– [Voiceover] Let's learn fractions. Understanding fractions can be easy as one, two, three. Just watch this video, and you'll be using fractions with ease. It's easy to count whole things, like a pizza, a pie, or a donut. But what if we only had part of one? How would we count it then? We'd use fractions. A fraction looks like this. The bottom number is called the denominator. It shows how many equal pieces an object has been divided into. The top number is called the numerator. It shows how many parts of the denominator you are looking at. For example, a pizza is usually divided into eight slices. That means that, in a fraction, the denominator would be eight. If you normally eat one slice of pizza, then one would be the numerator. That means that you eat one eighth of a pizza. If you normally eat two slices of pizza, then two would be the numerator. The denominator would still be eight, since there are always eight slices of pizza. That would mean that you eat two eighths of a pizza. Let's try another example. This pie is divided into six pieces, and you eat four pieces of it.
If there were six pieces of pie, and you eat four, what is the denominator of your fraction? (upbeat music) That's right, six. What is the numerator? (upbeat music) Yep, it's four. That means that you ate four sixths of the pie. Let's try one more example. If you and your friend have one donut to share, then you will cut it into two pieces. If there are two pieces of donut and you eat one, what is the numerator of your fraction? (upbeat music) That's right, the numerator is one. What is the denominator? (upbeat music) Right again! It's two. When the fraction is one over two, we call that one half. Thanks for watching. (upbeat music).
Guys, you know why my mouth is dirty? Because it's my birthday. Can you guys please get
me a Spider-Man gift? Hello, guys. All right, let's wash my face. And now, we'll get this party started. Let's get this party started. Goodbye. Good morning. Mila, what are you doing here? I made a flower stick. Oh, is that for Noah? Yeah. Okay, so Mila's picking some
flowers from the garden. There's look what Mila did for Noah Son
look what Mila made you Then you know how good you look at those balloons, they're
actually good actually match your Screenshots actually a sick what
they usually with me and Noah good and what about his mom? I what kind of screenshots
that we love his mom.
Oh my god Come here, come here,
come here, come here, come here. So guys, we have a really cool thing
we're doing for his birthday today. But first! Let's take a screenshot before
we start the birthday vlog. Cheese! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday! Oh my goodness. Cake like Noah did. Is it your birthday? No, but sharing is caring. So guys, it's a thing for us on
birthdays, you're allowed to have. Cupcake for breakfast. Which is a crazy thing, honestly. Only on his birthday, right Noah? You can only have a
cupcake on your birthday. Oh, okay. Only on his birthday is allowed
to have cupcake for breakfast. Not everyone is allowed to have cupcake. I'm eating another one. Noah, only- It's my birthday. Oh. I can control the day. Birthday? You can tell me what to do? He said do your own thing in peace. Okay, do you want to go
time out on your birthday? No.
So why are you not being nice? Say I'm sorry to mommy. I'm sorry mommy. Oh, I'm sorry. It's okay, it's his birthday. He's lucky it's his birthday. Yeah. And that I look this good today. So now, can we tell them what's happening? Alright guys, so me and Anas have
been having a debate about how we're gonna do Noah's birthday. Long story short I actually believe that
kids like at-home parties and that's the ones they remember That's the
ones I remember in my childhood. Balloons, cake, pinata. He thinks that Noah's birthday should
be outdoor Like, you know, at the park.
What I mean by taking him
out is like taking him out to the park, the mall Shopping. So you think he's gonna
like that more than a party? I believe kids in general like that
more than a party And we've been having this debate for years, by the way. Okay, so anyways, this
is what we decided on. We decided that he's gonna take Noah out
and do your version of whatever birthday. And then while he's doing that, I'm gonna
prep Noah's party at the house and it's gonna be the best one and at the end of
the day, he's gonna end up picking mine.
No, I promise you it's gonna be mine. Hey, Noah, Noah, come here,
come here, come here, come here. Okay, so we're leaving
now, but Noah, listen. I'm just gonna tell you what
the plan is today, okay? So listen, me and Mila are gonna be
taking you out for you to control the day. Yay! Okay, and then mommy she will stay back
here, you know what she's gonna be doing Mommy's gonna be building his party and
at the end of the day, we're gonna see which one you pick Hey guys, tell me
the truth wouldn't you guys prefer going out than actually staying in like yes Dude at home parties feel so
much more natural I remember a childhood memory when my mom went out and surprised
me And she got like a pinata cake all that and then I came home and then they
surprised me and that till this day I don't forget it. Okay, would you have preferred
on that day to go out and do a lot of things at the same time? Like have a day where you can control
and say yes to whatever you want? Actually, now I think about
it, can I go to Venice? I told you, I told you.
