August 16, 2024 • 36 mins
6:15 - Camp One Clap 2024: Day 15
For notes and details about the episode, check out the website here:
https://www.oneclapspeechanddebate.com/post/camp-one-clap-2-episode-15-alexis-worthen-on-horror-films-debate-and-model-un
Join us at Camp One Clap as we welcome back Alexis Worthen, a quad ruby and Academic All-American Speech and Debater, who humorously admits her limited survival skills. This episode takes you on Alexis's journey from dominating high school debate to studying Political Science at Simmons University. Alexis reminisces about her time in high school Speech and Debate and discusses her current adventures in Model UN. Prepare to be captivated by Alexis's love for the horror genre as she discusses "The Last of Us" and its deep reflections on humanity. We dive into the emotional intricacies of Ari Aster’s "Hereditary" and "Midsommar," touching on themes of denial, grief, and mental health. We also highlight the unique style of A24 films and Nicolas Cage's greatness. Don't miss it!
If you’d like to join the discussion here at One Clap Speech and Debate, shoot me an email at lylewiley@gmail.com or reach out here on the website.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lyle Wiley (00:10):
well, hey, campers, it's about that time, time for a
new day in the lovely wastelandthat is the terrifying
clapocalypse.
Aren't you glad you've arrivedat camp one clap two?
Joining us today is camp oneclap alum alexisen, I'm your
camp director and host of theOne Clap Speech and Debate
podcast.
Wow, wiley, sure, theclapocalypse has been scary, but
(00:31):
hopefully there have been somehelpful and inspirational
nuggets here at camp to fuel upcoaches and competitors for
another transformative speechand debate season that's just
ahead.
Quick reminder check the OneClap socials for today's social
media challenge.
Quick reminder check theOneClap socials for today's
social media challenge.
Let me tell you a little bitabout Alexis.
Alexis Worthen is a quad rubyand academic All-American
(00:52):
formerly debating for NatronaCounty High School.
She's also a three-timesnational competitor.
Alexis has competed in variousevents but has stuck with public
forum, extemp and congressionaldebate for the longest.
She's currently a sophomore atSimmons University, studying
political science and publicpolicy.
She serves as a senator for herstudent government and as a
(01:15):
treasurer for her model UNT.
Alexis is here to talk aboutmovies, her speech experience
and a whole lot more.
It's time to jump right into myinterview with second year camp
staffer Alexis Worthen.
Welcome back to Camp One Clap,alexis Worthen.
Hey, it's so great to have youhere.
I'm really excited to be here,yeah, thanks.
(01:38):
Thanks for coming back.
You contributed to Camp OneClap last year as a camp
counselor and this year on campstaff.
Last year you did a greatseries on capturing the Congress
crown there you go.
A lot of, a lot of C's, a lot ofC's in there, oh yeah.
Alexis Worthen (01:50):
Alliteration killer.
But, you know, I.
Lyle Wiley (01:53):
It was a great series and anyone who's
listening should go back andcheck it out if you want to get
the basics of doing Congresswith Alexis.
But yeah, you're not in thespeech and debate universe
technically at the moment, butwe're going to talk about some
of the things you're up to nowModel UN and we're going to talk
about scary movies, the horrorgenre a little bit, and you're
(02:17):
going to be here helping us outwith the clapocalypse, so we
appreciate that.
Let's set the tone.
Let's talk about fear.
We are going to be talkingabout horror films, so I'll get
more hot takes on your favorites.
But what is your favorite?
Scary story, like movie, bookshort story?
Alexis Worthen (02:36):
This one I sat with a little bit, but I think
something that really got meinto the more I guess horror, um
scary stuff out there was.
I was never like really into itor like the like zombie
universe, but I think I watchedum the tv series the last of us
(02:57):
and well, though it's not like avery traditional like horror
scary stuff, but it really, Ithink kind of put me on that
path.
Um, I liked it because of allthe connections it had to
wyoming and, yeah, all like theuniversal truths about humanity.
That I think horror does areally good job of.
(03:18):
I guess like talking aboutwithout I don't know, the direct
delve into it.
I think it's a nice parallel.
It holds up a beer.
I think it's what I would sayabout horror to society if done
right, and I thought the last ofus did a really nice job of
executing that.
So that would be my personalfavorite.
Lyle Wiley (03:39):
Cool.
Good choice.
I well, I assume, good choice.
I played the video game in theway back.
I've not watched the series.
I love Pedro Pascal and Iprobably will at some point, but
I just know it's like not themost like uplifting things, so
I'm just kind of got to be inthe right mindset for it.
Alexis Worthen (03:57):
There's more.
There's more crying than thereis like like good yeah.
Lyle Wiley (04:03):
It's a I mean unlike most horror, most horror, you
know, it's like kind ofdepressing no yeah, yeah, no,
there's there's no winning atthe end.
Alexis Worthen (04:13):
There's never any winning with it not gonna
lie, not much.
Lyle Wiley (04:16):
No, it's true, uh, but uh, in the same vein, uh, I
wanted to ask if the apocalypsewere upon us and we had this
post-apocalyptic wasteland, likesomething out of a dystopian
novel or movie.
On a scale of 1 to 10,.
What's your chance of survivalhere, Alexis?
Alexis Worthen (04:35):
Entirely depends on where I am.
I think if you know somethinggoes down, you know event like
occurs.
If I'm in Wyoming, I think I'llbe okay.
Um, I have family members whoare a little bit more, um,
(04:56):
survivalist than I might be, andso I think I can rely on my
resources fairly well.
But if I'm in like Boston whereI go to school, it's over.
There's no chance like zero.
I'm gone.
Lyle Wiley (05:07):
So, standing on your own two feet in the world of
the apocalypse, you're notfeeling great about it.
Alexis Worthen (05:13):
Could make it maybe a solid week, but I don't
think that my talents lie inthat world.
Lyle Wiley (05:20):
If there were an apocalypse, do you have any
skills that you'd bring to thetable here, like tell about.
Alexis Worthen (05:27):
I think I'm a fairly decent cook and
resourceful enough, I think, tofind it.
I think I hopefully have someknowledge about food safety and
emergency wilderness.
I can make a fire that one'sgood, so, but like other than
(05:50):
that, like really probably not,I don't have.
I'd lack a lot of physicalstrength.
I think that's my ultimateweakness your ultimate weakness
yeah, that's uh strength it's,it's been.
Lyle Wiley (06:01):
I've only spoke to a few people, but so far speech
and debaters don't seem like themost confident in their ability
to survive in this kind ofenvironment.
No, no, but well, you knowhopefully we won't ever have to
find out.
Alexis Worthen (06:17):
So I pray in every day.
Lyle Wiley (06:21):
So let's go back in time a little bit.
I want to hear about what gotyou initially into the speech
and debate universe, like what'syour speech and debate story?
Alexis Worthen (06:30):
Um, my parents actually met on the UW debate
team.
That's where they met for thefirst time.
They didn't never, they werenever partners, they can never
be partners, but they were bothdebaters and they got married
and had kids and, um, when I,you know, got to high school, I
(06:52):
started, I was in middle schooland, like elementary school, I
was pretty strong.
I was a dancer, I did mostlylike ballet and jazz and stuff
that was my like kind of thing.
And then I transitioned intolike more into theater.
And then when I get to highschool, it kind of at least in
the Toronto County um, theaterand speech debate tend to run
(07:13):
pretty parallel to each other.
Um, and so I transitioned thatworld into that world.
So I originally was like a dramakid.
I was was a drama and humor kid.
I found cause, I assumed thatthat would be like you know,
since if I liked theater, that'swhat I would be good at and I
was truly pretty terrible at.
It was not my strong suitwhatsoever.
(07:36):
So I tried debating and then itwas over from there.
That's what I when I realizedthat I liked the most.
Lyle Wiley (07:45):
That is interesting.
