Transcript 0:00 [upbeat music] From LA Material, this is LA World, the podcast that helps you make sense of Los Angeles. I'm Hayes Davenport. I'm Julia Turner. And I'm Antonia Cereijida. 0:13 It's been 25 years since June 22nd, 2001, the birth of one of the truly defining icons of LA culture. We are talking, of course, about the Fast and the Furious franchise. 0:27 Since the first movie of the same name, there have been 10 additional Fast and Furious movies, where the Fast family has traveled as far as Tokyo, Brazil, and space. But the heart of the movie lives on here in LA. 0:41 Tourists from all over the world come to take pictures at iconic locations featured in the film, in particular, at Bob's Market, and the Toretto family home in Angelino Heights, and it's now being canonized in ride form. 0:55 [laughs] Last week, Universal Studios hard opened its new roller coaster, Fast & Furious - Hollywood Drift. You have almost certainly heard about this. 1:05 Maybe you've heard the screaming from the ride that people in Toluca Lake are upset about. Maybe you saw that Universal lit up and, and projected an ad on the Hollywood sign, which is a very rare promotional event. 1:19 But this is, I think, unquestionably the most relevant franchise to LA today in so many ways, and it actually connects to current events in the city right now in, in multiple ways. 1:32 We're gonna talk about the movie and a little history of street racing in LA, on-screen and off. 1:38 We're gonna get into the current state of illegal underground car-related activities in LA, including takeovers, and we're gonna get into rides, both this ride, and a report from Universal Studios Hollywood, and some of the other headlines we've seen recently about injuries caused by roller coasters in LA County, and the aftermath of those injuries. 2:00 Let's hit the freaking NOS. [upbeat music] [laughs] Antonia, uh, let's start with you. You did some looking into LA street racing culture as it pertains to this movie and leading up to this movie. 2:11 That history is obviously really, really long, many decades long. We would have... Yeah. We're not gonna do it all. No, we're not gonna do all of it. We'd have to do so many more episodes to cover it all. 2:22 Um, so just here's, like, an overview to sort of lead us into this conversation. Um, cars- Cars... were [laughs]... invented at the same time as moving pictures. Mm-hmm. 2:38 Um, so they sort of have always really gone together very well. Um, s- and, like, the first sort of, like, big bout of car franchi- film franchises were in the '50s, these, like, hot rod movies. 2:51 My personal favorite hot rod movie is a movie called, um, The Ghost of Dragship Hollow. Hmm. Have you heard of this? No. No. It's crazy. It's like- Sounds really scary. 3:00 [laughs] It's a combination, like, horror, but, like, goofy Scooby-Doo kind of horror film. It sounds like it from the title. Yeah. 3:06 [laughs] There is, like, a little unmasking at the end where they're like, "Oh, it was this guy." 3:10 Um, and you have, like, your classic trope of, like, there are a bunch of delinquents, but one of them knows so much about cars. Yeah. Is he a genius? And this girl, get a load of this, she loves to drive. 3:21 She can hold her own. Yeah. Oh, wow. She... And she fixes her own car, can you believe? Oh my gosh. And she- Does she have little smudges of- Oh, yeah... of grease on her cheeks? 3:28 Yeah, and she prefers hot rods to hot romances. Oh. Don't get it twisted. 3:33 Um, anyway, so that was, like, '50s, and then, uh, the thing about youth street culture, 'cause it, even those films were, like, inspired by actual street racing that was happening in Los Angeles, um, is that it's sort of like depending on who the demo of young people are, and the car technology, and also the communication technology really dictates sort of, like, what's popular when. 3:54 Um, and so after we see the sort of hot rod '60s movies, then we see lowrider culture in the '70s. Boulevard Nights, great lowrider movie. I've never seen it. Oh, man. It's so good. Oh. That's wittier. Very cool. 4:08 Um, and then what actually inspired the Fast and Furious franchise is the import car culture, or tune-up car culture in, that really blew up in the '90s with Asian American men when they first started bringing over 4:23 Japanese cars, um, Honda Civics, Toyotas, things like this. Honda was a motorcycle company first and- Yeah... yeah, then became, now definitely is primarily known for No, and at that time there was no Japanese- Mm-hmm... 4:36 car manufacturer, and of course, they became so influential in cars. [laughs] Yeah. 4:42 Um, but the act- the, the Fast and Furious film was inspired by a 1998 article in Vibe Magazine, but the scene in New York was inspired by the scene here in LA that was part of this, like, tune-up culture, um, that really, even though it, like, started with Asian Americans, it, like, 4:58 became very popular with every single kind of, like, young person that was into cars in the area. Um, and that is what birthed this film that we all watched this week. 5:06 I think I may be the biggest fan of this franchise on the podcast. Like, I've watched almost all of them, probably eight or so- Mm-hmm... of the 10. 5:17 I think the 11th and final is slated to come out next summer, um, and I will watch it. I was struck watching this again, like, what a small movie it is- Mm-hmm... compared to what- Hmm... it's become. 5:29 Like, I think of, you know, I forget exactly which one it is, where the car somehow is at the North Pole and is racing- Hmm... 5:36 like an icebreaking Arctic submarine, which, like, I think just the actual math of that in terms of how fast submarines go doesn't totally make sense. 5:45 But, um, you know, you're used to, like, cars jumping between skyscrapers, and this is a gritty, 5:51 small, like, a movie before it had a ton of muscle behind it, before the, like, NOS button has been pressed on the franchise, and you're just sort of watching these kinda awkward characters, like- Figure out if they can act and if they can act together. 6:05 And the, the locations are incredible, um, and somewhat nonsensical. Like for some reason, the police, FBI sting operation is set up in a beautiful mid-century modern- I love that... home just 'cause why not? 6:20 [laughs] That's right. I didn't even notice that. [laughs] And but he calls them out. He's like, "Even the cops are Hollywood," right? That's right. Great line. Oh, it had been seized, uh- Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah... 6:29 from by a famous ac- from a famous actor or something like that- Is it?... or producer. That's how they explain it, yeah. Sort of. [laughs] Yeah. 6:37 And there's sort of, you know, the, the cops are s- are kind of tough-talking types, but then their setup is sort of like effete men who drink iced decaf cappuccinos- Mm-hmm... 6:46 while they pursue these hardcore street racers. It's a, it's an interesting time capsule given what the franchise turned into. I had said leading up to this that I wasn't sure I'd actually even seen the movie. Mm-hmm. 6:58 It just, like I'd hadn't thought about whether I'd sat down and watched it, and watching it now, I, I had seen it just, I think, ambiently over the years. 7:07 It's like it's so iconic that I had just absorbed it over time, so it was all pretty familiar to me. It's also, 7:14 uh, borrows pretty heavily from another great LA movie, Point Break, and so like it follows- I love Point Break... a similar trajectory. Uh, I loved watching it this week. 7:22 The locations especially in this movie are incredible. I, I love any movie that captures a place in LA that has changed a lot. For example, 7:31 do you know where in the first Fast and Furious movie they first gather for the first race? It looks like The Row. It is The Row. 7:38 [laughs] It's Row, technically just Row DTLA is, is what it's called, but the abandoned warehouse where Dom Toretto and Ja Rule and Brian O'Conner first meet for a race is now The Row, the elevated retail complex where you can- Like where's Hayato... 