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Peacemaker’s Finale, Bromances & The MAGA Halftime vs Bad Bunny
2 Playsin 3 hours
What do Peacemaker’s finale, male friendships, and Bad Bunny’s Super Bowl halftime show all have in common? They’re all caught in the middle of America’s ongoing culture war. In this episode of Unsolicited Perspectives, Bruce Anthony breaks down the Peacemaker Season 2 finale, exploring how James Gunn’s creative vision fumbled the storytelling payoff and why bad endings in TV and film leave audiences frustrated. From there, the conversation turns to bromances, male intimacy, and the myths surrounding men’s emotional connections — a real talk on what it means to be vulnerable, expressive, and authentic in male friendships.
But that’s not all. The episode dives into the latest Bad Bunny Super Bowl controversy, where Turning Point USA and conservative media are planning a so-called “MAGA Halftime Show” to “take back Americana.” We unpack what this backlash says about Latino representation, pop culture identity, and who gets to define what’s truly American.
Tune in for a sharp, funny, and thought-provoking breakdown of Peacemaker’s finale, bromance culture, and the Bad Bunny vs MAGA halftime showdown. #peacemaker #badbunny #turningpoint #superbowlhalftimeshow #bromance #unsolicitedperspectives
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Chapters:
00:00 Same Mistakes, New Stories: The Cycle of Disappointment 🔄😩
00:10 Welcome to Unsolicited Perspectives 🎙️🔥
00:45 Bad Endings, Culture Wars & Bromance! 🎬🏈🫂
03:03 Peacemaker Season 2: A Masterpiece Ruined by Its Finale 💔
06:32 How I Met Your Mother & Other Shows That Fumbled the Ending 📺
09:47 The Art of Storytelling: Why Endings Matter More Than Ever ✍️
13:05 Wrestling Creative: Lessons in Building to a Satisfying Payoff 🤼
16:53 The Godfather's Perfect Ending vs. The Departed's Mess 🎬
20:13 Bad Bunny Backlash: Conservatives Rage Over Super Bowl Halftime 🏈
23:50 What Is American Pop Culture? Spoiler: It's Not What MAGA Thinks 🇺🇸
27:48 Turning Point's All-American Halftime Show: History Repeating 🎤
33:19 White Flight & Segregation: The Real American History 🏘️
37:38 Turning Point's Fake Patriotism Exposed 🚩
41:37 Bros Being Bros or Something More? The Truth Exposed! 🤔💫
43:52 The Hidden Side of Male Friendships You Never Knew! 🫂✨
44:53 Breaking Down Toxic Masculinity One Friendship at a Time 💪💕
55:22 Plot Twist: Love Stories We Need to Hear! 🌈❤️
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Transcript
Introduction and Episode Overview
00:00:00
Speaker
We're talking bad endings and history repeating itself. We gonna get into it. Let's get it.
00:00:17
Speaker
Welcome. First of all, welcome. This is Unsolicited Perspectives. I'm your host, Bruce Anthony, here to lead the conversation in important events and topics that are shaping today's society. Join the conversation to follow us wherever you get your audio podcasts. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for our video podcasts, YouTube is exclusive content and contents, and YouTube membership.
00:00:36
Speaker
Rate, review, like, comment, share. Share with your friends, share with your family, hell, even share with your enemies. On today's episode, I'm going to be talking about bad endings in entertainment, Turning Point deciding to do their own halftime show, and a YouTube exclusive talking about male friendships.
00:00:57
Speaker
But that's enough of the intro. Let's get to the show.
The Frustration of Bad Endings
00:01:07
Speaker
You know, there is nothing worse, nothing worse in your life than being invested in something. In all of your heart and time and attention, to be invested in something and the ending is sour.
00:01:26
Speaker
Now, I'm not talking about relationships in life. I'm not talking about work. I'm not talking about working out. I'm not talking about any of those other stuff. I'm talking purely entertainment.
00:01:38
Speaker
Now, where is this all coming from? As you guys know, I am a huge comic book fan. I wrote own comic book years ago. Never got published because me and artists didn't necessarily agree on how the characters should look.
00:01:53
Speaker
It is still somewhere in my notes. It's 20 years old by now, but you know, maybe one day, hey, with our AI and stuff like that, I can do my own comic book. So maybe I'll do that. Be another one of my side projects that I love to do, but I'm a huge comic book fan.
00:02:10
Speaker
And as y'all know, this summer, I went to go see Superman, raved about it, loved Superman, love anything that has to do with Superman. only time I haven't loved something that had to do with Superman was when Dean Cain played Superman, just didn't like that show. Come to find out because I just don't like that person.
00:02:26
Speaker
So I guess I just read like this person is not a good person. So I don't know why he's playing Superman. And that came off on the screen. I just didn't watch it. But Going back to comic books, you know, I'm in love with DC. I'm in love with Marvel, the movies, the TV shows. Like I said, I haven't read comic books in quite some time. But, you know, when I do get comics, you know, I like to read them.
00:02:53
Speaker
And there have often been times where I've been disappointed at this long, overarching story that ends poorly. And you guys all know what I'm talking about. I've never seen the show Lost.
00:03:06
Speaker
But I heard the ending was really bad. it's It's tough to invest yourself in something that they build, build, build, build build build build and it ends poorly. But once again, why am I bringing this all up?
00:03:17
Speaker
Because just a couple of days ago, I watched the season finale of Peacemaker. Now, Peacemaker is in the second season. It's a DC produced show on HBO Max, whatever that app is now. I didn't change the name so many times.
00:03:30
Speaker
I don't know what it is, but that app that got HBO shows on it, it's on that, okay? Produced, directed, you know, by James Gunn. You know him as a director from the Guardians Galaxy. He did one of the Suicide Squad. He did the new Superman movie. He did Creature Commandos. He did the first Peacemaker season one that I really enjoyed.
00:03:49
Speaker
And this season, I've really been enjoying the story behind Peacemaker. It's been a really well-told story. And spoiler alert, I'm going to spoil summer some of the story.
