CTP (S3EOctSpecial3) What else have our moods kept us from seeing (in books or movies)?

CTP (S3EOctSpecial3) What else have our moods kept us from seeing (in books or movies)?
[BOOKS / AUTHORS Weeks - Week 1 sub-episode 1 - generic kickoff of BOOKS / AUTHORS WEEKS general overview of books (and even movies) as whole thoughts and considerations (sub-metaphors) many often miss discussion.]
We explore why Die Hard reads as a Christmas story about forgiveness and family, then connect it to Signs, They Live, and Capra’s films to show how metaphors carry meaning people often overlook (in both movies and books). We also share how mood changes what we notice and why rewatching reveals the hidden threads.
• Books & Authors Weeks kickoff and focus on story meaning
• Die Hard framed as a Christian Christmas narrative
• Redemption, forgiveness, and family as core themes
• Signs interpreted as a faith-restoration story
• Terror as a narrative vehicle, not the point
• Symbols, names, colors, and numbers as guides
• Mood and timing affect what we perceive
• The Sixth Sense and the color red pattern
• Metaphors for compromise and long-term goals
• They Live and Capra as critique through allegory
• One-offs, sequels, and original intent
• Encouragement to rewatch with new context
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Chapters

• 0:00 Books & Authors Weeks kick-off
• 2:43 Framing Die Hard as Christmas
• 4:24 Redemption, family, and subtle symbols
• 7:33 Signs as a movie about faith
• 10:39 Author’s book and deeper themes
• 13:31 Die Hard’s “terrorists” as cover
• 17:27 Rewatching with new context
• 21:00 Metaphors in They Live and Capra
• 23:57 Look deeper, not just surface
• 27:27 Mood shapes what we notice
• 30:07 Sixth Sense and the color red

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:19

Welcome to Institutional Politics Podcast, aka C T P. I'm your host, Joseph M. Leonard, and that's L-E-N-A-R-D. C T P is your no must, no plus, just me, you, and an occasional guest, hype podcast. Really appreciate you tuning in. Hello everyone. Welcome to Books, Authors Weeks, October of 2025. I had Health Weeks in February of 2025. I had a Music Weeks, three of those in the month of March 2025. So here we are October. I have a lot of fellow authors I have the chance to have discussions with. So Books, Authors, Weeks, October 25. Without further ado, let's head into a discussion with a fellow author. Okay, I kind of sort of lied a bit on this first episode. Right? Joking, of course. I realized I did a video exclusive that relates to book writing. The not so hidden messages in books that often get overlooked. Also movies. I'm gonna talk about some movies. But I'm gonna now use that what was a video exclusive as week one, episode one of Books Authors Weeks on CTP. Here we go. Hello everyone. This is going to be another one of those, oops, trying to fix the green screen there. Pardon. Another one of those odd ones, right? I'm wearing a Merry Christmas shirt to talk about Die Hard. Is it a Christian movie or a Christmas movie? Well, it's October, hence the title, right? Die Hard season is what I expect will probably be the title. We're getting it's a wonderful life, and you know, all those Christmas movies will be starting, and Die Hard will be shown again over and over again because yes, it's a Christmas movie. Why do I know? How do I know it's a Christmas movie? Well, first and foremost, and before I say that, I was on Hodge Podge show a year, maybe two years ago now. Check out that. We talk about it's in Wonderful Life and Die Hard. I'm not gonna retread the ground there. That I did there. So Hodge Pod, you know, like in Hodge Podge of stuff. Hodge is his name, Hodge Pod for podcast, Hodge Pod. Okay, anyway. The writers of Die Hard say it's a Christmas movie because they sat down to write a Christmas movie. It's about a guy seeking forgiveness, it's about family, him wanting to get together and restoring his family. It's a redemption movie, it's very much a Christian Christmas movie which all hell breaks loose in, right? He's there to do one thing, and the thing that he was so good at and so focused on that drove that wedge between him and Holly, there's a hint there, right? They didn't call them the Tannin bombs. That would have been a little too much of a you know subtle hints, like her name being Holly, is one of the Christmas hints in there. And at the end, you know, the paper's coming down like snow in LA. But again, a guy who was too focused on his job and his work. Why am I having green screen issues, share? Anyway, whatever. Stop my OCD focusing on something that's not really important. What's