This is a classic. Okay, we'll see which one you pick. Okay, Noah, before we go anywhere,
what is the first thing you wanna do? Now I want. Okay. I gotta leave. Bro, this is about to be cray cray. Okay guys, so we cheated a little
bit and I called up Ronan to help us because we only have one hour. There he is. Yo! What's up? Okay, so the plan is, look,
I got this guy as inspo. Okay. My little chicken nugget
Noah loves Spider-Man. He sleeps, wakes up, it's Spider-Man.
Spider-Man morning, Spider-Man
pancakes, Spider-Man cake, Spider-Man decorations, Spider-Man pinata, what? Don't we have like a time crunch right now? All right, okay. Let's go, let's go. We just got to the park and
the kids are passed out. Hi, Mimi. Hey, Noah. Okay, guys, here's the football, let's go. And here's the park, let's go, guys. Hey, guys, I'm starting
to stress out like always. He just turned four. Look, everybody's staring at me. I'm doing this for my son.
I don't care if anybody judges me. It's my son's birthday,
everybody moved out of my way. What, do you see any Spider-Man? I wish it were this. Look, happy birthday to be red. Look, it matches, it matches. Oh, it kinda does. Okay, fine, we'll grab it in case,
but I do want a Spider-Man one. Come, we need a pinata. Noah's getting a bit sad because
he thinks that Mila knows how to play better than him. Hey don't be sad. Hey bro it's your birthday. I think he just woke up so he's
not feeling too good after dinner. Do you want to try to kick him? What? You have to be good at anything bro. It's starting to be not a very fun day.
Here let's show him how to do it. Here dad hold it like that. You hold it Noah. Come on. One, two, three,. Okay, let's go, let's
go, let's go, let's go. It's working. Oh, there's Sonic. He loves Mario. Oh, my God. Spiderman pinata, look. Wait, which one, which one? This one or that one? I like this one. Look, it's like a person. Okay, so we're getting the pinata, guys. And then I'm going to get him this. This is so cute. A little chicken nugget. What is this? Oh, my God. There's Spiderman goodie bags.
And plates. Oh, my God. Just get everything. Plates. okay plates here right guys okay so we got
plates we got goodie bags it looks like him that's a birthday candle they don't have
balloons oh we need that balloon oh four blue blue click bro we have no time there's
four four four it's the last one oh my she doesn't even know how to drive okay
okay wait i'll throw it Okay, I'm gonna throw it and then we'll see who wins. Okay. Are you guys ready? one Two she's gonna let him win All right. So that's all we got. I got the happy birthday to
be Oh, we do need to keep run.
You need to why so slow? You're making me lose calories
It's right in your face Right. Oh my you're so blind. So two year olds are good. No, we should get what do you mean healthy? Guys, I've never heard of healthy candy
in my life, especially in America. Look at, oh, these are,
Noah loves Ring Pops. Oh. Is it tough? Oh, he loves them. We see he loves peanut butter. And what about some toys? We have no time.
We're gonna put the phone in here. Go all the way farther. And whoever touches the
phone first wins, okay? One, two, three, go! Whoever touches the phone first! Who's gonna touch the phone first? Look at this one. Look how cute they are. Is this your favorite day ever? Noah, are you done with the park? Yeah. Okay, so look. Because he's four, he
gets four yeses today. So you just did the park. So where do you want to go next? Because he's four, he gets four minutes. Okay, because you're four, you
get four minutes to target. Are you ready? Three, two, one, go. Okay, next target. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. Hey. How's it looking in the end? Honey get ready for your
son to pick my party. I actually Wait till he comes home,
it's gonna be the best party ever. Oh, oh go go. Sorry. We gotta go. We gotta go We gotta go check out.
Oh my gosh. Are you ready? Okay guys, we're here Target
We have to move quickly. How old are you? You're four. So you get four minutes. Are you ready guys? We got so much stuff. That's all I just got,
everything in this store. I'm gonna get the candy. Okay. Alright, what do you think
the final price is gonna be? Higher or lower than 300? Lower. Lower? Alright, I think it's higher than 300. Really? Yeah. You can get 4 toys for your 4th birthday. Okay. I'm trying to increase my chances
of winning at the end of the day. Okay, Noah, quickly, the timer's running. Timer's running. Minions? What'd you get? Minions. Okay. I want your phone! This is amazing. Hey, look who I found.
Wow. It says happy birthday,
and you can put the name. Can we put Noah? Of course, you can. Yeah? Oh my god, look at the top of those. I said I was right. Did we forget anything? We gotta run to Walmart. Okay. We need cake, we need gifts. Okay, what do you want? Cake. Okay. Number three. Okay, so this is the last one? Number two. Aww. Okay, just because it's for Mila, you're
gonna be able to get one more pie. Guys, so Walmart, luckily, is literally
walking distance from Party City. so i'm literally running because i gotta
get the cake and the gift so first things first we gotta get the cake the bakery
is there where are you going so slow it's a genetic thing look at these
happy birthday display cakes oh wow what do we think about that okay so is that what we're getting for mila mila
do you like it yeah you can pick what you want if he says it's okay noah hey noah
What if you return this from Mila and be like Mila you can pick whatever you want Okay, let's go I don't want to put timers
on this but you only got a minute left guys What do we think about this small case? This looks it's red and blue She's right
she's right Let me stick this on the cake.
