking all around ♪
♪ I'm standing at ♪ ♪ the bus stop at night ♪
♪ Cars with one light ♪ ♪ everything's so bright ♪
♪ I know when ♪ ♪ this world's over ♪
♪ Always be a heaven ♪ ♪ Baby, that's an order ♪
♪ You got it all wrong ♪