Well, hello, everybody, and welcome
to our first episode of 2021
and the last episode of Donald juvenile Trump,
the only American president who got impeached
more times than he got elected.
In 24 hours, Donald Trump will no longer be president,
and Americans will finally
be able to take a deep breath.
Except for the 24 million of them who have COVID,
because of the government's horrible response.
We're gonna be catching up on all the news,
plus Carey Mulligan will be joining us
to talk about her brand-new movie Promising Young Woman.
So let's do this, people.
Welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
-? ? -ANNOUNCER: From Trevor's couch in New York City
to your couch somewhere in the world, this is
The Daily Social Distancing Show with Trevor Noah.
Tomorrow, Joe Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president
of what's left of the United States.
Although, judging from the preparations,
perhaps "united" isn't the right word for the country.
NEWSMAN: Tonight, extraordinary security
in the nation's capital. Officials taking no chances.
Military reinforcements arriving by the planeload.
National Guard troops coming from every corner of the U.S.
NEWSMAN 2: On every street, more fencing,
more police, more troops.
NEWSMAN 3: Fencing with razor wire,
barricades and checkpoints everywhere.
Restrictions on drones,
helicopters patrolling the skies,
and police boats scouring the Potomac River.
NEWSWOMAN: More than 25,000 National Guard troops
in the nation's capital,
many already there and sleeping on cots.
NEWSWOMAN 2: Biden planned to take the train from his home
in Delaware to D.C., but that trip has been canceled
due to security concerns about his arrival at Union Station
just blocks from the Capitol.
Aw, man. Poor Joe Biden.
He loves trains, but security is so tight
that they won't let him ride one.
And it makes sense-- trains are the worst way
to get your new president to his inauguration.
Bbecause, forget terrorists. Biden could get hurt
just from a guy trying to carry boiling coffee down the aisle.
Also, it's so easy to plan a train attack,
because a train can't change course.
We all know where it's going. There's a track.
If a train leaves Delaware for D.C. at 9:00 a.m.
and it travels at 80 miles an hour,
well, we know it's gonna get to D.C...
It'll get there...
And this just shows you how divided America is right now--
it's even having trouble transitioning power
from an old white guy to an old white guy.
Security wasn't even this tight when the president
was about to be black.
Now, of course, the reason for all this security is that
no one wants a repeat of January 6,
when a mob of the world's angriest aunts and uncles
attacked the Capitol Building.
And we all watched the riots live on the news that day.
But as time goes on, we're finding out that
the situation was even crazier than we thought.
NEWSMAN: New details tonight show just how close
the violent mob got to the vice president and his family.
NEWSMAN 2: As the mob chanted "Hang Mike Pence"
and a makeshift gallows went up,
the vice president, his wife and daughter,
were just seconds away from being spotted,
according to The Washington Post.
At one point, they were hiding less than 100 feet
from the violent crowd attacking police officers,
journalists and others.
NEWSWOMAN: And the chilling search for Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
NEWSWOMAN: Inside the Senate Chamber, insurrection.
Where the (bleep) are they?
Where are they?
You know, I used to blame lawmakers
for not getting anything done.
But now I'm starting to think that maybe
it's the Capitol Building that jams up Congress.
Because did you see this mob?
They came in with the goal to overthrow the government!
But then, once they got in, they were like...
Yeah! Let's throw this thing...
You know what, maybe we should vote on something.
I don't know. Let's...
Actually, guys, let's adjourn for the day.
We'll come back tomorrow, and... We couldn't get anything done.
And if you didn't believe it before,
this is how you really know that Trump supporters
are a cult.
Because they wanted to hang Mike Pence
for finally accepting the election results.
Mike Pence, people.
No one has been more loyal to Trump than Mike Pence.
While Trump was screwing America over last four years,
Mike Pence was gently guiding his hips from behind.
Now you're calling him a traitor? Mike Pence?
And I know people don't like him, but I for one
am really glad that this mob didn't hurt Mike Pence.
'Cause I think we could all agree that
no one should have to die a virgin.
Now, since that day,
the FBI has rounded up over 130 people
so far for taking part in the assault on the Capitol.