What's up with me and my ice cream? Alright, okay, let's go. Okay, okay, we gotta go. We have no time. Okay, now we need a gift. Mimi, your timer's almost done. 29, 28. I don't know. Oh, there, there, there. I think it's there. Noah, Noah, come, Noah, come. Here, here. Isn't that it? Play-Doh? No, where's the slime section? I don't know. It's 10, 9. Okay, okay. Pick, pick, pick. Okay, okay, okay. Here, come, come, come, come, come. Come, come. You're wasting my time. Noah, Noah, come. Get it, get it. You're doing way too much. You're doing too much. Season one. He's literally gonna get a sugar rush. What are you doing? Okay, I'm getting this. Are you? She's grabbing it for herself. She's not even grabbing
it for his birthday. What toy should we get? What toy? Let's go. Let's go see inside. Let's go. Oh my God. Okay, look what she got. She got slime. I love slime. My favorite. You're not all done? Okay, we're back in the car.
Noah, what's the next
thing you wanna do today? So you have four things
to do the whole day. No, to go to the choo-choo train. Also get boba. Uh, only if Noah says yes, Noah. Keep in mind, you have four things. So if you say choo-choo
train and then boba… No, that won't take away one
because it's my decision. No, it's his. He needs to decide. I know, but I want to… He's a big boy. No more. Okay, next stop is the mall where we're
gonna get choo-choo train and boba. This excitement level. Noah's gonna pick my, my outing. I don't, I don't, I don't… I really don't understand just like
people thinking that like If you just go home and be like happy
birthday to you, like it's nice.
Obviously, it's a really cool thing
It's not better than going out and doing things Having a yes day. Alright, so we're at the toy set. Why are we at the Barbie section? We need Spiderman. First one. Oh, I think he likes Barbies. Guys, can boys like Barbies? He's got a little Spiderman thing. Oh, look at this. What do we think? We put him on the cake. He has the same one I saw in the trash. Oh my god. We just got to the mall guys. Here is the choo-choo train. Here's where the choo-choo train… Dude, the choo-choo train used to be here. Yeah, so they have… Oh my god, they took it off for Santa.
Oh my god. Wait, I'll put some footage
of the kids before playing it. And that's why he wanted to play. Noah, are you okay? Okay, so do you want to change your mind? Okay. So what do you want? He wants to go in here. It's called My Little Town. that the kids play at. Thank God we figured this out,
although Santa took their train. Storage inside. Oh, he would love this. Oh, wait, he doesn't. Hey, how about we get him a Spider-Man
bike with the Spider-Man helmet? Oh my god.
Do you have Spider-Man money? No, I'm Spider-Man broke. Guys, who's that Riz? Guys, who's that Riz? You guys, we're gonna check out
Pey and we'll meet you at home. Oh my god, yep, there's a restaurant. And the quiet evening snow is falling. Happy birthday! Happy birthday! And from every window shines a light. The strings are calling. This is getting crazy.
Do you think he's going to
pick my birthday or mommy's? I think he's going to choose mom's. Us? Yeah, why? It's because it's more fun and
look what we're doing right now. What are you doing there? Oh my god. Alright, so we just put
everything in the trunk. Spider-man balloons Yeah,
honestly, I'd never do that again.
I'm not gonna watch someone clip that
and just like you need help, or I got you Oh my hi guys, so we just got all this
stuff from Party City in Walmart, and we'll see you guys at home all right
Hang up guys we're gonna come back to you guys okay, okay, bye, okay? No, they're about to close, so what
do you want for your last thing the last thing you want today's candy. Are you sure? Is this the best day ever? Okay, I hope it's working. All right guys, so we just got home and
I put all the stuff here on the table. We literally got like 20 to 30
minutes to set everything up. Oh my god, we need to be quick. I'm actually starting to panic guys. I didn't wrap the gift. I didn't put up the decorations. I don't know if this is enough
now that I'm looking at it.
I thought I bought a candle. I didn't. We got a blow horn so that you know
with kids they love noise and chaos. So this is gonna help me. What is this? I want my money back. Okay guys, so Noah's getting candy. No, you get four. Four. I'll carry it for you. So how many did you get? I still get boba. No, this or boba. Okay, here we go. Oh la la. Okay, one, two, three, four.
Yay! And now it's boba time. So what's your guys' New Year's resolution? You know, get on a good diet. You know what I'm saying? I feel like you say
typical New Year's stuff. Okay, what's yours? Do you wanna fight? My New Year's resolution is to What's
something bad about you're bad attitude? I believe fix your attitude for the new
All right guys, I'm gonna finish setting up And now we're here at the boba for the
last stop and then we go to a Sonic to see which one Noah picks So honestly, whichever
one he picks, seeing him that excited and happy, are you happy? It's just like worth everything. I love you, Noah. Happy birthday when you're older. I want you to see this video
and know how much we love you.