Uh, it feels as though I meanjust from seeing you compete and
knowing about your skills, likeI, it's interesting to me that
you you started in that otheruniverse because it's like
you're handmade for debate incongress, like you're so, so
good at that stuff I did my best.
Alexis Worthen (08:05):
I wouldn't say that I'm like.
I would never have claimed tobe like the best, but I'd really
love doing it.
Lyle Wiley (08:10):
So well, that's cool .
I mean you're funny, so likehumor seems like it could be a
possibility so you've kind oftransitioned to a different sort
of activity in college.
You're doing Model UN at yourschool.
What's that like?
How is it different, how is itkind of similar to the debate
(08:31):
university kind of existed.
Alexis Worthen (08:33):
My school's really small.
I go to an all-girls school inthe middle of Boston, which I
really love, but there's about1,700 people there, a little bit
more than that which I reallylove, but there's about 1,700
people there, a little bit morethan that.
So it's really about the samesize as like NC or Kelly, kelly,
walsh or East or anything likethat.
So it's not that much different.
We we don't have a debate team,so we I joined our Model UN
(08:58):
team.
It's the difference between Ifind it's really interesting,
between I find is reallyinteresting, um, because the
model UN it's not like debatecompetitions, at least in high
school level, where you're goinglike every single weekend.
I think we usually max to likethree um conference, three to
four conferences a year, um, butit's like having nationals
(09:24):
every single time.
It's like you're competing atthat same level of intensity and
um hours as nationals is.
So I don't know, I really enjoyit.
My school's really small.
We don't really um, we're notas focused on winning.
We love what we do, but we'renot that we end up competing a
(09:45):
lot with a lot of bigger schools.
Harvard's Model UN conferenceis like one of our biggest of
the year.
We're going up against schoolslike Georgetown and Brown and
West Point and all sorts of likeIvy schools that you know.
We're not, you know, at thatsame level because we don't pay
(10:07):
coaches to come teach us, wedon't have to pay to be on the
team, we didn't have to audition, we just kind of show up and do
it for fun and that's.
I really like that um.
But it still provides a lot ofopportunities to um network and
expand and um, I think, refine,like your um speaking abilities
(10:27):
and your um knowledge about theoutsider world.
So I would say that in thatcapacity it's really similar to
congress, as in like the levelof um, like the type of
competition, but you also.
The thing about model un is youalso have to.
You can't not be friends withpeople in the same way that you
are with Speech and Debate.
With Speech and Debate youdon't have to be friends with
(10:48):
any of your other competitors.
You can be pretty cutthroat.
But Model UN, there's a goodamount of allegiances and
networking that you have to doin order to succeed, which I
like a lot because I think it'smore reminiscent of the real
world.
But there are, you know, thereare shifts.
I do miss competing asregularly as I did when I did
(11:10):
speech debate.
That was something that Ireally liked the routine and um
consistency of it.
Lyle Wiley (11:16):
It does sound like a pretty fun activity though.
Alexis Worthen (11:18):
Yeah, I really enjoy it.
It's, um, I get to, you know,hang out with my friends once a
week and we prep.
Um, I get to you know, hang outwith my friends once a week and
we prep, and then, once we getthere, it's a three to four days
of having a really good timeawesome.
Lyle Wiley (11:33):
How many total like, uh, I don't know what.
Do they call them tournaments,they call them conferences.
Alexis Worthen (11:39):
Yeah, um it depends on how often you compete
um in our circuit.
There's's, I think there's.
Usually there tends to be about15 to 20 per year, but we don't
go to all of those we go to,like, UChicago's conference, we
go to Harvard's conference, wego to Boston University's
conference and then we go toMcGill's conference usually.
Lyle Wiley (12:01):
It sounds like a pretty awesome time.
Alexis Worthen (12:06):
Yeah, I really enjoy it.
Lyle Wiley (12:06):
It sounds like a lot less pressure in a lot of ways
too.
Yeah, for sure which is kind ofnice, I'm sure sometimes.
Yeah, you know, going fromtalking about model un uh to to
horror uh you and I are bothlike horror um fans for sure.
I don't know if I'd say junkies, but we both think that horror
(12:29):
actually has a lot to offer,absolutely so I thought it'd be
cool if we had a littlediscussion about that.
Why and how long have you beeninterested in the horror genre?
Alexis Worthen (12:39):
It's definitely a more recent, I think, aspect.
I think I started getting moreinto movies, particularly two or
three years ago, and thenhorror was really about a year,
year and a half ago.
Something I like about horror isthat it's not, it doesn't have
(13:02):
the requirement to take itselfseriously all the time, I think.
I think it's a lot.
It reminds me a lot of somemore um classic and like
shakespearean um techniques oftheater, without over overly
relying on like naturalism,acting um, but it can still like
like the thesis is like stillimparted, I think, throughout
(13:27):
the films are still superimportant, which is why um I
really like Ari Aster movies.
I think that like there's stilllike that like message and that
like compulsion to, you know,examine yourself afterwards is
still in the mood, like in themovie, without like necessarily
going through an entirelyrealistic situation, which I
(13:50):
think is a nice like break fromreality.
It reminds they remind me a lotof um like dreams or nightmares
that your body, you know, putsyourself through in order to
better um process what's goingon in your daily life, even
though it's not entirely, it'sentirely not realistic.
Lyle Wiley (14:12):
Yeah, for sure, I think, from like an artistic
standpoint too, like it presentssome interesting opportunities
to explore taboo or you knowmaybe more difficult things to
talk about in a way that'sacceptable.
Maybe more difficult things totalk about, um, in a way that's
acceptable I mean moreacceptable in some circles than
others, I guess absolutely stillpretty acceptable um and oh my
(14:37):
gosh like uh, really reallyinteresting part of the horror
movie situation from a practicalstandpoint is how affordable
they are to make um right and,and so there's a good return
financially on horror films mostof the time, which is pretty
interesting too.
Uh, long legs just opened with22 million dollars this weekend,
(15:00):
like which for uh indie yournick.
Alexis Worthen (15:02):
Cage heart is so happy right now oh for sure.
Lyle Wiley (15:05):
Yeah, I haven't seen it yet, but I think it's just,
it's just really interesting how, uh, I mean they've done a
great job with marketing, so Imean there's a lot of work that
went into that number.
But that's, I mean, that'simpressive for a neon film to
open the weekend with 22 milliondollars when there's a
despicable me that's picking up40 million dollars of folks
(15:26):
right now on the weekend already.
I mean because the filmindustry is not doing great.
So, that's a really, reallygood amount of money for a film.
Alexis Worthen (15:36):
Yeah, independent movie no, but it's
doing better than Maxine, whichI wasn't expecting, but I'm
excited about.
Lyle Wiley (15:48):
So what can we learn from horror films Like and we
talked about you talked aboutthis a little bit already, but
you know, embracing these darkparts inside of us and our fears
, like what's good about that?
Alexis Worthen (16:02):
Um, I don't think anything good can come out
of denial.
I think that's again when wetalk about the first stages of
grief there's not a path forwardif you just live in an existent
denial.
I guess you know pleasurable orall that you know.
Something that you want to putforth out instantaneously is
(16:31):
really, I think, empowering,honestly, if you, you know, get
past that denial stage.
Horror does a really nice jobof cutting down the
facetiousness of society.
That sounds really full ofmyself, but at the end of the
day, I think it does a reallynice job of teaching us that
(16:52):
we're all innately human in away that I don't think.
At the end of the day, we allfeel the same, we all have
emotions and we're made of fleshand bone and I think that
horror does a really nice job ofencapsulating that and
reminding us, like at our core,what humanity really is all
(17:14):
about, I think, if done well.
Lyle Wiley (17:18):
but there is a certain level of like horror
movies that are there just tolike kind of make you laugh a
little bit sure, well, andanytime you're playing with like
the boundaries of what'sacceptable and like the way that
we think about, oh, art andsociety and stuff, uh, there's
always, there's always the, thepotential for things to become
(17:39):
more spectacle than thanmeaningful, I suppose.