important here is indeed the story, a guy and thoughts and prayers to Bruce Willis. The news has come out, they put him in a home for 24-7 care for dementia. He's not doing real well. That's not why I'm doing this episode, but since I am thoughts and prayers to Bruce and his entire family, he's not doing well. But being a good cop, a hard-nosed cop, and focusing on the job, that kind of put a little wedge in the family because the family didn't think that he was paying enough attention to them and whatnot, and why Holly felt like she needed to leave and get a new beginning, blah blah blah blah blah. It was that bad that now saves their asses. Sorry, right? But his hard-nosed copness is what saves their asses now and brings them all back together by having saved them all and realizing the importance of family and togetherness and overlooking some issues, right? Family, forgiveness, redemption, very much Christian and Christmas movie. So it's like the movie Signs, M. Night Shyamalan, right? Do you? I hope you've seen that. There will be spoiler alerts here. And a lot of people do, oh, that alien movie. There was an alien in it, what five, seven, ten minutes, cops? It was a movie about a guy of faith, losing his faith, restoration of faith, forgiveness, redemption, the why are we here? Why do bad things, why does God sometimes allow bad things happen to good people? Like, spoiler, the kid has asthma. Why? Why did you do this to my kid? What it was the asthma that saves the child because when the alien tried to poison the child, he was in an asthmatic state and his system closed up. So the disease really was the cure that saved him. It's a movie about faith. It's a Christian faith movie, but to this alien concept is involved, right? The bad things happen to good people, and sometimes stuff happens, but that is there to set up and tell the story of the man who lost his faith and regained it. But to this day, my sister included, oh, that alien movie. No, no, that's not the point of the movie. It's not what it's really about. It's also like, as an author myself, terror strikes coming soon to a city near you. Terrorism, right there in the title. Oh, oh, it's about and only about terrorism. No, no, not really. It's not about death and destruction, it's about life and living. It's a very non-traditional, non-fluffy Christian book about family and friends and life and living and cherishing life versus those who want to destroy life, good versus evil. It's very much a Christian book. The terrorism is what begins and leads the thread all the way through to the end to be able to talk about all those other things. And like the Science movie, people either get it or they don't, or my book, they get it or they don't. They are so narrowly focused on the historical fact points that are in there for educational purposes, because our education system is so bad people don't know anything, but that's the thread that ties it all together. All the other important things, the family, friends, faith, life, cherishing life and living and wanting to spread love and peace over hate and chaos. It's the same thing with diehard. Some people are focused on the terrorists, which, like Han said in says in the movie, who said we're terrorists? Right? They're criminals posing as terrorists so they can rob this building. And it's a good timing to do it during the Christmas holiday because you know, security is kind of more lapsed. We let our guard down. That's the you know what that hits the fan that happens, the bad stuff that can happen to good people to allow the story to be told of family and wanting forgiveness and redemption, the importance of family. Very much, I know I'm repeating myself again, Christian Christmas movie. Now, having said all that again and online you can find uh like the 12 days of Christmas, the 12 reasons why diehard is a Christmas movie from the producers of Die Hard that explain to you various things like her name being Holly. It takes place at Christmas because it's intended to be a Christian Christmas movie. All the things that people avoid, you know, oh look, crime, terrorism, crime, terror, he's a cop, he's taking down some terrorists. That's the vehicle, like in my terror strikes books, that ties the story thread together for the more important moral of the story subplot points in the film or in my book, or in the movie signs that people to this day still don't grasp. I I love M. Nice Amalan films. They are very deep and they are often about other than what people try to project on them, or people's basic narrow views limit themselves into believing they're about. At any rate, well October, kind of early, maybe