Recently, there&#8217;s been deep concern expressed by some Christian commentators about my new film, &#8220;Am I Racist.&#8221; Thee pundits are troubled by the film because, they say, we used deceptive tactics to capture the footage. This is profoundly problematic, they say. They are disturbed. A Christian has made a movie that is interesting and funny and effective and that appeals to a wide audience — and this of course is a cause for great alarm among the sorts of Christians who want to make sure that we never do anything interesting, funny, or effective, especially if it appeals to a wide audience. No, what they want, always, are things that are lame, boring, redundant and insular.
I’ve already addressed the arguments these people have made. I don’t need to address it again. And yet here we are. I happened to see a clip posted to Twitter by the account Woke Preacher Clips. This is a conversation on a podcast called &#8220;Holy Post,&#8221; hosted by Phil Vischer, best known as one of the creators of &#8220;Veggie Tales.&#8221; Vischer has gone woke in recent years — or maybe always was, I don’t know. But it’s no great surprise that he is apparently not a fan of mine. He’s joined on this episode by Pastor Mike Erre and Skye Jethani, who is now a Christian speaker and was once, I believe, also a pastor. These three brilliant minds came together to talk about the film — a film that, as far as I can tell, none of them have seen. Listen:
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I’m going to let them continue but I do want to interject here to say, yes, actually, we do need more of that in the Christian world — comedy, satire, using the Left’s own methods against them. That is, without question, something we need more of. But these three men disagree. Let’s get to their argument, even though they didn’t see the movie and haven’t the slightest damned clue what they’re even talking about. Still, here it is:
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I want to interject one more time, briefly, before we hear them make their compelling case against the movie they didn’t watch. I just want you to notice the tone. You see the guy on bottom left with his head in his hands, rolling his eyes. Pastor Erre is flippant and dismissive. So is Phil Vischer. The whole thing is so beneath them, so silly. It’s absurd that they are even lowering themselves to discuss my film. That’s the general tone, which pervades all the rest of what we’re about to hear.
It’s also the attitude that these types of people usually have when discussing me or my work. But notice something — they’re discussing my work. I am now discussing them discussing my work. But I’m not discussing any of their work. Nobody is. That’s because they haven’t done anything remotely worth discussing. They haven’t done anything at all. Vischer made &#8220;Veggie Tales&#8221; 30 years ago, which is fine. That was a successful series about singing vegetables. It was something though, at least. But these other two — and Visher himself, post &#8220;Veggie Tales&#8221; — haven’t done anything, ever, to move or impact the culture in any way. They hang out in their pretentious, woke pseudo-Christian bubble, smelling their own farts and telling themselves how much smarter and more nuanced and sophisticated they are. But they don’t do anything. They don’t create anything. Instead they spend their time dismissively critiquing the people who are actually doing and creating. And, look, I’m used to having useless people criticize me. That happens every day. But when they do it with such a snide attitude — that’s where it annoys me.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-1451-member-exclusive" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
Here’s my challenge to any of the three dudes in that podcast. Go out and create something — anything at all — that makes a noticeable and positive cultural impact. I don’t mean something that your liberal Christian friends like. I mean something that moves the culture in some way. Something that people outside of your bubble have to sit up and take note of, and grapple with, and think about. Make anything that achieves that. Could be a show, a movie, a song, even a podcast. Not the one you’re currently on. That has zero impact. Just anything at all that makes an impact. That’s my challenge. And I would suggest that if you can’t do that — if you can’t even conceive of how to go about doing that — then you should probably have a little humility and wipe the smarmy smirks off your faces. Not only that, but you aren’t qualified to hold the positions you currently hold. You should not be in a self appointed position of Christian leadership or as a supposed Christian thought leader if you actually don’t know how to effectively spread a message of truth and fight back against evil in modern culture. You really should be sitting and listening, not talking to an audience, because you don’t have anything worthwhile to say.
But maybe I’m being harsh. Let me now continue listening to them so that we can find out if they do in fact have something worthwhile to say.
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There is a lot there. All of it bad. It is a confused, morally and theologically incoherent stew of nonsense. And it is coming from exactly the sort of weak, ineffectual, uninspired, utterly useless, limp-wristed, spineless little mealy-mouthed empty vessels who have all but destroyed the Christian church in the West. And that’s why I get a little heated about this. It’s not because I’m defending the movie. The movie doesn’t need defense. It’s doing great. The audience response has been overwhelmingly positive. It’s certainly not worth getting upset about the opinions of these three guys nobody cares about.
What upsets me is that these three guys — and the legions of Christian “leaders” just like them — have done catastrophic damage to the body of Christ. And that damage can best be summarized by the statement from the man on the bottom right of the screen — Pastor Erre. It was a statement enthusiastically co-signed by the other two. He said: “You can’t follow the Sermon on the Mount and engage in a culture war.” That very concisely summarizes the effeminate, castrated form of Christianity that has invaded the christian church like a parasite. And it could not possibly be more wrong. You might as well say that you can’t be a good boxer if you know how to throw a punch. It is a statement that misses the point so much as to be basically unintelligible. It is a wrongness so wrong that it induces stroke symptoms in those who encounter it.
No, pastor. Let me clear this up for you. You can’t follow the Sermon on the Mount unless you engage in the culture war. &#8220;Do not light a candle and put it under a bushel.&#8221; &#8220;Let your light shine before men.&#8221; That’s what Jesus tells us in the Sermon on the Mount. And that is the culture war. It is being a light, a flame, a torch of truth in the darkness. What do you think a culture war is?
Let’s break this down. I’ll try to make it as simple as possible for you: Culture is nothing less than everything that makes up society — our institutions, our traditions, our customs, our art, our collective achievements. Everything that defines our society. That is the culture. The culture war, therefore, is the fight over that.
<h3><a href="https://www.amiracist.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a></h3>
Nearly every aspect of our society — of our culture — is now controlled and defined by an ideology that not only denies but aggressively militates against Christian values and christian teaching. It’s an ideology that embraces and promotes debauchery, relativism, self-worship. An ideology that celebrates the mass slaughter of the unborn. An ideology that seeks to inflame resentment, suspicion, and hostility between different races. Which is what our movie deals with. We want to stop that, defeat that ideology and install Christian values in its place. The other option is to surrender. Tell me, pastor, which part of the Sermon on the Mount calls for us to surrender to evil? Where did you see that? Can you quote me a chapter and verse on that one? What I see when I read the Scriptures are continued, relentless calls to fight evil, not lie down and acquiesce to it.
But you know all of that, don’t you? See, people like you pretend to be too good for the “culture war.” You stick up your nose and act like you’re above it all. But in reality, you are yourself actively fighting a culture war. You’re fighting one right now. All three of you in that video were fighting a culture war in the video itself. It’s just that you’re fighting on the other side. Trying to convince us not to fight is a battle tactic that you are employing. You are employing it on behalf of the side that despised Christian values, Christian teaching, and the truth of the Gospel. And, sadly, this tactic has been very effective up to this point. But that’s starting to change now, finally. We see you people for what you really are, and what you’re really doing, and who you are really aligned with.
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MixCollage-27-Sep-2024-04-58-PM-4745

