← Outrage Overload: Rethinking politics, division, and media
Outrage Overload: Rethinking politics, division, and media
81. My Omaha: A Story of Division, Trust, and Family – Nick Beaulieu
00:30:37
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- [00:04]
A
Welcome to Outrage Overload, a science podcast about outrage and lowering the temperature. This is episode 81.
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B
My dad and I had a special bond, but as I got older, it began to change. How do you think I identify politically? On the Democratic side of things. How would you identify yourself? Politically conservative. Very conservative. Everyone's been talking about how America has become more divided than ever before. But Omaha has been divided for a really long time. We're extremely segregated. We grew up in north Omaha where people have died from shootings. Death lives matter. Do you know why you made that sign again? Because of the Satan didn't change. You didn't change. Cause you don't do your homework for anything transformation to happen. It goes with changing oneself. And then the next leap is family. And then I get some news that totally changes everything. It's stage four of cancer. I'm possibly gonna die.
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A
Nick Bolliere set out to make a film about racial justice in Omaha. He didn't expect it to become a film about saying goodbye to his father and trying to understand him before it was too late. My Omaha is a deeply personal documentary set against the backdrop of Omaha's long standing racial divides and a growing racial justice movement. The film follows filmmaker Nick Boliere as he sets out to document activism in his hometown, only to find himself confronting something even closer to home. His relationship with his terminally ill father, Randy, a staunch pro Trump conservative. As Nick wrestles with political, racial, and generational divides inside his own family, he's guided by community activist Leo Lewis ii, whose work and perspective begin to shape how Nick thinks about conflict, trust, and reconciliation. And that's what we're going to talk about on this episode of the Outrage Overload podcast. Hi, I'm your host, David Beckmeier, and today we're speaking with Nick Boulier about his film, My Omaha. I attended a screening of the film in San Francisco, and it was very moving. What makes My Omaha stand out is that it refuses easy narratives. It doesn't ask us to pick heroes or villains or to resolve disagreement through debate. Instead, it sits in the discomfort between love and anger, justice and forgiveness, activism and family loyalty, and asks what it actually takes to stay connected in a fractured world. This conversation is about the film, but it's also about something many of us recognize, what happens when an ideological chasm shows up at the dinner table. So, Nick Bollier, thank you so much for making time for our program.
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B
Yeah, thank you for having me.
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A
So, you know, the movie is really interesting. And so what inspired you to to turn that relationship with your dad and the relationship with your hometown kind of simultaneously into a film.
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B
Yeah, well, I guess the motivations were coming from kind of different places, and then they ultimately did kind of merge. The motivation for starting the film in the first place was really trying to understand why our city was so incapable of talking about its hardships, essentially. And the biggest hardships at the time were the inequalities affecting the black community. And it was just. As someone who had spent my whole life in Omaha, you know, it was just so strange to me that people pretended like Omaha was perfect, you know, and that there were no problems. But yet, statistically, we were, like, ranking, like, the worst for black homicide rate, and the education stats were bad, and the unemployment stats were bad. And it was just, you know, as, you know, I was 21, 22 at the time. I was just trying to understand, like, why are these two things happening? This was in 2016, so it was like, right as the country was really about to shift. Right. It was right before Trump was elected for the first time. So that was kind of my mindset for the first few years of this project. And then as the kind of culture started to change and the country was changing, you know, my own relationships were changing, and politics was becoming something so much more present and divisive within my own life. I was also looking to bring in some counter perspectives and alternative perspectives into my film that had really been dealing with a lot of, you know, people that are more liberal or more progressive minded when it came to the voices. And I thought about my dad, who is a conservative, and right about the time when I was thinking about doing this, he was diagnosed with cancer. And I saw it as this whole new opportunity to actually really reconnect with him through the film and also dive deeper and. And almost allow the pressure of the cancer and of the ticking clock to help us go deeper and faster than normal. And so I just kind of followed that impulse, and that's ultimately kind of how we got to where we did.
