Problem Tomatoes 🍅

There’s no oppression in America. No Epstein conspiracy. No systemic racism. No Zionist puppet masters. No Gestapo for immigrants. No fascism. No communism. There are just people burning down a country with the best living standards in human history because they are bored.

Would I put this as a top reason for the decline of LA? No, but the DEI agenda impacted what got made and how it got made, and we alienated half the country in the process.

@feelsdesperate DEI was a way to force out the older whiter people who still couldn’t retire because of the financial crisis. The younger less white population could then use “diversity” and allegiance to social justice to push out their competition. It’s a jobs program.

A reasonable take I heard (from a millennial) is that wokeness happened because millennials looked around and saw that they had no transcendent belief system to guide them and give their lives meaning and so they just turned up the volume on Boomer anti racism because that was on hand. I think that’s right. It doesn’t explain everything but it’s definitely it’s definitely psychology true in an important way.

@JosephKahn That’s all true, but unfortunately, the number crunchers also realize that crew and locations cost much more here.

8 reasons why Los Angeles is the GREATEST CITY TO FILM IN THE WORLD. 1. Weather. Perfect year round. You're not constantly fighting rain or snow. You can shoot your day lit porno without worrying about insurance claims. 2. Equipment. Access to every state of the art gizmo on earth. If your camera or generator breaks down, you can find a rental house 24 hours a day. 3. Props/art. 100 years of deep costumes and props. You want a Model T, no problem. You want a functional Godzilla costume. Easy. That shot at the end of Raiders of the Lost ark is a typical Hollywood prop house. 4. Crew. Generational talent. Grips that are fourth and fifth generation tradesmen that have knowledge and ethics passed down from their families. Crews are protective of their reputations and kick out the weak. The highest standards in the world. It's really reason number one, but everyone says it. It's true. 5. Actors. The most obsessed people about making it. Will give you everything in a performance. Will stab a homeless person to get a part, but at the same time claim to donate all their money to Newsom's hotels. Don't be fooled. Liberal on the streets, wannabe DiCaprio in the sheets. 6. Locations. It's a wonderland of sites and sights. From old buildings to beaches to mountains to skyscrapers to bungalows to backlots, it's UNDEFEATED. Combine that with perfect weather, it's insane. 7. Writers. Throw a rock, you'll hit five people with screenplays before the rock kills a junior exec feeding scripts into AI coverage. The lifeblood of all creativity - the word - is the bedrock of LA everyone takes for granted. It is a city of ideas. 8. Executives/agents/producers. The ones in LA are different. I've rarely met one who actually doesn't love movies or music. Everyone could have gone into a business that is more secure, but they are all risk takers in their own way by going into this insane career. That doesn't mean they have good taste, most probably don't and it's a big reason we're in trouble, but I don't doubt their love of the art. There are many more reasons, but I'll stop here. The negatives you already know - taxes, politics, jobless bloggers in silverlake saying everything's fine. Los Angeles is a perfect city for film production. Fix it.

カリフォルニアそんなにひどいの？ って調べるとマジで想像以上に腐敗しててアメリカ人もそりゃ嫌うわってなる

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa You asked what I mean. I shared. Have a good one. Must go now.

@ProblemTomatoes @treymanaa youtube.com/watch?v=9vV8U0…

It’s not like the IRGC and the Regime has been killing Americans and our allies for decades now. Yeah, history started last month for many

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa x.com/theinsiderpape…

@ProblemTomatoes @treymanaa What do you mean, "so has Trump"? He literally campaigned against starting a war in Iran. Why would Iran nuke Europe? This is ridiculous. You could start any war with any country by saying that in theory their weapons could hit people we like.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa But I must log off now. Have a good one.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa Maybe it doesn't end up worth it. I think Trump could make a better case for it. But you immediately think of the first-order consequence (defense stocks) and nothing else. I don't think the world is that simple. The average American benefits from hegemony in a number of ways.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa But you seem reluctant to consider second or third-order effects. It's not "Israel's war" if we decide, due to the weakness of Iranian proxies and their lack of current air defenses, to strike their capabilities. You can disagree on the action, but it's not big bad Israel.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa There's no denying that Netanyahu has long wanted war against Iran. So has Trump. A regime that shouts "death to America" getting nuclear weapons and increasing regional control with long-range ballistic missiles that can reach Europe may not sound like a threat to you.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa Obviously not every American shares the same personal interests. People disagree on social security and environmental policy and a number of issues. We should absolutely debate the impact on Fort Worth residents of our geopolitical policies. But we will still have policies.

@ProblemTomatoes @treymanaa No, you don't know what I'm implying because my point is that "Americans" don't share some common interest in the Middle East. Just because defense contractors benefit doesn't mean some dental hygienist in Fort Worth does.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa I'm using an analogy to show how stupid your "Israel's wars" comment is. I'm not accusing you of "the antisemitism shit." Any war we join is an American war for our interests.

@ProblemTomatoes @treymanaa Oh here we go with the antisemitism shit now.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa And by "our," I mean "Americans." We can even debate what those interests are. But I know what you're implying.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa I didn't say "Jew hatred" was the reason. That's obviously part of it, but there are several others. I said they choose to be an enemy. Which is accurate. If were talking about Gazans, that's a different discussion. But Iran being an enemy of Israel is 100% a war of choice.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa We have interests in the Middle East. We have allies. Whether you think those are worth defending and when is worth debate. But we are not run by a nation of 10 million people. Iran threatening those interests, whether Israel or Saudi oil or anything else, is a provocation.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa I didn't use the word "justify" for the record. But you described US troops in Lebanon as a provocation. Hezbollah is the proxy in Lebanon. I agree the US does not always share interests with Israel. But to call it "Israel's war" is reheated "Jews run the world" simplicity.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa I think it's reasonable to require Iran to drop its blood feud and choose peace. Again, it has no territorial or resource disputes with Israel. But "reasonable" isn't a helpful metric. We should maximally pursue our interests, and they will do the same.

@ProblemTomatoes @treymanaa Not just missile strikes. Also bases to muster troops, launch air power from, etc. Do you think it's reasonable for the US to demand that Iran have no offensive capability against its blood feud enemy in its own region?

@JosephKahn We have better weather than fucking New Jersey. Can we get it together?

Los Angeles is still the best place to film in the world. Fix it.

@lwoodhouse @treymanaa You casually conflate the US being in Lebanon as a threat to Iran. Why is the US threatening Hezbollah (Iranian ally) a provocation but Iran threatening Israel (US ally) not a provocation at all? We have interests beyond the existential.

@ProblemTomatoes @treymanaa It's funny how you just casually conflate an attack on Israel as a provocation to the US, as if that requires no further explanation.