The ‘Veggie Tales’ Guy Does Not Approve Of My Movie. Here’s My Response.

The 'Veggie Tales' Guy Does Not Approve Of My Movie. Here's My Response.

Am I Racist

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“<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/am-i-racist">Am I Racist?</a>” star <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/matt-walsh">Matt Walsh</a> posted a lengthy explanation on X detailing responses, or lack thereof, from critics who were sent copies of the film, but refused to <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/film-reviews">review</a> it.
The Daily Wire documentary debuted at number four at the box office alongside major Hollywood productions with much higher production and marketing budgets. “Am I Racist?” currently has a 99% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is Certified Hot on the site’s popcorn meter, which means at least 500 of those reviews come from verified ticket purchasers.
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One of these things is not like the others <a href="https://t.co/4cQVSQXTX2">pic.twitter.com/4cQVSQXTX2</a>
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1835685846105686272?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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<a href="https://www.amiracist.com/">Am I Racist? Is In Theaters NOW — Get Your Tickets Here!</a>
Meanwhile, there is not one review from a mainstream critic.
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9/ &#8220;Am I Racist?&#8221; has been so successful precisely because we didn&#8217;t churn out another safe, predictable Hollywood-style film. If you haven&#8217;t watched the movie that mainstream critics desperately don&#8217;t want you to see, you can get your tickets now: <a href="https://t.co/iJv1cNRoWV">https://t.co/iJv1cNRoWV</a>.
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattWalshBlog/status/1835822651517870395?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 16, 2024</a></blockquote>
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Walsh wrote in the post, “Many have asked how it&#8217;s possible that our new film ‘Am I Racist?’ hasn&#8217;t been reviewed by a single mainstream critic, even with a 99% audience score, a ‘Verified Hot’ rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and a top 5 box office debut. Here&#8217;s what&#8217;s happening behind the scenes.”
&#8220;Beginning in mid-August, we reached out to dozens of mainstream outlets, offering an early screener of the film. Those outlets included [Time], [Associated Press], [IndieWire], [Variety], [The Hollywood Reporter], [The New York Times], [The New Yorker], and many others,” the post thread continued. “We followed up to virtual silence.”
“We did, however, receive a flurry of unprofessional emails from independent critics who were enraged we&#8217;d even ask them to review the film. One of them wrote that he won&#8217;t waste any ‘professional time’ on a movie opening in over 1,500 theaters because I was involved,” Walsh wrote alongside a screenshot of the reply.
He also shared a response from another critic who wrote, “You&#8217;d have to strap me to a chair like Malcolm McDowell to get me to watch this thing.&#8221;
Another said, “Ew. Take me off of this list.&#8221;
The X thread went on to say, “After it was clear ‘Am I Racist?’ was a hit, [Variety] attempted to cover for this oversight with a claim that Daily Wire ‘did not screen [the movie] for critics.’ We’ve asked them to correct this, they have not. They still haven’t posted a review, but I hope they do.”
“A few other mainstream outlets have since requested screeners but have yet to publish a review,” Walsh went on. “One major mainstream outlet even acknowledged we had attempted to get them an advance screener but said the film had ‘slipped through the cracks.'&#8221;
“This isn’t a mistake. You’d be hard-pressed to find another film that opened in &gt;1,500 theaters that was completely snubbed by mainstream critics. If ‘Am I Racist?’ were terrible, these outlets could have reviewed it &amp; trashed it. But the reality is they&#8217;re afraid of it,” he continued.
&#8220;&#8216;Am I Racist?’ has been so successful precisely because we didn&#8217;t churn out another safe, predictable Hollywood-style film. If you haven&#8217;t watched the movie that mainstream critics desperately don&#8217;t want you to see, you can get your tickets now: <a href="http://amiracist.com">amiracist.com</a>.”
Walsh concluded by revealing that Rolling Stone was one of the first outlets to request a screener back in July, but noted how they hadn’t posted a review yet. 
The podcast host said he was looking forward to their review “most of all” because of a hit piece they posted on Walsh’s “What Is a Woman?” back in 2022, which was written without the critic ever seeing the film. Walsh shared a screenshot of the movie link sent to that writer showing it was 0% watched.
Several independent reviewers did post their reactions to the movie, which were overwhelmingly positive. YouTube star Jeremy Jahns also posted a review, which resulted in many of his followers openly mocking and unfollowing him, as The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/youtuber-jeremy-jahns-ripped-for-daring-to-review-am-i-racist">reported</a>.
“Am I Racist?” is currently available in theaters. Get your tickets now at <a href="http://amiracist.com">amiracist.com</a>.