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A
Yeah, I mean, that double narrative was interesting. So, you know, you titled the film My Omaha. You know, how much would you say it's about your dad and how much is it about your relationship with the city itself?
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B
Yeah, I mean, we tried to make it feel kind of 50, 50, you know, I mean, the scenes kind of alternate back and forth, and there's a lot of. A lot of moments that intertwine. I mean, my dad ends up going to one of these meetings that I was filming at currently in the city. So you Know, I. I probably couldn't put a number on it, but ultimately, I think by having the two together, it paints a pretty comprehensive portrait of Omaha and of our collective struggles. And I, for many years, struggled with the. Considering maybe making two films about the subjects independently. But it ultimately never felt. It felt like it was a weaker movie to do that. And so, you know, we found a way to kind of combine them. And I'm so glad we did, because I think gives the movie its uniqueness and its power, that. That it kind of covers everything. It does.
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A
Yeah. I mean, I didn't know a lot about Omaha, so it was interesting to see that kind of the segregation and some of the challenges there. You know, you chose to center the film on you and your dad and you didn't include your siblings. And so what went into that and how did the rest of your family feel about the project?
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B
Well, I did film with my siblings. I just decided not to include it in the edit because it really felt like something that was more. It was such a singular thing me and my dad were doing. You know, our conversations about the issues were one on one. And that was in our whole political relationship was always a very private into one on one thing between us. You know, like before I started filming and my dad and I would talk about religion or we would talk about the government. It was not a group conversation within our family. It was always this one on one thing. So it never really felt like something that made sense to bring them in on. I also was very, you know, conscious that it was just going to be. It was a hard thing to talk about. I mean, not only the politics, but just the fact that my dad was, you know, going through this really hard cancer treatment that was such a shock to our family. And like, then afterwards talking about it was hard. But I will say one of the things that's really meant a lot to me is that my. My nuclear family, like my immediate family of my mom, my brother and my sister, they'll love the film and they really respect it. And I think that says a lot considering they actually are all on different sides of the political spectrum. So I'm glad for that. But, yeah, so that was kind of the reason why. I mean, there's definitely another version of the film where it's more of a family story, but this was so much about me and my dad, so.
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A
So, yeah, makes sense. So speaking of your dad, there's sort of two versions of your dad. You know, in the film, we see your dad's social media posts alongside Your conversations. And sometimes it feels like two different people. Which version do you think is closer to the real one, if that's even a fair question?
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B
Yeah, well, it's hard to answer. I think they're both, they're both the same person. You know, it's just different sides or different. It's, it's like you're seeing one, you know, public facing and one more private facing, I guess. But that was a very deliberate decision to include those because I think that our public Personas are very much a part of our existence now. It's also how the other side, quote unquote, sees their political rivals or counters, is only through that and not through the other. More human, more present, more in the real world side of their life. And so I, I did want people to kind of see that. Yeah, my dad had this online version of himself that was more intense and that, you know, was more unfiltered, but that he was also very kind and gentle and, and all these other positive things that felt kind of like the opposite in real life. That was, you know, I, I wanted that because I know how relatable that is to people. And I also thought it was, it'd be helpful for people to see that these two things exist at the same time. And, and I, I think it's counterproductive to focus on one and neglect the other because they're just part of the same person, you know, and so, yeah, that's kind of how I see that.
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A
Yeah. Yeah, that was really interesting. You know, and that kind of brings me, because you kind of mentioned this in that answer that it kind of brings me to this idea of did you, you know, tend to come to understand better how some sources felt so trustworthy to your dad? And do you think you've come to learn more about how people choose what to believe?