And if you're wondering how on earth
did they find all these people, well,
it turns out it was all on the 'gram.
NEWSMAN: The man posing beneath the sign
above Nancy Pelosi's office
is a firefighter from Florida, Andy Williams.
We're all trying to get into the Capitol to stop this.
NEWSMAN: A corporate lawyer from Dallas, Paul Davis,
posted this video and was quickly identified by his boss.
Nicholas Rodean wore his work ID badge around his neck.
NEWSMAN 2: This man posted a selfie, smoking a cigarette,
with the caption "Hello from the Capitol lol."
NEWSMAN 3: The man who put his feet up on Nancy Pelosi's desk
is 60-year-old Richard Barnett,
known as Bigo.
NEWSMAN 3: And this fellow, Derrick Evans,
livestreamed the moment he and others members of the mob
broke into the Capitol.
No, guys, guys, you can't be serious.
Has it really gotten this bad,
that social media has poisoned us to the point where
we're gonna livestream our treason?
And I love how some MAGA people were like, "This is our 1776."
Yeah, guys, you didn't see George Washington
crossing the Delaware like,
"I do declare... selfie!"
I will say, though,
this is an argument for defunding the police.
Because you don't need billions of dollars for detectives
when you can find criminals
just by scrolling your Instagram discover page.
So after four years, President Trump
is spending his last days in power
like many tin-pot dictators: convincing his most rabid fans
to keep fighting for a lost cause while he
hides in a bunker somewhere.
But whether you hate Trump
or whether you just mildly dislike him,
you have to admit a few things about this man.
Number one: he has changed American politics forever.
For starters, the red phone in the Oval Office
will always call McDonald's instead of the Pentagon.
That's not going to change.
Also, he's completely dropped the bar
for presidential behavior.
I mean, in ten years a president could pee in the middle
of a press conference, and everyone will just be like,
"Huh, I guess he just had to go."
Also, you got to admit that Trump,
from the time he ran for president, he's been consistent.
You know, the victimhood and the racial resentment
that came down that escalator in 2015--
well, those are the same that ended up at the Capitol
on January 6th.
And because Trump has been so consistently bad,
because he's been so consistent at being himself,
he's exposed how bullshit so many other people are.
For instance, Fox News.
They spent all of 2020 screaming that "blue lives matter."
The way Fox News defended police
during the George Floyd protests,
you would have thought that opposing police brutality
was the same thing as killing police.
But then, when their people stormed the Capitol
and police at the Capitol were beaten and actually killed--
two officers were actually killed--
all of a sudden, Fox News is saying this.
These are not conspiracy theorists
motivated just by lies.
Uh, that's a bunch of nonsense that people want to tell us.
These are people that understand first principles.
They love freedom and they love free markets,
and they see exactly what the anti-American left
has done to America.
So many of them are just patriotic,
well-loving Americans who are frustrated
that their institutions of government,
of media, uh, have let them down.
A lot of these people are not dispossessed.
They're not some, you know, creepy, androgynous blogger
who shows up to burn things down.
They're, like, kind of solid Americans.
Ah, I get it now.
These people weren't creepy bloggers.
They were solid, law-abiding Americans.
And nobody is allowed to kill cops
except for the people who respect cops.
They can do whatever they want.
Also, where the hell did "They love free markets" come from?
Free markets?
I wasn't picking that up when people were smashing windows
and breaking the Capitol down.
Like, free markets?
Free markets are not something that drives a riot.
No one's ever slapped someone over a free market before,
much less murdered a police officer.
Look, man, the point is,
you guys clearly don't care about cops.
You only care about the idea of using cops
to keep Black people in their place,
so please miss me with that bullshit.
Also, Lindsey Graham.
Whether you're a liberal or conservative,
everyone should agree that this asshole,
this Cracker Barrel mascot is a weasel,
the worst weasel of any kind,
because after the Capitol was stormed--
after the Capitol was stormed--
and it looked like Trump was done,
he gave a big speech about how he was done supporting Trump
because Trump "took it too far.
"He just took things too far.
Oh, no."
But then, the next week,
he was suddenly flying on Air Force One again
because he realized Trump wasn't out,
and then he started blaming the attack on the Democrats.