MixCollage-15-Sep-2024-07-08-AM-5558

Matt Walsh Blasts Critics’ Refusal To Review ‘Am I Racist?’ Despite Its Box Office Success

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A new report reveals that Rotten Tomatoes — the movie site used by millions of people to decide if a movie is worth seeing — was allegedly manipulated by a public relations company to boost a movie’s critical reception.
A PR firm called Bunker 15 was engaged to help the 2018 movie “Ophelia,” starring Daisy Ridley. The initial rating for the film on Rotten Tomatoes came in at a poor 46%, but according to <a href="https://www.vulture.com/article/rotten-tomatoes-movie-rating.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Vulture</a>, Bunker 15 paid some of the more obscure critics on the Rotten Tomatoes website to post positive reviews for $50 or more per review. An employee of Bunker 15 allegedly emailed a prospective reviewer, “It’s a Sundance film and the feeling is that it’s been treated a bit harshly by some critics (I’m sure sky-high expectations were the culprit) so the teams involved feel like it would benefit from more input from different critics.”
When the reviewer asked what Bunker 15 would do if he hated the film, the Bunker 15 employee replied that critics could write whatever they pleased but “super nice ones (and there are more critics like this than I expected)” would agree to publish bad reviews on “a smaller blog that RT never sees. I think it’s a very cool thing to do.”
“Between October 2018 and January 2019, Rotten Tomatoes added eight reviews to Ophelia’s score. Seven were favorable, and most came from critics who have reviewed at least one other Bunker 15 movie,” Vulture reported.
“Ophelia” subsequently climbed up to a 62% rating; the next month IFC Films acquired the film for distribution.
Bunker 15 founder Daniel Harlow responded to Vulture, “Wow, you are really reaching there. &#8230; We have thousands of writers in our distribution list. A small handful have set up a specific system where filmmakers can sponsor or pay to have them review a film.”
One problem with Rotten Tomatoes scores: they are posted after only a few reviews are in. Thus a film company can prescreen a movie for selected critics, then delay setting the movie’s review embargo so those positive reviews can tilt the Rotten Tomatoes score as high as possible before the bulk of critics can weigh in on the film.
Vulture cited “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania,” which started on Rotten Tomatoes at 79% and had the best opening of any Ant-Man movie before other reviews dropped it down to the 40-50% range, The second weekend, the film’s grosses plunged 69%.
Filmmaker Paul Schrader, who once was a critic, offered, “The studios didn’t invent Rotten Tomatoes, and most of them don’t like it. But the system is broken. Audiences are dumber. Normal people don’t go through reviews like they used to. Rotten Tomatoes is something the studios can game. So they do.”

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Rotten Tomatoes Manipulated By PR Firm Paying Critics: Report

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The ‘Veggie Tales’ Guy Does Not Approve Of My Movie. Here’s My Response.

Matt Walsh Blasts Critics’ Refusal To Review ‘Am I Racist?’ Despite Its Box Office Success

Rotten Tomatoes Manipulated By PR Firm Paying Critics: Report