7:55 go to the smorgasbord. Yeah. [laughs] Or get, or get a, uh, go to the scent bar. 7:59 [laughs] Uh, do you know what was there before then and what actually moved into the building at the same time as filming for this movie was happening in the year 2000? No. 8:09 A decade that it would soon dominate after moving in there. American Apparel. Oh. That's interesting lore. Rich in lore- Yeah... this location. Wow. 8:19 Uh, and it's actually this moment in the movie where they o- they go to this abandoned warehouse. They're all, like, lining up for the street race that I think really took a swing at what street racing in LA was. 8:34 Uh, tons of people, high stakes, this very detail-rich, almost clinical obsession with the cars. Uh, and in this case, really diverse. Like, the driver... It's a four-way race. 8:48 The drivers in the scene are Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Ja Rule, and this guy RJ DeVera- Who?... who was very prominent in the Japanese, uh- Import tune-up... import tune-up scene. 9:00 He is part Filipino and part Chinese playing a guy with a Japanese name- [laughs]... 9:05 in the movie, but he was a car guy who was on the set as, like, a car expert, and I watched a lot of really fun, uh, interviews with him. And the race is presided over by a Latino guy. 9:16 He's sort of like a ringmaster, Hector, uh, the great actor Noel G, who is known today for having played dozens of characters named Hector, which he sort of laments- [laughs]... 9:25 that they couldn't find another name for him. Um, and this scene is just, like, crazily iconic. It's the first time we see the Nos, like, really in action, first time we see Brian use his driving laptop. 9:35 [laughs] Uh, and this scene was meant to reflect something happening in LA, and like anything that becomes really popular, it then started to be reflected in street racing culture. 9:46 And if you watch the, the scene today in 2026 and those huge crowds and the scattering when the cops show up, I think what it brings to mind to people in LA today is not street racing so much as street takeovers. 10:00 Takeovers have in, in some ways I think culturally superseded street racing just by virtue of getting more attention, even more, like, negative attention. It's just what you hear about more now in LA. 10:12 Uh, and the attention they're getting right now is pretty enormous, and it's extra relevant this month. 10:17 So I wanted to take a look at street takeovers and their relationship to street racing and what's going on right now. Full disclosure, I drive a Volvo. [laughs] [laughs] It has no aftermarket parts on it. 10:28 I'm not part of this world, but I am, I'm interested. Go ahead. No, just it was funny, in the, like, old 1950s movie that I also watched parts of for this week, there is a reporter that's like... And I thought of you. 10:40 I was like, Hayes is like, this is, like, proto-Hayes. He's there just being like, "What's going on with this motor? Like, who, what are you kids up to?" I'm ready to be dragged into this world- [laughs]... 10:48 like Brian O'Conner. This is, this is my, th- this is hopefully an invitation is coming. So what is a street takeover? It, that is actually an LA term. In Oakland where they started, they're called sideshows. 11:01 Oh, interesting. And it's where w- we've seen it on the news. A large group of people shut down an intersection with some cars in it, and the cars do stunts. They do donuts, like spinning. 11:11 This is where ghost riding came out of, where you leave the, the car in drive and sort of walk alongside it. That, that's more of an East Bay thing. Uh, and sometimes fireworks and balloons and, like, other theatrics. 11:23 The first time street takeover appeared in the LA Times, that phrase, was July 3rd, 2018. Oh, wow. But they increased really dramatically during the pandemic. 11:34 Like, that's when we really started to hear about, uh, street takeovers. Part of what has caused these to take off is the video scene associated with them. 11:43 Street racing in the '90s did not really have the production capacity that these have now, especially 'cause they happen at night. 11:49 Consumer cameras today, even like an iPhone, let you produce something that kinda rivals a studio movie in 2001. Yeah. The videos are really something to behold. It's not-... 12:03 car porn in the way that the movie is and, like, a lot of car video culture is. It's much more of, like, a party video- Yeah... 12:13 or a stunt video, and, uh, that's in part because a lot of the cars are kinda busted, and they end up burned or abandoned at the end of the takeover. But the, the, the video culture around it is immense, 12:25 so immense, uh, that the LAPD has started kinda getting into the game with anti-takeover hype videos. Videos? Hype videos, yes. 12:34 So earlier this month, September 6th, was the day of Operation Street Sweeper, and that was an effort by the LAPD Street Racing Task Force to crack down on an activity that had seen a mixed record when it came to enforcement, and a lot of takeovers that had been happening with no arrests. 12:53 It went down in Harbor Gateway at Figueroa and Alondra, and I wanna play you a video, and I'll narrate the onscreen text. This is from Operation Street Sweeper. This is, uh, from the same... 13:06 They put this out the same day. Uh, the Operation Street Sweeper happened that morning. This video came out at 1:00 PM that day. City of Angels. [laughs] 2:00 AM. [laughs] Operation Street Sweeper. 13:23 150-plus officers. 69 arrests. 200 cars impounded. 570 citations. Street racing isn't a game. 13:43 It's dangerous. It's illegal. Lose your license, lose your ride. Don't let one night cost you everything. Street racing isn't entertainment. It is a crime scene. 14:01 Another flashing badge. [laughs] That is an incredible document. I think you start to watch all those hype videos as part of your investigation, and you get a little jealous. [laughs] Why can't we have one? 14:13 We need one, too. I'm so curious who on their staff made it. I mean, there's tons of cops at this event, tons of arrests, tons of citations. This is a new thing for, for enforcement. 14:26 442 citations for, quote, "spectating at a speed contest"- Ah... which is a violation in the LA Municipal Code. Int- wow. It's been that way for a few decades. Just being there and spectating. Just spectating. 14:35 That's why I was wondering why all the spectators were fleeing that scene in Fast and the Furious. Because they can be- Cited... uh, it was shortly after that that I think they could be cited. Okay. 14:44 But 128 of the citations were curfew citations for minors. Mm. 10:00 PM curfew for minors in Los Angeles. Uh, suffice it to say, there were a lot of kids at this scene. They, they ranged in age from 11 to 17. Wow. 15:02 Uh, there was one report by ABC7 that said the participants at the event ranged from 11 to 18. I think that that's probably wrong, but there were a, there were a lot of kids there. 15:12 Uh, and the strategy that was new from the Street Racing Task Force was to box them in and not let the, the fleeing take place, so everyone could be arrested. They wanted to show repercussions- Yeah... 15:24 for, for even participating in something like this. Similar to the mini bike rally on the 6th Street Bridge the other day that we saw. 15:30 Same thing, blocked both sides of the bridge, cited or, uh, or arrested everyone who participated in that rally. A change in approach for an LAPD that explicitly wants to show repercussions for this activity. 15:42 I was really interested in something I saw in the comments for, for this video and other videos about enforcement around this stuff. The video says, "Street racing isn't entertainment. 