00:04:02
Speaker
You know, the main character played by John Cena who has really grown astronomically as an actor like he acted his ass off this season and brought me to tears which doesn't take much because i am a crier but still brought me to tears with some of his performances you know in the first season you learn that he killed his brother when he was younger by accident because his dad was an asshole and made them like fight for entertainment for his racist friends his dad was a legit racist right now
00:04:33
Speaker
And in the first season, his dad is the main villain and he has to kill his father. OK, we go into the second season. He's still dealing with that guilt of not really having any family. But his family is this group of people that had him under surveillance. We're supposed to be watching him and then helped him fight off this big like alien invasion in season one, which, OK, his father
Critiquing Story Endings in Media
00:04:54
Speaker
wasn't main villain. His father was just part of the villain. So.
00:04:57
Speaker
He's developed these friendships, but he still misses his family, his biological family. He has this dimension portal in his home that was bequeathed to him by his father. His father had discovered it. well We later find out that John Cena's character, Peacemaker, helped his father like work it or whatever.
00:05:18
Speaker
And it leaves a different dimension. And he finds an alternate dimension that is his dad's a nice guy and his brother is still a alive. And he's not this... criminal.
00:05:30
Speaker
He's the celebrated hero. And he loves being in this dimension. Later on, and about episode six, right, you find out this was a Nazi dimension. This was dimension in which the Nazis won World War II.
00:05:44
Speaker
And so there are are no people of color anywhere around. He doesn't notice this because, you know, part of it is he's just so happy to have these great relationships with but the relationship he always wanted his father, the relationship that he wished he had with his brother if his brother hadn't died, that he's oblivious to surroundings, which happens, right? It happens.
00:06:06
Speaker
But also, white blindness. It happens when, you know, You always expect to be the majority in your circle. It's not uncommon to not see anything else but people that look like you. So I give it a bit of doubt.
00:06:22
Speaker
So it was great story that's told throughout seven episodes and you get to the season finale and it's a big fart. like it It was longer. It was almost twice as long and it was completely different to what I had been watching this last seven episodes.
00:06:39
Speaker
And I was like, good God. The show has been so great. How could it end poorly? and ah And it got me thinking to times that I've been invested in entertainment.
00:06:50
Speaker
And it just ended poorly. I don't know how many seasons of How I Met Your Mother there was. I binge watched it. I caught on to it probably like the seventh season. I think it did eight or nine seasons. And I binged up all those seasons like over a summer, half hour shows, binged and then watched the final season as it was going on.
00:07:12
Speaker
And the ending was a big fart to me. Another big fart, right? I was just like, this wasn't the ending that that I wanted. Why did you build up, tell the story, and then just walk away from the key parts of the story that you were doing to tell this story that you said that you were going to tell at the end from the beginning?
00:07:30
Speaker
it And what I mean by that is sometimes you start a story and you're creating something.
00:07:42
Speaker
and as a creative writer myself, I always start with the ending first. I wanna know where I'm going, how this is going to end.
00:07:54
Speaker
And I wanna know the ending and I wanna know the beginning. Those are the two definitive points, right? This is where we're gonna start, this is where we're gonna end. And then I fill in the rest to get me to that point.
00:08:05
Speaker
Now, supposedly this is what they did with How I Met Your Mother, but if I see the ending, It's kind of changing a little bit as I'm filling in the filler. I'm talking about as a creative writer because the way the story is going, let me keep on filling it.
00:08:20
Speaker
But that ending might not work for this great thing that I've created in the middle here. Then I change up. You switch up, right? How I Met Your Mother was a it was a prime example. They had an idea of an overarching story to get to the end.
00:08:36
Speaker
And they crafted it well, except for the fact that they had weaving so many different storylines throughout the eight, nine seasons that who the person ended up with wasn't the person that we wanted to end up with.
00:08:48
Speaker
They actually created it such a great character for the wife that we wanted him to end up with the wife. Spoiler alert, he didn't. We want him to end up with the wife. And he didn't end up with the wife. He ended up with somebody else. And it was just a big fart at the end.
00:09:03
Speaker
Man of Steel, Superman, right? that this The Superman movie that came out in 2013. Love that movie. It is still today my favorite Superman movie because it was everything that I ever wanted in the movie.
00:09:17
Speaker
Except for the end where he kills Zod. Now, know that they wrote it in the script like he really had no choice. I didn't feel like there was much of a struggle. Superman does not kill unless he absolutely has to.
00:09:30
Speaker
Superman could have found another way. It was jarring. It was abrupt ending. And I remember walking out of that movie just like, oh, man, I'm not. That didn't end well. i' I didn't really like it. Sopranos is another example.
00:09:42
Speaker
David Chase trying to be creative um and just the screen goes to black. Everybody calling their HBO station during that time. Like what the hell is going on? I didn't see the final scene. No, you saw it. That was the final scene.
00:09:53
Speaker
That's what he had in mind. That's not what we wanted. We wanted a conclusion to the story. We wanted to know what happens to Tony Soprano. Does he go to jail? Does he live happily ever after?
00:10:04
Speaker
Does he die? in And that's just not the way to do it. Hey, another prime example of the whole complete season The whole complete season five of The Wire. Throw it all in the trash. Season one, two, three, and four are iconic.
00:10:20
Speaker
Great shows. Great seasons. And in that season five, I'm just like, David Chase. Not David Chase. David Samson. Like, what are we doing here? And that's how I feel about this season finale of Peacemaker.
00:10:33
Speaker
Episodes one through seven.
00:10:37
Speaker
chef's kiss. They were so well done. They had me in invested. They had me smiling. They had me laughing. They had me crying. They had me in thought. James Gunn is not only a hell of a director, but a hell of a writer because he can make you have so many emotions from what he's created.
00:11:00
Speaker
And in the end, don't get me wrong, the whole episode wasn't straight trash. There were Really some sentimental moments that were touching. But it felt like completely different from what we had been seeing seeing all season long.