to be thinking about the Christmas mood, but it just popped in my head. I felt like I needed to just die hard, very much a Christmas movie, and the why. And well, get ready, it'll be on TBS most likely again, over and over and over again for Christmas. Contact a Christmas movie. So I I don't know what else to say, right? It's an odd timing, you might think, but I hope you understand the why I felt I needed to do this. And again, please check out Hodge Pod that I was a couple episodes. We talk about It's a Wonderful Life, we talk about Die Hard. We also go to other Frank Capra movies since It's a Wonderful Life is a Frank Capra movie, like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. I talk about It's a Wonderful Life, the politics in there that people completely miss. That that's like the John Carpenter movie They Live, right? Oh, that alien movie. No, it was a head of the the aliens were a stand-in for big, overgrown, overblown, inclusive, overgrown government and power elites lording over and controlling people. Aliens are a metaphor, just like in signs to a degree, they're just a vehicle for the story. So please watch signs and die hard again, and it's a wonderful life. Knowing Frank Caprell, part of Mr. Smith goes to Washington's in there as Potter, the evil guy. There's politics involved there, him wanting power and control over everything, right? And as well as obviously my book, Terror Strikes Coming Sooner and City Near You, with this new understanding, this new light that you will be able to now see in all these things. You may have not paid attention, or others, others convinced you it. Oh, it's only about aliens. No, no, look deeper. Thank you all. Take care. God bless. Early Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Take care. God bless. Love you all. Oh, hold on. Gonna tack on here. So I thought of something else. My OCD. You know, I recorded this right before going to bed, went to bed, and oh, I should have said, oh, I should have said, oh, I need to say. Our moods, right? Our temperament, our what we're going through any given day, our mindsets affect how we perceive things at times, right? When you first read a book, you might miss something. You first see a movie, you might miss something, right? So it's okay to admit you missed something, right? I can't tell you, I don't know, I don't remember how many times, speaking of M. Night Shyamalan and Bruce Willis, I can't tell you the number of times I watched The Sixth Sense before I caught on to No Not The Twisted. Got that right away. Right? The thing we're not supposed to give away about the end in case if somebody is yet to not see it yet. But what I'm talking about is the red thing. Do you know what I'm talking about? Well, if you'd asked me the first ten times I seen that film, I wouldn't have known what I was talking about either. But now that I've said something, red, the color red, the importance of red in that film, now go back and watch that and watch for the importance of red. If may did you know, did you notice, but I didn't? Again, you know, you might have picked up on it before I picked up on it. I finally picked up on it. Oh, okay. I missed it. I missed it maybe a dozen times before I finally, oh my goodness, I see what he's doing there. Right? Like being an author. Most of the time things are in there because there's an importance or a meaning, a uh something even subconscious trying to be conveyed by the writers, the producers, the directors, me as an author. Like recently, let me hold this up, right? I hate giving away spoilers, but I'm gonna give away a spoiler. The Book of Kennedy, Project Kirby Deal. In the book. The bunk beds. All right, that's it's on the bunk bed scene. You might think, what in the when you read it, what in the what is this have to do with anything? Maybe he's just trying to be weird and quirky. Well, to some degree, yes, that's kind of part of the point. But the bigger, broader thing that I hope people get is the understanding of what compromises are you willing to make? What allotments in life are you willing to make? What are you willing to settle for less than ideal for a greater, broader, good, longer term, you know, short, medium, and long-term goals and aspirations. What are you willing to potentially deal with and put up with or settle for here for greater, better goals will be achieved, accomplished, seen later. Right? So the bunk beds are a metaphor for again, overall things in life. Humanness is this reality isn't perfect. There is never perfect, never let good be held hostage to the notion of the perfect, or whatever the official proper saying of that is. I think you