#senator john “bluto” blutarsky

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That's Senator Blutarsky to you.

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80′s Cinema during the #metoo movement with Senator John Blutarsky

Yesterday morning, I had the honor and the privilege to meet and interview senator John Blutarsky. Mr. Blutarsky and I sat down and spoke briefly about his time in college, 80's cinema, the #metoo movement, his time as the senator, and how different everything was during his youth compared to the present day. He also showed me photos of him while he was in college, speaking on how much fun he had, even though he was there longer than he expected. 

I started the interview off by asking how it is being a part of the United States senate, in which he replied,

“I was always told I would not be where I am today, but with the help of my beautiful wife, and the people that got me on my feet and helped me become the person I am today, I proved those doubters wrong.”

After his reply, I questioned him about who these people are and why didn’t they want you to succeed, he replied with,

“Well when I was in college, I was the ultimate troublemaker. I was always reeking havoc among the faculty, as well as the students who the teachers and deans loved. The one person that really believed that I was never going to make it in life was the dean of the college I went to, Faber College. The dean, Vernon Wormer, brought me to his office countless times and always bad-mouthed me and my friends about our grades and our fraternity.”

I interrupted Mr Blutarsky and asked him about this fraternity, since I never seen or heard him speak about this fraternity. He mentioned how this fraternity he was in was considered the worst in the school, because they were the troublemakers that only cared about partying and destruction. I asked him to elaborate further, in which he said,

“The fraternity I was in was the type of fraternity that was looked at as a problem to the school. We all had nicknames for this fraternity, and mine was Bluto. We did many ignorant and egregious things that we could’ve been arrested for. We dropped a whole truckload of fizzies into the varsity swim meet one time, we delivered the medical school cadavers to the alumni dinner, Every Halloween, we always put underwear on all the trees on campus. One more thing we have done is that Every spring, the toilets would explode because of us. We made some idiotic decisions, I am surprised we graduated at the end of the year though.”

I spoke with him on if he still has the personality he had when he was college, he laughed and said,

“You know as much I hate to admit it, but I am still pulling off pranks occasionally. I don’t drink as much as I used to anymore but I’m as crazy as I was sometimes.”

He showed me a few photos from his time and college and may I say, he looks dashing.

We moved on from his time in college and I asked him about the 80′s, the 1980′s was packed with movies, tv shows, and music videos that would not be ok in today’s standards, I asked him what his thoughts were about this, which he responded with,

“I mean, when I look back on how much of a difference the 80′s was to now, I am happy to see that people are taking racism, SA, and other disgusting and offensive acts are being taken much more seriously. The 1980′s was filled with films and Tv shows that used those types of disgusting acts to make light of it, or for just comedy, so I am glad that people are finally taking it seriously.”

I also asked him about what the differences were in real life in the 80′s compared to now. He said,

“I can give you an example, so in college, I always went to this bar nearby, I don’t remember what it was called though, it has been awhile, but I remember I heard a lot of racist and other offensive things in the book, and no one bat an eye. The same thing went on when I went to parties, restaurants, and other establishments. Jokes and comedy back in the 80′s always went back on using offensive and dark humor compared to the humor and jokes you see nowadays on social media. I hate to admit this but I used to laugh and join in on these jokes. Now that I am older and more mature, the jokes that I used to laugh about in the 80′s aren’t so funny to me now.”

I asked him if he can share some movies that he saw that he knows that would be “cancelled” or not ok in today’s standards. he said,

“The only movie that I can think of right now off the top of my head would be this movie I saw with my college buddies called Revenge of the Nerds. If you haven’t seen this movie, it is about this group of nerds and outcasts having a war between them and the jocks. I look back now and I remember how racist it was, as well as painting women as objects in the movie. There was a scene in the movie where one of the nerds r**es one of the jock’s girlfriends. Another movie I can remember is this movie zapped. If you have seen the movie, or even looked at the poster for the movie, you would understand why I say it would not be ok in the present time.”

When he mentioned the movie Revenge of the Nerds, It spawned the question about the #metoo movement that changed everything in the film industry. I asked him about his thought of the #metoo movement, and how 80′s cinema was the main reason why #metoo began. He said,

“If the #metoo Movement was introduced in the 80′s, everyone’s behavior would’ve changed drastically. Many celebrities from the 80′s didn’t know how to act and that was shown in today’s world when these brave women spoke up. If this would’ve happened in the 80′s, Hollywood would go in a much different direction, and a much safer one at that. If you really think about it, Woody Allen wouldn’t have been so immune then when he was the past decade, and Roman Polansky would have been in much more trouble. All these directors who has done these disgusting acts towards these actresses back in the 1980′s and 1990′s would been arrested earlier.``

I raised the question on if it is ok to rewatch 80′s movies in a time like today, He answered that question by saying,

“I think it would be much more uncomfortable watching these types of movies now then back then when it arrived in movies. It was a different kind of environment back in the 80′s then it is now, so I don’t think it would be ok to watch these movies nowadays.”