And yeah, it's boba time. That's what I like to hear. All right, guys. So, it's coming along amazing. And the setup, I just
want to show you guys. I got pizza, pasta. It's a little messy right now,
but I'm starting to wrap the gift. But it looks so good. Even just walking in
here, like look at that. Guys, look at this. Anyways guys, so everything is starting
to come together and it looks so good. And I'm just so excited for Noah. This birthday is the first birthday
he's actually like aware of. Because he's a little older now. Like I know you guys don't know Noah
that well, but he's just so emotional and loving and caring and sensitive. And he just doesn't forget details. Like he's always grateful and thankful. And that's why I'm doing this
for my little chicken nugget. And I just want to say I love you so much
Noah, and I hope you remember all right guys I'm gonna turn off the camera
right here and come back when he's about to be here So Mila got her
boba, so we're heading out now.
It's dark Okay guys, so they're pulling up literally
right here I just saw my ring camera, so I don't want to show you guys the setup yet
because it's a surprise But look who just came we have Sarah And we got Nasheed. Hi! Oh my! Hello! Eyes are closed. Poor kid, he slept in the car. My chicken nugget baby! He had so much fun that
he couldn't stay awake. Honey, honey. This is gonna wake him up. Let's take the mask off. Don't open your eyes, okay Noah? Alright Noah. You're gonna keep walking and walking
walk 10 steps Did you have a lot of fun with daddy did you show them? Guys you're gonna see it with Noah
Obviously just did you tell them that this is like his home birthday because it's
New Year's all his friends are obviously like out of town Or whatever so we're
gonna do his own little birthday party when he's back in school This one is from me to Noah.
Did you have fun with Daddy? Well, guess what? I don't think you really had fun. You know why? Because the party is just
getting started You ready? Can you count to three for me? Actually count to four because
you just turned four today Wow, 4. Whoever did the 4 backwards is a genius. Oh, that's good. What's that, Alan? You know. Oh, I did everything. And we have pizza, and
we have the Spider-Man. Yes. Do you like it? Okay, guys. So before we show Noah his gift… Noah, are you with us? Yes. Okay, guys. So before I show you your gift,
we're gonna sing you happy birthday. Are you ready? What? Happy birthday, happy
birthday, happy birthday. I still have two more
things to show you, Noah. Noah, look what else I got you. Goodie bags! Look what you got! Oh, you're really trying
to win them over, huh? Oh, wait for the finale.
So not only did I get you goodie bags
with chocolate, candy, and toys, Noah, I got one more thing for you, ready? Let's do the honors. This one, and this. You have no chance, I promise you. Watch this, okay Noah, a decision to make! Okay guys, so now it's time
for the final decision. Before Noah decides, I just wanted to tell
Noah How much mommy and daddy love you how much a lot a lot a lot and I really
wanted you to love your birthday today How much do you love me? Decision time which birthday
party was better daddy's in the morning or mommy's at night Love you too so much. Happy birthday.
Mommy and daddy will forever. Love you, okay Happy birthday Noah. I love you. Okay now go play with your toy guys I
just want to say we love you so much and thank you for celebrating Noah's birthday
with us and also happy new years to you guys all at home celebrating. I hope you guys a year filled with
happiness, blessings, health, joy and to be with your loved ones of course.
We love you guys so much
and we'll see you in 2025..
