DMF Episode 228 Film Director Paul Todisco Part 8 "I Desire a World Where Critical Thinking Reigns Supreme"

Welcome to the DMF. Where I try to find out what motivates people behind the scenes in the world of acting and entertainment. Today on the podcast I am talking to Paul Todisco. He is a director and we are talking how to view films and unique antagonists." As always you can reach me on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook with my name Justin Younts. Thank you for listening and sit back and enjoy. Welcome to DMF. I'm Justin Younts. This is part 8. Brilliance of like the Sopranos. This person is like probably one of the worst people ever. But we empathize with him because we've seen his story. Yes. His mother. Everything. Yes. Yes. You know, this is somebody who wouldn't think twice killing somebody if it means it saves his hide. But you would probably still have a conversation, you know, you'd be able to have a conversation. I feel like, though, our society can't see past the pleasantries of somebody and they just go, oh, well, he seems like a they seem like a nice person. They must be here. Take my money here. I'll vote for you. I feel like I feel like the dumbing down of society in some ways. And I tell you, this is the destruction of meaning. And if you destroy meaning what anything means, if this doesn't mean any more than this, then everybody's at this this level and you can just say whatever you want. This who cares? It doesn't matter. Meaning more than like it. Give me an example like an example of, you know. I mean, just look at our political system today. Sure. That's that's what I was thinking. Like, yes, we are. We are. Everybody just thinks, well, so and so said this. They can't tell the difference between one thing that that weighs more and one thing that doesn't weigh. Right. Some things are far more significant and has to be treated with greater weight than something else, a minor thing. And not only that, I think our people's perceptions have been more and more closed off. Well, they're not reading. They're not. They can't read. They're not seeing films and they can't read people as well because they can't read into things. And we have the capability of we have perceptions that none of us even tap into. I mean, it goes and it's infinite. I think it's absolutely infinite, but it's sad. Yes. And that's dangerous because you can be manipulated unless very easily, unless you can sense that, oh, there's something inauthentic here. There's something agenda driven here. There's something going to let your subtle senses out there. And and then when you talk to people, you kind of feel like a minority. They don't understand. They don't see it. They don't see what you see. Yeah, they're completely closed off or even they're not even capable of seeing the possibility of it. Right. It's it's my it's my biggest fear with, you know, I talk to conspiracy theorists. They're like, everything's a conspiracy, this and that. But it's like it's all very circumstantial. And in some ways they want it to be true. You know, otherwise, why are you spending time with the desire for that? The desire for it to be true is overtaking their better perceptive judgment. And I think that's a dangerous place to be in because now we're going on. Well, this is how I feel. Well, you know, there are people that feel the earth is flat. But, you know, and if you give them science and you tell them, well, this is why this is that. Well, how do you know the science isn't corrupted? Right. Yeah. Like, what do you do? How do you engage? There is like conspiracies don't really work like. Like 95 percent of every single person in this in the on earth, whatever is in on it. That's not how they work. It's just that's just not true. It's always everything's a small minority. A real conspiracy is usually it's going to be a small minority of some people that are really trying to do something bad. But if it's like it's like every single scientist on earth is in on it. It's like they just don't work that way. It's just not true. There's not that many dishonest, evil, corrupted, horrific people. Most people are just trying to do their jobs, do them well. And if they say something, it's based on real data. You know, if it's if it's an overwhelming percentage of people that are saying this is this is like, you know, the people that want kind of want, you know, a civil war in some ways. And it's just like they're they're seeing they want this. Yeah, they want this bloodshed, you know, complete, you know, rebirth moment. And they don't care how it comes as long as it comes in their lifetime. And they're just right. They're not looking at facts. They're not looking at they're just looking at how they feel based off of something. And I feel there's a danger because I think the media is more in tune to how to manipulate with that. Oh, yeah. How to get those people and manipulate them because they have their attuned to danger. And maybe they're afraid. There's a lot of fear here. This fear comes from fear, fear of change, fear of something different, fear of something that's dangerous.Yeah, the media can definitely manipulate those people pretty easily. And like you said, there's also a desire for something big to happen so that life isn't so monotonous. Kind of like when I was a little boy in Syracuse, I'm like, where's the alien that's going to come down? Or where's the ghost going to appear? But that desire in an adult, in a rational adult, can be so strong that they are clouded to the truth. That's right. I think since they're not reading, since they're not learning, is it now stunted growth in the mind? Where like, because now they're consumed with this? I think it's a combination. I think you need the background of learning, for sure. The more you read and expose yourself to things, it's not negative, the better off you're going to be. But you have to support that with listening from the heart. From the subtle senses. You have to understand that feelings and mixed with knowledge is the key to enlightenment, right? I mean, it's not just one, it's not just the other. You have to both have to be in concert. Mind and spirit, right? Yeah. Yeah. I don't know. That's the thing that kind of worries me about kind of where we're going. It's just like, I don't know. The only thing I see is meditation can maybe mitigate some of these results. I agree. That's the thing that really, really works. But unfortunately, I think it's for a lot of people, depending on whatever their brain chemistry is, too, which they may have been born with. It's so challenging that they may never, ever get all the benefits from it. You know, they give up too early or it's going to take them a little longer. I don't know. I think we're in too desperate a situation as a world at this point. Everyone should meditate, for sure. But to expect that that's going to be the only thing that will save us because I don't think it's, I think we're too late in the game. We can't just hope that a lot of people are just never going to do it. Also, most people. Well, that's the question I would raise is, can you teach someone to critically think? Or is that something that is innate in you? Yeah, it can be taught. It can be. If you open the right space for them at a young enough age, starting like at five, you know, five, six, seven, eight, that education is the kind of education that also leaves them open to be themselves, express themselves, find their own. And the question, you know, in simple ways, you can encourage a five-year-old to question. In more complex ways, you can encourage a 13-year-old to question. So I think the old modes of the educational system were, which was all just the way I went through, which was all just discipline. It's just like, get in your seat, be quiet, go through, you know, you got to hit, don't be on time, and then leave. And it's not, it's not about critical thinking. But I think there's a lot of interesting schools now that yeah, this started. Do you think you can teach an adult to critically think if they have never critically think? I'm sure it's a case by case basis, right? It depends on the person, they have to be open and receptive. I think it comes around to everyone at some point in their lives where they're hit with a little bit more of like, wow, maybe things are not in all the way I thought they were in my limited way. But you can choose to ignore that if it's too frightening some people, and just let it slip by. But I think, I think it's there for everyone. People choose not to be, you know, we were talking about that raw experience in a movie theater. And people don't want that because it's a little too scary. Yes, yes. It's too uncomfortable. It's not a space that they're, it's not their comfort zone. I love that. Oh my God, take me out of my comfort zone, please. That's what I want a movie to do. Give me give me give me some. Yeah. Please like, share and subscribe. Thank you for watching. 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:00:06 - Society's Perception and Empathy 00:00:51 - Destruction of Meaning 00:01:14 - Political System and Perception 00:02:27 - Media Manipulation and Fear 00:02:33 - Conspiracy Theories and Perception 00:05:26 - Learning, Enlightenment, and Meditation 00:07:19 - Critical Thinking and Education 00:09:14 - Conclusion