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B
Well, I mean, I think in many cases it's, it's reflected in if it reinforces their pre existing beliefs. Right. I, I think that weighs so much more heavily on any kind of merits of, of where they, who they source, who the writers themselves are, who funds whatever the publication is. So, you know, in many cases, like that's what was happening, right? It's like, okay, you've got a set of beliefs, they reinforce your, your overall world view. That's enough, you know, So I mean like one thing my dad would always source was like this, this like anti climate change thing that was like, you know, had apparently like four or five hundred climate scientists who endorsed it. Right. But like you could just pick apart this whole thing about who are these alternative kind of like alt scientists? Are any of them credible? You know what I mean? So there was a part in the, in the movie and in just my journey with my dad where we did attempt to kind of unpack our different set of facts or whatever, and it's, It's a very tough thing to do currently because, you know, there's so much distrust from both sides about their respective media sources that it's really hard to build any kind of trust or any kind of mutual agreement on anything.
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A
Yeah, I mean, your. Your dad talks about that, talks about how, you know, you. You two have different facts and one of you must be wrong. And do you think that's really true? I mean, we, we're kind of. We kind of. You kind of just covered that a little bit. But what's your thought on that whole sort of philosophy?
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B
Well, some things, you know, there is a right and a wrong, I think, factually. And then there's other things that are. That are a political opinion, you know, and it's like you can really kind of take any issue, right, that gets thrown around right now, whether it's like immigration or foreign policy stuff, and it's like you can come up with an opinion about it, and it doesn't necessarily mean that you're factual or in factual, but, you know, some people might see it as morally wrong or whatever. Right. So it's kind of an impossible question to answer. But that, that my dad was coming from a kind of more fundamentalist perspective of, like, believing that he had a kind of ironclad truth that was not really bendable, you know, to any other kind of truths. And that's not how I saw things. I kind of see things that, okay, some people can be true part of the time and other people, you know, write, you know, the other part of the time. So that is kind of how I saw it and I think how he saw it.
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A
Yeah. You know, and we talked about editing a little bit at the beginning before we started hitting record. And was there a. Was there a case or, you know, in those conversations, did you ever do, like a real deep dive on some of those issues, like, kind of going over like, sounds like maybe with climate science stuff you did, and that didn't make the. Cut into the film?
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B
Well, it's funny, like, you know, there's, I think maybe five interviews with my dad in the movie, and, you know, there's two or three minutes from each of them in the, in the film. But we probably each one of those Was at least probably an hour and a half, sometimes two hours, sometimes three hours. And a big majority of that is us arguing over, you know, things happening in the world politically. And it's honestly very boring to watch and, and, and quite dated and, and, and, and hard to follow if you're not like, super online or, like, invested in, like, the issues. Right? Like, and not everyone is invested in the same issues we are. So I found when looking at some of that stuff, like, okay, this is not that insightful to watch us kind of struggle in this way. And kind of like I talked about earlier, I think I learned very quickly that it was going to be, you know, it was not the right idea to try to make any change about either of our beliefs here. You know, it was more about trying to understand each other better emotionally and how we could maybe, you know, heal our divide a little bit more by seeing each other more humanly and, and creating more empathy. So I tried not to dwell too much on the actual details of our issues. People ask me the same question of, did you change your mind about anything? And, and I say no when it comes to, like, issues, no. But I changed fundamentally about how I approach people that have differences than me. And I think that's way more of a profound change than any kind of, you know, policy opinion, you know, or whatever you want to call it.
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A
So I was curious about that because I. About how that film's been accepted because I, I watched the movie in, in San Francisco, and so you can imagine that it was pretty liberal bubble sort of thing. And the after discussion was quite interesting. It sort of started to turn into sort of a liberal Trump bashing session a little bit. And, you know, I, I kind of tried to maybe steer that a little bit differently by, by basically saying, you know, basically all the people, you're, the people on Trump people would say the exact same thing about you. You know, like, your facts aren't good and you're, you know, using bad sources and you're trying to hurt the country and all these things. They would pretty much say the exact same thing. And that, that did steer the conversation a little bit, and we talked a little bit more. But I was curious about that. About what kind of response. Well, if you have any response to that first, and then secondly, what kind of reactions you've gotten in places that are more conservative, maybe, and specifically in Omaha, maybe.