15:51 It's a crime scene," mentions street racing a couple times. What I saw were many, many comments saying, "This is not street racing. Don't call it that." Oh. 16:00 Expressing disregard from the street racing community for street takeovers. Huh. And I wanted to talk to someone about that 'cause I think a lot of people outside this world equate this as car stuff. Yeah. 16:14 Uh, so I talked to Robert Valise, who goes by VW Kid. Okay. How old is he? Is he a kid? He is not a kid anymore, uh, but he's been involved in LA car culture since the '80s. He's an 80... 16:25 He grew up in the '80s in Huntington Park, and he used to race all the... He actually pioneered a style of, uh, lowrider VWs that they call Cal style VWs now. Hmm. And he goes, he goes back in this world. 16:39 And I asked him about the street racing community's take on the takeovers, and he said not only is it not street racing, he doesn't consider it car culture. And so I'm gonna put his issues into three buckets. 16:52 Uh, one is danger, the danger factor. Uh, what he said was they would race in industrial areas, like what we saw in the movie. It was a straight drag race. It's after midnight always. And he said that was a safety thing. 17:08 The places they would tend to go, they would go to Stadium Way, near Dodger Stadium- Mm-hmm... 17:12 uh, and Riverside Drive through, like, Frogtown and Los Feliz, and he said before it was developed, or, like, Alameda and, like, parts of Huntington Park near him. Interesting. 17:22 Uh, and they said they never took over a street. They were, like, in these i- industrial spaces because they wanted to have a safety aspect to it. 17:29 To be clear, and, like, he, he, he conceded this, street racing in this form is also incredibly dangerous, and there were, a lot of people died because of this. 17:40 What he said was th- in- intentionally, the risk was borne by the- Drivers... drivers and, and passengers. Okay. So- So he's saying that it's not dangerous for others. 17:50 And it was da- it, it, it also depended on the circumstances. 17:55 So there were, there w- freeway streetwa- racing, which caused a lot of deaths of other, uh, you know, people that were not participating, but I think Robert would say that that was not part of the organized street racing community, uh, and that that also gave-... 18:11 organized street racing a bad name, even though this was also completely illegal and something that LAPD [laughs] at the time also really wanted to crack down on when it was happening. 18:20 But there was a code and the, and people who were doing street racing at that time valued certain kinds of safety. That's what he told me. Yeah. 18:27 He also said that the competitive element was part of what gave it, like, a meaning and purpose back then that these events do not have. 18:38 And he's right that the, the spirit of the movie is not really reflected in, even in the hype video culture, where it's a lot of, like, th- throwing water balloons and, like, the, you know, stun- Like, it's very playful, right? 18:53 Where, like- The new stuff... the new stuff, the takeover culture, where, like, street racing in these movies is [laughs] very, very serious. Like- I see... it's, it's, it's like a l- it's a life or death... 19:06 Like, the stakes are incredibly high. You gotta win money or you might win respect. Yeah. Uh, the, yes, respect is everything. And the takeovers are much more of, like, a DGAF atmosphere- [laughs]... 19:18 among the spectators and, and the racers. Now, well, nothing matters. Including, like, getting kinda hit by the car sometimes in a way that, like, the, you know, like- [laughs]... 19:26 they get bumped in a lot of these- Oh, my God... videos. Uh, and they'll step into the ring as the c- as the backs of the cars are swinging by them and, like, bump the back of the cars. 19:34 Like, that kinda, like, playful risk is part of it. 19:38 The third thing that I thought was interesting is we were talking about, like, the reverence for the cars and the degree of difficulty involved in getting these cars in a position to, like, perform. 19:50 He said, this is a quote from him. He said, "When we were street racing, we invested time, money, and we learned knowledge 'cause we didn't have much money. We were kids. So we had to build our engines. 19:59 We had to learn what made things go fast. It took a lot of money, learning, blowing up engines and things like that. But you know, today's kids, they just buy a car. 20:07 That's the majority of, like, buying cars pretty quick, so they just get in it and go crazy." And he said the, the horsepower of cars now also just, d- just, just makes spinning these cars easier. 20:18 Uh, I asked him about the movie also, which he said was a movie, but accurate in a lot of ways to his experience. Huh. 20:26 He said the movie did right by the way, he said his apprentices were the ones who were in the '90s, like, Honda scene. Yeah. 20:35 Uh, but that they got, uh, you know, people make fun of some of the technical language that they use in the movie, but that they, that they got the- Overall got it right... the spirit of it right. 20:44 And what this dynamic reminded me of was families. [laughs] Generations, like, from the a- Like, this is how people talked about street racing when he was growing up. I mean, I, I know that. Like, that it was dangerous. 21:00 What are these kids doing? They're risking their lives. And now that generation is looking at the younger one- Yeah... and, and seeing something that has changed a lot from what they were doing, and saying 21:13 th- th- that this is dan- this is different from what we were up to. This is putting people at risk that we weren't putting at risk, and doesn't have the same commitment to, to, to craft that we had. So 21:26 the schisms- That's so interesting. Is, is part of the dynamic that the street takeovers are about performing for an online audience as well as having fun for whoever is gathered there in a different way? 21:41 It, it could be. I mean, you, you know, theoretically, for street racing, you could film that in the same way for an online audience. 21:47 And street to- takeovers, the same way street racing did, I would say is even mostly about the in-person experience. Yeah. 21:55 Like, part of what creates the image for the online audience is having tons of people converge on this intersection. And it looks like fun. It looks like fun. Are they dancing in the videos? Oh, yeah. 22:07 I mean, not, like, dancing to any particular song, but, like, everyone is... It's a, it's a party. 22:13 There's one called Wet and Wild that they did in the middle of the day, uh, a, a few weeks ago, uh, where they had big buckets of water, water balloons, like, squirt guns. 22:22 Like, it, it's, it feels like a big summer party- Right... with cars, the, the, the tires smoking everywhere. 22:28 It's interesting to me what you're saying 'cause on my way here, I listened to Martini Works, the most popular podcast about car mods- Hmm. Oh... 22:36 where I, it's three guys from Wisconsin who were, like, clowning each other 'cause they were like, "In, when you were a teenager, you cared about remote ignition, remote start?" 22:46 And I was like, "Wow, I didn't even know you could be clowned for that." Um, but- He started getting into terminology too that- [laughs]... I just really wasn't following. So- It's like, it's so fun. 22:54 It is, like- It's great... it's so fun, but I'm like, "Who knows what you're saying?" 22:57 But one of the things they were talking about on Martini Works is how they were like, "Now cars, your first car is so much more expensive." 23:04 Like, it seems like there's, like, a world in which it's all about showing off the car, car porn, what you said. Like, there's, like, a ton of, like, this is a... 23:12 Oh my God, I couldn't even tell you the names of the cars they were saying. But, like, they were like, "This is the best motor. It goes so fast," and there's, like... And they're like, "It's so much more expensive. 