NEWSWOMAN: Senator Lindsey Graham
placing blame for the Capitol Hill riot
on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Watch this.
GRAHAM: What happened on January the 6th
was one of the low points in my time in office.
It was horrendous to see people come and take over the Capitol,
the House and the Senate, beat officers,
defile the seat of government.
How in the hell could that happen?
Where was Nancy Pelosi?
It's her job to provide Capitol security.
"Yeah, Nancy, why weren't you in your office
"when people were coming to kidnap or kill you?
"What were you hiding, yourself?
Aha! We got you, Nancy, we got you."
What did Lindsey Graham expect Nancy Pelosi to do, huh?
Set up booby traps in the Capitol
like an old-age Home Alone?
Please, please miss me with this bullshit.
And this also goes out to all those Republicans
who spent four years backing a president
who called his opponents
"un-American" and "enemies of the people,"
but now, now that he's getting impeached
and might be held accountable,
oh, all of a sudden it's time to move on.
Today is a moment for members of Congress
to put aside partisan politicking
and place people over power.
We should be focused on bringing the nation together.
We must be bigger and better than the most base of instincts
that have been driving our political discourse.
It is destroying us.
Let's link arms with one another and begin to heal.
Does not matter
if you are liberal, moderate or conservative.
All of us must resist the temptation
of further polarization.
As history shows, unity is not an option,
it's a necessity.
Okay, I don't know what crazy-ass world
you people grew up in,
but how are you going to start a fight
and then tell everyone else to calm down?
Can you imagine if a terrorist tried to hijack a plane,
and then after the marshal tackled him, he says,
"Okay, okay, I think everyone needs to calm down!
"Let's just come together and watch the rest of Croods.
"All right? Let's just do this together.
"I'm gonna have the chicken, thank you.
Shh! The movie."
All these people who tried to overthrow the government,
yo, they can miss me with that bullshit.
And it's not just Fox, it's not just Republicans.
Social media companies, for years
people have been warning you about the violence
and conspiracy that you've been amplifying
and allowing to spread on your platforms,
and for years you've said you can't do anything about it,
but now that the Capitol has been ransacked,
now, all of a sudden, it turns out you can.
"Now that the violence has happened,
"we're gonna do everything we can
to stop the violence from happening."
I mean, I don't know if I'm the only one,
but I think it's really funny how social media companies said
that they don't have a magic button to stop hate online,
but then, when Trump lost, suddenly they were like,
"Oh, we do have that button.
Here it is."
So, what, now these companies want a cookie
for doing the right thing too late?
Miss me with that bullshit.
I will say, though, it was funny that random apps
that had nothing to do with Trump
also decided to pile on the Trump ban,
like when Spotify and Pinterest banned Donald Trump.
What was that for?
What, did Spotify think
that Trump was going to release a mixtape?
What's the Pinterest ban for?
Is Trump going to put up border wall images on his page?
Although... it would be funny if Spotify was actually the thing
that broke Donald Trump's heart.
Like, if he was just sitting there, like,
I don't care that they blocked my Twitter
or my Instagram or Facebook.
I've still got my Spotify... (yells)
(sobbing yell)
Look, man, here's the thing:
by this time tomorrow, Donald Trump will be out of power,
and I just hope, I hope that he slowly fades away,
like one of his tans.
And I know that he'll never fully be gone, all right.
He's basically the COVID of politics.
America's going to be experiencing side effects
long after he's out of the system.
And, unfortunately,
we're probably going to see mutated strains as well.
But I do hope that with him at least not being president,
we can all get back to being a bit more honest with each other,
and more nuanced in how we talk about what divides us.
That's my wish for the next year.
Because I don't know what 2021 is going to bring,
but if it involves any bullshit,
I kindly request that I be missed.
All right, when we come back,
we'll take a look at all the amazing thing
Jared and Ivanka accomplished in office.
And Carey Mulligan is still joining us on the show.
Don't go away.
? ?
(heart beating)
I'm here in D.C.
It's an exciting day.
Almost half the adults in our country
are asking for a do-over.
USA! USA!
USA!
(bleep) antifa! (bleep) antifa!
(bleep) antifa!
