PRETTY AS A PICARESQUE: New Pop Art episode. Join me and filmmaker Steve Herold (Death of an Umbrella Salesman, Walmea) while we talk two films inspired by Voltaire’s Candide, The Jerk and O Lucky Man!

“I was born a poor black child”: It’s a tale as old as the Spanish Golden Age and made perhaps most famous in the west by Voltaire’s Candide. Take a somewhat naïve innocent, usually of lower social class, thrust him out in the world, and have him navigate the slings and arrows he encounters, trying to survive in an essentially corrupt society. Or as I call it, Episode 80 of Pop Art, where I and my guest find the pop culture in art and the art in pop culture. It’s the podcast where my guest chooses a movie from popular culture, and I’ll select a film from the more art/classic/indie side of cinema with a connection to it. For this episode, I am happy to welcome as my guest, filmmaker Steve Herold, who has chosen as his film the Steve Martin vehicle, Carl Reiner’s The Jerk, while I have chosen Lindsay Anderson’s cult favorite, O Lucky Man!, both picaresque films with a naïve innocent having to go out on his own to discover the world.

And in this episode we answer such questions as: Quentin Tarantino’s The Jerk? Reactive, active or passive? What is white male protestant comedy? What are the problematic aspects of both films? How does Stanley Kubrick fit in? How many slaps did McDowell endure in the final scene? What is Steve Martin’s favorite line? What is the French title of O Lucky Man!? Where was Hartounian’s gas station located? How does Star Wars fit in and what does it have to do with Pig Man? Where does Rob Reiner appear in the film?

And don’t forget to check out Steve Herold and his films. His IMDB page is at https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0003750/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0#director

Hs film Death of an Umbrella Salesman can be found on Amazon Prime and his newest film Walmea is making the festival rounds.