23:20 Like, when we started, you could get a car for, like, 3,000 bucks and mod it, and it would, like, be incredible. But now you're starting with a BMW because you want your starter car." 23:29 So it's like they were talking about the class issues in terms of who can get into- Totally... into tune in, tune-up culture. 23:34 There's a lot of class stuff here where, like, the stereotypical cars are Infinitis, the G35, and the Q50, uh, and, like, Dodge Chargers and things like that. 23:47 But there's stereotypes around the type of kid that participates in this, the haircuts that they have. The, what's the, what's the name of the haircut? I know it. Edgar. Yes. Yes. 23:57 The, they are, the, and the kids are often called Edgars who participate in this world. No kamaka is the phrase that you- [laughs]... that they stereotypically say a lot, which means that it doesn't burn. 24:10 Which, like, a truck doesn't have the power to, uh, to burn in a takeover racing scenario. Wow. Yep. But it's, it's like, it's wa- it's like, it's still happening. 24:22 I think that's like the main thing I'm getting is like we're talking about like Fast and Furious, this like sh- this movie that came out 25 years ago. 24:28 Car, street car culture here in LA is continuing to like be a place where the youth are like showing their creativity to the chagrin and concern of older generations. 24:37 And using cars in performative illegal ways that the LAPD is, is focused on curbing, uh, in, in, in the same way- Exactly... across these generations that are now looking at, at each other with [laughs] total disrespect. 24:54 [laughs] I mean, honestly, like the LAPD pivoting to social video to get its message across doesn't seem crazy. [laughs] Oh, no. No. Yeah. Uh, no. 25:03 It's, uh, uh, uh, they've been doing things like that for a while, but, um, to, to connect it to, uh, this scene that is so much about the, the film culture, um- Yeah... it's just, it's an interesting thing. 25:16 But the economic piece of it is, is so interesting, like the, that the gear is expensive, that the cars are expensive. I mean, even when you watch that first Fast and Furious movie, it's so... 25:26 It's a goofy thing about the rhythm of the movie that the climaxes come when they're like, "I'm gonna push the button that puts the-" [laughs] "... super fuel in," and then it's like vroom. Yeah. 25:35 And it, it, you know, there's one character in the movie who's like the crazy mechanic who should've gone to MIT except for that he had ADHD, but he has so much ADHD, can't even remember the name of it. Mm-hmm. Um, and 25:48 it's a, the movie does not actually dwell on all the tinkering and craft, uh, that c- allows them to build the cars so that they can push the buttons. It's a pretty economical movie. 26:00 It's not that long, so you just get a lot of like tough guys and then like, "And then I push my special button," which 26:06 maybe takes away from some of the skill that, uh, it probably took to actually do those races in- Yeah... the real world. Or it, it's a little short-handed in a kind of a dinky seeming way in the film. Totally. Yeah. 26:16 The cost of these takeover cars really varies. Like I, I think stereotypically a lot of them you just buy on Facebook Marketplace, the, 'cause they're like 20 years old. Infiniti doesn't make sedans anymore. 26:26 As of last year they only make, um, SUVs and crossovers. So like almost like definitionally now these are used cars. Mm-hmm. And like I said, like bumping is kinda part of the thing. 26:38 Like it's, it's, it's gonna come out a little messy, the tires too. So that has something to do with why the, the same level of investment might not be there. Totally. 26:49 And the reason I asked about if people are dancing is because I know a lot about party crew culture. I did a podcast with- It totally reminds me of that... with Elias and Bias. 26:57 And par- And, and what's interesting though is like party crew culture is like what you're describing, but sans cars. 27:02 Like I'm sure they drove there and they cruised or whatever, but they, like you're there to dance, and they would have like crazy dance battles and stuff like that. 27:09 But one of the things that DJ Eddie One told me when I interviewed him for, for us for LA Material, he is the host of, um, La Mega, is he was like, "Kids," he says, "They don't dance. They don't listen to dance music." 27:20 He's like, "They listen to..." He's like, he was so nervous of it. He's like, he's like, "Like stripper music." [laughs] He was like, "They just like, they like slow jam and like listen to like... Yeah, they like vibe." 27:30 But he's like, "They're not out there like moving their, shaking their butts like the way they used to." And I think that is sad. I do think they [laughs] should shake their butts again. Kids these days. 27:39 It's another intergenerational conflict. I know. That- They're not dancing right. What are we gonna do with this- [laughs]... this James Dean character? Well, they're just doing these like d- these like TikTok dances. 27:48 I'm like, "What is that?" Anyway. You know where else the kids are these days? Where? At the theme park. 27:54 They were there on Monday when I went to Universal Studios, um, because it was Yom Kippur so the LAUSD had it off, so there was a ton of kids. More than normal actually. 28:02 And you went for a field report on the culture surrounding, uh, the Fast and Furious: Hollywood Drift ride. Correct. And emphasis on surrounding it- [laughs]... because you did not go on the ride. Okay. 28:18 Before, before we, uh, we go into this, this was [laughs] a panic thing. I'm gonna put on my protective, uh- Okay. [laughs]... necklace that I got at Universal Studios. Oh, wow. Look at this. Yeah. Ooh. 28:28 I don't know if you can see. A cross. The Dom Toretto's cross. Dom Toretto's cross. Whoa. Look at that. $25. Okay. Okay. [laughs] Uh, and- I'm trying to avoid talking about this deep shame that I have. [laughs] Okay. 28:42 And that didn't empower you to go on the ride? Um, okay. You feel protected enough? It, it absolved her from having not gone on the ride. 28:47 It, uh, so full disclosure, last week we were talking about this episode and I so confidently was like, "Oh, I'll go to Universal s- Studios. I'll go on this ride." Multiple back and forths. 28:58 The reason why I was so confident is because I have been to Universal Studios in the past, and as... They had like a, they had a Fast and Furious thing before. As part of the Universal- It was the studio tour. Yes. 29:08 You, uh, you're familiar. You were, uh, you're just on a normal tour- Yeah... and then suddenly you're pulled into this high stakes intrigue- [laughs]... 29:18 by Hobbs, who says that Owen Shaw is pursuing one of the, your fellow guests on the tour who's a witness. Oh. And you get shot at. [laughs] And that's sort of what I was imagining in my head. 29:32 You were like, "I'm down for that." Wow. That's so different. Well, I just thought it couldn't be so much crazier than that. That is not even a ride really. [laughs] It's a movie screen [laughs] next to your tram. 29:41 I don't know. I was- And the tram kind of moves back and forth a little bit. I wanted to look, I wanted to seem cool to you guys. [laughs] I was like, "I'm gonna go." Like, I went on the- You did seem really tough. 