-(crowd shouting) -Oh, shit.
I suppose if you brought all of these flags
and all of these garments,
you've got to do something like this.
I mean, they've been prepping for this
at least sartorially for years.
Uh, tell me about your... wh-what's on your back?
-Uh, "Q" flag. -"Q" flag.
QAnon.
I'm one of those crazy people.
You're one of those cr...
"Q"... "Q" is somebody who just helped wake us up.
Yeah. Yeah.
It makes you ask questions. It makes all of us ask questions.
It's like, why would people believe in this
conspiracy that a 12-year-old in a basement
put it on the Internet and now it's affecting our country.
Joseph Biden, and "Kamula,"
your buddy, "Kamula" Harris,
are not legitimate.
You know what I think this is?
This is a gang rape of our nation.
We are watching our country be gang raped.
Like, look into your (bleep) heart, okay?
It's not a joke.
-Look, you make a good point, -Yes, I do.
-but you are wearing... -I'm pissed off right now.
you're wearing a one... a onesie that is a flag, so...
-it does... -'Cause I (bleep) like...
I, 'cause I'm... I'm about what I (bleep) represent here.
Yeah, how'd you get your bike in?
Right over here.
What kind of bike best works
for a futile attempt to thwart democracy?
So, like a crosstrack situation?
Uh, that's-that's just a weird question.
I-I don't...
The revolution will not be televised.
They will also not be providing chairs.
So bring your own.
Great. Thanks.
Planning ahead.
People are mad about it,
and they came here to make a statement.
-I want a redo. -You want a redo?
I want a redo...
The good news is the Constitution
has set aside a way to do a redo,
and that's, we'll just come back and do it again in four years.
USA! USA! USA!
Welcome back to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
The four years of the Trump administration
has been one blooper montage of scandals.
We've had everything from kids in cages
to a Sharpie on a hurricane map.
And in the very last week,
the administration, believe it or not,
has managed to squeeze in
what might be the funniest scandal yet.
Ivanka Trump and husband, Jared Kushner,
reportedly instructed their Secret Service detail
not to use any of the bathrooms in their Washington home.
NEWSWOMAN: The Washington Post says since 2017,
taxpayers have been footing the bill
to rent a nearby studio apartment for $3,000 a month
so agents could have access to a toilet.
Okay, now, before you judge these two,
keep in mind that Ivanka and Jared
probably have really weird bathrooms.
I mean, look at them.
They don't even look like they use toilets.
You know, when... when Jared has to go,
Ivanka probably just squeezes him
like an old tube of toothpaste.
Or maybe the reason they did this
is not because they're snooty and snobbish,
maybe they did it because they want to protect
the Secret Service.
Do you ever think about that?
Huh? Like, maybe... maybe Ivanka takes mega-dumps.
You know what I'm talking about.
You know those dumps where you walk into the bathroom,
and it's like a wall of smell pushes you back out?
(groaning)
Yeah, maybe Ivanka and Jared were like,
"Look, you Secret Service agents
"might need to take a bullet for us one day.
"There's no need to take one every day.
Just use the apartment."
But say what you want about Jared and Ivanka.
The two of them have been loyal to their big papa to the end,
which is why they deserve a farewell tribute
for their four years of...
Whatever it is that they did.
LYDIC: Who has been the most valuable member
of the Trump team?
Sean Hannity?
The MyPillow guy?
Melania's noise-cancelling headphones?
Actually, that's a trick question.
The most important person in the Trump administration
isn't one person.
It's a couple.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner.
Jared and Ivanka,
or Jarvanka,
might have been Washington outsiders
when Trump won the election,
but they've had a world of experience
serving everyday Americans.
Ivanka sold them handbags
and Jared evicted them.
Trump knew that Jarvanka was the couple for the job,
any job.
Ivanka became adviser to the president,
an important role in which she was tasked with...
advising the president?
Jared, meanwhile, had a bit more on his plate.
NEWSMAN: Middle East peace,
criminal justice reform, the opioid crisis,
reforming care for veterans,
lead adviser on relations with China, Mexico,
Canada, Middle East, infrastructure trade deals,
broadband policy and border wall construction.
LYDIC: That's right.