Um, which I think is a, youknow an affair criticism at
times, but then I you know,boundaries on art is.
we don't really want to put toomany boundaries on art, so no.
So you and I, when we were, wewere just kind of like
spitballing ideas about thingsto talk about.
(17:59):
When we started talking abouthorror films, you mentioned that
you're a pretty, you're prettyinterested in Ari Aster right
now.
Now the a24, uh, darling, Iguess we could say I mean he's
kind of one of them, one oftheir pookies?
yes, and I mean a24 is on thislike crazy, like they're doing
really well right now yeah,they've really been catapulted
(18:19):
into, uh, the zeitgeist orwhatever you want to say, like
it's very, very much.
So people that are into filmsare really interested in what's
happening at a24 they're doing agood job and and there's
definitely like this weird.
I mean, have you watched quitea few 824 movies?
Alexis Worthen (18:34):
I think I hope so.
I don't know well, not like Ihope so, but I think I've done
my homework.
Lyle Wiley (18:39):
Maybe they've definitely like got a brand,
kind of like it's uh yeah I meanthere are 824 movies that don't
feel quite.
I mean there's like a feel to ana24 movie that is is pretty
universal with the a24 movies.
But yeah, there's, you know,there's like some outliers, but
there's there's a very specific,weird, uh just sort of slightly
(19:02):
off, really thought-provoking,semi-pretentious sort of sort of
a24ness to like all theirmovies, right.
Yeah, so, and they, but they'vebeen doing really interesting
stuff, in horror specifically, Ithink, and you know aster is a
big part of that.
So you've seen, I'm sure,hereditary midsummer.
Um, have you seen bow is afraidI have a secret.
Alexis Worthen (19:25):
I haven't seen that one because I find joaquin
phoenix really insufferable, soI don't want to watch a movie if
you find joaquin phoenixinsufferable, then you probably
don't want to watch the sixhours.
Lyle Wiley (19:37):
Of beau is afraid, but that's what I that was my
thing.
Alexis Worthen (19:39):
I was like I really just don't want to
because I love tony collette andI love, love, love fl Pugh.
So but like I just find I don'tknow Joaquin Phoenix and like
Bradley Cooper, like that littlespecific sector of male actors
I really can't stomach very well.
So I wasn't, I wasn't gonna gothere, but I do really love
(20:02):
Hereditary and I love Midsommar.
Lyle Wiley (20:05):
So when you think about those two films and you
can like, you can discuss eachseparately if you'd like.
But what about these films doyou find really interesting?
Alexis Worthen (20:14):
I think again, it's exploring a human problem
in a very escalated situation.
I think Hereditary is aboutfamily relationships and
specifically I think the motherthrough daughter line.
That one is super prevalent inthat movie.
(20:37):
And then Midsommar isdysfunctional relationships with
your partner, boyfriend andgirlfriend, that one is.
I mean, someone describedmidsummer as like a breakup
movie, described just likedisguised as a cult movie, which
I wouldn't go that far.
(20:57):
But, um, I definitely think it'svery true, I like, but the
overall all thorough line that Ifind find through Ari Aster's
movies is, um, like mentalhealth issues, I think, which is
like through the vessel of ahorror movie, which I really
enjoy.
Um, I think he does a reallygood job of portraying um
(21:23):
intimate and different types ofgrief, which I think is super
cool.
The scene where Florence Pughwas surrounded by all these
women through and like theSwedish cult or whatever, and
they're all like grieving andfeeling emotion together, was
really quite powerful.
So but it's that human emotionthrough the like the eyes of a
(21:50):
horror or a difficult movieproblem that I really appreciate
.
And he doesn't sacrificecinematography for anything.
Lyle Wiley (22:00):
Cinematography transitions.
Like I, I'm a huge Edgar Wrightfan.
I don't know if you you'refamiliar with Edgar Wright's
films big big Edgar Wright fanlove baby driver and Scott
Pilgrim and the Cornetta.
I think trilogies with thosemovies are called um, with Simon
Pegg Um, but.
But he's a king of transitions.
(22:20):
Like Edgar Wright's transitionsand movies.
Um last night in Soho isanother great example like just
really lovely, beautifultransitions, never wasted and I
feel like aster is very similar.
Alexis Worthen (22:32):
He, he, uh does really really interesting stuff
in his transitions yeah, itdoesn't waste very many at all
no, I like in midsummer,particularly the um.
Use of like the art in the um,like community to further the
storyline and kind of lead youinto the next is really really
(22:55):
cool.
Lyle Wiley (22:55):
I really liked that too yeah, the sort of subverted
fairy tale.
Um is a very uh, is a veryoff-putting and interesting um
part of midsummer for sure, likeit's uh, uh, the, and the
artwork is disturbing butbeautiful at the same time.
Which is like kind of the movie.
(23:16):
It's like disturbing but it'slike kind of lovely to look at.
The colors are amazing.
Florence Pugh is beautiful Like.
There's just like this weird.
You're drawn in like the, thesort of like, and that's part of
what makes horror really likeum.
Interesting is the aesthetics,the, the beauty of like.
(23:38):
Sometimes the horror is prettyinteresting.
Alexis Worthen (23:42):
So yeah, absolutely.
I think it gives you knowproduction teams a really good
chance to shine um in a way thata lot of other movies it can't.
I think that the artistrybehind it is really something
and the SFX is really somethingcrucial, because that's what
really drives the storyline of ahorror movie is the visuals and
(24:08):
how, and the music too.
Also, the score is supercritical.
Which I also really like aboutoster's movie is that he really
the tension, especially inhereditary, like the build up of
tension without anythingactually traditionally wrong or
jump scares happening, is reallyquite impressive this build to
(24:29):
a pretty intense pitch, Likeyou're you're the first time I I
, I think hereditary, hereditarylike long legs had a really
impressive opening weekend andlike hit people pretty hard.
Lyle Wiley (24:43):
It balances, like you know, interesting ideas
about family trauma and the sortof the passing that down, the
hereditary aspects of of trauma,but it also is just really
scary like it's like a reallyscary movie that has some
visceral, um, intense, violentmoments, that, uh, that really
(25:07):
kind of.
Yeah, they sort of catch you bysurprise in a in a really
brutal way and the ending isit's really scary, like it's a
really oh yeah, no.
When all the people pop upcreepy, build like that chill,
like goes down your back forsure yeah, and I think that's
part of what makes, uh, some ofthese a24 movies really
(25:28):
effective, is they're they'regreat to look at, but they're.
They're also to look at, butthey're they're also and they're
interesting and they're weirdand they're slightly off, like
they're slightly different, umthe way that they feel, but then
they're just like scary.
They're straight up well done umhorror films.
So yeah, you get the wholepackage in a lot of ways yeah, I
think I watched um.
Alexis Worthen (25:49):
I don't know if you saw this.
Love lies bleeding back in whatwas it?
April.
That one was really that hadkristen, stewart, um and uh
katio something, and that onewas really good.
It was about um like this cup.
They're bodybuilders in the 80sbut they're using like illegal
drugs to bulk up.
(26:09):
And then there's also like thebackground of like this, like
drug trafficking, like crimescene going back, and there's
some really good elements ofbody horror there that I really
enjoyed as well.
Lyle Wiley (26:21):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing it.
It's 24.
Yeah, it's going to be.
It's going to be on max soon,so it's like I've kind of been
waiting for the release but yeah, I actually really think
kristen stewart's underrated, soI'm excited to check it out.
She's really good.
So, aside from master, arethere any other like uh
(26:42):
directors or films that you'rejust really enamored with in the
horror genre that you want totalk about?
Alexis Worthen (26:49):
I like to my friends and I like to do like
little, like viewings duringhalloween.
Um, of some of, like you know,the the more oldie classics, I
think last year, this past year,we watched.
What did we watch?
Oh, we watched knock at thecabin door, which is like
jonathan groff and like davidbest vatusta, I think, is how
you pronounce it.