00:11:16
Speaker
And it kind of wrapped up stuff, but didn't really wrap up stuff. And he said it's supposed to lead into what the ending was. It's supposed to lead into the next Superman movie that's coming out in two years, Man of Tomorrow.
00:11:30
Speaker
And I'm like, bruh, you might need to take a break, right? Because he wrote Superman, Creature Commandos, and Peacemaker, the the two the two television series and the movie all in one year.
00:11:42
Speaker
And I'm like, hey, Superman was great. Creature Commandos was great. Peacemaker was great until the end. And you want to give somebody the benefit the doubt. Like, not everything you write is going be great. I've produced a lot of these shows.
00:11:54
Speaker
This is the 265th episode of Unsolicited Perspectives. That's not including the YouTube exclusives, the after hours when I was doing Talking Straight-ish, you know, what the messy that's on the membership. Like, that's not including all the kind of... Look, some of y'all out here listening and watching are like, I really love Unsolicited Perspectives.
00:12:17
Speaker
But I can openly admit... Not every show is a hit, right? There are some duds. There have been some duds. done Interviews. I look at the first interviews that I did and God, I wish that I was a better interviewer in the beginning. I'm better now, but I wish.
00:12:33
Speaker
So you grow, right? You grow, you mature, you get better. Not everything that you put out as far as content is concerned is going to be good. And I want to give James Gunn the benefit of a doubt.
00:12:46
Speaker
However, You don't want your ending to be bad. And I learned this when I was a creator for entertainment for others when I was writing the wrestling shows. I was a marketing and creative director.
00:13:03
Speaker
It was my responsibility to write the show. And people don't understand when you say write the show, write the show for wrestling, what does that entail?
00:13:14
Speaker
Is it a rundown of just the matches? You could do just that. You could do just that. But if you're telling a never-ending story, it's an episodic story, right, that really never has an ending.
00:13:30
Speaker
because ah the ending would be the ending of the company. What happens is, is you have this this company that's running and you have these individual stories called storylines that you're writing. So you have a beginning, start, a middle, an escalation and an end.
00:13:45
Speaker
but This is creative writing one-on-one, okay? I would always start with, I wanna match up these performers with each other, okay? That's first.
00:13:56
Speaker
This is where I want it to end. I wanna get to this point. I need to find an initial start to create heat. Heat is interest, right?
00:14:08
Speaker
Interest in this storyline. So I need that spark to help me get to the end. And I need to continuously keep that spark going, keep that fire going so that when we get to the end and there's this big blow off, there's a satisfying feeling at the end.
00:14:25
Speaker
Either the good guy wins or the bad guy wins in the end and keeps on fighting. And then eventually he'll get his comeuppance.
00:14:35
Speaker
I didn't always meet the mark on the ending. Sometimes it comes with a thud and I get it. But the most important thing that you got to have when you have people invested is a strong ending. If the ending hasn't changed as you're going along the way, that's fine.
00:14:53
Speaker
You know, your ending doesn't have to be set in stone, but you have to know where you're going. And I'm sure, I'm sure James Gunn knew where he was going. And up until the eighth episode, seasons episodes one through seven, he was on the right track.
00:15:10
Speaker
Just the way he ended. and and Disappointing. I'm still looking forward to everything that he's going to be producing. You got Green Lanterns, who's supposed to be like this true detective cosmic show.
00:15:24
Speaker
That's going to be dope. If it's anything like Penguin, which is what you're hoping because of the actors that's going to be involved with this particular project, you're like, OK, because Penguin was a damn good talk. Talk about great ending.
00:15:37
Speaker
Penguin was a great show that never missed on any of its episodes. And the ending, though very heartbreaking, was a very, very good and fitting ending. That's the thing.
00:15:50
Speaker
The ending has to be fitting to what you've built up to. That that's what it is. and and And it's all forms of entertainment. If you're going to come out with a last album, I remember Jay-Z coming out with his final album, the black album, which was good.
00:16:07
Speaker
It was good. Right. But the final track on the album, uh, I don't know if that should have been the final track, a lore, not a lore.
00:16:19
Speaker
Allure, yes, should have been maybe the final track. I don't know. But like the ending of anything, a book, a CD, a comic book, a television series, a movie, especially in the movie, especially in a movie, like you're going to force me to sit down for two to three hours.
00:16:39
Speaker
The ending needs to be on point. You know, one of the greatest endings, one of the greatest endings in all the cinema is The Godfather. the Godfather. Everybody always talks about the baptism scene, right? Where he takes out all the members of the five family. And that is great, right? That is cinema.
00:17:00
Speaker
Okay. Absolutely fantastic. However, the actual final scene is when Kay, his wife, asked him if Michael killed Connie's husband.
00:17:12
Speaker
And he's like, yo, don't ask me about my business. She's like, I need know answer. He's like, don't ask me about my business. And she's insistent. He was like, okay, this one time I'm gonna let you ask me about my business.
00:17:24
Speaker
She says, did you kill him? He looks her dead in the eye and lies. No, I didn't. he She walks out and she turns around.
00:17:36
Speaker
Clemenza, Neri, Rocco, the new couple regime, kissing the hand of the new Don and the door closes because you saw the evolution of Michael Corleone from this kid, this war hero to this new cold Don.
00:17:54
Speaker
It's the best ending that I've ever seen in a movie. You know what movie ending that didn't really like? Departed.
00:18:02
Speaker
Didn't like to part it. It was too much going on in the ending. And then the ending was kind of anticlimactic. kind of was. Right? So endings matter.
00:18:14
Speaker
And I know some of y'all out there are feeling me about, man, I invested all this time and I just feel unsatisfied by the ending. And I'm not talking about sexually because I know some women out there going to be saying, yeah, I feel that way almost every day. And I feel for you.
00:18:31
Speaker
You know I'm saying? I feel for you. i don't know nothing about that, but I feel for you. But in entertainment, God, it sucks so much when you've invested time and effort and the ending just doesn't match.