it was a whole lot of fun watching Deadpool 2 in theaters but since it's been a few years many aspects of the film come across differently nowadays from celebrity cameos to deleted scenes there's a lot about the movie that you may not have noticed the first time around at the beginning of deadpol 2 Wade Wilson is on top of the world he's reunited with his soulmate Vanessa and the two plan to start a family but they're tragically torn apart when she's killed by a straight bullet meant for her boyfriend Vanessa's death shapes the tone of the movie and wait character Arc as he sees visions of her that he interprets as encouragement to help Russell however Deadpool 2 has been criticized for making Vanessa a victim of quote fridging if you're not familiar with the term it's basically a plot device where a female character is put in Peril because the plot requires it did you ever see Commando it's like that think Alyssa Milano with Anie as her dad saving the day at the end director David Leech doesn't believe that Vanessa was fridged because the character emotionally underlines the whole movie but in truth Vanessa was initially never supposed to die at all leech admitted on the audio commentary we had versions where they broke up and she left him instead of dying according to Ryan Reynolds the whole tone of the movie would have changed if vanessa had lived as they might have actually had a child in the end leech felt to death was best for Deadpool's narrative as he wouldn't have had quite the same motivation if vanessa had survived in the original Deadpool fighting Francis probably would have gone a lot smoother if there were more than three mutants present to take him out before the big battle though Wade make sure the audience know knows exactly why we shouldn't expect to see Mega popular mutants like Wolverine or Cyclops this time around it's a big house it's funny that I only ever see two of you it's almost like the studio couldn't afford another X-Men before the climax of Deadpool 2 however this has proven not to be the case six of the most iconic members of the X-Men are clearly present in the x- Mansion it's just that they just don't want anything to do with Wade as annoying as Deadpool can be to deal with juggernaut's attack on an orphanage probably warranted some assistance from the more popular members of the superhero team so why didn't they show up once again the answer is more about behind the scenes limitations than plot Hol none of the X-Men were actually able to appear on the Deadpool 2 set because they were busy shooting dark Phoenix at the time as with many elements in today's superh hero movies The Cameo was added via green screen which means that Ryan Reynolds never actually got to hang out with James makoy and Evan Peters drawing production peters's recall to Cinema Blend we had a lot of different versions for when they opened that door and turn to us but the one they used was pretty chill whether he's stranded on mars or buying a zoo it's always a pleasure to see Matt Damon on the big screen even though he has yet to play a big shot superhero like his buddy Ben Affleck Damon has taken the opportunity to appear in multiple Marvel movies in 2017 stor Ragnarok Damon portrayed an Asgardian actor in the role of Loki and a year later he put on some Prosthetics to play a hillbilly who doesn't believe in the hygienic value of toilet paper toilet paper is plen fying appetizer but then huggy's Natural Care whip wips details of Damon's Cameo were kept under wraps and while his scene partner Alan tck is named in the credits Damon isn't he's credited as Dicky Greenleaf which is a reference to The Talented Mr Ripley and the identity that his character steals in that film his Cameo wasn't publicized or talked about in interviews until after the movie was released and plenty of viewers missed that it was him the first time around most of the casting crew members were kept in the dark as Reynolds and leech did everything they could to keep it Hush Hush Reynolds who co-wrote deadpol 2 pitched Damon the idea for the toilet paper scene over dinner director leech later admitted to kider we didn't even tell the crew his name wasn't on the cool sheet it was a fake name nobody really knew what that scene was about they were like why are we shooting these two red necks we just didn't tell anybody once cable arrives in the present Deadpool assembles the ex force in order to stop him from harming Russell the invisible hero vanisher joins the team but quickly meets his And Timely demise after strong winds blow him into electrical cables and zap him to a crisp it's only as he's electrocuted that vanisher becomes visible and once he is he's revealed to be played by Brad Pit you guys look amazing vanisher I have no doubt you look amazing too if you get the chance to put Brad Pit in your movie you should probably put him in your movie even if it's for Less Than 3 seconds of screen time fit had originally been in the running to play cable but back doubt due to a scheduling conflict even though Josh Brolin ended up playing the futuristic Warrior David Leech told told collider that pit still really wanted to be involved in the franchise he recalled he kind of left the door open when we left that meeting like if you guys ever need anything give me a call I'd love to be involved and Ryan just said oh I have an idea so he started to think about what it could be and the vanisher thing was perfect the only thing that pit requested as compensation for his appearance was a single cup of coffee well Matt Damon and Brad Pit's cameos were two of the most notable in Deadpool 2 it's probably Stan Le's that was the most anticipated late in his life the Marvel comic co-creator made a number of cameos in the MCU and other Marvel based films but his Deadpool to appearance wasn't what viewers were expecting unlike in the first movie where Lee played a strip club DJ his appearance in the sequel was purely two-dimensional Deadpool 2 celebrates Lee with a giant mural which can be seen when Domino is parachuting into the city David Leech explained to kollider that the colorful graffiti was included in the movie because scheduling issues precluded them from shooting Lee In the Flesh he elaborated we're always aware that you want to get a Stanley appearance in there but it was more like what would work and what was the time in place and our schedule was tight and things got away from us so by the time we were done with the movie he were thinking where could we plug him in during re-shoot leech denied at the time that Lee's absence was due to his rumored ill health sadly Lee's Health did begin to decline and he passed away just a few months after the release of Deadpool 2 his last ever Cameo was an Avengers endgame when it was announced that Domino would be a featured character in Deadpool 2 some fans were left one