29:49 [laughs] I was like, "Wow, Antonia's brave." But I will say that I stood at the exit of this ride and four people told me it was the scariest thing they had ever done. 30:01 And I thought, "I'm kind of scared of the Harry Potter ride. I don't [laughs] really think I can do this." Yeah. And, um, well- You were there with your husband. Yeah. My husband also couldn't do it- Okay... 30:10 for the record. That's what I would ask. We both, we both were like, "We're not doing that." Okay. 30:14 Um, but I am g- I did a lot of Googling of rollercoaster anxiety yesterday, and one of the top tips is to sort of, like, work your way up. Mm. 30:23 So if people have specific ideas of what coasters I can go on to eventually be the kind of tough person that can go on- Mm-hmm... um, Hollywood Drift, I'm very open to suggestions, and I'm, I'm open to change. 30:36 [laughs] This is gonna sound patronizing, but I think Disney World- No, I love Disney World. I think- So that's... Like, Space Mountain, I think, is sort of a gateway coaster. I love Space Mountain. 30:46 I think the thing about Space Mountain- It's, it's, it's, it's intense... is that it's dark. There's something about- Hm... seeing it all out in the world that makes it scarier. Like, you don't re- Yeah... 30:54 you don't know when the dips are coming on Space Mountain. Right. The anticipation kills me. They're called eyelids. [laughs] Wha- [laughs] I was like, if that's a technical coaster term, oh, no. 31:05 [laughs] That's just- Wait, would you have gone on the ride? Yes. Really? Yeah. Are you not... Are you afraid of coasters? I'm trying to, I'm trying to- I've had a disastrous rollercoaster experience. You had one? 31:14 Oh, yeah. You wanna hear about it? Yeah. It was at Magic Mountain. I- Maybe let's go back to that at the end of this segment. Okay. Okay. But I will tell you what I saw when I wussed out. 31:23 Um, an incredible [laughs] thing happened. I entered the park, and immediately I was transported to the films Fast and Furious thanks to, um, Andres, who works at Universal Studios. He did... 31:36 He goes, "Do you wanna hear an impression?" And I go, "Yeah, can I film you?" And he goes, "We're not allowed to do that, but sure." Ooh. Okay. Okay, so that's sort of the vibe he's giving off. Okay? Here we go. 31:48 This is... [rollercoaster riding] I don't have friends. [laughs] I've got family. Driver, move that vehicle. Thank you very much. [laughs] It gets... [laughs] Just the- Wow... worst impression I've ever seen. 32:04 [laughs] It's, it's... Uh, the last line isn't so bad. Delightful. I loved his vibe. Anyways. Then in terms of the sound, 'cause that's been a big issue, how loud are these screams? 32:17 When you're in the amusement park, it is very loud. There is music. There's tons of people. It doesn't sound particularly louder than- Everything else... anything else. However, when we parked, we were next to... 32:29 The, the parking garage we were in was next to the ride, and when the riders would go by, they were screaming really loud. 32:36 Um, and I could see how that sound carrying across a neighborhood every two minutes would be really annoying if I was a Toluca Lake neighbor. It's above the walls too. Yeah. 32:48 That's what probably does it, 'cause the, the park is walled, which contains some of the sound, but once you get up there, maybe it gets over the wall. Yeah. I... Can I, can I give you guys a quote from- Yes... 32:59 one neighbor describing why the, the screaming was so bad? This is a Toluca Lake neighbor to the LA Times. "It's not just a noise like the freeway, which is in the background. 33:08 It'll be quiet for a minute, and then you'll hear this cacophony of screams. It inherently raises your blood pressure and stress level, and it's unnatural to hear that." So unnatural, who could even go on that ride? 33:19 You know what I'm saying? [laughs] Unnatural to hear it. Just- Imagine doing it... just thousands of people per day, but not me, to be clear. Yeah. Not me. 33:27 So there is a reporter, columnist for the LA Times called Todd Martens, who is, like, m- maybe one of- Yeah... the living experts on roller coasters and amusement park rides in Southern California- Mm-hmm... 33:37 and the globe. I used to work with him at the LA Times. He's been covering that beat for years at the paper. He just recently started a newsletter for them called Mr. Todd's Wild Ride- I subscribed to this... 33:47 good name... entirely devoted to rides. So I spoke to him yesterday both about this Fast and Furious ride and about the, um, the, uh, injuries and deaths at Magic Mountain, which we will get to in a moment. 34:01 But he has ridden this ride many times, and says... You know, so the way the ride is designed is you're in a car, and then the car is sort of spinning on the track. 34:09 So I feel like I'm developing a beat here on this podcast as the person who covers things on rails. Mm-hmm. That's right. We have a segment, uh, today about cars. 34:17 This ride is, like, a crucial linchpin of its cars on rails. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Um, and, and the cars spin around, so you can have this experience of, of, you know, doing a donut- Mm-hmm... 34:26 basically, while you're flipping around. Todd has ridden this ride, I think he said north of six times, and he says that it is a great combination of thrill and smoothness. [laughs] So it is... 34:40 He thinks it's very rideable, um, for, for some, for the kind of people who ride roller coasters. Not a, not a person, not a group I'm a devout partisan of. 34:50 I do ride some roller coasters, but I'm kind of a ninny about them myself. Um, 34:55 and he said he thinks it's really, like, a remarkably fun coaster, and one of the most fun in Southern California, which is a area with a high density of roller coasters designed to be fun, 'cause what is the point otherwise? 35:07 Right. Um, in that it, it, like, does a bunch of new stuff, is, like, a kind of remarkably smooth ride for how adventurous it is, so you don't feel jerked around, which is also a topic we will come back to. 35:19 Um, he also noted on the topic of noise canceling for this ride. So they were previewing the ride this spring. The neighbors in Toluca Lake started to complain. 35:30 Um, he, he had s- some updates on the measures they've taken. They took... They put pea gravel in the track, which I read, but I was like, "What does that actually mean?" 35:41 Like, I'm picturing, like, a railroad bed with gravel in it, but that's obviously not what a ride track looks like these days. They... A lot of those tracks are... The tubes are hollow. Hm. 35:50 So you actually fill the tube with gravel, and that, like, dampens- Oh, interesting... some of the rumbling. Okay. 35:55 And then you can see, when you see pictures of this ride, there's kind of, like, glass shells on part of it. Mm-hmm. So I was like, "Is the noise canceling stuff the glass shells or the exterior walls?" 36:04 He said the glass shells do do some noise canceling, but they had pledged, the park had pledged to the neighbors to build two more perimeter walls- Hm... to, to help- Okay... dampen the sound in the way you described. 36:15 One of those has been built. The other one has been promised, but not yet constructed. Um, and the jury's a little bit out on that, and there's a community meeting next week, uh, where Universal will host the- Oh... 36:27 cranky neighbors. Um, so I'm sure we'll hear more-... on that subject coming out of that. 36:32 Um, the other thing that I s- that I was very curious about is, like, how the series is being presented as part of Universal Studios. 36:40 There, uh, there is a merch store next to the ride that is, like, half horror stuff, 'cause they're doing horror nights right now hap- at, um, Universal Studios- Yeah... and half Fast and Furious merch. 36:52 And I spoke to the woman who works there, and she told me that, um, things are actually selling better than they expected. Even during haunted horror nights, people are picking up Fast and Furious things. 