What in the gen-Z-millennial-nonsense is happing with that title you're probably wondering? Well, that's understandable ; however, I couldn't think of a better title other than what describes exactly how this started: I saw a viral TikTok (no idea how, I swear I'm not on it) and after killing myself laughing thought something along the lines of 'that guy is amazing, I have to follow him'. Unfortunately for Fin, he followed me back, which meant I had to bombard him with annoying questions (because, hi, it's me) and here we are.
I first came across Fin’s viral tiktok a few months ago. The video as of July 2023, has over 5 million views, and is deliciously simple with a sharp quip taking down an internet misogynist.
Fin also hosts the youtube show and podcast called Movies To Drink To with comedian Lee Smith. Which you should check out because they're quite funny.
What follows is an interview I was aching to do because I was so curious every-day non-incel/alpha/toxic mess had to say about the rise of the 'alpha advice guru dude' who sprout nonsenses, have no qualifications and yet seem to gain millions of young men followers.
Hi Fin! Thanks for chatting with me.
So first off can you tell us who you are and what you do?
Unfortunately for the most part I'm just a guy with a regular low-paying, boring job. In my spare time I host, produce and edit a podcast called Movies To Drink To, but most people, if any, know me as some guy on TikTok that makes funny little videos. I used to describe myself as a Z-list content creator because I may have tens of millions of views but I'm still a pauper.
That Tik Tok. What made you post it? And did you expect it to go viral like it did?
As a white, straight man, when I signed up to TikTok I was bombarded with videos from the likes of Joe Rogan, Ben Shapiro, Andrew Tate and all the guys out there with a podcast that wanna be like them. I just got really sick of hearing terrible advice from a bunch of grifters that aren't experts on anything. They all have these pretty extreme views, especially on women and they seemed so angry and serious about it so I just started ‘stitching’ (filming your direct reaction to a video) their videos and making fun of them. People seemed to like it and they started getting a few views. Then a guy named Zak Roedde started showing up on my feed, he's some kind of relationship coach, or was, he's kinda disappeared now. I just remember thinking someone must have really hurt this guy to make him think of women so poorly so I made that "Was it Mother?" video. It was in reference to Norman Bates in Psycho, which is a double burn because Bates was definitely no ‘alpha’ like all these guys claim to be. I thought it might do well because some similar videos I had made before, had gotten a number of views (like, 2k) however, within 48 hours it had a million views, so no, I was definitely not expecting it.
Fin, you’re doing the lord’s work when you bag on misogynists. Do you consider yourself a feminist? why/why not.
I believe in equality for all, so, yes. Though it's honestly not something I really thought about much before last year. I was one of those guys that thought you could only be labelled a feminist if you were female.
TikTok is quite a fickle platform to go viral on. Has it opened any doors for you?
Fickle is the word! No, not really. I got a free pair of sunglasses from a company because I was wearing a pair of their blue light blocking glasses in a video that got a couple of million views. Then you asked me to do this interview, but that's it. Nothing really changed, no one showed up and offered me anything, I still work the same lousy job.
Glad I can contribute to your online presence! Did going viral help promote your show at all?
Only a little I'd say. The audience size hasn't increased much, I still don't make any money from it. I suppose more people know it exists though but I don't think most of the people that followed me based on the TikTok videos are interested in hearing me talk about trashy movies and entertainment news. I get it, but I'm not going to change my passion and just do the same thing over and over. Though I'm sure TikTok would love it if I did, that platform seems to love receptiveness.
What do you think about the cultural phenomenon of ‘going viral’ and how it translates to ‘real life’?
They used to say everyone will get their 15 minutes of fame, today it's more like 15 seconds.
I feel I should say, anyone out there offering advice on how to go viral is full of shit. Some people seem desperate to go viral but I don't think there's any formula for it, it just happens and no one knows what's going to suddenly take off. I've gone viral more than once and didn't even try, I was just goofing around. The reality is though nothing much changes, it didn't for me anyway. You'll have 100's of notifications every time you open an app but even that eventually stops. Last year I got somewhere in the region of 40 million views on TikTok. Today, the last 10 videos I posted didn't even get a thousand. I guess, it's nice that I have a platform where I could potentially reach a lot of people but like we said, TikTok is very fickle and funnelling people to other platforms is incredibly difficult.