wondering how exactly the film would portray her power of perfect luck it seems that Ryan Reynolds noticed this because Deadpool's rant during Domino's attempt at saving Russell makes that exact point in a pretty ironic way in fact Deadpool is so insistent that luck isn't a superpower that he mocks the person who came up with the idea in the first place his insult doesn't make much sense unless you're familiar with the source material though what C out glass pipe suck a freak show comic book artist came up with that little Chestnut probably a guy who can't draw feet so who actually is a guy who can't draw feet that would be Rob leld comic book veteran and co-creator of the characters Deadpool Domino and cable leld is Infamous for avoiding having to draw feat as much as possible in his work even though many other artists in the medium have followed his lead over the years Ryan Reynolds reached out to clear the joke with life out who despite the implication that he smokes crack was thrilled to be included in the movie he told inverse there's no greatest shout out in the world Deadpool 2 was full of surprises when it first came out one of them being the presence of the super villain Juggernaut this wasn't the underwhelming Juggernaut from X-Men the Last Stand either this was a fully CGI Behemoth capable of ripping Deadpool in half like a Twinkie but who could play such a beast of a man just like Mike Myers and Austin Powers Ryan Reynolds plays both the anti-hero and the villain but he wasn't actually supposed to do it and he isn't named as the voice of Juggernaut in the credits after Deadpool 2 was released Reynolds revealed to Empire that he' just been standing in until they could find the more suitable voice actor which never ended up happening as he put it I just did it as a kind of temp it was this sort of Brooklyn Brawler voice that we modulated and post and cranked up and gave it all this base and reverberation we didn't settle on that just because it was quality we settled on that because we just didn't have any more budget left for other actors to jump in David Leech ended up doing motion capture for juggernaut's face which was brought to life thanks to the work of talented VI effect artist you know it has always been a dream of mine to see my face reflected in your helmet as you charge at me with murderous intent I don't mean right now in nearly every single time travel movie tampering with the past has disastrous consequences in the present Deadpool 2 is one of the rare exceptions armed with Cable's time travel device Wade makes some pretty major changes to the timeline with seemingly no ill effects at least not until Deadpool and Wolverine that is he saves Vanessa by killing her attacker with a cream cheese spreader takes out the mute version of Deadpool from X-Men Origins Wolverine and puts a bullet in Ryan Reynold's head before he can start production on Green Lantern it's a pretty happy ending overall and it creates a clear path for Marena backin to appear in Deadpool 3 as a mutant superhero copycat however Deadpool 2 almost had a completely different darker ending co-writer R Reese said the team was initially happy with their decision to kill Vanessa off without resurrecting her Reese told CBR we originally did not save her it was interesting we thought we might have to save her with the time machine because the audience would be mad at us but they were accepting of her being dead bringing Vanessa back was ultimately a last minute decision as they felt it was the best fit for the story and the future of the franchise when they called back hering up to let her know she was very receptive to the news one of Wade's time traveling Adventures that didn't make it into the theatrical release of Deadpool 2 involved him going back in time to kill Adolf Hitler as a baby in the deleted post credit scene he's ready to unleash hell on the newborn infant but he starts to struggle with the decision he eventually decides to let cable do the dirty work for him I think we both no I don't have what it takes to do this the scene was eventually released as part of the super duper cut in August 2018 Ryan Reynolds told The Hollywood Reporter that it caused a debate behind the scenes saying I always loved it because it created the same debate in our edit room as it does in the streets of the world it was debated back and forth and over and over again we were all a little nervous about it wondering is it too much in the end none of us could come to a consensus on how to handle it so our final decision was to just not handle it to just not put l in the movie
The problem with the Matrix sequels is that
their target audience is a 13 year old boy who has somehow earned a PhD in philosophy. That is to say: someone who loves philosophical
conversations and also enjoys ridulously over the top action sequences. Yes! That was a bowling pin sound effect! I didn't even add that! These movies are goofy…it's okay. Embrace it! So as a 13 year old kid in 2003 who didn’t
have a philosophy degree, I hated the sequels and spent the rest of my life up until about
a month ago pretending that they DID not exist.
But then a funny thing happened. I got old. And when I popped these suckers in fifteen
years after the fact, my thoughts on the movies did a complete 180. This feels like a confession, but I had SO
much fun watching these movies. More fun than Hugo Weaving had acting in them. And if you’re thinking right now, “Hold
on, Sage. You’re running a YouTube channel mostly
about movies and you want to tell me that the Last Jedi AND the Matrix Sequels are good? Do you know what F****** platform you’re
on?” And yeah, I can list just as many problems
these movies have as anybody else can. These are flawed movies by any measure that
don’t live up to the tightly wound perfection of the original. The biggest obstacle to enjoying these movies
is that the philosophy isn’t neatly woven into the narrative. The philosophical stuff in the first film
was like a little side dish.
It didn’t dominate the rest of the story,
and the emphasis was always on the characters and the action. The philosophy in the sequels? Ooof. It’s just dropped like an anvil onto the
audience. "As I was saying, she stumbled onto a solution whereby nearly 99% of all test subjects … What are you talking about? Between every action scene we get a GIANT. PHILOSOPHICAL. LECTURE. about the nature of power, free will,
determinism, purpose, causality, belief, and systemic control.
I’ve talked about techniques to integrate
exposition into a story before, and these movies follow zero of those guidelines. As a piece of mass market entertainment, this
absolutely kills the pacing, so it’s no wonder that 13 year old me was bored. But nowadays? Listening to some guy explain philosophy for
15 minutes at a time is something I do for FUN! Like, in my free time.