37:01 They are completely sold out of a model of the Dodge Charger that, uh, Dominic Toretto rides. They do have, for $575, they have that, that, uh, Dodge Charger signed by Michelle Rodriguez. Wow. 37:18 I asked if anyone had bought that. She was like, "Yes, a, a 40-year-old gentleman bought that." [laughs] Okay, with age. [laughs] I asked if they- Why does he even have to say that? No, no, I w- [laughs] 37:31 I was curious, like, what's the demo of who's buying this stuff? Right, okay. Um, and [laughs] And she was like, "Yeah, his wife was very incredulous that he was doing that." [laughs] Oh, yeah, okay. 37:42 Um, y- and also the, uh, garage s- like, suit-style shirts that say Dominic Toretto for- Oh... $75 are selling really well. Oh, man. No one's- Yeah... coming away from this clean. [laughs] You didn't go on the ride. 37:57 Audrey's, this, uh, his impression wasn't that good. [laughs] This 40-year-old disappointed his wife. 38:02 [laughs] And then I talked to a lot of people who were, like, about [laughs] about to go on the ride, and I was like, "Oh, are you a big fan of Fast and Furious?" None of them really were. 38:11 They were like, "We're just here for the thrill of it." Sure. 38:14 Um, but the people who were posing in front of the two cars that they had on site, including that, that, uh, Dodge Charger, um, and a Nissan Skyline GT-R, uh, from the second film, they, they were, like, mostly also adults taking pictures in front of these cars. 38:29 But there was a 15-year-old in a Blue Lives Matter shirt who was taking a picture, and I asked him, "Do your friends like Fast and Furious?" And he goes, "Oh yeah, we love it." Okay. Take that- That's a demographic... 38:41 demographic information- Yeah... as you will. That's a data point, for sure. [laughs] One data point. Mm-hmm. But that was the youngest person I saw, uh, taking a photo with the cars. Got it. 38:50 Like I said, I am committed to f- for our wonderful audience to become more of a coaster person, but yeah, like, I, like, 38:59 w- we [laughs] when we got out of the car when we first parked, we saw the people, like, go upside down and backwards right above us while we were parked. And my husband goes, "30% chance we're doing it, 70% we're not." 39:11 [laughs] And we were like, "Really?" Like, the whole time we were like, "Are we gonna do it? Are we gonna do it?" And we just like- That's cute... 39:18 it w- when the [laughs] when this one guy from New Zealand was like, "That was the craziest thing I've... I'm not gonna do it," New Zealand accent. [laughs] But we were, like, both Tom and I- Can't undo it... 39:25 looked at each other like, "Oh," like, "We can't do this." 39:27 [laughs] But- It is funny that part of the experience of being at a theme park, maybe you're a cool cucumber, Hayes, but, like, part of it is that thing of, like, standing at the edge of, like, "Am I gonna be brave enough to do the crazy thing?" 39:41 And it honestly must be part of the fun of whatever, drag racing or car c- it's like testing your thrill-seeking-ness. 39:47 I think I would rather be a drag race driver [laughs] than go on a rollercoaster, 'cause it's about control. 39:53 The scary thing is, like, something else is flinging me around versus, like, I'm flinging myself around, I think. I don't know. J- I'm not a c- a cool cucumber. I'm very s- I'm just very susceptible to peer pressure. 40:05 I'm very- And so when you just said, "Would you do it?" I said yes, uh, uh from that susceptibility. I'm also very goadable. 40:12 One of the worst, if you wanna hear it, one of the worst experiences of my life was Magic Mountain related. Okay. 40:20 And this will be a transition to what we're gonna, we're gonna be talking about Magic Mountain in a second. But when I was working on Eastbound & Down, we were working really hard at this job. 40:29 Weeks, and we, we'd been, like, uh, uh, in the writers' room working super hard. And Danny McBride's there every day. He's running the show. 40:36 And he said, "Tomorrow, uh, let- let's come in at, uh, 8:00 AM instead of our normal start time, just so we can, like, really, really get a jump on the day." I'm like, "Ugh, okay." We show up. 40:46 He says, "Hey, I know you guys have been working really hard. Uh, as a reward, there's a party bus outside. We're going to Magic Mountain." Oh my God. Like, that's why I had you come in early. 40:54 Did that feel like a reward to you? Absolutely. [laughs] And I had a sense of where, the, I really have to pack it in right now. This is my party for maybe the next, like, few months, so I have to do it all right away. 41:09 We get on the party bus. I started drinking immediately. [laughs] And this is, like, you know, the cult- like, you know these guys. Danny McBride smokes weed. It's not a secret. 41:18 Uh, and so he is handing out these, like, Jolly Rancher edibles. I'd never had an edible before. Take this whatever Danny McBride grade- [laughs] Oh, God... edible. I'm so stressed for you already. 41:31 [laughs] Had something like two or three beers on the party bus, get to Magic Mountain. They got us a pass that allowed us to stay on the rollercoaster after we rode it. Uh-huh. 41:44 So every time we get on the rollercoaster, we go twice. So by 10:30 AM, I'm pretty drunk. Uh, I've been on maybe eight or nine rollercoasters. Oh my God. And the edible, uh, of course, has not kicked in yet. 41:58 I get on this one coaster called something like Riddler's Revenge, and my vision goes grayscale. [laughs] Oh, no. Uh, and I sort of lightly pass out on the rollercoaster. Mm. Uh, then do it again. 42:16 Uh, and then afterwards, time for lunch. We go to the pizza window. They give me, they, uh, present my slice of pizza to me. 42:24 I say, "Thank you," don't take the pizza, turn around, walk a few steps, and drop to my knees- [gasps]... and then pitch forward onto the ground. The next thing I'm in a puddle, and it has not rained in [laughs] 42:39 quite some time. [laughs] Uh, the next thing I know, uh, I'm actually in my head back on the ride that I was just on. 42:48 I'm waiting to go in my brain, and I hear a voice in the sky of one of my bosses saying, "He did, he did drugs," whispering to someone- [laughs]... he did drugs. Sort of flash in and out, I can tell I am in a wheelchair. 43:02 [laughs] Oh. [laughs] And when I'm conscious again, a Six Flags medic of some kind, uh, is treating me by trying to put pizza in my mouth. [laughs] He's trying to get me to eat my pizza [laughs] to cure me. 43:18 [laughs] Six Flags medicine. [laughs] Uh, the, my bosses who I wanna impress so much come in and are like, "Oh, my God, are you okay?" Like, "Oh, yeah." [laughs] "It's, like, so crazy. 43:28 Must've been the rollercoaster or something." Obviously, it was my weed tolerance. Uh, I try to walk, can't. Uh, and I t- end up taking the party bus back home by myself with the lights going. [laughs] Oh, no. 43:45 And, uh, they, they drop me off. My wife, who I had, had last seen me sending pictures from Six Flags, I'm so excited for my little vacation, comes home [laughs] at, like, 12:30 or 1:00 to find me passed out in bed. 44:00 Uh, it turned out I had a hairline fracture in my kneecap- Oh, my God... so I'm on crutches for the next few months- [gasps]... 44:06 at work, which is a fun reminder to, to everyone of, of what happened at Six Flags Magic Mountain. Dangerous. Hayes. It's, it's dangerous. 44:15 Hearing this story after the reading I've done in preparation for what I'm [laughs] about to share is horrifying. The, the ro- It's horrifying anyway... 44:23 the, the roller coasters, and especially when you've, like, basically done drugs for the first time, [laughs] uh, are wor- I remember them being really, really intense- Yeah... under, u- under those circumstances. 44:36 Um- [laughs] I'm so sorry. I'm, like, so stressed for you. It was a while ago now. We, uh, we can all laugh about it. Okay, good. [laughs] But, uh, that, that was- Sounds- I just went a little too hard. 44:45 I got too excited for, for my party. [laughs] For my reward. Oh, Hayes. Um- Okay, I n- I know-... I'm very glad you're okay... this great transition into the horror [laughs] stuff happening at Magic Mountain. Yeah. 45:00 Well, I mean, you are right that the rides at Magic Mountain are scary. 