Jared Kushner was like a Swiss Army knife...
if all the tools were nail clippers.
Though Jarvanka didn't get off
to the smoothest start in the world,
Ivanka tried to use her new position to hawk jewelry,
while Jared had to redo his financial disclosure forms
more than 40 times.
The president even had to bend the rules
to get Jared and Ivanka their security clearances.
Just because the corrupt, deep-state FBI Were jealous
of all the cool foreign business contacts
Jared's had over the years.
But despite the odds stacked against them,
Jared and Ivanka took Washington by storm.
Did they have relevant experience? No.
Were they qualified for their positions?
No.
But what did they accomplish?
Yes.
They hit the ground running.
Jared got busy solving America's
criminal-just-opioid
Middle Eastern, China-Mex-Canada wall.
And Ivanka... toured factories,
visited spaceships and even performed science stuff.
It's like that old saying-- "Pics and it didn't happen."
But it was on foreign affairs that Jarvanka really scored.
Jared jetted off to Iraq to model the latest
from the Brooks Brothers Forever War collection.
He heroically preserved U.S.-Saudi Arabia relations
after they had a little oopsy with an American journalist.
And he turned out to be the perfect person
to solve the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
NEWSMAN: I want to read you what he said.
"I've been studying this now for three years.
I've read 25 books on it."
LYDIC: That's right, 25 books.
Kushner had acquired a Goosebump series worth of knowledge,
and he was ready to put it to use.
Meanwhile, Ivanka.
She sat in her dad's chair at a G20 summit.
So that's fun.
Jarvanka did such a good job, that in 2020,
President Trump gave Jared his most important job yet:
overseeing the government's response
to the coronavirus pandemic.
And Jared was ready to claim victory almost immediately.
I think you'll see by June,
a lot of country should be back to normal,
and the hope is, is that by July,
uh, the country's really rocking again.
? ?
LYDIC: But there was one issue where Jarvanka really shined,
and that issue... was themselves.
NEWSWOMAN: Hey, brand-new questions today
about Jared Kushner's real estate dealings.
Last summer, his property at 666 Fifth Avenue--
it got a much-needed infusion of cash,
but where did it come from?
China, on April 6, approved Ivanka Trump's
patenting for all of her brands to be sold in China,
the very day that she was having dinner,
wining and dining with the Chinese president
at Mar-a-Lago.
NEWSWOMAN: Ivanka, particularly is making
millions and millions of dollars while she's in office,
but Jared continues to oversee his real estate entities.
So they are profiting, they're leveraging
the presidency so that they can get richer and richer.
LYDIC: And to think people say
they have nothing to show for the last four years.
Jared and Ivanka did more for Jared and Ivanka
than any Jared and Ivanka in history.
And when the haters tried to blame Ivanka
for whitewashing her dad's more controversial policies,
she had the perfect reply.
-If being complicit... -(typewriter bell dings)
is... wanting to...
is wanting to be a force for good
and to make a positive impact,
then I'm complicit.
LYDIC: You see, to Ivanka,
definitions of words are like tax laws.
They're just suggestions.
Where Jarvanka end up after the White House is anyone's guess.
Will they settle into a beachside resort in Florida,
the family villa in New Jersey or perhaps
an island retreat off the coast of Manhattan?
Wherever they go, they will be taking with them four years
of being in the White House
and saying things and going places and...
other governmenty things.
Jared and Ivanka, we thank you for your service.
Whatever it was.
Truly inspiring.
All right, when we come back, I'll be talking
to Carey Mulligan about her new movie,
which has everyone talking.
Stick around.
Welcome back to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
Earlier today, I spoke
with Academy Award-nominated actor Carey Mulligan.
We talked about her new film about female power and revenge,
that she executive produces and stars in.
Check it out.
Why are you working here?
Or...
I didn't mean...
That was rude. I didn't...
You didn't mean, what am I doing working
in a shitty coffee shop?
Yeah. No, I just meant, you know, given...
-There's no getting out of this, is there? -Nuh-uh.
I'm gonna leave. Can I leave and then come back?
And I can do it... I can do it again and be better.
-Do you want milk? -Pardon?
In your coffee.