So again, my relationships to the films have
changed. Where all of this just went over my head as
a child, I can now finally find a coherent through-line to the ideas in the film. My confusion with these films is epitomized by a pair of paradoxical statements made by Neo at the end of the trilogy. To get anything from the films, other than pure indulgence, I have
to make sense of these two conflicting lines… “Why Mr. Anderson? Why, why do you persist?” “Because I choose to.” You were right Smith. You were always right. It was inevitable. Because I choose to. It was inevitable.” How can we resolve this paradox? Well, first it helps to clarify how Neo actually
beats agent Smith. Back in Reloaded, Agent Smith tells us that
he has been freed from his programing as a result of being killed by Neo in the original. Usually, when a program no longer has a purpose,
it is supposed to go to a place called The Source where they are deleted.
But being freed from his programing also meant
Smith suddenly had free will. He could decide to NOT go to the Source, and
instead starts making copies of himself, telling Neo it’s inevitable that he will make a
Smith clone out of Neo too. “It’s inevitbale.” As The One, Neo is also supposed to go to
The Source. The machines are trying to get him there because
once The One reaches The Source, the Matrix is rebooted. (Man, it is sort of irritating that every
name in this universe is just a noun with the word “the” in front of it.) At the end of the final film, Neo goes to
the Machine City which is the location of the Source.
So when Smith copies himself onto Neo, he
unwittingly connects himself to the Source which deletes him. Since Smith has become so powerful in the
Matrix, this is the only way that Neo can possibly defeat him. Once Neo has made the decision to fight Smith,
it is inevitable that this would be the way he is defeated. The mechanics of the plot don’t allow another
option. So that’s one explanation for
the line about inevitibility. The philosophical answer comes by way of asking:
is Neo free to make the choice to fight in the first place? Is he free to make any of the choices he’s
making? This is where all of that talk talk talk talk
talk in the Matrix Reloaded comes in handy. At the climax of that movie, Neo confronts
The Architect, the machine program responsible for creating the Matrix, who informs him that
everything he thought he knew about the war is a lie.
The resistance has been created and guided
by the machines at every step of the way. Neo isn’t that special. He is The One, but there have been many Ones
before him, and if all goes according to plan, there will be many Ones after him. The Architect gives him a choice. If he goes through one door, the Matrix will
be rebooted and Neo will restart the Revolution with 23 other individuals.
This is the door that the machines want him
to choose, but choosing it means that Trinity will die He can, however, go through the other door
and try to save her. The Architect tells him that he will fail
to do so even if he goes through that door, and if he does choose that door, then the
entire human race will die along with them. So. The way the Architect frames this choice is
as one between Moral Duty and Love.
It’s a choice Neo has faced before: this
is the third time he’s had to make this decision in this very movie. The first one comes early on in the film. Neo wants to spend time with Trinity, but
he is confronted by a crowd of people who need him for spiritual support. No one’s lives are at risk, so in a tensionless
choice between Love and his Duty to the world, Neo chooses to help others. The second comes around the halfway point
of the film. When the Merovingian refuses to help him,
his wife Persephone, (hey look an actual character name) says she will help on one condition:
"I'll give you what you want.
But you have to give me something."
"What?"
"A kiss."
Excuse me? Now the stakes are higher: humanity’s survival
hangs in the balance, or so Neo believes, so once again he has to choose: Love or Duty. Again, he chooses to help others. So by the time he reaches this point of the
story, the Architect has every reason to believe that Neo will promptly walk through that door
to The Source and do his Job.
But Neo…doesn’t. When the stakes are raised to their highest
degree and when Trinity’s life hangs in the balance, he chooses to save her, and the
Architect tells us why: “Already I can see the chain reaction, the chemical precursors that signal the onset of an emotion designed specifically to overwhelm logic and reason. An emotion that is blinding you from the simple and obvious truth: she is going to die and there is nothing you can do to stop it." Essentially, he’s saying that Neo is a slave
to his passions, to emotion, which means that him going through that door proves that he
does not have free will. His actions are in line with what the Merovingian
was talking about earlier in the film: Causality. "You see, there is only one constant, one universe that is only real truth: Causality. Action, reaction.
Cause and effect." "Everything begins with choice." "No, wrong. Choice is an illusion created by those with power and those without." Neo was told Trinity was in danger, he had
an emotional reaction, and then he sped off to save her. Cause and effect. But I don’t think we can just simply take
the Architect at his word that Neo is blinded by emotion. In her paper on the film, “Neo’s Kantian
Choice "The Matrix Reloaded" and the Limits of the Posthuman” DANA DRAGUNOIU analyzes
Neo’s decision according to Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperatives, so let’s look at
the first one of those. Kant writes that we should, “Act only according
to that maxim whereby you can, at the same time, will that it should become a universal
law.” So what does that mean? Well, basically you should only do things
that you would be okay with everyone else doing all the time.
