Hunter Biden's Illegal Gun in the Garbage Near a School, Stranger Things Season 4 Killing the Movie Theater? Marijuana and School Shootings (The Five for 06/10/22)
Hey, welcome to The Five.
This is the very rare week where I missed a publication deadline…so this issue is “half news” (stories 1 & 2) and “half culture & commentary (stories 3-5).
Happy Friday.
Let’s dive in.
[one]
Against the backdrop of the Biden Administration’s push for new gun control, the Hunter Biden pistol story has resurfaced.
On Oct. 23, 2018, President Joe Biden’s son Hunter and daughter in law Hallie were involved in a bizarre incident in which Hallie took Hunter’s gun and threw it in a trash can behind a grocery store, only to return later to find it gone.
Delaware police began investigating, concerned that the trash can was across from a high school and that the missing gun could be used in a crime, according to law enforcement officials and a copy of the police report obtained by POLITICO.
But a curious thing happened at the time: Secret Service agents approached the owner of the store where Hunter bought the gun and asked to take the paperwork involving the sale, according to two people, one of whom has firsthand knowledge of the episode and the other was briefed by a Secret Service agent after the fact.
The gun store owner refused to supply the paperwork, suspecting that the Secret Service officers wanted to hide Hunter’s ownership of the missing gun in case it were to be involved in a crime, the two people said. The owner, Ron Palmieri, later turned over the papers to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, which oversees federal gun laws.
In addition to this fiasco, Hunter Biden had illegally obtained the gun, filling out an application during a period of full blown drug addiction. Lying on a gun application is a felony, although it’s rarely prosecuted.
[two]
There is some early evidence of a connection between mass shootings and Cannabis use.
The Daily Wire reports:
An article published in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health by Norman Miller — who Ingraham interviewed on her show — and two other authors discussed 14 violent incidents in which marijuana use appeared to be a common thread. Beyond marijuana inducing “paranoia” and “psychosis,” the authors said that “when individuals suffering from pre-existing medical conditions use marijuana in an attempt to alleviate their symptoms, ultimately this worsens their conditions over time.”
According to the article, the shooter who killed 17 students and staff in 2018 at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, started “consuming marijuana heavily” from a young age — a habit he confessed in an interview after the shooting.
Likewise, toxicology tests on the 2017 shooter who killed 27 people and injured 20 others at a church service in Sutherland Springs, Texas, “detected marijuana and anti-anxiety drugs” in his system. He began consuming the substance frequently after his expulsion from high school and had a prior arrest for possession of marijuana.
This is noteworthy…with an asterisk.
One one hand, marijuana use is very popular, and there is a clear correlation here.
On the other, correlation is not causation. Like the “violent video games cause mass shootings argument,” it could well be that many (most?) young men partake in both video games and weed, so when one shoots up a public place, those two elements are found in the bios of mass murderers…just as consuming fast food and driving recklessly would probably show up too, without necessarily showing causation.
Still, there is some evidence that marijuana can set off schizophrenia in an extreme minority of teenage users…so the topic of weed+school shootings likely demands more study.
[three]
Despite the fact that Top Gun: Maverick brought audiences back to the local multiplex (including older viewers, who had been largely absent for two years), movie theaters may still be facing a significant hurdle to staying open…not enough movies releasing to theaters.
Coming up are other surefire hits like "Jurassic World: Dominion" and potential breakthroughs like "Elvis." Shawn Robbins, the chief analyst at Box Office Pro, is currently projecting the "Jurassic World" sequel could bring in as much as $210 million during its US opening weekend, and Elvis could nab as much as $55 million — both would be solid debuts.
But a closer look at the release schedule, and the overall entertainment business, reveals major hurdles that the theatrical industry will face, even as it charts a recovery.
Most notably, fewer films are being released to theaters than before the pandemic. Through the weekend of May 20, 28 movies had been released in 2,000 or more theaters, according to Comscore. That's a 33% drop from the same period in 2019, when 42 movies had been given a wide release.
The box office was also down by 41% during the same time period, compared to 2019.
At the time of Comscore's analysis, 63 more movies were set for a wide release by the end of this year, which would bring the total for the year to 91. In a pre-pandemic year, the major Hollywood studios alone would release around 120 films to theaters.
There’s also some speculation that massive streaming hits like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Stranger Things season 4 are threats to the box office in the way that early streaming shows weren’t, due to the massive budgets and hype for both respective releases.
[four]
Ugh. Apparently Gen Z thinks having a job is a “mental health issue.”
On TikTok, they're calling out capitalism for the role it's taking on their mental health.
"I live in a society where my productivity matters more than my well-being, and so I'm just depressed and anxious all the time," says a user who goes by Rama in a video. "I'm smiling, but I'm deeply wounded. I work three jobs, and I still feel like I'm not doing enough."
