Don't miss a great conversation with Christian Toto and Ed Morrissey! Join HotAir VIP today and use promo code BEATENPATH to receive 60% off your membership! Check out our new Platinum level too!
Welcome back to our VIP video series "Off the Beaten Path," featuring my friend Christian Toto of Hollywood in Toto! Christian and I start off our week by discussing stories and ideas that may fly under our radar, in culture, politics, sports, and more. Plus, Christian previews his latest podcast at HiT.
What do Jimmy Kimmel and Michael Jackson have in common? Hollywood let them both off the hook this week. Christian and Ed mainly walk on the beaten path this week in discussing the assassination attempt on Donald Trump at the White House Correspondents Dinner. Jimmy Kimmel made a joke last week that predicted Melania Trump would be a widow soon, prompting new demands from the Trumps and their supporters for Disney and ABC to fire Kimmel. Does anyone believe his ridiculous claim that he was making fun of their age gap?
We also discuss the blockbuster success of Michael, the new biopic of Michael Jackson that avoid all of the, er, unpleasantness in his later years. Can we just celebrate art without assessing the artist? Audiences clearly can, while critics mainly object. We talk about what this means, how it applies in practice, and why we probably won't ever see a full accounting of the allegations against Jackson in any future film ... at least one that wants to use his music as its soundtrack. We finish up with a fun debate about Quentin Tarantino and his artistic choices, as well as when cultural appropriation may actually matter.
Watch it all and join us in the comments!
