Summary:
In this minisode, I talk about the Netflix original movie Dolemite Is My Name and the lessons entrepreneur can take from it’s hero.
Transcript:
In this minisode I want to talk to you guys about kind of an unexpected inspiration. Now to give you guys a little bit of a backstory, I grew up watching Eddie Murphy’s films and standup, he was a staple and most African American households in the 90s.
As an adult, I logged a lot of hours watching Netflix like I’ve watched a lot of Netflix and more than once I’ve caught myself sticking to a few hard to watch Netflix movies, like original content, because what would happen is I’d start to watch (a movie) and it would be so bad but I already invested the time I to see how it ended.
So whenever new movies come Especially movies with a lot of big names. I’m usually very, very hesitant to watch them. Because I feel like a lot of their original movies are horrible. Their shows are amazing, but a lot of their original movies, I don’t love and I think I think I figured this out. The reason is because there is like such a high expectation, I think, when there’s a bunch of big names, so if it’s only a mediocre movie, I tend to feel a little bit disappointed. That probably is what it is, and I need to stop going in with those high expectations.
I’d heard a little bit about Dolomite Is My Name and to be honest, as much as I love Craig Robertson, Tituss Burgess, Keegan Michael Key, Eddie Murphy andWesley Snipes. I had pretty much decided I was just going to skip it. So on Christmas Eve, me and my sister had watched some Netflix Christmas movie and we’re like, what should be watch what should we watch and I ended up on opening up YouTube on her Fire TV Stick and we ended up seeing a video description that said something like, “Eddie Murphy Delirious suit destroyed.” So we watched the interview, and he starts talking about the Dolomite movie. I had no idea that this was based on a true story. I thought it was just a funny random Netflix movie or whatever.
So we decided, you know what, screw it. Let’s watch it.
I gotta tell you, I never thought that I would leave that movie thinking, “That was so inspiring.” But you know what, it was so inspiring. He was the ultimate entrepreneur/hustler out there. So without totally ruining the movie, It’s basically this guy who never really has hit his dreams or his goals. He works at like a record store or something And he wants to do comedy. He wants to be famous. But it just isn’t happening for him. And so, he goes through all these processes, of kind of creating a persona and Going on a tour and he just completely becomes this persona. It’s like his own Sasha Fierce when he’s out on stage. He’s doing well and gets a deal to start selling comedy albums, then decide he wants to make a movie, that people wanted a Dolomite movie.
And, of course, no one no one’s really wanting to do it. But then he straight up makes it happen from hiring film students to shoot it, renting out a hotel and making that set for the movie. He’s also living in this hotel that he’s renting. He ends up going in to local places and getting somewhat famous people to agree to be in. It’s so much.
Once the movie is done then he tries to go and get the movie in a studio. And like nobody wants it. So he starts pounding the pavement and finally finds a studio that will play it and the next thing you know, it’s just a ridiculous amount of success. Turns out the guy went went on to make tons of movies.
I will be so honest, I tried to watch the actual movie that they show being made in Dolemite and I could not sit through it because it was so bad, but this is also like 40 years later so I think back then it probably if I had watched it 40 years ago, you know, if I was alive back then…
The reason that I just wanted to bring up this movie in this episode is because it was just so freaking inspiring. And I think if you are feeling like maybe no one believes in you or things aren’t going your way. It’s just a really good lesson and pushing forward and making your own way. I totally recommend watching the Netflix movie of this and I am not in partnership with them. They were not they are not paying me to say this. They aren’t giving me any free months on my account.
This film is such a good little pick me up and just really shows you that if you want it bad enough, you can find a way to make it happen. And I mean, when you think about it, he was an African American man in the 70s trying to get a movie that was very raunchy into studios that were usually owned by white, rich men. They weren’t the target demographic of the film, but he needed them to be ‘in’ to be able to produce it. And when they weren’t, and he found other ways to get it out there into the world. And then that was what inevitably led to his success.
I just wanted to talk about this so that we could just stop in remember that sometimes you have to create your own way. Sometimes things are way better when you break the mold and do things your own way and don’t get discouraged or defeated.
The other thing I really want to bring up is he had some freakin ride or die friends, who are willing to do so much to make his dream happen, friends who, when things get bad, we’re still there for him. And I think that’s why it’s so important to surround yourself with community and people who want to see you succeed and people who will do their part in helping you succeed. And I’ve talked about it many times on the podcast about how my community is everything to me, the friends I’ve made, the connections I’ve made are the reason I’m able to do the things that I do.
Watch this movie. It’s inspiring and it’s actually really funny I yeah, it’s hilarious!. And with that, I’m just going to leave you with this many. So check out the movie My Name is Dolemite on Netflix.
Transcribed by https://otter.ai
Side Note: After recording this episode I thought of something else that was great about this story. Not only did he have amazing friends but he lifted other people up, he casts his friends, he found the people who didn’t often seem themselves on screen and gave them a stage.
You can subscribe to the podcast on your favorite platform:
Thanks for listening! <3
Did you enjoy this episode?
Leave a comment and let me know what you think.
Now tell me:
Have you watched Dolemite Is My Name?
What lessons did you learn from it?
What was your favorite part?