45:05 So the, the thing that is interesting to understand about the theme park audience, which will be obvious to regular theme park goers, but may not be obvious to everyone, is that there are theme parks that are designed to be family-friendly, and fun, and have rides where you can kind of be like, "Whoo, that was a little bit exciting." 45:22 Yeah. And then there's rides that are, uh, parks that are full of rides that are designed to be extreme thrill rides, um, that attract a thrill-seeking crowd. Mm-hmm. 45:33 And Magic Mountain has, from the jump, been a place of rollercoaster innovation, rollercoaster advancement. Six Flags in general, that's, it's part of the brand. Yeah. It's sort of where you go to, like, 45:48 take a rocket- Mm-hmm... do some- you know, test physics, do something that has never been done before. Um, and they're, they're... 45:56 It, it's a very different culture than Disney, certainly, and then Universal is sort of more at the, in the kind of, like, family theme, brand connection- Right... end of the- Yeah... 46:06 spectrum, although some of their rides do get a little more, you know- They're trying to appeal to a broad audience. Right. So that's the baseline. 46:12 I mean, the, the experience you had at Six Flags is, you know, sounds extreme, but, like, going on- It actually happens to a lot of people. [laughs] That's what she's saying. [laughs] It's not... 46:22 It's very normal to have happen to you. 46:23 [laughs] Well, going on a ride and, and really testing the limits of your fear, and your bravery, and your tolerance, and your, your ability to, like, think, "Holy shit, I'm gonna die," for a sustained period of time, uh, is, like, part of the point of Six Flags, to Six Flags partisans. 46:40 Mm-hmm. And Magic Mountain is considered, like, a, a great place within the... If, if that's your bag, Magic Mountain is a great place to go. Mm-hmm. Um, 46:49 the, the very crazy and scary rollercoaster story that has come out of it this year is that in July, six days apart, two women on a rollercoaster there called X2, which is more than 20 years old, it's been a- adjusted a couple of times, but it's a, it's a, an older coaster, uh, they lost consciousness. 47:09 They suffered severe brain injuries that required emergency brain surgery. The same medical team treated both of them, actually. 47:16 Um, and, and after the second woman's injury, which was, I think, on July 11th, the ride was shut down on July 12th, but the park did not comment on why. 47:26 A couple different coaster observers and Reddit sort of picked up that that had happened. Um, there were some r- reports about the injuries. 47:34 Um, but then in late August, CNN published an investigation that offered more detail both on what happened to the women and then also chronicling more than a dozen severe injuries or hospitalizations on the coaster over the years of its run- Mm... 47:50 including two deaths. Mm-hmm. Um, these stories are 47:56 horrifying to encounter, and they open up to me an understanding of how coasters are and are not regulated, and how people think about riding them and the risks associated ri- w- with riding them, that I had not contemplated before. 48:10 And those two, I think, it, it made the news that those two injuries had happened in such quick succession. I think it was really the second one, it was like, "What, what has changed- Right... about this coaster?" 48:20 But based on the investigation, which I hadn't heard about, it seems like there were other incidents. Yeah. There were incidents over a long s- Over a long period of time... period of time. Mm-hmm. 48:31 Um, the fact of two happening six days apart- Right... caused the park, and I think, um- 48:38 You know, one, one of the things I learned researching this segment is that in fact there is no federal regulation of roller coasters. The regulation of roller coasters happens state by state. Interesting. Hmm. 48:47 In California, they're regulated by Cal OSHA, and the parks are required to report injuries, which is not true in every state. Mm-hmm. Our state, uh, does... is generally regulation friendly- Mm-hmm... 48:59 and after some injuries 28 odd years ago, became a state where there is required reporting to the state, although not required public reporting- Hmm... about injuries. 49:08 So, um, so the CNN story first gets into the tale of the two women who suffered these injuries in July, one of whom was hospitalized for weeks. 49:17 You know, once she regained consciousness, which was after several days, she was only able to speak one word at a time. She had to relearn how to walk. She still has f- you know, memory, brain fog issues. 49:27 Like, she, she said she told CNN that she, you know, is struggling not to, like, mourn the person she was before she took this ride- Hmm... as she slowly tries to regain- Poor... her faculties. 49:37 The other young woman, who was 25 at the time of CNN's report in late August, had not yet regained consciousness, was in a coma, still hospitalized. Hmm. 49:46 Um, and the, the injuries described are subdural hematomas, so basically bleeding in the brain. And, um, 49:56 you know, what CNN found when they started to look into this was a history of reports and injuries and even deaths across 20 years. 50:03 So they told the story of a young man, a 22-year-old kid, um, who in 2022 celebrating his graduation from college with his brother and cousin, went on the ride, collapsed to the ground immediately after getting off of it. 50:17 This is part of why your story is so horrifying. He is, um, was taken to a hospital and died within hours. Hmm. Um, and you know, the CNN story itself documents around more than a dozen of these incidents, but even in 50:36 reading between the lines of the incidents they've documented across time, there's suggestion of potentially more. So, uh, the, the young man who died, uh, was named Christopher Hawley. His family fi- filed a lawsuit. 50:50 That suit was actually supposed to start this month, but they settled shortly before the CNN report published in August. 50:56 Um, but in the preliminary filings for that suit, one of the, uh, experts on Hawley's side alleged that there were reports of at least 70 prior head and neck injury complaints from the X2 coaster riders in the three years leading up to Hawley's death. 51:12 Hmm. So CNN has a dozen, more than a dozen documented serious injuries or hospitalizations across the 20 years, but 51:20 there's suggestions that there are some other, you know, potentially even more than that, that were less severe but still documented or, um, injured. It's really interesting seeing what 51:32 coaster fans and thrill-seekers make of this news. Like, if you go to the Reddit page for Six Flags Magic Mountain- Mm-hmm... the, the tenor of the debate is kind of like, "Oh, I hope they don't shut down X2." 51:45 And when I spoke to Todd Martins, he was like, "X2 is one of the top three most extreme and thrilling coasters in the world." Like, it is a- Hmm. Hmm... a very, very extreme ride. He said he has only ridden it once. 51:57 He, it's his job to try every ride in Southern California. He told me that he had ridden it once and would never ride it again, even before... 52:05 Th- this was his verdict when he first rode it, even before any of this reporting came out. You know, he said at one point you're kind of being, like, dashed headfirst into the pavement and then spun around. 