And then rupert grant, whichwas great because I hadn't.
(27:10):
Then rupert grant, which wasgreat because I hadn't seen
rupert grant act in a while,which I really liked.
But other than that it was.
The problem was they explainedthe entire like plot of the
movie within 30 minutes and hadto still go on with like an hour
long movie and it was a littledisappointing.
But I know this year isunfortunately black in horror.
(27:31):
But I am really excited aboutNick Cage coming back because he
did an A24 movie not that longago where he was in everybody's
dreams, and then now he's doingLong Legs, which I haven't even
seen a picture of him in LongLegs, which I'm excited about.
Apparently it's that good.
Lyle Wiley (27:47):
There's lots of prosthetics and I guess he's
nearly unrecognizable.
So we'll see that's good I'mexcited to check it out.
Did you enjoy dream scenario?
Alexis Worthen (27:57):
yeah, I thought it was good.
I really am impressed with whatnick cage is picking these days
.
I think, um, nick cage is avery unique performer and I'm I
there's.
I don't think there's anybodythere could there's like anyone
else who could have done thatrole like that was.
It was just him who could playit and have that self-awareness
(28:19):
to play it, which is also reallygood.
Lyle Wiley (28:20):
I think cage.
Of course I'm a huge cage stan.
You know I wrote my capstonefor my masters about nicholas
cage and his role as a fire uh.
Alexis Worthen (28:30):
But yeah, I think he's, he's a, he's kind of
turned into like a scream queena little bit right, like he's
sort of uh, well, a lot ofopposite, like effect, um, I
think, where his career, wherehe started off as like a you
know classic hollywood star andthen now he's like, switched to
horror, which is usually likeactors do the opposite, which I
(28:51):
think is really cool yeah, he'sreally interested in like, I
think, doing well, basicallyprobably doing anything outside
of expectation, but like hedefinitely wants to try to
explore in indie films.
Lyle Wiley (29:02):
Yeah, um, but yeah, mandy color out of space, mom
and dad, uh, even renfield,which is like I don't know if
you saw renfield.
Alexis Worthen (29:10):
Um, I heard it was not, which is like I don't
know.
If you saw Renfield Um, I heardit was not great, which is
unfortunate.
Lyle Wiley (29:13):
Yeah, it's not great , but he's great.
He's really good at it.
So if you want to see a goodcage performance, I think it's
always worthwhile Noted.
Alexis Worthen (29:24):
Yeah.
Lyle Wiley (29:25):
So, uh, let's, let's like transition into a quick
ghostly interlude here.
I've been asking people if theybelieve in ghosts and the
paranormal.
So what about you?
Are you a ghost believer?
Alexis Worthen (29:38):
I don't think anything.
You know, there's the law ofthe physics where it's like no
matter is created or destroyed.
It just, you know, exists allthe time and it's just remade,
reborn or made it remade and todo things.
So I certainly I do.
I like to think that there'slike energies in the world and I
think that you know we aren'tlike removed from that and
(30:02):
removed from you know what camebefore us?
Do I think there's like harrypotter, like like full physical
spirits walking around?
I don't think so, but I thinkthere is something to be said,
for what came before us isn'tentirely gone, is what is my
(30:23):
answer to that?
Lyle Wiley (30:25):
So it's a nicely measured answer.
I like it Tricky question, butyeah, it seems like there's lots
of unexplained phenomena outthere.
It's like you can't just slamthe door on it, right no?
Alexis Worthen (30:38):
no I agree.
Lyle Wiley (30:39):
So, uh, thank you for letting me pick your brain
about horror a little bit.
It was really fun for me.
I don't know if other peoplefind it interesting we're
talking about, but I'm surehaving a good time like we
should just talk about letterbox.
I'm in, I'm in, yeah, we couldjust go through and just talk
about every movie and I'd besuper excited.
I love talking about films, um,but uh, let's, let's move back
(31:00):
to speech and debate.
Uh, yeah we haven't had a chanceto have a talk about speech and
debate just the two of us.
So I like to ask folks like youknow, what's the?
What was the best part aboutspeech and debate for you when,
when you were involved, what wasyour, your favorite part?
Alexis Worthen (31:15):
I loved the preparation of it.
I loved the research andwriting your own stuff that came
with it.
I loved, like the, theconfidence that it provided when
you did something well and youyou did well.
That was lovely.
I liked the ability to makefriends with people from all
over the state.
Still have really good friendsfrom it, and that wouldn't have
(31:39):
been the same.
I think overall speech anddebate left me feeling very
empowered and very capable andready to be an adult and I don't
think I would have felt thesame if I didn't have that.
Yeah, I think that it's a veryunique opportunity and chance to
better yourself as both within,like your career and yourself
(32:00):
as a person, as a, as a speaker,as a, you know, as a researcher
, as a citizen.
I guess is what I would say.
Lyle Wiley (32:11):
I think this like segues nicely into, like the
question I'm kind of leavingeverybody with at the
clipocalypse, which is, like youknow, a lot of people are very
afraid to speak publicly.
It's like pretty, you know,well-known public fear amongst
the most fears, right, like, oh,speaking in front of people,
(32:32):
like folks get really scared andso you know why is
participating in speech anddebate like worth all of the
horror, the terror, the fear.
Alexis Worthen (32:42):
Um, I would say that it leaves you really
passionate about um, the stuffyou want to be passionate about
um.
I wrote my final bill forcongress on education and I'm
still very passionate abouteducation and providing um more
educational opportunities forpeople in america, and I hope to
(33:05):
be like, continue to go intothat some in some capacity when
I'm an adult.
But I think that there's also alevel of uniqueness when it
comes to speech debate, wherethere's lots of opportunities to
do anything and everything.
I also think that you don't getvery far if you are in speech
(33:28):
debate if you don't have acertain level of grace and
empathy for others and for themost part at least, in our
community.
I think that we, you knoweveryone is led by desire to,
you know, for people to succeed,no matter what I think that we
might be.
(33:48):
So I don't think that there'sany inherent, you know, judgment
or anything like that.
So the only you know the worstthing is, you know internally
what might happen internally,but it's never as bad as you
know, like the nightmares thatyour head, you know, comes up
with at night.
So I think that ultimately, allspeech and debate does if you,
(34:13):
you know, put this effort intoit is prepares you to be better
at it than you were, and it's afairly safe community.
You don't get better at publicspeaking, but also all different
types of public speaking.
Lyle Wiley (34:38):
Yes, I think that that's some good answers there.
I'm glad that speech and debateprovided some good stuff for
you and I'm excited that you'regetting to use a lot of your
skills in Model UN right now.
That's really fun.
Alexis Worthen (34:49):
I definitely would not be doing Model UN if
it wasn't for speech debate 100%, I'd be in the dust.
Lyle Wiley (34:56):
Well, have you any interest in getting involved in
speech and debate in the future?
Just out of curiosity, like areyou going to If?
Alexis Worthen (35:01):
there's like a coaching opportunity that's ever
like provided, I'd love that.
If there's a judgingopportunity ever, I would love
that as well.
Lyle Wiley (35:08):
And you're studying like political science and
public policy.
Alexis Worthen (35:11):
I'm in an accelerated program.
So I'm doing my bachelor's forpolitical science with a minor
in econ in three years, and thenI get my master's in public
policy in one.
Lyle Wiley (35:22):
Okay, any chance that you'll end up in education
or you think you want to go intopublic policy?
Alexis Worthen (35:29):
Hopefully I'll go into public policy, but I'm
also anywhere that gives me ajob.
That sounds great.
Thank you so much.
Anywhere that's employing me,that'd be so awesome.
Fair enough.
Lyle Wiley (35:40):
Yeah, I get that.
Thank you again for hopping onhere and helping us navigate the
clapocalypse.
Nice time chatting with youabout all the things and, yeah,
I'll probably try to have youback, if that's okay.
I love having you involved.
Thanks so much to Alexis forstopping by and yapping with me.