know what I mean, right? But so it's not just some stupid little quirky throwaway idiocy in the book of Kennedy. There's a greater, bigger, broader point trying to be made there. But I can't, you can't read my mind. I can't read yours, and I don't know the mood or the mindset you're in when you read the book of Kennedy, Project Carpathium. Some people will pick up on what I'm getting at, and some people will just think, well, that's really stupid. What's that in there for? And miss that point. And that's okay. It's not anybody's fault. It's not a problem. Maybe they'll pick it up again later, like me with the sixth cents, the 15th time picking up on the red, and they read the Book of Kennedy, Project Carpe Diem, for a third or a fourth time. And oh, wait a minute. I I get what he's doing there now. I missed it before, but I get it now. And that can be true with the movie Die Hard. A whole lot of people just missing things that the writers and producers hoped people would get, but they didn't. They weren't intending a diehard franchise, they just wanted a good Christian Christmas movie, and those things were in there that then when it was a big hit. Oh, well, of course, duh, of course, we're gonna make a diehard two, and if that does well, a three and a four. But how do we do that? Because we didn't necessarily intend it. Some movies they do that, right? Like terror strikes coming soon to a city near you. I did not intend a sequel, but indeed, there is openness for a sequel, right? So I think when they write these movies, there might be an inkling that, well, you know, we need to do something that indeed can lend towards a sequel of some kind, if that opportunity should be afforded. But you know, a lot of times these and like with terror strikes, it's open. I could do a sequel, I still don't plan on doing one. It's meant to be a one-off. But you know, if diehard was meant to be a one-off Christian Christmas movie, but it became such a hit that okay, how can we work a sequel and then then another and another, then from there without intending that those things would happen. It was intended to be. I don't know, I can't read their mind. I don't know if they plan to do that or not. Anyway, I'm getting way off point here now. Point being, yes, Die Hard's a Chris Christian Christmas movie, and it's okay if you missed parts of the points and the hints and the clues that were in there, why it indeed is a Christian movie. It's not about Hans and the criminals. There had to be a foil that to demonstrate how good a guy John McClain is. There had to be an offset, a bad guy, right? Hans the antichrist, if you will, and his twelve anti-apostles. Oh, yeah. Did you get oh I know I missed that one. Hodge of Hodge Pod pointed that one out to me. Oh, brilliant, absolutely brilliant, and yes, I missed that. Hans and the 12 anti-apostles. Christmas, Christ and the Apostles, Hans and the Anti-Apostles. Utterly brilliant. And yes, I missed it. It's okay that I missed it. And I it's okay to now admit that I missed it. And thank you, Hodge, for pointing that out to me. That I missed it. Because now when I watch the movie over again, I appreciate that subplot point all the more. Because now, oh, I missed that, but I get it now. All right. Hopefully I've covered everything now. I need to go back to bed and try to get sleep. It's late. Take care. God bless. Love you all. Thanks for tuning in to books. There will be several different books, authors, several different authors, books, authors, weeks for October of 2025. And remember, you can check out my books at josephmleonard.us slash shop. And again, Joseph M. Leonard, it looks French, it's French, it's not Lennard, it's Leonard without an O. And I have to put the middle initial in there because there is a Joseph Lennard, who is also a Christian author out of South Carolina. So I have to make that distinction. And going in line with books authors of weeks, I've joked as guests on other shows. I am not he, he is not me, and neither of us will be confused for Shakespeare. And frankly, most writers out there are not going to be confused for Shakespeare. They're not trying to be. Like and subscribe to Christitutional Politics Podcast and care episodes. We need your help. Thank you for having tuned in for Christitutional Politics Gel. If you haven't already, please check out my primary internationally available book hero strike. Coming soon to be near you. Available anywhere book to store. If you have only one book store still near you, they can order it for you and let me remind overtime. But for now, the starter is new. I think very effective. No floor. Just wait to keep something for.