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B
Yeah, well, one thing that I find interesting is how the response to the movie changes throughout the movie. You know, like, I think in the beginning, like liberal audiences in Particular, they, you know, they react kind of reactionary to some of my dad's opinions, especially when he's talking about Trump at the beginning, there's a lot of audible, you know, groans or laughs or things. And then, like, that really changes as the movie goes on. And, like, there's. People get more quiet, and I think they. They realize, oh, I. I see this person differently now than I did earlier. So I think that there's a real shift that occurs. You know, the. Interestingly, I. I feel like I'm getting the same reaction from liberal audiences as I am from conservative audiences, which is really, like, a response of kind of. It's like a mixture of both heartache and also heartwarmingness, which is like a heartbreak for the fact that we're like this, but like, a heartwarmingness for the fact that it is. The movie does show, like, what's possible. Like, what kind of love is possible when two people try. Because I've had, especially in Omaha, I've actually had, like, parents and children come to the movie together that reflect the same relationship as me and my dad have. And they come out and they tell me, like, yeah, like, you and your dad, like, that's us on screen, you know, and. And that means a lot that people feel so represented and seen, you know, So I don't know. To me, it's like when. When people. I. I don't like when people take away from the movie anything too critical about the actual policies or any kind of beliefs about it, because I think that's missing the bigger picture. And I've been glad that in my situation, I feel like I haven't heard more much of that, which is. Which is good. So.
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A
Well, your dad was kind of coming. The movie presents it as. Your dad was kind of coming from this place of love. Like, he was really worried about you, and he wanted you to change your views because, you know, kind of. I'm very concerned about you. Like, you have these bad ideas, and, And. And you. I really want to change. You did that softening as your relationship went on. And was that still something he struggled with?
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B
Well, it did soften. You know, it went from. It started within a certain intensity that definitely mellowed, which I think was helped by the fact that I listened, you know, and I also did some things that brought us closer. Like, I, I. My dad's faith was very important to him, and. And. And he wanted me to share in that faith, and so I participated in a faith group with him. Actually, there's a moment in the film where you get where we appear, that meant a lot to him and helped create a little bit more, I think, comfort about our dynamic. But I think. I think some concern was always there till the end, just because, you know, it was coming from a religious place. And. And my, you know, my. My dad's religious, you know, philosophy is. Is traditional Catholicism. And, you know, in that faith, you're talking about, you know, concrete right and wrong, heaven and hell. The stakes are very high. So, you know, but. But also what was kind of cool was that I think at a certain point, my dad started to really kind of relinquish a lot of control to, like, a higher power. And in a way that I think is actually quite a universal thing I've seen people do no matter what their faith is, but this just kind of trust that everything will be okay. And for him, it was, you know, by practicing as a Catholic. But he. He expressed it in a way that's actually very relatable. And I think that comes across when he tells that story about going on the drive and being kind of moved by all these things in life that he just wasn't paying attention to. So that was certainly a progression that also, I think, gave him a little more comfort to just accept me and who I was and where I was coming from.
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A
Yeah, you got some peace from that. Yeah, yeah. So the app, I really, you know, my only note on the after conversation was it was too short, so by the time. And then I should have done more to bring that conversation somewhere else. We should have gone to a coffee shop or something and continued it, because it was sort of just getting good when they started kicking us out of the theater. But it was. It was really quite. Quite interesting. There were several audience members, as, you know, you were talking about. Some families came, and they kind of had to share a similar dynamic between the members that came to the film. A lot of people that I. Or several, anyway, audience members that I talked to talked about how they have a similar relationship. Like, there's some Trump supporting family member that they are, you know, sort of struggling to figure out their relationship with. Thankfully, pretty much all of them had said, we do have a relationship. Like, we're able to talk. We see each other, we go to holidays and things like that. So that was encouraging because it's always sad because I hear a lot of stories where that isn't true. Um, and so that was. That was nice to hear, and at least in that. That in that audience. But, you know, they all shouldn't say all but many had kind of come to this place where they just either don't talk about politics or, you know, and they kind of agree to disagree. Do you think that's as good as we can get, or do you think that we can do more?
