The Fast and the Furious is one of those deeply misunderstood franchises. A lot of people just don’t get it.
But after Southern Charm star Shep Rose tweeted a disparaging remark about the films, he’s getting an education.
Dwayne Johnson himself, always happy to speak out on Twitter, is schooling him on one of the most successful film franchises in history.
Over the weekend, the trailer dropped for Hobbs and Shaw.
The film, starring Dwayne Johnson, Jason Statham, and Idris Elba takes place within the continuity of The Fast and the Furious.
Shep Rose, who uses Twitter just like the rest of us but has a whole lot more followers, tweeted his dismay.
"They are never going to stop making fast and furious movies," he predicted.
"My question is..who keeps paying to see them?" he wondered.
"I don’t know one person that does," he claimed, then guessing: "Guy Fieri?"
In real life, we know that The Fast and the Furious is Universal’s biggest franchise of all time.
With a combined gross of over $5 billion, it’s the eighth-most-successful film series in the history of the world.
Shep didn’t know that, but who better to explain it to him than Dwayne The Rock Johnson.
"Hahah crazy right when you think the franchise over the years has made over $5billion globally," Dwayne tweeted.
He was responding directly to Shep, rather than quote-tweeting him. This meant that Shep was swarmed by fewer people.
"Oh and I know one guy who watches," Dwayne noted. "My buddy Mark Zuckerberg. Crazy right!?"
Well, being friends with Mark Zuckerberg isn’t really a brag anymore now that he’s helped engineer the downfall of Western civilization, but okay.
Shep was floored.
"Whoa! The @TheRock answered my somewhat snarky tweet about the fast and furious franchise," he remarked.
"I now officially retract my statement," he said. "And will immediately binge every movie consecutively."
That sounds like a phenomenal way to spend a weekend, honestly.
"Anything to keep The Rock on my good side," Shep wrote.
He also joked: "Forgive me Mr. Johnson. I know not what i do!"
"The Guy Fieri dig was less about his show," Shep explained. "Which isn’t bad and shines a light on dive restaurants."
"But More about the flame across the shirt, wrap around shades, and frosted tips," he clarified.
So he didn’t mean to insult Guy Fieri as a person or entertainer, just to remark about his aesthetic. That’s … fair.
"I cant seem to get past Tokyo Drift," Shep confessed in a later tweet. "It’s very emotional."
"For the record, i felt like he was super cool about it," Shep said of Dwayne’s response.
"He could have buried me," Shep noted. "Or thrown me down the San Andreas Fault. #itsmyfault"
Geology puns?! Oh Shep, we can’t be mad at you.
People had some good-natured fun at Shep’s expense.
"Owned by The Rock!" one person wrote. "Now that’s a new distinction, Shep.”
It sure is!
“Shep, I do believe you just caught the delicious scent of what The Rock is cooking,” another tweeter joked.
Another couldn’t help but laugh, writing: “Haha he slayed ya, Shep!!"
Like with The Purge, many people who have never seen any of the The Fast and the Furious films only know what the trailers contain.
They assume that these are films for people who really like cars and adrenaline and that the films lack substance or interesting plot and characters.
Confession: I have never seen the films, but I have a good friend who loves them and she explained the series to me.
These movies have a devoted fanbase, as Shep has now discovered. And the fans aren’t stupid — they just know how to enjoy fun movies.
Here’s hoping that the next season of Southern Charm features Shep marathoning the films. It sounds eye-opening.
