Movie 666

Analysis of the 2008 Vice Presidential Debate
By Demon

Immediately following the Vice Presidential Debate last week, pundit Mark Shields on PBS made the comment that never in the history of politics have we seen a performance like the one given by Sarah Palin tonight.

He was not referring to Palin’s brilliant intellect or mastery of the issues, of course — but rather her folksy manner of speaking and populist identity that has been both boon and liability for the Republicans.

For a moment I thought he was right. Certainly not in my lifetime have I ever heard someone give a “shout out” from a Presidential Debate podium.

Then I realized I had indeed seen such a performance before – not in a Presidential Debate, but in various Hollywood movies over the years. The idea of a plain speaking everyman who rises up from the forgotten multitude to teach government a thing or two is nothing new.

Mr. Smith Goes to Washington is the classic example. Jefferson Smith enters political office full of good natured ideals only to encounter corruption and skullduggery. No one plays indignant better than Jimmy Stewart, and he guffaws to full effect in this film, using his plain speaking in the form of a lengthy filibuster to defeat the evils of Washington and ensure the Boy Rangers get their summer camp.

Of course, Sarah Palin is not an everyman, she’s an everywoman (and no Jimmy Stewart either). Although we have not seen many movies about women running for political office, there have been a slew of films in recent years about an “average woman” entering a resistant social environment and shaking up institutions where she is considered an outsider.

In Legally Blonde, a young sorority queen infiltrates Harvard law with her distinct mannerisms and hand held Chihuahua, then does the same to Washington in the sequel. In Erin Brockovich an unemployed mom takes on environmental polluters. And in G.I. Jane, a female trainee undergoes Navy SEAL training, then takes on Capitol Hill for refusing to acknowledge her accomplishments.

I’m not suggesting that Palin studied any of these movies, although I wouldn’t be surprised if she was fans of some of them. Instead, I believe that America has been primed for her manner of unapologetically folksy performance by a populist tendency in both classic and contemporary cinema. One could further the argument by mentioning reality TV and its various fish-out-of-water scenarios.

Shields might have been right in claiming that Palin’s performance was unique. But what she did on stage was certainly not unprecedented. Hollywood has been golly gee shucking us for a long time now. And unfortunately we know from experience that American voters are more than happy to place the fate of their country in the hands of movie stars.

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1. The Great Debators
2. The Rules of Fight Club
3. The Hulk Versus the Military
4. Horror Genre Takes the Midnight Meat Train to Its Final Demise
5. After the Rewrite the Mind is Now Beautiful

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