Thoughts on Nick Ross Interview...And Your Fave Moments From The 1FM Music Show?

[harrylowj]

Hi guys, MASSIVE CM fan here but this is first time I have posted on this site which I haven't properly explored or got to grips with yet...so forgive me & please educate me if there's any bad etiquette or repetition of topics but truly excited to have the chance to interact with some fellow obsessive fans!
But v curious on anyone else's thiughts/feelings on this...
It is something I have thought for a while and think EVERY time I listen to the Nick Ross Interview on the Music Show...

So there have been the very odd few sort of moments of doubt when I wonder, in regards to his interviews etc with celebs/politicians etc where for me the hilarity lies in how vacuous and desperate they are, how quick he is and how amazingly and hilariously he makes them looks so stupid, vapid & insincere or whatever by what he gets away with saying to them & making them say (obv I know this is no news to anyone) BUT my v odd moments of doubt I wonder- 'IS it as genius as I think?...maybe EVERYONE or especially everyone in media context just IS that self-obsessed/idiotic/agenda-driven/inattentive and so maybe whilst he is undoubtedly quick and hilarious maybe it isn't that genius (possibly bar the actual selection of interviewees) cos seemingly he basically CAN get away with anything providing he is reasonably quick and disarms again after something particularly outrageous...and thus maybe it is not even that fair to look at these people as particularly idiotic and (the final thus) maybe some of Chris's absolutely relentless & uncompromising belittling/destruction is NOT quite as justifiable as I think as basically anyone, possibly even (though I would HATE to believe this), MYSELF, would be as readily self-obsessed and inattentive if in something like a radio 1 interview setting or an appeal for a charity....

THEN I listen to the Nick Ross interview...and I am totally and utterly reassured and certain that Chris's, and consequently my own, disparagement and contemptuous amusement at what he gets away with doing/saying to people & making them do/say, IS more than justifiable! Because IMO Nick Ross actually sort of comes off brilliantly...not in a heroic way or in any way challenging or confronting Chris, but merely in a unspectacular way just manages to reinvigorate my faith in humanity somewhat...because the way he interacts with Chris is EXACTLY how you would hope someone would- actually asking him what he means with certain ridiculous questions or phrases...actually taking him up on and expressing doubts at certain ridiculous arguments and other things (ok not what I want for the sake of humour tbf but for the sake human self-awareness and cognitive capacity!

So imo it is certainly far from one of his funniest interviews or moments BUT I think it REALLY adds value and makes soo many of the others SO much funnier by showing how easy it is to NOT be so stupid!
Does anyone actually get what I am saying or agree at all?

I have often thought lately that if I ever met Chris and actually managed to get chance to utter a sentence in conversation and not be conteptuously dismissed; I would ask him if he has any recollection of that interview and if so if he remembers having any feelings afterward of begrudging,  well if not respect exactly then possibly a miniscule amount of credit!

[muddybug]

During the Oxide Ghosts: The Brass Eye Tapes screenings, there's a thread on here that discussed what was in the documentary since it will never be commercially released. For example:

An unused interview with Buzz Aldrin during the NASA segment of Science. As mentioned by Micheal Cummings in the Q&A, it was cut because he was actually quite reasonable, and hard to lead down any surreal paths. The Darcus Howe interview was also cut for this reason, Cummings describing his interview with Morris "like two heavyweight boxers going at it". Chris apparently added the silly intro ("I'm sitting opposite a man, he knows nothing...) after the interview was over just so they could gleam at least some usable marital.

So no, Chris didn't really pull one over on everyone. There was even a soundbite Chris would use in one of his GLR shows of a man asking Chris, "why are you using that voice?". You could tell Chris was amused that a stranger on the street called him out for the ridiculous way he would ask things. A quote from Chris during a GLR show:

"I only allow myself to say this every 17 months, but those are genuine exchanges. That man believed in small cardboard, and so he should."

Chris discusses on the Adam Buxton podcast that asking strangers on the street ridiculous things and recording it was just born out of boredom. It obviously spiraled into much more later on. He is insanely meticulous when working on something and his peers/friends have said that the amount of research he does borders on obsessive. Quote from Riz Ahmed:

"Chris is a genius. He is intelligent, generous and inspiring and does not have an ego to be satisfied. He is fascinated with ideas and doesn't need any go-ahead from anyone to make a movie. Chris is about research. He has met hundreds and hundreds of people. Some of them were into active terrorism, others were converts."

Also, there's many people that have discussed meeting Chris and how charming and friendly he is! Very opposite of the on-screen persona.

[harrylowj]

I think you have slightly misunderstood my point- or rather I havent expressed it that well!
When I was talking about questioning the genius i was referring more to my own neuroses & general sort of low expectations of most people & them being self obsessed that I had started to wonder was it almost like quite a natural human weakness to be so iattentive...and so forgive me I think I sort of rambled and qualified so much my main point got lost!
But what I meant to say really was does anyone see what I mean with the Nick Ross one that it is not hilarious but slightly reaffirming by just showing how possible it is to not be so stupid?

And yeah i think the bit you mean is also on the music show where he just goes 'Why are you talking so strangely?' And so no obviously I exaggerated and I know he must have put in a lot of work and there would be a lot of misses...but it is also interesting you refer to those being cut when I am sort of glad the Nick Ross one wasn't and again I think it adds value to his whole style. It is not boring but he didn't embarrass him...

I just find it interesting and wonder if anyone else has similar feelings with the Nick Ross one?

All though you have reminded me! The Darcus Howe one on Brass Eye I still don't actually get! Is the joke on that supposed to be editing? Ie Chris has shown him something else to which he 'apologises for his fellows' & he edits it so it looks like he has watched that vid? Or something else?

Thanks for response