00:18:45
Speaker
what you've gone through. And unfortunately, James Gunn missed the mark on the ending of
Cultural Representation in Entertainment
00:18:51
Speaker
Peacemaker. I still recommend watching the show. Season one and season two, I it gave y'all the premise, but there's some good acting in this.
00:18:59
Speaker
It's a good show. Graphic. graphic, both violence-wise and sexually, so not for kids. And this is going shock you a little bit. But it's a good show. And it's a good show to watch John Cena, a wrestler-turned-actor, but he's an actor now, ladies and gentlemen.
00:19:16
Speaker
Like Batista, like Dave Batista, who you could say is a thespian. The Rock, on the other hand, he ain't no thespian. But, you know, Dave Batista, John Cena has now entered in that conversation as being a thespian. He's an actor now, and he brings it.
00:19:30
Speaker
I recommend the show. Just be prepared when you get to their finals that final episode to be severely, severely disappointed, just like I was.
00:19:50
Speaker
Ladies and gentlemen, the conservative right and MAGA are so upset with Bad Bunny being the Super Bowl halftime show for the 2026 Super Bowl.
00:20:07
Speaker
That turning point, you know, that group that Charlie Kirk founded, has stated that they're going to create their own all-American halftime show to directly protest the NFL's decision to feature Bad Bunny as the 2026 Super bowl halftime performer.
00:20:27
Speaker
This move by the conservative group is a flashpoint in the ongoing culture wars and has fueled considerable debate about the direction of American pop culture at major events.
00:20:40
Speaker
Now, The point me and my sister talked about bad bunny at halftime. She was very excited to talk about it. This is something different. I know we're doing back to back shows talking about bad buddy.
00:20:51
Speaker
This is from a different perspective because this came out after filmed the show and posted the show that turning point has decided to do their own halftime show to kind of, to counteract that. And I'll get into the details of that in a minute, but I, I just want to talk about.
00:21:10
Speaker
American pop culture.
00:21:14
Speaker
Specifically, American pop culture at major events. So let's first define what American pop culture is. American pop culture is the popular aspects of American culture.
00:21:33
Speaker
It's pretty self-explanatory, right? What are some examples of American pop culture? Well, in my lifetime, it's been several things.
00:21:45
Speaker
The Batman movies is American pop culture. Michael Jackson is American pop culture. Boy bands is American pop culture.
00:21:58
Speaker
Hip hop music is American pop culture. Italian food. is American pop culture. Chinese food is American pop culture. Mexican food is American pop culture.
00:22:12
Speaker
You see, well barbecue. But I don't know if barbecue is universally as loved as Italian, Chinese, and Mexican food.
00:22:25
Speaker
The reason why I say that is because how far do you have to go to get to a barbecue restaurant? They're almost like specialties. And it's maybe because I live in an area that isn't like super barbecue. I live in the DMV area. Maybe it's different when you live in like Texas or the Midwest or Carolinas, right? Maybe it's a little different. Maybe there's a barbecue spot almost every other block.
00:22:53
Speaker
Like there's a Chinese food spot almost every other block. You can get pizza so many different places. You can get, there are so many different Mexican restaurants, like all over the place, all over the place.
00:23:08
Speaker
So I would say, is barbecue American pop culture? I don't know. But you see, like, I just finished talking about entertainment. You know, there are television shows like ah Game of Thrones is is American pop culture.
00:23:21
Speaker
Harry Potter and Lord the Rings. didn't watch that stuff. But Star Wars, you know, it's American pop culture. Things that Americans overwhelmingly deem as popular.
00:23:34
Speaker
You know what American pop culture is? Bad Bunny. Bad Bunny is American pop culture. You know why? Because first of all, he's American. let's We've already established.
00:23:46
Speaker
He's American. He's not white. He's American.
00:23:54
Speaker
that's That's the point I'm trying to make. He's American. And he's ultra popular. Like, as far as musical acts, American musical acts,
00:24:08
Speaker
It's Beyonce, Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny. In no particular order, right? It is those three are the top. That's American pop culture.
00:24:21
Speaker
So the idea that Turning Point would say, we're going to create our own all-American halftime show that focuses on American pop culture. What damn pop culture are they talking about?
00:24:36
Speaker
All so Turning Point USA announces alternative Super Bowl halftime event for February 8th, 2026, billing it as a patriotic counter to the NFL's official show headlined by a global Latin superstar Bad Bunny.
00:24:55
Speaker
Before I read any further, I once again have to reiterate. Bad Bunny is um like can it's American. American.
00:25:08
Speaker
Isn't a being American patriotic? What type of patriotic counter would counter something that's American?
00:25:24
Speaker
ah I'm having a hard time figuring it out, but don't worry. Turning Point defined it for me. The group's messaging emphasizing faith Family and freedom, inviting the public to help select performers and music genres, yet details about artists and broadcasts remain undisclosed.
00:25:47
Speaker
The announcement follows backlash from conservative commentators and politicians, including Donald Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson, who argued Bad Bunny's Spanish-language repertoire and and political stances do not reflect the majority of American viewers.
00:26:03
Speaker
Okay.
00:26:06
Speaker
they have one thing right. Spanish language repertoire does not reflect the majority of American viewers because the the majority of American viewers probably are not bilingual because by and large here in this country,
00:26:26
Speaker
We are linguistically dumb. Sorry, we are. It's not a flex that we can only speak one language. You go to other countries, they can speak their language and typically broken or fluent multiple other languages.
00:26:45
Speaker
We're the dumb ones, not everybody else. It's not a flex that we can only do one thing, not even well, but that we can only do one thing, okay? political stances, a majority of Americans, see, this is the thing that's crazy.
00:27:01
Speaker
And yes, Republicans do have the House, Senate, and presidency. So you would look at that and be like, well, that's the majority of Americans must want their policies. No, this is not the case, right?
00:27:14
Speaker
Because Trump didn't win the majority of the American people. He won the majority of the voters, but there were millions, tens of millions of people who did not vote.