On Reddit, they're bolstering the "antiwork" movement, which embraces a work-free lifestyle. As Insider's Juliana Kaplan reported, the movement looks to similar youth-led movements against work in other countries, especially China, where young people are "lying flat" by decentering a drive to constantly be more productive and competitive at work, and instead find happiness in their own lives and relaxation.
The antiworkers are opting out of working altogether. Kade, a Gen Z worker in Kansas, quit his job as a service worker after his boss posted a sign telling workers they couldn't use their phones during shifts — and, if they were caught with their phones, management could confiscate them.
"I think it felt like I could be like a bigger part of a movement," Kade told Kaplan. "I didn't want to put up with this stuff."
uhhh wut?
Observations:
A. Your “well-being” is not your employers job. Neither is finding your purpose in life. To quote Bill Gates (back when he was cool and not a wanna be dictator/probable rapist):
The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself
B. It is correct that you cannot use your phone during your shift in a restaurant.
C. As a society, we really, really screwed up here. These are not adults, whatever the age on their drivers license.
D. Here’s what we do about it…don’t put up with it. Simple as that. According to the article, Millennial managers are afraid of pushing back on their Gen-Z employees.
It’s not helping Gen-Z at all to let them think the world will forever bend to their utopian fantasies. What’s seen as short-term harshness by managers who do not put up with this crap…may just be long-term kindness.
[five]
Jurassic World: Dominion hits theaters this weekend, to poor box office reviews. However, Screenrant may have said the quiet part out loud by claiming there will be a “backlash” against Pratt over his Christian faith regarding both JW:D and his upcoming show The Terminal List for Amazon Prime (my most anticipated entertainment release of the summer).
In other words, maybe ignore the Rotten Tomatoes score on this one.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, the world’s highest paid movie star, finally jumps over to the superhero world with Black Adam, out this November.
I didn’t know if I’d care or not…based on the first trailer, I do.
Adam Sandler has made some of the best (Reign Over Me, Big Daddy, Happy Gilmore) and worst (the rest of them) movies I’ve ever seen.
But the comedian tends to find surprising success in dramatic roles. Like the acclaimed Uncut Gems, Sandler once again steps into a sports drama with a lot of buzz. Hustle, the story of an NBA scout and basketball prospect from Spain dreaming of American stardom…probably hits the predictable beats of the sports sub-genre…but it looks like it does it well.
MUSIC NEWS: Two decades after the release of Canadian pop-punker Avril Lavigne’s debut, Let Go, the album is being hailed as a modern classic, influencing some of the most prominent Gen Z artists.
From The Atlantic:
Let Go still lingers, even when Lavigne isn’t the one performing the album’s hits. Gen Z stars such as Olivia Rodrigo, Billie Eilish, and Willow Smith have cited Lavigne as an influence on their pop-punk sound. Rodrigo has even incorporated “Complicated” into her tour, covering the song as part of her set. I caught her show recently, sort of, when she performed in Los Angeles. Perched in Griffith Park above the Greek Theatre, I could hear her crowd, their voices singing along to every lyric so loudly that they often drowned Rodrigo out. When she began “Complicated,” the audience quieted down, as if they didn’t know the words; many of them were probably born after “Complicated” dominated the charts, I realized. I felt a pang as Rodrigo continued to bounce across the stage, singing a song that, at more than four minutes, was longer than most of her tracks. But then, as Rodrigo continued, her fans started to chime in, picking up the lyrics as easily as if they’d been listening to Lavigne all along.
I enjoyed the singles off of Let Go and I do remember Avril being respected in my college circle of friends in 2002, who largely prided themselves on liking “cool” music, Lavigne, a largely high school-focused artist (in both lyrics and fanbase), certainly wasn’t cool.
Giving the the album a listen for the first time…I’m impressed.
NEW MUSIC
Battle-worn Americana outfit American Aquarium, who have stayed at the top of the sub-genre heap over the last decade with constant touring and new release output are back…if you like “real” country music, this ones worth a spin.
Chicago punk legends Rise Against put out an EP of leftovers from their 2021 full length Nowhere Generation, following the “if it aint broke, don’t fix it” philosophy of songwriting…like American Aquarium, not a lot of sound evolution here, just excellent songwriting.
Carrie Underwood is back, which is a good thing.
Buzzy soul/blues/alt-rock British newcomer George Ezra released a very solid summer “windows down” record. You may not have heard the name, but this one is worth at least a skim through…Ezra has a heck of an ear and instinct for an unforgettable hook.
”We go together, Adam and Eve. But the girl is so much more than just another apple thief.” Apparently the Brit can also craft an clever lyric…
Until the next one,
-sth