52:15 Um, on the Reddit page, you know, some people are saying, "Look, if there's this many injuries, it should be shut down. Maybe it's time. It's kind of an old coaster." Uh, others saying, "This is such a special ride. 52:24 I hope they find a way to save it." Others saying, you know, "There's no way that Six Flags will put the money into it to restore it and fix it." 52:31 So it sounds like the culture around this coaster is that it is, it is very extreme. It is beloved by the people who ride it. Um, you know, the, the, 52:41 a dozen serious injuries across 20 years is both horrifying, especially if you're not a coaster freak and you're like, "Why should anybody die for something- Right... that's so optional and fun?" Um, 52:53 there was a really, a, a big report in The New Yorker in 2004 about, um, kind of the arms race in roller coasters at these Six Flag-type parks of, like, "Come to my park because I've got, you know, more inversions than anyone else. 53:06 Come to my park because the drop is faster than it is anywhere else." Like, the marketing goes hand in hand with a kind of increase in extremity of the coasters. 53:16 Um, and that's part of what the coaster fans are looking for. In the safety analysis in that story, which is 20 years ago, it said there's something like four theme park deaths per year- Mm-hmm... 53:26 which makes going on theme park rides, like, proportionally to the per capita use of them, like, a little bit safer than driving- Hmm... and more dangerous than flying or taking a train. You know, so, like, 53:42 it's horrifying to read about these injuries, and it's over a long span of time that the reporting is happening. And I think, you know, one thing that's interesting is that this is 53:54 a very extreme thrill ride, but not cutting edge coaster technology, because it was built 20 plus years ago, revamped about 20 years ago. So it's kind of like a, an, an oldie, a golden oldie- Hmm... 54:07 of coasters, and it'll be really interesting to see whether the park keeps it open. It's currently closed? Currently still closed. Hmm. Pending the investigation. Yeah. 54:16 It's, I mean, it's a real running theme in this episode, risk assessments, like who is participating in something knowing that it's really dangerous. 54:28 Like when, when I was talking to VW Kid, street racers know that it's really dangerous. 54:32 If you're just getting on a roller coaster, you are certainly not assuming that you could die from getting on, that there's enough oversight, that you're, like, you're general- Right... gen- generally protected. 54:45 Uh, and, you know, all of this under the umbrella of a franchise whose protagonist died in a car crash, Paul Walker, in Valencia, we learned just before we recorded this, home of Magic Mountain. 54:59 I, I didn't, I didn't quite realize that that's, that's where it was. Yeah. I mean, I- it was really sad re-watching the first movie and seeing, you know, Paul Walker gunning his engine, knowing the fate of the actor. 55:13 I had forgotten the details of that crash. It was actually a friend of his was driving him away from, there was, like, a event for a charity that- Yep... Paul Walker started. 55:22 Um, his friend was driving him somewhere in a Porsche. They were going 85 to 90 in a 45. The, the cops estimated the car velocity had, um, was north of 100 by the time it hit some poles and streetlamps. 55:36 And, um, you know, it, it, it's, it adds a really dark undertone to the whole series that some of the people who made it were actually- Totally... interested enough- Yeah... 55:47 in actual speed and risk that that part of what the films are glamorizing is this danger. 55:53 But I think it's so interesting what you said about you would rather drag race than ride a rollercoaster, 'cause at least you're in control. Yeah. 55:59 I do think that's, like, an insti- I have a friend who's afraid of flying, and she's like, "If I could fly the plane, I would feel better." 56:04 And then I think there's people who are more institutionalist, who are like, "I'm so happy that this whole system exists." Someone else is concerned about, yeah. "I don't have to worry. 56:10 They're in charge of whether the plane crashes. It's not on me." And I think those are different psychologies of risk. 56:15 I think what's interesting about the theme parks is you might assume, because it's a big corporate experience you're paying for, that it's totally safe. The patchwork of regulation is very erratic. 56:29 Like, there's some states where there's no regulation at all. Um, it sounds like California, you know, it has more than a lot of places, but also a lot of rides, and it'll be interesting. 56:40 I think there'll be a lot more scrutiny on this investigation, just given the extremity of the claims and what Cal OSHA ends up deciding and declaring about it, and more attention probably to the manner in which they regulate all rides. 56:52 Six Flags, because of marketing itself to thrill-seeking youngsters, like, it has a, that is the business model of this company, but it's one that it, they've been ambivalent about. Six Flags Magic Mountain was actually 57:04 launched to incentivize people to buy up land and start living in and around Valencia. It was, it was considered kind of like a, an attraction- Oh, interesting. Yeah... or program. 57:12 Like, "Oh, here what might be a nice place to live. Just like near University, you can go on your lunch break. Here, come live near- Mm-hmm... these beautiful coasters and have a, have a lovely, lovely life." 57:19 [laughs] Um, in the, in, in 2006, the CEO of Six Flags floated to the LA Ti- Times the idea of selling 57:29 Six Flags Magic Mountain, because the land value, they had been so successful in convincing people to live in Valencia- Mm... 57:34 that the land value of the park, uh, was really high, and they were kind of struggling with their business model, because Six Flags had become so known for what he called, quote, "a rowdy teenage atmosphere," that they were having trouble attracting other kinds of attendees. 57:51 Interesting. They were victims of their own success. Yeah. 57:53 So he was experimenting with a model for Six Flags, which I think they've since abandoned, of trying to kind of reduce the company's reliance on, quote, "teens that drive our security problems, who loiter in the park, hate my no smoking policy, and don't spend money." 58:06 Well, that, okay. This is- It's back to the teens. I'm... Yeah. 58:10 T- it's important, because the other thing that I didn't mention, we talked about the invention of cars, we talked about the invention of moving pictures, but also teenagers as a concept was an idea that didn't emerge until the '50s. 58:21 Like, this group of young people who didn't have jobs, but didn't have, like, something to do, and what are they gonna do? They're gonna ride cars. They're gonna go to the amusement park and, and, uh, you know. 58:32 And who was the avatar of those teenagers at that time? James Dean. Who died. In a car crash. Whoa. [laughs] I mean, it's, you know, like, it's, i- it's been a tension for a really- Yeah... long time. 58:47 And part of also what the street racer community was saying about the teens is they don't spend money in the same way. They don't invest in the same way as, uh, as, as they, as they did. 58:58 Well, it's been a long day- [laughs]... without you, my friend. We've come, we've come a long way from where we began. [laughs] And we'll tell you all about it when we see you again on LA World. 59:09 Thank you so much for listening to our episode this week and every week. You'll find links to the things we talked about today on our show page at lamaterial.com/podcast. Our story editor this week was Hebba Elorbany. 59:20 We were filmed by John Nah. We were produced by Seven Eckis. Michaelangelo Rodriguez made our theme song. 59:25 Don't forget to follow us on YouTube at youtube.com/@laworldpod and sign up for our free weekday newsletter at lamaterial.com/subscribe. 59:36 Talk about your favorite Fast and Furious movie in our LA forum, uh, which you can subscribe to at lamaterial.com/upgrade, and we will see you next week. Bye. 59:48 [upbeat music]