It was super fun and I'mexcited to have her back on the
(36:01):
show in the future.
What's going on in theClapocalypse tomorrow?
Well, nothing Quiet my friends.
I'm taking another day of rest,maybe two, but I'll be back
shortly.
Remember to check the socialmedia challenges on our socials
and, yeah, we'll see you in acouple of days.
Campers, I'm sleepy.
Did you know that zombiesalways go to bed early?
(36:21):
Yeah, I mean, they're alwaysdead tired For Camp One Clap.
This is Camp Director Wileysigning off.
well, hey, campers, it's about that time, time for a
new day in the lovely wastelandthat is the terrifying
clapocalypse.
Aren't you glad you've arrivedat camp one clap two?
Joining us today is camp oneclap alum alexisen, I'm your
camp director and host of theOne Clap Speech and Debate
podcast.
Wow, wiley, sure, theclapocalypse has been scary, but
(00:31):
hopefully there have been somehelpful and inspirational
nuggets here at camp to fuel upcoaches and competitors for
another transformative speechand debate season that's just
ahead.
Quick reminder check the OneClap socials for today's social
media challenge.
Quick reminder check theOneClap socials for today's
social media challenge.
Let me tell you a little bitabout Alexis.
Alexis Worthen is a quad rubyand academic All-American
(00:52):
formerly debating for NatronaCounty High School.
She's also a three-timesnational competitor.
Alexis has competed in variousevents but has stuck with public
forum, extemp and congressionaldebate for the longest.
She's currently a sophomore atSimmons University, studying
political science and publicpolicy.
She serves as a senator for herstudent government and as a
(01:15):
treasurer for her model UNT.
Alexis is here to talk aboutmovies, her speech experience
and a whole lot more.
It's time to jump right into myinterview with second year camp
staffer Alexis Worthen.
Welcome back to Camp One Clap,alexis Worthen.
Hey, it's so great to have youhere.
I'm really excited to be here,yeah, thanks.
(01:38):
Thanks for coming back.
You contributed to Camp OneClap last year as a camp
counselor and this year on campstaff.
Last year you did a greatseries on capturing the Congress
crown there you go.
A lot of, a lot of C's, a lot ofC's in there, oh yeah.
Alexis Worthen (01:50):
Alliteration killer.
But, you know, I.
Lyle Wiley (01:53):
It was a great series and anyone who's
listening should go back andcheck it out if you want to get
the basics of doing Congresswith Alexis.
But yeah, you're not in thespeech and debate universe
technically at the moment, butwe're going to talk about some
of the things you're up to nowModel UN and we're going to talk
about scary movies, the horrorgenre a little bit, and you're
(02:17):
going to be here helping us outwith the clapocalypse, so we
appreciate that.
Let's set the tone.
Let's talk about fear.
We are going to be talkingabout horror films, so I'll get
more hot takes on your favorites.
But what is your favorite?
Scary story, like movie, bookshort story?
Alexis Worthen (02:36):
This one I sat with a little bit, but I think
something that really got meinto the more I guess horror, um
scary stuff out there was.
I was never like really into itor like the like zombie
universe, but I think I watchedum the tv series the last of us
(02:57):
and well, though it's not like avery traditional like horror
scary stuff, but it really, Ithink kind of put me on that
path.
Um, I liked it because of allthe connections it had to
wyoming and, yeah, all like theuniversal truths about humanity.
That I think horror does areally good job of.
(03:18):
I guess like talking aboutwithout I don't know, the direct
delve into it.
I think it's a nice parallel.
It holds up a beer.
I think it's what I would sayabout horror to society if done
right, and I thought the last ofus did a really nice job of
executing that.
So that would be my personalfavorite.
Lyle Wiley (03:39):
Cool.
Good choice.
I well, I assume, good choice.
I played the video game in theway back.
I've not watched the series.
I love Pedro Pascal and Iprobably will at some point, but
I just know it's like not themost like uplifting things, so
I'm just kind of got to be inthe right mindset for it.
Alexis Worthen (03:57):
There's more.
There's more crying than thereis like like good yeah.
Lyle Wiley (04:03):
It's a I mean unlike most horror, most horror, you
know, it's like kind ofdepressing no yeah, yeah, no,
there's there's no winning atthe end.
Alexis Worthen (04:13):
There's never any winning with it not gonna
lie, not much.
Lyle Wiley (04:16):
No, it's true, uh, but uh, in the same vein, uh, I
wanted to ask if the apocalypsewere upon us and we had this
post-apocalyptic wasteland, likesomething out of a dystopian
novel or movie.
On a scale of 1 to 10,.
What's your chance of survivalhere, Alexis?
Alexis Worthen (04:35):
Entirely depends on where I am.
I think if you know somethinggoes down, you know event like
occurs.
If I'm in Wyoming, I think I'llbe okay.
Um, I have family members whoare a little bit more, um,
(04:56):
survivalist than I might be, andso I think I can rely on my
resources fairly well.
But if I'm in like Boston whereI go to school, it's over.
There's no chance like zero.
I'm gone.
Lyle Wiley (05:07):
So, standing on your own two feet in the world of
the apocalypse, you're notfeeling great about it.
Alexis Worthen (05:13):
Could make it maybe a solid week, but I don't
think that my talents lie inthat world.
Lyle Wiley (05:20):
If there were an apocalypse, do you have any
skills that you'd bring to thetable here, like tell about.
Alexis Worthen (05:27):
I think I'm a fairly decent cook and
resourceful enough, I think, tofind it.
I think I hopefully have someknowledge about food safety and
emergency wilderness.
I can make a fire that one'sgood, so, but like other than
(05:50):
that, like really probably not,I don't have.
I'd lack a lot of physicalstrength.
I think that's my ultimateweakness your ultimate weakness
yeah, that's uh strength it's,it's been.
Lyle Wiley (06:01):
I've only spoke to a few people, but so far speech
and debaters don't seem like themost confident in their ability
to survive in this kind ofenvironment.
No, no, but well, you knowhopefully we won't ever have to
find out.
Alexis Worthen (06:17):
So I pray in every day.
Lyle Wiley (06:21):
So let's go back in time a little bit.
I want to hear about what gotyou initially into the speech
and debate universe, like what'syour speech and debate story?
Alexis Worthen (06:30):
Um, my parents actually met on the UW debate
team.
That's where they met for thefirst time.
They didn't never, they werenever partners, they can never
be partners, but they were bothdebaters and they got married
and had kids and, um, when I,you know, got to high school, I
(06:52):
started, I was in middle schooland, like elementary school, I
was pretty strong.
I was a dancer, I did mostlylike ballet and jazz and stuff
that was my like kind of thing.
And then I transitioned intolike more into theater.
And then when I get to highschool, it kind of at least in
the Toronto County um, theaterand speech debate tend to run
(07:13):
pretty parallel to each other.
Um, and so I transitioned thatworld into that world.
So I originally was like a dramakid.
I was was a drama and humor kid.
I found cause, I assumed thatthat would be like you know,
since if I liked theater, that'swhat I would be good at and I
was truly pretty terrible at.
It was not my strong suitwhatsoever.
(07:36):
So I tried debating and then itwas over from there.
That's what I when I realizedthat I liked the most.
Lyle Wiley (07:45):
That is interesting.
Uh, it feels as though I meanjust from seeing you compete and
knowing about your skills, likeI, it's interesting to me that
you you started in that otheruniverse because it's like
you're handmade for debate incongress, like you're so, so
good at that stuff I did my best.
Alexis Worthen (08:05):
I wouldn't say that I'm like.
I would never have claimed tobe like the best, but I'd really
love doing it.
Lyle Wiley (08:10):
So well, that's cool .
I mean you're funny, so likehumor seems like it could be a
possibility so you've kind oftransitioned to a different sort
of activity in college.
You're doing Model UN at yourschool.
What's that like?
How is it different, how is itkind of similar to the debate
(08:31):
university kind of existed.
