I just got this in the post.
Bill Hicks is one of the reasons I do what I do now. At school we would pass around a cassette tape with his name in thick black marker pen. He is the reason I started shouting at the TV.. questioning the news. The reason I went to Iraq to see for myself. He is the reason i started podcasting and joined the New Media Revolutionaries all those years ago.
In 1994 I heard about his death whilst traveling Europe and soon realised that he had an underground following the world over. This made me want to know more about the man, what he believed in and what he stood for.
All you could find at that time were tapes and remastered bootlegs. Until now.
I heard about this movie in an interview with Paul Thomas and Matt Harlock on BBC Radio6. It took me about 5 minutes to get online and order it.
I am writing this without having seen anything but the trailer (embedded below) and will place my review at the bottom this post soon. From what I have seen so far Paul and Matt have done an amazing job. With the combination of new footage, interviews with the family and creative photo animation mashups, I hope this film goes on to inspire a new generation of people who question the world around them.
You can follow the Paul and Matt on twitter at @BillHicks_movie
Here is the DVD on Amazon
..some final words from Bill…
“The world is like a ride in an amusement park, and when you choose to go on it you think it’s real because that’s how powerful our minds are. The ride goes up and down, around and around, it has thrills and chills, and it’s very brightly colored, and it’s very loud, and it’s fun for a while. Many people have been on the ride a long time, and they begin to wonder, “Hey, is this real, or is this just a ride?” And other people have remembered, and they come back to us and say, “Hey, don’t worry; don’t be afraid, ever, because this is just a ride.” And we…kill those people. “Shut him up! I’ve got a lot invested in this ride, shut him up! Look at my furrows of worry, look at my big bank account, and my family. This has to be real.” It’s just a ride. But we always kill the good guys who try and tell us that, you ever notice that? And let the demons run amok… But it doesn’t matter, because it’s just a ride. And we can change it any time we want. It’s only a choice. No effort, no work, no job, no savings of money. Just a simple choice, right now, between fear and love. The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one. Here’s what we can do to change the world, right now, to a better ride. Take all that money we spend on weapons and defenses each year and instead spend it feeding and clothing and educating the poor of the world, which it would pay for many times over, not one human being excluded, and we could explore space, together, both inner and outer, forever, in peace. ~Bill Hicks
Thanks for this. I heard his name but didn’t know anything about him or what he has done. I’ll order it now x