Kooky conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has recently been banned from just about every website, with his Infowars content being removed from Spotify, iTunes, YouTube, Facebook and even YouPorn. It happened for good reason, too, as Jones' conspiracies have proven wildly dangerous for survivors of school shootings and other innocent world citizens. Still, there was a time when Jones was merely a fun anomaly.
In a recent interview with The Daily Beast, Richard Linklater recalled a simple time where Jones' wacky radio show was a favourite among stoners and the pop culturally curious. Jones was so intriguing, in fact, that Linklater cast him in his films Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly.
"He was this hyper guy that we'd all kind of make fun of," Linklater recalled. "I just thought he was kind of funny."
Politically, too, Linklater remembered Jones as anti-establishment rather than, say, pro-Trump. "I talked to him a bit during the Bush-Cheney years. He always positioned himself as anti. So when you're anti, he's your bedfellow," he said. "I was surprised to see him position himself as a defender of a regime..... He's a bomb-lobber. He's a blow-shit-upper from the outside."
Of course, since the entire world is some cruel post-ironic joke in 2018, things have changed. "I would have never thought I'd see the day when the president of the United States knew who he was, much less going on his show," Linklater concluded. "It's crazy, it's insane, but it fits our times."
Watch Jones' appearance in Waking Life below.
In a recent interview with The Daily Beast, Richard Linklater recalled a simple time where Jones' wacky radio show was a favourite among stoners and the pop culturally curious. Jones was so intriguing, in fact, that Linklater cast him in his films Waking Life and A Scanner Darkly.
"He was this hyper guy that we'd all kind of make fun of," Linklater recalled. "I just thought he was kind of funny."
Politically, too, Linklater remembered Jones as anti-establishment rather than, say, pro-Trump. "I talked to him a bit during the Bush-Cheney years. He always positioned himself as anti. So when you're anti, he's your bedfellow," he said. "I was surprised to see him position himself as a defender of a regime..... He's a bomb-lobber. He's a blow-shit-upper from the outside."
Of course, since the entire world is some cruel post-ironic joke in 2018, things have changed. "I would have never thought I'd see the day when the president of the United States knew who he was, much less going on his show," Linklater concluded. "It's crazy, it's insane, but it fits our times."
Watch Jones' appearance in Waking Life below.