Alexis Worthen (08:33):
My school's really small.
I go to an all-girls school inthe middle of Boston, which I
really love, but there's about1,700 people there, a little bit
more than that which I reallylove, but there's about 1,700
people there, a little bit morethan that.
So it's really about the samesize as like NC or Kelly, kelly,
walsh or East or anything likethat.
So it's not that much different.
We we don't have a debate team,so we I joined our Model UN
(08:58):
team.
It's the difference between Ifind it's really interesting,
between I find is reallyinteresting, um, because the
model UN it's not like debatecompetitions, at least in high
school level, where you're goinglike every single weekend.
I think we usually max to likethree um conference, three to
four conferences a year, um, butit's like having nationals
(09:24):
every single time.
It's like you're competing atthat same level of intensity and
um hours as nationals is.
So I don't know, I really enjoyit.
My school's really small.
We don't really um, we're notas focused on winning.
We love what we do, but we'renot that we end up competing a
(09:45):
lot with a lot of bigger schools.
Harvard's Model UN conferenceis like one of our biggest of
the year.
We're going up against schoolslike Georgetown and Brown and
West Point and all sorts of likeIvy schools that you know.
We're not, you know, at thatsame level because we don't pay
(10:07):
coaches to come teach us, wedon't have to pay to be on the
team, we didn't have to audition, we just kind of show up and do
it for fun and that's.
I really like that um.
But it still provides a lot ofopportunities to um network and
expand and um, I think, refine,like your um speaking abilities
(10:27):
and your um knowledge about theoutsider world.
So I would say that in thatcapacity it's really similar to
congress, as in like the levelof um, like the type of
competition, but you also.
The thing about model un is youalso have to.
You can't not be friends withpeople in the same way that you
are with Speech and Debate.
With Speech and Debate youdon't have to be friends with
(10:48):
any of your other competitors.
You can be pretty cutthroat.
But Model UN, there's a goodamount of allegiances and
networking that you have to doin order to succeed, which I
like a lot because I think it'smore reminiscent of the real
world.
But there are, you know, thereare shifts.
I do miss competing asregularly as I did when I did
(11:10):
speech debate.
That was something that Ireally liked the routine and um
consistency of it.
Lyle Wiley (11:16):
It does sound like a pretty fun activity though.
Alexis Worthen (11:18):
Yeah, I really enjoy it.
It's, um, I get to, you know,hang out with my friends once a
week and we prep.
Um, I get to you know, hang outwith my friends once a week and
we prep, and then, once we getthere, it's a three to four days
of having a really good timeawesome.
Lyle Wiley (11:33):
How many total like, uh, I don't know what.
Do they call them tournaments,they call them conferences.
Alexis Worthen (11:39):
Yeah, um it depends on how often you compete
um in our circuit.
There's's, I think there's.
Usually there tends to be about15 to 20 per year, but we don't
go to all of those we go to,like, UChicago's conference, we
go to Harvard's conference, wego to Boston University's
conference and then we go toMcGill's conference usually.
Lyle Wiley (12:01):
It sounds like a pretty awesome time.
Alexis Worthen (12:06):
Yeah, I really enjoy it.
Lyle Wiley (12:06):
It sounds like a lot less pressure in a lot of ways
too.
Yeah, for sure which is kind ofnice, I'm sure sometimes.
Yeah, you know, going fromtalking about model un uh to to
horror uh you and I are bothlike horror um fans for sure.
I don't know if I'd say junkies, but we both think that horror
(12:29):
actually has a lot to offer,absolutely so I thought it'd be
cool if we had a littlediscussion about that.
Why and how long have you beeninterested in the horror genre?
Alexis Worthen (12:39):
It's definitely a more recent, I think, aspect.
I think I started getting moreinto movies, particularly two or
three years ago, and thenhorror was really about a year,
year and a half ago.
Something I like about horror isthat it's not, it doesn't have
(13:02):
the requirement to take itselfseriously all the time, I think.
I think it's a lot.
It reminds me a lot of somemore um classic and like
shakespearean um techniques oftheater, without over overly
relying on like naturalism,acting um, but it can still like
like the thesis is like stillimparted, I think, throughout
(13:27):
the films are still superimportant, which is why um I
really like Ari Aster movies.
I think that like there's stilllike that like message and that
like compulsion to, you know,examine yourself afterwards is
still in the mood, like in themovie, without like necessarily
going through an entirelyrealistic situation, which I
(13:50):
think is a nice like break fromreality.
It reminds they remind me a lotof um like dreams or nightmares
that your body, you know, putsyourself through in order to
better um process what's goingon in your daily life, even
though it's not entirely, it'sentirely not realistic.
Lyle Wiley (14:12):
Yeah, for sure, I think, from like an artistic
standpoint too, like it presentssome interesting opportunities
to explore taboo or you knowmaybe more difficult things to
talk about in a way that'sacceptable.
Maybe more difficult things totalk about, um, in a way that's
acceptable I mean moreacceptable in some circles than
others, I guess absolutely stillpretty acceptable um and oh my
(14:37):
gosh like uh, really reallyinteresting part of the horror
movie situation from a practicalstandpoint is how affordable
they are to make um right and,and so there's a good return
financially on horror films mostof the time, which is pretty
interesting too.
Uh, long legs just opened with22 million dollars this weekend,
(15:00):
like which for uh indie yournick.
Alexis Worthen (15:02):
Cage heart is so happy right now oh for sure.
Lyle Wiley (15:05):
Yeah, I haven't seen it yet, but I think it's just,
it's just really interesting how, uh, I mean they've done a
great job with marketing, so Imean there's a lot of work that
went into that number.
But that's, I mean, that'simpressive for a neon film to
open the weekend with 22 milliondollars when there's a
despicable me that's picking up40 million dollars of folks
(15:26):
right now on the weekend already.
I mean because the filmindustry is not doing great.
So, that's a really, reallygood amount of money for a film.
Alexis Worthen (15:36):
Yeah, independent movie no, but it's
doing better than Maxine, whichI wasn't expecting, but I'm
excited about.
Lyle Wiley (15:48):
So what can we learn from horror films Like and we
talked about you talked aboutthis a little bit already, but
you know, embracing these darkparts inside of us and our fears
, like what's good about that?
Alexis Worthen (16:02):
Um, I don't think anything good can come out
of denial.
I think that's again when wetalk about the first stages of
grief there's not a path forwardif you just live in an existent
denial.
I guess you know pleasurable orall that you know.
Something that you want to putforth out instantaneously is
(16:31):
really, I think, empowering,honestly, if you, you know, get
past that denial stage.
Horror does a really nice jobof cutting down the
facetiousness of society.
That sounds really full ofmyself, but at the end of the
day, I think it does a reallynice job of teaching us that
(16:52):
we're all innately human in away that I don't think.
At the end of the day, we allfeel the same, we all have
emotions and we're made of fleshand bone and I think that
horror does a really nice job ofencapsulating that and
reminding us, like at our core,what humanity really is all
(17:14):
about, I think, if done well.
Lyle Wiley (17:18):
but there is a certain level of like horror
movies that are there just tolike kind of make you laugh a
little bit sure, well, andanytime you're playing with like
the boundaries of what'sacceptable and like the way that
we think about, oh, art andsociety and stuff, uh, there's
always, there's always the, thepotential for things to become
(17:39):
more spectacle than thanmeaningful, I suppose.
Um, which I think is a, youknow an affair criticism at
times, but then I you know,boundaries on art is.
we don't really want to put toomany boundaries on art, so no.
So you and I, when we were, wewere just kind of like
spitballing ideas about thingsto talk about.
(17:59):
When we started talking abouthorror films, you mentioned that
you're a pretty, you're prettyinterested in Ari Aster right
now.
Now the a24, uh, darling, Iguess we could say I mean he's
kind of one of them, one oftheir pookies?
yes, and I mean a24 is on thislike crazy, like they're doing
really well right now yeah,they've really been catapulted
(18:19):
into, uh, the zeitgeist orwhatever you want to say, like
it's very, very much.