As we touched more about the #metoo movement, I realized how the 80′s was such a different time, and how today’s society was a cultural reset. We slowly went from how films and comedy uses SA, R**e, and racism as a form of jokes and humor, to a time where we forbid those types of acts to be used as entertainment. #metoo has really changed the entirety of hollywood and how they operate. With celebrities and other women coming forward and speaking about how these people treated them, it showed the entire world how Hollywood was such a dark place. 

Before we ended the interview, I asked him one last question about his time as a senator. I asked him about how he was able to get this job in the first place, and what his college friends is doing nowadays, he responded with,

“I got this job because of how well known I was in St. Louis. The mayor knew me personally and took a liking to my personality. I was asked to work with the mayor and I continued to do so until I became one myself, then that spanned into me being a senator. I am always appreciative of how accepting the mayor was at the time and grateful I got to be where I am today. As for my college buddies, I still talk to them so I know what they are doing now. My friend Robert Hoover moved to Maryland and became a public defender. My other friend Larry Kroger became an editor for the National Lagoon Magazine, my good friend Eric Stratton became a gynecologist in California, Kent Dorfman became a sensitivity trainer for the encounter groups of cleveland in Ohio, My great friend Boon married his long time girlfriend Katy, but I don’t know what he's doing nowadays we lost contact, and one of my other good friends was my friend Daniel but I have no idea where he is and what he is doing, I hope he is doing well though.”

This was one of the most incredible and impactful interviews I have had in my career and it was an honor to speak and learn more about senator John Blutarsky. I thank him for taking time out of his busy schedule to talk to me, and I thank you for reading this and I hope you all have an amazing day.

[aion-rsa]

Belushi Trailer Shows an Icon at the Top of His Game

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What would the world look like if Animal House alumni John “Bluto” Blutarsky were in the Senate now? The actor who played him, John Belushi, maintains he’d rather be an anarchist than a professional in the trailer for upcoming Belushi. Never quite ready for prime time, the performer had already urged lemmings in their final jump for National Lampoon. Showtime’s documentary feature shows how he made the leap himself to comic icon.

Belushi was in the original cast of Saturday Night Live, which goes into season 46 on Oct. 3, and his influence on comedy is felt as strongly today as it was when he put on Henry Kissinger’s glasses. The documentary was made by the team which brought us Listen to Me Marlon, an immersive look at Marlon Brando’s acting as told by the legend himself: R.J. Cutler, who directed The September Issue and The World According to Dick Cheney, and John Battsek, who helmed Searching for Sugar Man and The Tillman Story.

As we hear in the trailer, when Belushi was 30 years old, he was the star of the number one TV show, SNL; the biggest movie comedy of its age, Animal House; and a comedy album at the top of the charts: The Blues Brothers’ Briefcase of Blues. He died of an overdose in 1982 at age 33. Belushi only made about a dozen movies, but they made him a comedy legend and helped establish the SNL-related film dynasty.

The new documentary examines “the too-short life of John Belushi, the once-in-a-generation talent who captured the hearts and funny-bones of audiences worldwide,” according to the press statement. “From his early years growing up in Wheaton, Illinois, John Belushi showed an extraordinary talent for comedy and music. It was a visit to the Second City theater in Chicago where he discovered his true calling, and from that moment John became an unstoppable and pioneering force in the comedy world. From National Lampoon’s Lemmings and Radio Hour to one of the founding cast members on Saturday Night Live, his insatiable drive kept the candle burning at both ends.”

The film was made with the cooperation of Belushi’s wife, Judith Belushi Pisano. The press statement explains “as John’s fame grew, so did his demons, and not even Judy could save him from the drug use that would eventually take his life.” Judith also donated letters she’d gotten from her husband to include in the film.

“Belushi was one of my very first heroes,” Cutler said in a statement when the documentary was first announced. “At a time when film, television and music were undergoing tectonic shifts within American culture, he was at the center of it all. At that moment, he had the number-one show on television, the number-one film at the box office and the number-one record on the charts. We plan to explore his unique genius and how his creative influence is still making an impact to this moment.”

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John simultaneously appeared on SNL each Saturday night, live, while he was filming Animal House. At the same time, he formed and performed in the Blues Brothers with Dan Ackroyd, who speaks candidly in Belushi, along with interviews from Lorne Michaels, Chevy Chase, Harold Ramis, Jane Curtin, Ivan Reitman, Penny Marshall, and Carrie Fisher.

Belushi premieres Nov. 22 at 9pm on Showtime.

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