00:27:27
Speaker
This isn't what the majority of Americans want, their political stances. And they're finding out that less and less people actually want their stances because people voted for Trump basically on the racial lines. But I'm not going to get into that because I'm not going to make a ah racial show. I'm going to make a conservative versus everybody else show.
00:27:49
Speaker
People voting along racial lines, but realizing that they not like us. Rich white folks are not like everybody else. It's a little bit differently. So the idea that they're creating a halftime show that's going be pointed towards the majority of Americans is not true.
00:28:08
Speaker
It's not true. You know why? Because the majority of Americans like Bad Bunny. Who are they going to get? Lee Greenwood. I mean, that's what me and my sister was talking about. That's what Mike Johnson, you know, offered up. Who are they going to get? Kid Rock. Kid Rock is nowhere close to Bad Bunny.
00:28:24
Speaker
It's not close. Who are they going to get? Even if they got a who's who's list of all the country music singers, it's still not touching Bad Bunny's cultural relevance in America.
00:28:38
Speaker
and globally. All right, so Bad Bunny is not tripping off of this. He's responding to the criticisms with humor, highlighting the significance of Latina representation, and inviting viewers to learn Spanish. You know why?
00:28:52
Speaker
because linguistically we're dumb. ah And so the controversy wrong around cultural identity, language, and this perceived Americanness of the event with political divides surfacing over what kind of entertainment represents the country.
00:29:10
Speaker
Let me explain to people once again what this country is. This country is a melting pot. It is people from all different walks of life, different countries that bring in their ethnicity, their language, their food, their culture, and we adopt it all.
00:29:38
Speaker
And that's America. America is not this bland whiteness that conservatives keep trying to say it is America. Going back to my food analogy, America is Italian food, Mexican food, Chinese food, soul food.
00:30:02
Speaker
That's Americana.
00:30:07
Speaker
What they're trying to describe as this bland, idyllic 1950s America didn't even exist in the nineteen fifty s It existed in their own, taking a little page from Peacemaker, their own dimension of America.
00:30:29
Speaker
that's That's where it existed. It didn't exist in a country at large. They just pushed all the things that they didn't want to see away from their presence.
00:30:42
Speaker
That's what they did. And I'm going to get into that in a few minutes because this kind of concept is not new. The concept of everybody else is doing something cool over there or is progressing further than what we would like.
00:31:05
Speaker
So we're going to push this out of our presence and create our own little thing over here which we deem as true America.
00:31:17
Speaker
And what am I talking about? I'm talking about conservatives are upset. Bad Bunny gonna be doing a halftime show. They figure it's an American sport. It should be, it represent America.
00:31:30
Speaker
Once again, Puerto Rico is part of America. Bad Bunny is American. Your argument is stupid. but okay i i don't know what artist but turning point is going to give people the opportunity to vote and choose the genres and artists that they feel like is americana and they're gonna have their own separate thing and this is not new like i said this is something that's been repeated over time in history
00:32:04
Speaker
What are some examples of this? Bruce, what are you talking about? When have there been times where there's been a progression of marginalized groups to the point that conservative or white people decide to create their own thing and push everybody away?
00:32:24
Speaker
where there was white flight and the suburbanization of the 20th century, where minorities, especially black Americans, moved into urban neighborhoods and made cultural and economic gains, many white Americans responded by relocating to the suburbs, often facilitated by federal incentives and policies that explicitly excluded minorities from these areas.
00:32:48
Speaker
20th century, but what we're really talking about pretty much after World War II, right? All those black GIs, even though they were denied their GI bill, came back, started working in factories, started moving into nice neighborhoods.
00:33:03
Speaker
And in those nice neighborhoods, there were white people that decided to move out. White flight is what they called it. But not only that, to the suburbs, that's the reason why we have suburbs away from major cities, right? That's the reason why we have right? I'm living right now in a suburb of DC.
00:33:23
Speaker
I'm living in an area that was once a thriving black area that the government decided to bulldoze and build a Pentagon over, or they bulldoze and build airports over, right?
00:33:37
Speaker
This has happened before. So when you hear people talk about American and Patriot, what they're really talking about is their version of this idyllic vision of America in which they only exist in their own existence. And everybody that doesn't look and act like them is on outside.
00:34:01
Speaker
But is it just housing? No, it's not just housing. Popular music and dance spaces in the early to mid 20th century as jazz and later rock and roll, which are rooted in black musical innovations became popular.
00:34:17
Speaker
Some white communities established their own venues. radio stations, and social clubs that restricted entry or tailored music programming to only white patrons.
00:34:29
Speaker
White jazz clubs or white rock and roll movements emerged from these genres, crossed over to mainstream popularity. Also country music. Right? So, so they took American pop culture,
00:34:47
Speaker
what's popular in America, and they said, ah we don't wanna co-mingle with these minorities. So what we gonna do is go ahead and create our own separate spaces away from them and have our own artists And we're to make our own thing. Oh my goodness.
00:35:11
Speaker
You remember when rock and roll was rock and roll? Like what type of rock and roll? And the rock and roll in the white clubs or the rock roll in the black clubs? Because once again, this was black music first. What about, what about like public housing and education?
00:35:26
Speaker
Well, whites created exclusive public housing projects and pushed for school districting and private school segregation academies, which urban institutions became more integrated and more popular with minority groups, often due to legal desegregation efforts. Federal policies incentivized suburban development explicitly for white families leaving minorities behind in the cities.
00:35:54
Speaker
So this was also part of a white flight. but this was also the government sponsoring this white flight. Basically saying, hey, look, white people, if y'all not comfortable living around these minorities, we're going to create a safe space.
00:36:13
Speaker
And it's gonna be over here, away from everybody else. So you don't have to participate with them. You can have your own thing. and And let's not forget exclusions from professions and higher education.
00:36:28
Speaker
Rules at universities and professional institutions limited minority admissions, job opportunities, and promotions. Even after the legal barriers were reduced, informal practices and social networks among elites ensured ongoing underrepresent underrepresentation and pipeline exclusion for minorities in elite sectors.