So people that are into filmsare really interested in what's
happening at a24 they're doing agood job and and there's
definitely like this weird.
I mean, have you watched quitea few 824 movies?
Alexis Worthen (18:34):
I think I hope so.
I don't know well, not like Ihope so, but I think I've done
my homework.
Lyle Wiley (18:39):
Maybe they've definitely like got a brand,
kind of like it's uh yeah I meanthere are 824 movies that don't
feel quite.
I mean there's like a feel to ana24 movie that is is pretty
universal with the a24 movies.
But yeah, there's, you know,there's like some outliers, but
there's there's a very specific,weird, uh just sort of slightly
(19:02):
off, really thought-provoking,semi-pretentious sort of sort of
a24ness to like all theirmovies, right.
Yeah, so, and they, but they'vebeen doing really interesting
stuff, in horror specifically, Ithink, and you know aster is a
big part of that.
So you've seen, I'm sure,hereditary midsummer.
Um, have you seen bow is afraidI have a secret.
Alexis Worthen (19:25):
I haven't seen that one because I find joaquin
phoenix really insufferable, soI don't want to watch a movie if
you find joaquin phoenixinsufferable, then you probably
don't want to watch the sixhours.
Lyle Wiley (19:37):
Of beau is afraid, but that's what I that was my
thing.
Alexis Worthen (19:39):
I was like I really just don't want to
because I love tony collette andI love, love, love fl Pugh.
So but like I just find I don'tknow Joaquin Phoenix and like
Bradley Cooper, like that littlespecific sector of male actors
I really can't stomach very well.
So I wasn't, I wasn't gonna gothere, but I do really love
(20:02):
Hereditary and I love Midsommar.
Lyle Wiley (20:05):
So when you think about those two films and you
can like, you can discuss eachseparately if you'd like.
But what about these films doyou find really interesting?
Alexis Worthen (20:14):
I think again, it's exploring a human problem
in a very escalated situation.
I think Hereditary is aboutfamily relationships and
specifically I think the motherthrough daughter line.
That one is super prevalent inthat movie.
(20:37):
And then Midsommar isdysfunctional relationships with
your partner, boyfriend andgirlfriend, that one is.
I mean, someone describedmidsummer as like a breakup
movie, described just likedisguised as a cult movie, which
I wouldn't go that far.
(20:57):
But, um, I definitely think it'svery true, I like, but the
overall all thorough line that Ifind find through Ari Aster's
movies is, um, like mentalhealth issues, I think, which is
like through the vessel of ahorror movie, which I really
enjoy.
Um, I think he does a reallygood job of portraying um
(21:23):
intimate and different types ofgrief, which I think is super
cool.
The scene where Florence Pughwas surrounded by all these
women through and like theSwedish cult or whatever, and
they're all like grieving andfeeling emotion together, was
really quite powerful.
So but it's that human emotionthrough the like the eyes of a
(21:50):
horror or a difficult movieproblem that I really appreciate
.
And he doesn't sacrificecinematography for anything.
Lyle Wiley (22:00):
Cinematography transitions.
Like I, I'm a huge Edgar Wrightfan.
I don't know if you you'refamiliar with Edgar Wright's
films big big Edgar Wright fanlove baby driver and Scott
Pilgrim and the Cornetta.
I think trilogies with thosemovies are called um, with Simon
Pegg Um, but.
But he's a king of transitions.
(22:20):
Like Edgar Wright's transitionsand movies.
Um last night in Soho isanother great example like just
really lovely, beautifultransitions, never wasted and I
feel like aster is very similar.
Alexis Worthen (22:32):
He, he, uh does really really interesting stuff
in his transitions yeah, itdoesn't waste very many at all
no, I like in midsummer,particularly the um.
Use of like the art in the um,like community to further the
storyline and kind of lead youinto the next is really really
(22:55):
cool.
Lyle Wiley (22:55):
I really liked that too yeah, the sort of subverted
fairy tale.
Um is a very uh, is a veryoff-putting and interesting um
part of midsummer for sure, likeit's uh, uh, the, and the
artwork is disturbing butbeautiful at the same time.
Which is like kind of the movie.
(23:16):
It's like disturbing but it'slike kind of lovely to look at.
The colors are amazing.
Florence Pugh is beautiful Like.
There's just like this weird.
You're drawn in like the, thesort of like, and that's part of
what makes horror really likeum.
Interesting is the aesthetics,the, the beauty of like.
(23:38):
Sometimes the horror is prettyinteresting.
Alexis Worthen (23:42):
So yeah, absolutely.
I think it gives you knowproduction teams a really good
chance to shine um in a way thata lot of other movies it can't.
I think that the artistrybehind it is really something
and the SFX is really somethingcrucial, because that's what
really drives the storyline of ahorror movie is the visuals and
(24:08):
how, and the music too.
Also, the score is supercritical.
Which I also really like aboutoster's movie is that he really
the tension, especially inhereditary, like the build up of
tension without anythingactually traditionally wrong or
jump scares happening, is reallyquite impressive this build to
(24:29):
a pretty intense pitch, Likeyou're you're the first time I I
, I think hereditary, hereditarylike long legs had a really
impressive opening weekend andlike hit people pretty hard.
Lyle Wiley (24:43):
It balances, like you know, interesting ideas
about family trauma and the sortof the passing that down, the
hereditary aspects of of trauma,but it also is just really
scary like it's like a reallyscary movie that has some
visceral, um, intense, violentmoments, that, uh, that really
(25:07):
kind of.
Yeah, they sort of catch you bysurprise in a in a really
brutal way and the ending isit's really scary, like it's a
really oh yeah, no.
When all the people pop upcreepy, build like that chill,
like goes down your back forsure yeah, and I think that's
part of what makes, uh, some ofthese a24 movies really
(25:28):
effective, is they're they'regreat to look at, but they're.
They're also to look at, butthey're they're also and they're
interesting and they're weirdand they're slightly off, like
they're slightly different, umthe way that they feel, but then
they're just like scary.
They're straight up well done umhorror films.
So yeah, you get the wholepackage in a lot of ways yeah, I
think I watched um.
Alexis Worthen (25:49):
I don't know if you saw this.
Love lies bleeding back in whatwas it?
April.
That one was really that hadkristen, stewart, um and uh
katio something, and that onewas really good.
It was about um like this cup.
They're bodybuilders in the 80sbut they're using like illegal
drugs to bulk up.
(26:09):
And then there's also like thebackground of like this, like
drug trafficking, like crimescene going back, and there's
some really good elements ofbody horror there that I really
enjoyed as well.
Lyle Wiley (26:21):
Yeah, I'm looking forward to seeing it.
It's 24.
Yeah, it's going to be.
It's going to be on max soon,so it's like I've kind of been
waiting for the release but yeah, I actually really think
kristen stewart's underrated, soI'm excited to check it out.
She's really good.
So, aside from master, arethere any other like uh
(26:42):
directors or films that you'rejust really enamored with in the
horror genre that you want totalk about?
Alexis Worthen (26:49):
I like to my friends and I like to do like
little, like viewings duringhalloween.
Um, of some of, like you know,the the more oldie classics, I
think last year, this past year,we watched.
What did we watch?
Oh, we watched knock at thecabin door, which is like
jonathan groff and like davidbest vatusta, I think, is how
you pronounce it.
And then rupert grant, whichwas great because I hadn't.
(27:10):
Then rupert grant, which wasgreat because I hadn't seen
rupert grant act in a while,which I really liked.
But other than that it was.
The problem was they explainedthe entire like plot of the
movie within 30 minutes and hadto still go on with like an hour
long movie and it was a littledisappointing.
But I know this year isunfortunately black in horror.
(27:31):
But I am really excited aboutNick Cage coming back because he
did an A24 movie not that longago where he was in everybody's
dreams, and then now he's doingLong Legs, which I haven't even
seen a picture of him in LongLegs, which I'm excited about.
