The Texas-bred, award-winning filmmaker has also released short films and featuresTorquewith Ice Cube and horror-comedyDetention.
Now out in theaters via YouTube,Bodied notably produced by Eminem is out to offend.
(Kahn is no stranger to controversy, and has recentlyweighed in on the Kardashianstogender double standards.)
Credit: Youtube
JOSEPH KAHN:The most surprising thing was how overwhelmingly people loved it.
But there seems to be an understanding among human beings of what context is.
Its missing from the national dialogue: that context is everything.
Robby Klein/YouTube x Getty Images
I made a movie that is 100 percent offensive jokes.
Is there anything in rap that offends you?
Youve got it easy compared to what I had to go through.
Cinetic Media
What was the road to distribution for this one?
Some [studios] would view it as radioactive, and obviously, you found partners who dont.
And most cinema is moralistic.
If you look at most of the messages, theyre easy messages: Killing is bad.
Cheating on your wife is bad.
We got there, we won the audience award.
And we won four times at a bunch of other film festivals.
It turns out that the audience doesnt think this movie is racist.
They understand that we find, intrinsically, differences funny and that doesnt make us racist.
Race is the biggest lightning rod in this film.
And you cast Calum Worthy as a lens through which we see race in the battle rap community.
What made Calum the perfect actor for this particular role?
On a certain level,thatsthe radioactive idea.
Calum acts that part.
He looks that part.
Hes a Disney dude.
He should not be rapping in any sense or the word or any context whatsoever.
Calums sympathetic for the most part, but then one point he becomes unsympathetic.
The film doesnt hand-hold you how to feel about that situation.
The reviews of the film a lot of times were positive from a political perspective.
They have different views on that Adam character.
That perspective alters the film.
Its like Shakespeare: For 500 years, weve interpreted Hamlet in different ways.
Hes Nixonian, Obamaian, hes Trumpian.
What does selfish mean in each particular era?
Would you have made any different film today than you would have two years ago?
Youre essentially making a time machine.
Youre looking at an actor who was 38 instead of 40.
Or saying basic instead of this aint it.
We made this movie before Trump was elected, so our Trump jokes were great!
Youve said social media is like a battle rap zone.
YouTube is a partner on this film.
How has YouTube changed the dialogue around popular culture?
Its serendipitous that we went into YouTube and YouTube decided to make this their first theatrical release with this.
That was the carrot that made me sign with them.
It started as a free media site.
It was like public access on the internet.
Then it became an actual force for media.
It created stars: A 12-year-old in Ohio could literally become a superstar.
Justin Bieber and Lady Gaga were launched.
It was also uncensored, anything goes on YouTube.
But it was free speech in action as a media outlet.
Bodieditself is such a dangerous movie from the words being said in it.
You cant see this on TV or in a movie theater.
And I think thats wonderful.
You call this movie a dangerous thing, what do you anticipate being the consequences of a dangerous thing?
And people would get fired over one thing said wrong.
you might go to work and say whatever Captain America says, but you cant what Adam Merkin said.
It would be very inappropriate to have Iron Man rap racist lyrics.
I dont want anybody under 17 to watch Bodied.
And thats a big lesson ofBodied: context matters.
Had messing with people or subversion come up in your creative conversations with Taylor Swift?
I feel like if you say subversive, then its no longer subversive!
Let me put it this way: I love irony.
I love the implication of social irony.
We embraced it completely and it became one of her biggest hits.
I think the audience truly appreciates that irony and truth.
Is that why Eminem made a good producer and collaborator on this?
Hes a fantastic collaborator because if theres anything Eminem does, it tells the truth.
There are two types of artists I work with: There are marketing geniuses and truth-tellers.
Whos another music artist youre into right now?
Camila Cabello has a fascinating look and a great voice.
Id be interested in working with her.
And you just worked with Cardi B, on Jennifer Lopez Dinero.
Shes a force of nature.
Thats interesting to me.
Shes got a humor to it.
Shes unique within that archetype.
Women and sex in music videos have changed a lot in the last 30 years.
New but not different.
No matter how academic we get, teenagers want to have sex.
Teenagers dont view each other as adults do.
And thats what drives music.
Music is a very sensual experience.
You will act a certain way.
Every parent knows this.
Youre shaping youth and youth culture.
Dres Kush,and theres no smoking in it!
Strangely enough, Im kind of a prude.
As dangerous as my work is, its being made by a nerd.