00:36:52
Speaker
Kind of like
00:36:56
Speaker
If you are ah legacy, your family went to Harvard and Yale, you're almost guaranteed a spot. Whether you're qualified or not, you're almost guaranteed the spot.
00:37:10
Speaker
So what Turning Point is trying to do is nothing new. As soon as I read it, I'm like, oh yeah, that's right. I've seen that before. I've seen it before.
00:37:23
Speaker
This is America.
00:37:27
Speaker
Turning Point doing this is almost what's popular with a certain group of people in America throughout the history of time, which would make it American pop culture. No, I'm just saying and would it would, look, it doesn't surprise me.
00:37:41
Speaker
And if they want to do their own thing, that's cool. But the idea that they are going to hijack the Super Bowl halftime show, good luck with your little side project.
00:37:55
Speaker
You know, there was a time where somebody tried to hijack the Super Bowl halftime show. In living color, I do not remember what year, i want to say it was 1990 or 91, decided to do a halftime show.
00:38:12
Speaker
Everybody turned from the Super Bowl to watch that halftime show. The next year, the NFL decided to have Michael Jackson perform at the halftime show. And that's how we got the halftime show.
00:38:26
Speaker
You know what Michael Jackson was? The most popular artist at that
Exploring Male Friendships: Breaking the Stigma
00:38:31
Speaker
time. He was Americana. Because he's American. And he was popular.
00:38:38
Speaker
Kind of like Bad Bunny. So, Turning Point, good luck to you. and what will be a bland show that I will absolutely not be watching. And I'm curious to see who your audience chooses to be the artists and music that represents America, because I can assuredly let you know that all of those people and you would be wrong because what represents America is all the diversity that we have in America.
00:39:14
Speaker
the melting pot that is America.
00:39:26
Speaker
All right, guys. Gonna give you guys a little treat because it still has come to my attention that people have not joined the YouTube page to see the YouTube exclusive videos, which to me,
00:39:42
Speaker
is crazy because if you listen to all of our podcasts and you enjoy them because you're listening to all of them, then you would think that you would watch the stuff that we have on YouTube, which is absolutely not on the podcast, except for now.
00:39:57
Speaker
I'm gonna give you guys more of a taste than what we have exclusively on YouTube, but not this particular episode because I'm putting it now on the podcast. So in this particular YouTube exclusive,
00:40:09
Speaker
Me and my sister talk about male friendships and how society looks at male friendships and how males and interact in their male or bromance relationships.
00:40:21
Speaker
So here's that episode. I hope you enjoy it. Check it out. Jay, you sent me a video on Instagram. It was earlier today. i' have completely changed around the rundown and decided that we was going to talk about this because me and you disagree on this particular topic.
00:40:39
Speaker
So you sent me a video about two men yeah were the the Basically, the headline was something like, it you know, when I hit get the lick, he get the lick. It was like, point of view. It was it was two guys.
00:40:53
Speaker
It's like a wide shot. They're at a gas station, and they're in very expensive cars, they're like sitting on the cars and chopping it up and having a good time, right? And the caption is like, POV, I have that one homie that when I get rich, he can have whatever.
00:41:12
Speaker
That's what it says. Yes. and And you said your response to that was. That some of y'all just need to date your homeboy and and leave us to leave the rest of us a alone. Like it.
00:41:26
Speaker
And I'm sorry, but you're not going to convince me, period, that there are not dudes out there in love with a homeboy. Okay, I'm not disputing there are closeted men out there.
00:41:40
Speaker
That would be a terrible dispute. So no, I'm not disputing that there are closeted men out there. But the fact that... The fact that you automatically put it on, like if if I get on, for instance, for me, if I get on, if I get a lick, a lick, ladies and gentlemen, is coming to some, a lot of money. If I get a lick- Or a robbery is also what a lick is. Yeah. In this context, I'm talking about a lot of money, which could have been from a robbery, but it won't, because I'm not going to jail.
00:42:09
Speaker
But if I get, if I get a windfall, everybody around me that's close to me, my close people get windfall. That would mean my immediate family, mom, dad, you and our brother, going to some cheddar.
00:42:23
Speaker
Then I've got four, three close friends and one friend that was really, really close, but I still love him. And even though we're not as close as we used to be,
00:42:37
Speaker
If he ever needed me, I'd be right there for him, right? So it's four people, one female, three dudes. They go get some bread. Yeah. That's not what the post said. The post said one particular person, but maybe maybe they they only have one person that they real close to, and that's their homeboy.
00:42:56
Speaker
And that is the person that they're in love with. I don't think... that it The post said... if That is if this person gets on, they have that one homie.
00:43:09
Speaker
Right, the one homie. can have whatever. Yeah, the one homie. It's not like if I get on, the whole crew get on. Like if I'm winning, we all winning. That's not what it said.
00:43:21
Speaker
It says one homie that can have whatever. wake And or mo immediately what I thought in my head was T.I.' 's, you can have whatever you like. That was like, and it's like you taking this one homie shopping. Y'all getting back to Benzes. Like, like i Like, there are some dudes out there that I promise you, would not even closeted.
00:43:43
Speaker
Not even closeted. Do not think they're gay. But they are in love with their homeboy and they might not even realize it. ah Okay, saying in love is really... You're being... let's and Stop being semantic, okay? Let's be real.
00:44:01
Speaker
Stop saying in love. Say they love. And there's different variations of love. have love for my friends. I got love for my family. Romantically. That is what I'm saying.
00:44:13
Speaker
I'm saying, if it was me, if it was me, and i got I got on somehow, I don't know, right? You said you don't know? don't know. There's a myriad of ways that I could blow up. We don't know. We don't know.
00:44:29
Speaker
Will I be famous or infamous? Who knows? Nobody knows. Both. Probably. Yeah. Be famous or being infamous. But like...
00:44:40
Speaker
Knowing me. But like, but obviously, yes, I'm going to take care of my family and my friends. I don't have one homegirl that I'm like, you can have whatever you want.