No, but, uh, you can spit in it if you want.
I-I deserve that.
Carey Mulligan, welcome to The Daily Social Distancing Show.
(laughs) Hi. How you doing?
I'm doing as good as can be expected
considering everything that's happening in the world.
The question is, how are you doing?
'Cause you're in the U.K. right now,
and you have the new variant of corona out there
that's just shutting everything down.
So how are you doing, and how is everybody around you?
Yeah, it's, um, you know, I think we all anticipated it...
something getting worse for a little bit
before it got better, but it's obviously,
we're in lockdown, so we're all home-schooling,
and it feels like we, you know,
the beginning of March last year.
So, uh, but no, we're very lucky.
We live in the country, so we've got space.
I feel like, in the hierarchy of things,
people have said, you know, essential workers,
it's the people helping to keep everybody alive.
It's the people who are providing food
and keeping grocery stores open,
and just the teachers who are still out there,
trying to educate kids through some of the toughest times
we've ever experienced.
After all of that, my top thing is
anyone who comes out with a good movie during the pandemic.
-Yeah. -I'm so excited
when a new movie comes out that's actually amazing,
and that is what you have given us with Promising Young Woman.
I will say, though, I was shocked
at how dark and yet funny it is.
And am I allowed to even feel that?
Oh, yeah. I mean, you know, it was very much kind of written
as a dark, very dark comedy.
I mean, it's full of comedians, the whole cast is...
pretty much everyone, apart from Connie Britton and I,
are kind of people who are very comfortable in comedy.
So, uh, it was definitely, yeah...
And that's also part of what I think the shame is--
you know, and it's such a small thing by comparison
to world events-- but the loss of having that experience,
you know, for a lot of people in the cinema,
of being around other people, it sort of,
in these very dark comedies,
I think it's an audience around you
that gives you permission to laugh
in moments where you're not sure if you can laugh,
and that's kind of part of the tension and release
-of a film like that. -As a comdeian--
I think most comedians will agree with me in saying that--
if you say "comedy and sexual assualt,"
everyone pauses-- we go like, "I-I don't know.
"I'm gonna... I'll talk about escalators first,
and I'll try and get to that."
What made you think that you could be part of making a film
that used comedy as a tool to discuss one of the issues
that has, I mean-- from the #MeToo movement,
and even before that--
been one of the most important conversations
to have in society?
Well, it was really the strength of the writing,
and meeting Emerald Fennell, who was our director.
You know, the hardest things in life,
we often can only get through by using humor.
You know, some moments of your life that are completely tragic
are marked by moments of, you know,
kind of comedy and hysterical giggling.
You know, the kind of...
part of me that wants to laugh at a funeral,
'cause you just don't know how to cope with your...
-Right, yeah. -It feels very much like life,
and I think the main thing with this story is
that it's not a fantasy-- it's based on experiences
that so many of us know people who have been through them,
and trying to be honest about that,
but also recognizing that there are,
that if you want to talk about this kind of stuff,
and you want people to think about this kind of stuff,
you know, there are ways of doing it
that entice an audience.
You know, this is a film that I think you want to see,
as opposed to one that feel like you should see.
You play a character who, um, whose friend is the victim
of-- childhood friend, really-- is the victim of sexual assualt.
And it... it leads us into a story
of revenge and justice, really.
Do you think there's a sense of catharsis
that was intended in writing the script?
Is it... is it meant in some ways to be
the movie for people who say, like, "You know what?
"I've experienced this, I've got a friend who's experienced this,
"and this, this helps me feel a different way about it,
or see my feelings from a different point of view"?
I mean, definitely, from talking to people,
um, they've, you know, there's been a sense of catharsis.
I think, also, just, like, you know, for me,
(laughs): smashing up a car, which you see.
Uh, it's pretty fun.
And it, um, definitely helps.
But I think, no, I mean...
if that's people's experience, I think that's, you know,
that's great, but I think the conversation
I think that Emerald was sort of hoping to create
would be something that went further
into the cultural conversation.
And, you know, these situations that happen in our film
have happened in so many comedies,
bro comedies, you know, films where a guy will try
and lose his virginity in a nightclub
-Right. -at any expense,
or, you know, try and identify the most drunk girl, or...