So you shouldn’t throw a plate of cookies against a wall because you wouldn’t
want to live in a world where everyone was constantly violent towards dessert. Hugo stop having so much fun! This Categorical
Imperative basically breaks the ethical dilemma Neo is in. See, the Architect is only capable of thinking
in purely mathematical terms, so it’s no surprise that he wants Neo to think like a
Utilitarian. Utilitarianism, for those who aren’t watching
The Good Place as they should be, is the idea that you should act so as to maximize utility,
or for the purposes of this example, to maximize the survival of the most number of people. So since 23 people surviving is better than
none, Neo should go to the Source. It’s basically Thanos logic. But when you think about this decision in
Kantian terms, the logic falls apart. To quote Dragunoiu, “If everyone (or, to
use the language of the trilogy, every “one”) were to sacrifice Zion and betray the Resistance
whenever the machines threatened humanity with extinction, the very notion of resistance
would be rendered absurd” Walking through this door to The Source would
only continue to perpetuate the systems of control that the machines have constructed
to maintain power over humanity.
It dooms them to endlessly repeat the cycle
of revolution and near extinction until the end of time. Under this thinking, the danger Trinity faces
is irrelevant. If Neo actually wants to fulfill his duty
to save humanity, then he needs to walk through this door no matter what. The choice isn’t between Duty and Love. Both of those values are behind the same door.
Only servitude is behind the other. Because Neo is acting on principle, doing something, doing something that is outside of his own self-interest, his decisions become unpredictable to the machines, suggesting that he does have free will.
He won't sacrifice one life to save many but instead insists on finding another solution. It’s basically Captain America logic. “We don’t trade lives.” But the fact that Trinity’s life also
hangs in the balance complicates our analysis of Neo’s motives here. Was he a slave to his passions after all, or did he
choose to do what is more morally right? What actually motivated him to go through
this door? Love or moral duty. Because the first indicates determinism, and
the second indicates free will. Luckily, the events of the third film clarify this by removing Trinity from the equation.
Instead of trying to keep Trinity out of the
line of fire like he did in Reloaded, in Revolutions he doesn’t stop her from joining him on
his suicide mission to the Machine City. Doing so demonstrates his willingness once
again to sacrifice his own self-interest, his love, in order to do what is morally required
of him. Her death along the way essentially allows
him to have clarity over his own motivations. That’s what the Oracle has been telling
him he needed to do this entire time: to understand why he makes the decisions he makes.
To know himself. "It's Latin. It means know thyself." "But if you already know, how can I make a choice?" "Because you didn't come here to make the choice, you've already made it. You're here to try to understand why you made it." Neo’s journey is, like all epic stories,
about finding a deeper understanding of self, and what Neo discovers about himself after
making all of these choices is that he always chooses to serve others over himself. I’m reminded here of a more recent story
about the nature of free-will, which argued that the principles that people hold are actually
akin to programming. In Westworld, your moral attitudes can be calculated for and are thus predetermined. but in the Matrix morality confounds the machines. The deterministic universe they've set up only caters to the common urges like hunger and pleasure that humans experience. Neo and the other resistance fighters operate outside of those bounds fighting for a higher purpose that these machines cannot account for or understand.
But at the end of the story, Neo has become self-aware about his own character. Giving him the knowledge to know that he would always make the hard choice and that he would always choose to oppose Smith. The question at the heart of the sequels isn't just about whether or not humans have free will or Neo has free will but do we have free will when it comes to resisting the systems of control put upon us by the powerful. These movies are about all the ways that those with power maintain control over a population. Controlling both sides in an eternal struggle creating the illusion that descenders are powerless. That we are caught in a loop without end. Its conclusion is that through moral courage, changing the system isn't just possible…it's well… "It was inevitable." So while I went into a rewatch of these movies
expecting to loathe every scene every step of the way, I came out of these movies exhilirated,
thrilled to finally see through what I once thought was totally unclear.
Opinions need refreshing every now and then. There are some movies whose reputations are
so seemingly universally agreed upon, good or bad, that we stop questioning them. We take it as a given. But the great thing about art is that while
it stays the same, you don’t, and when you take a look back at something you thought
you knew, it feels like waking up to a new reality when all you’ve ever known was the
illusion. I think the most exciting part of the fantasy
of the Matrix trilogy for me has always been this idea of living in a world where you can
just download a skill into your brain and instantly know how to do something. And while we sadly don’t have that technology
yet, the next best thing is Skillshare, a platform where experts in the fields of design,
writing, animation and more explain how they do what they do in accessible, well-curated
online classes.
I want to thank Skillshare for sponsoring
this episode. For writers, I recommend checking out Steve
Alcorn’s Writing Academy courses. He’s got a bunch of different classes on
topics like creating characters, writing dialogue, and structuring a story. So if you're interested in Skillshare, the first 500 people to click this link in the description will get a 2 month free subscription and access to over 20,000 classes with their premium account. Thanks for watching everyone, and a big thanks
to my Patrons on Patreon for supporting this channel.