00:44:52
Speaker
You can have whatever you like. Like, that's not... Yes, you do. No, I don't. Your absolute best friend could literally have whatever they want if you got along. No, I would i will probably invest in something. would set up trust funds for the kids' colleges. But if they came to you for certain things, you would you would give it to them.
00:45:14
Speaker
Yeah, but I'm not i'm not broadcasting that. like I'm not creating a whole post to be like, hey, you can have whatever you want. So now we're talking about different things.
00:45:25
Speaker
You are saying, yeah, I would absolutely do that. I just wouldn't broadcast it. No, I we would ah wouldn't. it it It wouldn't be exclusive to that one person.
00:45:38
Speaker
that's and They're not saying that they wouldn't put everybody on. What they're saying and is there's only one person that can have whatever they want. Yeah, the love of their life. No. Okay, maybe. But to go to that automatic assumption...
00:45:53
Speaker
I just went by how the post was worded. no so read the post and I said, oh, you're in love with this person.
00:46:04
Speaker
that did That doesn't mean that they're in love vas That y'all are sitting out at night at a gas station. They're filling up their cars. on ah Yeah, together. Going for a joint gas fill up.
00:46:17
Speaker
um No, maybe that's not. Maybe they was on their way to the club. Yeah. To spend time together, to spend quality time. That's what you do with your friends. That's yeah what you do with your friends. And that's also what you do.
00:46:31
Speaker
For your soulmate. All right. Let me tell you why i just absolutely disagree with it. I remember it me and my two boys that I've known for like 30 years. One of our fathers used to call us the three hard legs because every single weekend we were together.
00:46:48
Speaker
But we were together to have fun and to go out on the hunt. Love those dudes. yeah Love them. We weren't in love with each other. But if anyone had it, in other words, if anybody got on, there wouldn't have been too much that they couldn't have asked me for that I wouldn't have given for them.
00:47:07
Speaker
Yeah, but it ain't. That's your two homeboys. We're not talking about no thropple. We're talking about two-part, a couple. but if you like But if one of the friends head was gone and it was only two of the three, it would have been the same dynamic.
00:47:25
Speaker
So that just meant it would have been one person getting on as opposed to another. See, we're arguing about two different things. Here's the problem. No, here's why we're arguing. Okay. This is the reason why we argue, period, is because you take everything I say and you apply it to yourself.
00:47:42
Speaker
No, I'm not applying it to myself. not you, this is what you've been doing this whole time. No, I'm not applying it to myself. And if it's not for you, then it's not true. I'm not applying to myself. You just said it.
00:47:52
Speaker
I just came Homeboys. No, no, no. Well, I'm giving you multiple analogies, right? I'm giving you multiple analogies. In fact, I'm giving you analogies about yourself. So I'm not making it about me. I'm making it about how you can't say that this one situation, clear and in effect,
00:48:08
Speaker
Oh, they in love with each other. i Like, that that's ridiculous. All I said, I didn't say that those two particular men are in love with each other. What I said was... some of y'all need to admit that you in love with your homeboy.
00:48:22
Speaker
and y'all just need to date and leave the rest of us alone. Because the thing of it is, is like you love this man. And so every other person that you date, you terrorize because you really wanna be with this other person and you can't.
00:48:37
Speaker
And you might not even know it consciously, But a lot of y'all need to start thinking about this. And I just wish, you know, there wasn't the stigma. Because a lot of female best friends end up getting together. That's... It ain't rare.
00:48:53
Speaker
Okay? So I just wish there wasn't this stigma among men about... and like Being gay. About intimacy between men.
00:49:06
Speaker
yeah oh that's my Because my thing is, but y'all will say everything up to, allla you are so you will y'all will do a dime so you won't snitch on your homie.
00:49:18
Speaker
No, I won't. The loyalty there is incomparable to anything else. I mean, you trust this dude. Like this is this.
00:49:29
Speaker
A lot of y'all are soulmates and you just it don't even have to be a romantic thing. But a lot of y'all are soulmates. And it's OK to say that. yeah Okay, so you're making a lot of valid points and and and I'll attack them one by one.
00:49:44
Speaker
Let's attack the last one. Let's just rewind that. You're making a lot of valid points. I'm going to attack them one by one. No, I'm going to... ah that Attack was not the right word. Address them. I'm going to address them one by one. Let's start with the latter first.
00:49:58
Speaker
And and of ladder for the latter was... ah Actually, I forgot what the latter was. That'd be dudes that are soulmates. It don't even have to be romantic. Y'all could just be that. That's not possible because men don't talk about anything.
00:50:13
Speaker
everything Everything is surface level. Nothing ever really gets that deep. Don't talk about emotions or anything. I have seen male friendships that like... Just my brother. Y'all... But they don't talk about nothing.
00:50:26
Speaker
Love each other. Yeah, but they don't talk about nothing. It's surface level because men don't talk about their feelings. So that's what I'm saying. You can't have a soulmate if you don't talk about your feelings. Again, that's what I'm saying. this is This is a lot of... I'm just saying y'all need to admit it and to start talking about it.
00:50:41
Speaker
um and But you're talking about two different things. Now, are are there some closeted men out there that might be in love with their homeboy? Yes. Is there some weird loyalty between men that is the quote-unquote bro code?
00:50:53
Speaker
Yes. It is also... There is a emotional insecurity, emotional lack of intelligence to understand that just as you can have fun with your homeboys, you can have fun with women as well. Like women are fun.
00:51:11
Speaker
Like I had a home girl. All of my home girls are hilarious. Yeah. Hilarious. like Yeah, women are great. Yeah, like I kick it with my homegirls and I'm like, this is just like... And also, women are actually raunchier than men.
00:51:26
Speaker
Women say some off-the-wall stuff. Women say some off-the-wall stuff and I be clutching my pearls because I thought my boys was nasty. My homegirls is even nastier. Listen closely to our brunch conversations.