You know, so these are things that we've watched
and we've kind of laughed at, and they've been so normalized
in our culture for so long.
Um, so it's not so much as sort of--
of course it touches on that stuff--
but it's not so much pointing blame,
or sort of assigning people villainous roles--
it's more: how have we all been complicit in this?
It does give people an opportunity
to sort of experience this stuff through a different lens,
'cause we're so used to seeing this kind of stuff
told from the perspective of the boy or the man,
-or, you know, and... -Right.
get through, you know, the perspective
of the very drunk girl in the corner,
except in this situation she's actually stone-cold sober.
You know, we-we... we've been taught to believe
that somebody who has classically unattractve features
is going to be the bad guy, or it's someone who looks menacing,
acts menacing, and in this movie, what was really fantastic
is seeing "nice guys," "good guys," being the "bad guys."
Seeing the "good guys" doing the bad things.
That was a really interesting choice,
not just in the characters but in the casting as well.
Because, I mean, you're seeing Bo Burnham in this movie,
and you're like, "I love Bo Burnham!"
And then I watch the movie, and I was like,
"I don't know if I like Bo Burnham."
-(laughs) Yeah. -That's a really...
it's a really interesting way to tell a story,
and it seems like it's a... it's a core tenet
of what the story is about.
Why do you think that was so important?
Yeah, well, it was all very intentional.
I think, you know, Emerald wanted people
that we feel comfortable with
and that we have a sort of sense of nostalgia about,
because, you know, I think if you see somebody
who looks sort of inherently villainous,
and you associate them with playing the baddie
in a bunch of films, like, you immediately distrust him.
I think the point about this was that you would enter
into one of these situations and feel comfortable momentarily
with this person, and you'd feel safe.
And it goes to the casting of Connie Britton as the dean.
This is someone that you know, Connie's like,
everyone's favorite person and you would go to her
if you were in a crisis and... so I think, you know,
subverting our expectations around that stuff,
was really important.
And also the way that Emerald directed was so brilliant,
because she told each of the men-- Adam Brody
and Sam Richardson and...
uh, at the beginning of the scene, you know, this is,
"this is a romantic comedy and you're the lead.
"You know, you've just met the love of your life.
-Wow. -That's how you play the scene."
So they were all entering into it with this sort of amazing,
earnest, committed, kind of, I'm the hero here
and I'm gonna save this girl, you know?
So the approach, I think it highlights
what it feels like when this is not happening
to someone that you, that you don't like
or don't know, this is what it feels like,
you know, what if-- it's a very different situation
if someone you know gets accused of something like this.
So casting these very, kind of photogenic, sweet, lovely
people that are genuinely lovely in real life,
I think puts a different twist on that.
I will say it's, uh, it is dark,
it is thrilling and it is funny in moments
where you-you genuinely do not expect it to be.
Uh, but most importantly, it's, uh,
easily the best film of the year.
I know the year just began, but it's, uh, still gonna be
one of the best films of the year-- thank you so much
for joining us on the show and, uh, congratulations once again.
Thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
Don't forget, Promising Young Woman is in theaters
and available On Demand.
We're gonna take a quick break right now.
But we'll be right back after this.
Well, that's our show for tonight, but before we go,
COVID-19 has killed more than two million people worldwide
and today, the United States passed 400,000 deaths
from this virus.
The pandemic is as bad as it has ever been.
But luckily our first responders are still out there
on the frontlines saving lives.
Now if you can help them out, then please consider a donation
to First Responders First, which offers first-class medical
and psychological treatment for the first responders.
Find out how you can help at the link below.
Until tomorrow, stay safe out there,
wear a mask and remember,
blue lives more than black lives matter,
but when white lives come along,
well, then those blue lives don't mean shit.
Now here it is, Your Moment of Zen.
So I can just say bye-bye, I'm going to Florida.
Bye-bye! Bye-bye!
Bye-bye, enjoy yourself.
Bye-bye! Bye-Bye! Bye-bye, folks. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.
Mommy, Mommy, take me home, I'm out of here.
Get me the hell out of here, Mom...
Forget about the American people!
Mommy, I want out of here right now.