Apparently it's that good.
Lyle Wiley (27:47):
There's lots of prosthetics and I guess he's
nearly unrecognizable.
So we'll see that's good I'mexcited to check it out.
Did you enjoy dream scenario?
Alexis Worthen (27:57):
yeah, I thought it was good.
I really am impressed with whatnick cage is picking these days
.
I think, um, nick cage is avery unique performer and I'm I
there's.
I don't think there's anybodythere could there's like anyone
else who could have done thatrole like that was.
It was just him who could playit and have that self-awareness
(28:19):
to play it, which is also reallygood.
Lyle Wiley (28:20):
I think cage.
Of course I'm a huge cage stan.
You know I wrote my capstonefor my masters about nicholas
cage and his role as a fire uh.
Alexis Worthen (28:30):
But yeah, I think he's, he's a, he's kind of
turned into like a scream queena little bit right, like he's
sort of uh, well, a lot ofopposite, like effect, um, I
think, where his career, wherehe started off as like a you
know classic hollywood star andthen now he's like, switched to
horror, which is usually likeactors do the opposite, which I
(28:51):
think is really cool yeah, he'sreally interested in like, I
think, doing well, basicallyprobably doing anything outside
of expectation, but like hedefinitely wants to try to
explore in indie films.
Lyle Wiley (29:02):
Yeah, um, but yeah, mandy color out of space, mom
and dad, uh, even renfield,which is like I don't know if
you saw renfield.
Alexis Worthen (29:10):
Um, I heard it was not, which is like I don't
know.
If you saw Renfield Um, I heardit was not great, which is
unfortunate.
Lyle Wiley (29:13):
Yeah, it's not great , but he's great.
He's really good at it.
So if you want to see a goodcage performance, I think it's
always worthwhile Noted.
Alexis Worthen (29:24):
Yeah.
Lyle Wiley (29:25):
So, uh, let's, let's like transition into a quick
ghostly interlude here.
I've been asking people if theybelieve in ghosts and the
paranormal.
So what about you?
Are you a ghost believer?
Alexis Worthen (29:38):
I don't think anything.
You know, there's the law ofthe physics where it's like no
matter is created or destroyed.
It just, you know, exists allthe time and it's just remade,
reborn or made it remade and todo things.
So I certainly I do.
I like to think that there'slike energies in the world and I
think that you know we aren'tlike removed from that and
(30:02):
removed from you know what camebefore us?
Do I think there's like harrypotter, like like full physical
spirits walking around?
I don't think so, but I thinkthere is something to be said,
for what came before us isn'tentirely gone, is what is my
(30:23):
answer to that?
Lyle Wiley (30:25):
So it's a nicely measured answer.
I like it Tricky question, butyeah, it seems like there's lots
of unexplained phenomena outthere.
It's like you can't just slamthe door on it, right no?
Alexis Worthen (30:38):
no I agree.
Lyle Wiley (30:39):
So, uh, thank you for letting me pick your brain
about horror a little bit.
It was really fun for me.
I don't know if other peoplefind it interesting we're
talking about, but I'm surehaving a good time like we
should just talk about letterbox.
I'm in, I'm in, yeah, we couldjust go through and just talk
about every movie and I'd besuper excited.
I love talking about films, um,but uh, let's, let's move back
(31:00):
to speech and debate.
Uh, yeah we haven't had a chanceto have a talk about speech and
debate just the two of us.
So I like to ask folks like youknow, what's the?
What was the best part aboutspeech and debate for you when,
when you were involved, what wasyour, your favorite part?
Alexis Worthen (31:15):
I loved the preparation of it.
I loved the research andwriting your own stuff that came
with it.
I loved, like the, theconfidence that it provided when
you did something well and youyou did well.
That was lovely.
I liked the ability to makefriends with people from all
over the state.
Still have really good friendsfrom it, and that wouldn't have
(31:39):
been the same.
I think overall speech anddebate left me feeling very
empowered and very capable andready to be an adult and I don't
think I would have felt thesame if I didn't have that.
Yeah, I think that it's a veryunique opportunity and chance to
better yourself as both within,like your career and yourself
(32:00):
as a person, as a, as a speaker,as a, you know, as a researcher
, as a citizen.
I guess is what I would say.
Lyle Wiley (32:11):
I think this like segues nicely into, like the
question I'm kind of leavingeverybody with at the
clipocalypse, which is, like youknow, a lot of people are very
afraid to speak publicly.
It's like pretty, you know,well-known public fear amongst
the most fears, right, like, oh,speaking in front of people,
(32:32):
like folks get really scared andso you know why is
participating in speech anddebate like worth all of the
horror, the terror, the fear.
Alexis Worthen (32:42):
Um, I would say that it leaves you really
passionate about um, the stuffyou want to be passionate about
um.
I wrote my final bill forcongress on education and I'm
still very passionate abouteducation and providing um more
educational opportunities forpeople in america, and I hope to
(33:05):
be like, continue to go intothat some in some capacity when
I'm an adult.
But I think that there's also alevel of uniqueness when it
comes to speech debate, wherethere's lots of opportunities to
do anything and everything.
I also think that you don't getvery far if you are in speech
(33:28):
debate if you don't have acertain level of grace and
empathy for others and for themost part at least, in our
community.
I think that we, you knoweveryone is led by desire to,
you know, for people to succeed,no matter what I think that we
might be.
(33:48):
So I don't think that there'sany inherent, you know, judgment
or anything like that.
So the only you know the worstthing is, you know internally
what might happen internally,but it's never as bad as you
know, like the nightmares thatyour head, you know, comes up
with at night.
So I think that ultimately, allspeech and debate does if you,
(34:13):
you know, put this effort intoit is prepares you to be better
at it than you were, and it's afairly safe community.
You don't get better at publicspeaking, but also all different
types of public speaking.
Lyle Wiley (34:38):
Yes, I think that that's some good answers there.
I'm glad that speech and debateprovided some good stuff for
you and I'm excited that you'regetting to use a lot of your
skills in Model UN right now.
That's really fun.
Alexis Worthen (34:49):
I definitely would not be doing Model UN if
it wasn't for speech debate 100%, I'd be in the dust.
Lyle Wiley (34:56):
Well, have you any interest in getting involved in
speech and debate in the future?
Just out of curiosity, like areyou going to If?
Alexis Worthen (35:01):
there's like a coaching opportunity that's ever
like provided, I'd love that.
If there's a judgingopportunity ever, I would love
that as well.
Lyle Wiley (35:08):
And you're studying like political science and
public policy.
Alexis Worthen (35:11):
I'm in an accelerated program.
So I'm doing my bachelor's forpolitical science with a minor
in econ in three years, and thenI get my master's in public
policy in one.
Lyle Wiley (35:22):
Okay, any chance that you'll end up in education
or you think you want to go intopublic policy?
Alexis Worthen (35:29):
Hopefully I'll go into public policy, but I'm
also anywhere that gives me ajob.
That sounds great.
Thank you so much.
Anywhere that's employing me,that'd be so awesome.
Fair enough.
Lyle Wiley (35:40):
Yeah, I get that.
Thank you again for hopping onhere and helping us navigate the
clapocalypse.
Nice time chatting with youabout all the things and, yeah,
I'll probably try to have youback, if that's okay.
I love having you involved.
Thanks so much to Alexis forstopping by and yapping with me.
It was super fun and I'mexcited to have her back on the
(36:01):
show in the future.
What's going on in theClapocalypse tomorrow?
Well, nothing Quiet my friends.
I'm taking another day of rest,maybe two, but I'll be back
shortly.
Remember to check the socialmedia challenges on our socials
and, yeah, we'll see you in acouple of days.
Campers, I'm sleepy.
Did you know that zombiesalways go to bed early?
(36:21):
Yeah, I mean, they're alwaysdead tired For Camp One Clap.
This is Camp Director Wileysigning off.
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