00:51:39
Speaker
Right. Right. So i I'd be kicking it with my homegirls and I'd be like, it's like kicking it with dudes. It's the same thing. The problem is most dudes just sexualize women and don't realize, yo, you know this woman has actually got a dope personality. Matter of fact, their personality is doper than your homeboy because your homeboy ain't talking about nothing but jokes.
00:51:59
Speaker
She got jokes over here and you can actually have an intellectual conversation. Not a conversation about who's better, Michael Jordan or LeBron. Or if she got a BBL or not. Like, actually intellectual and emotionally intellectual conversations.
00:52:13
Speaker
So there's a million and one reasons why guys have this connection with other guys that they don't have women. Yes, there are some closeted men out there. But no, not every time a man is close to another man does that mean...
00:52:28
Speaker
He's closeted. I didn't say every time. I just said. The implication. No. but This is again an instance where you like to read more into what I said than what I actually said.
00:52:41
Speaker
Maybe. And I have to go back and read it to you verbatim because you already heard in your mind what you wanted to hear. I don't know if I wanted to hear anything. I didn't say every time. I didn't say those two particular men. I'm saying...
00:52:57
Speaker
You generalized. You did generalize, though. I said they need to admit that they want to date their own boy. yeah That's a real generally that's a real general statement.
00:53:11
Speaker
Yeah, it was meant to be. Here's the thing. Here's the thing. What I'm talking about is like opening up a broader conversation about intimacy between men. And I think when you have the position that, oh, men don't talk about anything. We don't talk about our feelings. we die We're not emotionally mature. I think it sells men short and it continues to put you in a box.
00:53:33
Speaker
where you can't grow and you can't love fully, including if that person happens to be your homeboy. But a lot of guys, a lot of guys will never even that that they,
00:53:48
Speaker
that they have these feelings because they'll never deeply interrogate their emotions. Well, they don't know how. Right. weren't taught to do that. Right. So I'm saying, let's all start talking about it.
00:54:01
Speaker
And I'm not disagreeing with that. Yeah. I'm not saying that statement was real. I'm not saying all. I just said, some of them need to admit, they in love with their homeboy and i don't disagree with that some of them absolutely are relationships be a little too codependent yeah be real codeeppendent yes yes yes where it's like like they you oh that's twin right there and that's twin love you twin like and y'all always together if i don't see him then i i don't see you like y'all always together it's like come on now
00:54:37
Speaker
You spent y'all and on the phone together. You riding together like what? Y'all it'all have a great relationship. And you've had one for years and sustained longer than any of your romantic relationships. This relationship.
00:54:54
Speaker
But in that friendship. Okay, I don't know. It's kind of close. It's close. ah Look, I firmly admit that you have some very valid points and you're absolutely right. and Some of these men need to, men in general, need to become more emotionally intelligent.
00:55:15
Speaker
We as men need to work on that. I've been working on that, but I still got a whole lot of work to do. And I'm also still closed off as much ish I'll be talking on here. I'm still really closed off.
00:55:26
Speaker
Things need to be addressed in our community. However,
00:55:35
Speaker
ah just take offense to the fact that men can have close relationships and then not be deemed as something more. I didn't say that either. I just said. It was an implication.
00:55:49
Speaker
It was the implication. All I said was it's up to see to acknowledge that they want to date their own boy. Yeah, that is true. Some of y'all out there I don't and I don't consider being gay or just but not even being gay. You could just be pansexual and bisexual.
00:56:06
Speaker
I don't know. Like it doesn't matter. I don't. that's It's not a ah you know, that's not a character flaw. Of course not. You who you are. You are who you are. Like and so I don't know. Like I just feel like I would love to have a couple that was once just homeboys and then realized they were in love. Yeah.
00:56:27
Speaker
yeah Do you have a story like that out there, America? Please, hey, hit us up. Let us know. Because we would love to have you on the show. Just talk about that evolution from homeboys to lovers.
00:56:40
Speaker
Lovers in France. Yeah.
Conclusion and Listener Appreciation
00:56:42
Speaker
So I hope you enjoyed that YouTube exclusive. I just want you guys to think about everything that I talked about on this episode. This ending needs to punctuate...
00:56:54
Speaker
what this episode was about in order for you to be happy with the conclusion. And the conclusion of this episode is, damn it, just be who you're gonna be, number one.
00:57:09
Speaker
Number two, let people be who they're gonna be. And number three, if you're a creative, make sure that ending is just as good as the beginning and just as good as the middle.
00:57:20
Speaker
The ending is important. The ending is important. And on that note, ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you for listening. I want to thank you for watching.
00:57:31
Speaker
And until next time, as always, I'll holler.
00:57:39
Speaker
That was a hell of a show. Thank you for rocking with us here on Unsolicited Perspectives with Bruce Anthony. Now, before you go, don't forget to follow, subscribe, like, comment, and share our podcast wherever you're listening or watching it to it. Pass it along to your friends. If you enjoy it, that means the people that you rock will will enjoy it also.
00:57:58
Speaker
So share the wealth, share the knowledge, share the noise. And for all those people that say, well, I don't have a YouTube. If you have a Gmail account, you have a YouTube. subscribe to our YouTube channel where you can actually watch our video podcast and YouTube exclusive content. freedom But the real party is on our Patreon page. After Hours Uncensored and Talkin' Straight-ish. After Hours Uncensored is another show with my sister. And once again, the key word there is uncensored. Those who exclusively on our Patreon page, jump onto our website at unsolicitedperspective.com for all things us. That's where you can get all of our audio, video, our blogs, and even buy our merch. And if you really feel generous and want to help us out, you can donate on our donations page.
00:58:42
Speaker
Donations go strictly to improving our software and hardware so we can keep giving you guys good content that you can clearly listen to and that you can clearly see. So any donation would be appreciative. Most importantly, I want to say thank you.
00:58:56
Speaker
Thank you. Thank you for listening and watching and supporting us. And I'll catch you next time. Audi 5000. Peace.