As with most spaces online when you show a strong stance you tend to get a lot of hate. I believe you even got some death threats? Tell me about that. Were you ever genuinely frightened for your safety?
No, not really. I've had guys threaten to beat me up, tell me to kill myself, insults-a-plenty; but I'm fully aware most of these are coming from 14 year old virgins or trolls with nothing better to do. A lot of hate is actually directed towards women in the comments of my videos, some don't seem to want to talk to me. But no, physical threats don't bother me, they're all talk. I don't care about personal insults because these people don't even know me. There are some truly vile people out there, hiding behind their keyboards.
What is MoviesTo Drink To and how did yourself and comedian Lee Smith come together?
So I was doing a podcast called The Horror Tap and I vaguely knew Lee. I think I met him in a pub and thought he was a pretty funny guy and then noticed he was posting these movie reviews on Facebook. He'd mentioned something about wanting to do writing or comedy or something like that and I got the impression he was up for doing something creative so I asked him to come on the podcast. Eventually this morphed into Movies To Drink To and the format we have now just kinda happened.
It's a narrative comedy show, where we basically retell the stories and events of terrible films we've watched, adding in jokes and making fun of some truly ridiculous plots and we also cover movie news in separate episodes. I guess the idea is to try and take something that wasn't very good, Jaws 3 for example and try and turn it into something more entertaining than it ever deserved to be. I do always feel I have to tell people, you don't have to have seen the film to get it, we'll tell you everything that happens and on the YouTube videos we use screenshots and clips of the film, it takes a while editing it all but it's a lot of fun.
On MTDT I’ve noticed you seem to have a love of horror (so do I!) What’s your favourite horror movie of all time?
I’m really bad at sticking with a single favourite, over the years it's been The Thing and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre but today it’s Bram Stoker’s Dracula (the one with Gary Oldman) for me that’s an almost perfect film with the exception on Keanu Reeves English accent, which is actually so bad it still has entertainment value.
Do you consider yourself a film buff in general? What are some upcoming movies or shows you’re excited about?
Yeah, I'm one of those annoying people that's always correcting someone when they get something wrong about a film.
As far as upcoming stuff goes I'm really looking forward to Oppenheimer this month and Dune part 2 next year. With a writers strike and everything going on in Hollywood at the moment there’s a lot up in the air and I'm trying not to get too excited for anything, a lot of these projects may be a long way off or not even be made.
As far as TV shows go, I don't watch many but The Penguin with Colin Farrell coming out next year looks exciting.
Do you have a favourite episode or clip of MTDT we should watch?
We recently did The Little Mermaid 1989, I’d say if you're going to start somewhere maybe start with that as it’s a more accessible one as most people have seen that film and gives you a pretty clear idea of what the show is about.
When I get asked if I have a favourite episode I usually respond with “They’re all good.” but the one that usually comes to mind is an old one we did on Daredevil, the one starring Ben Affleck from about 20 years ago. It’s a little clunky at the beginning but we had so much fun doing it, we laughed till we cried. Any episode I can make Lee cry laughing is a good one in my book.
Any plans in the near future from you we should be looking out for?
I have another YouTube channel @fin_cent which is more about comedy and politics. And more akin to what people have seen me doing on tiktok but it’s difficult to find time to do both that and the podcast. I’ve started uploading videos there recently after a couple of months having a break from it, so hopefully I can find some time to carry on with that. I have a lot of ideas but with a lack of time, money and resources most of them will never see the light of day unfortunately.
You definitely create a lot of content! (I’m amazed at how many platforms you are active on) What made you get into being a creator and what motivates you to continue?
People seem to like it and I thought I could make some money. I’d love nothing more than to be able to quit my job and make YouTube videos or a podcast full time so that idea is definitely a motivation, not even stupid money like some of these content creators make, just enough to get by would make me happy. That being said, I’d most likely still be doing something if I never make a penny. I think some people just need a creative outlet, whether it be painting or playing an instrument, especially if you work a job that doesn't accommodate that.
Fin Hamilton and Lee Smith.