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B
It's a good question. Well, I think that in some cases, if there's, if there's a love and a respect there for that person, the agree to disagree model is fine. You know, I mean, like, we should actually be okay with a society where we have people that have different opinions than us. You know, I will say sometimes it feels like there's some policies and things going on that feel a bit draconian. And beyond that, that I will say it's like, okay, well, where do you draw the line? But in general, I think that that is an okay place to be on. I think where, where I encourage people to take action is if. If the politics is really preventing them from having a certain closeness, you know, a certain intimacy in that relationship, like if you're just getting by on the small talk or the surface level things, and it's because you guys have this, this gap that you can't close, then I think it's really necessary to talk about it and, and try to find a way to get together. But I think if you don't have that issue, I think if you have, if, you know, if. If everything is on the table about your relationship except the politics and it's not creating any distance and, you know, I think have to do what you got to do to keep the peace, you know.
- [25:14]
A
Yeah. So you've been immersed in division and a story about division at the. In the end, has it made you more hopeful or, or more cynical about our ability to maybe bridge these divides?
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B
Well, I'm more hopeful about people, everyday people and the citizens and, and just the communities of, of folks. I've got to know I'm more cynical than about government, you know, because how can you not? I mean. Right. I know I'm biased because I'm, you know, I have, you know, liberal beliefs. But right now it feels very. I'm very discouraged about just the leadership we have in the, in the, in the discourse that comes from it and the tone of it. However, as powerless as I feel about that, I do realize that the one thing you can control are the relationships in your life. And I do feel more inspired after doing this film about what you can do with the people in your life. I mean, the film has made my brother and I closer, and my brother disagrees with me on a lot of political issues and that I'm grateful for. So, yeah, it's a complex answer because I, I think they're different things across the board. You know, the, our relationship to our government versus our relationship to, like, our fellow, you know, neighbors.
- [27:02]
A
So are you continuing work in, in Omaha?
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B
Yes and no. I live in New York City now for my job. I've worked in advertising and film, but I was just in Omaha for three weeks to release the movie. So, you know, I'm there all the time doing, doing work to get the film out. And Leo Lewis ii, who's very, very prominent voice in the movie, is Omaha based and he's doing a lot to get the movie out. So, yeah, I, I'm going back and forth quite a lot, but, but currently in New York.
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A
Well, is there any, anything that I didn't ask that you'd really like people to know about you or the film?
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B
Well, you know, we didn't talk much more about the, the sort of Omaha racial justice aspect of the movie, which, which makes sense because of the. I know your podcast is more focused on the political division side of things, which is reflected in me and my dad, but I also think that that is a quite a relatable issue and topic, especially after 2020, you know, and, and I, and I think it's not top of mind for everyone right now. But that's only until something happens again, like George Floyd, where all of a sudden it becomes the issue of the times like it does almost cyclically in America. You know, whether you look at Rodney King or Emmett Till or any of these, you know, kind of like historic moments around racial violence that happens. So I, I just would be remiss not to bring up that aspect of the film in our conversation because I think that anyone who's watching this, where they live, can probably also relate to that side of the story a little bit. And, and, and I'm grateful for all the lessons that the activists in that side of the film taught me about things that I was able to bring into my relationship with my dad, too.
- [29:21]
A
Interesting. Well, that's, that's awesome. Thank you so much, Nick, for making time for, for our program.
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B
I appreciate your. Your questions. Thank you for having me on.
- [29:42]
A
That. Is it for this episode of the Outrage Overlo podcast? For links to everything we talked about on this episode, go to outrageoverload.net if something in this episode sparked a thought or maybe even lit a fire, I'd love to hear from you. You can leave a voice message or even Schedule a quick one on one chat right from our contact page at outrageoverload.net contact if you found this episode valuable, please share it or leave a review. It really helps. Thanks for listening and I'll catch you next time.
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B
Ra.