Advice For The Obama Camp

[poliphilo]

"You Brits will never get Sarah Palin" reads a headline in this morning's Telegraph.  But I do. At least I think I do. After all, I grew up watching westerns. Every time I go "ooh!" and "ah!" over a John Ford movie I'm buying into the myth that sustains her.

The USA is a country very close to its origins- both historically and emotionally- and Palin- as the gun and Bible-toting mayor of a small town in one of the few corners of the country that can still plausibly be described as wilderness- is a figure out of that not-so-remote and sainted past. She brings with her the fresh breeze of the frontier. Of course the frontier wasn't really so innocent.or so heroic. The pioneers were driven by greed and acted as the agents of genocide.  But who wants fact when they can have myth?

So if I were a wonk in the Obama camp I'd be doing all I could to grab my boy a piece of the action. I'd use Palin's background against her and be painting the Republicans as the corrupt establishment of the mythical small town. I'd cast them as the range-enclosing cattle baron, the cheating saloon owner, the corrupt sherrif, the guy who sells the Indians rifles and whisky-  and my candidate as the lonesome stranger riding in to clean up the mess. I'd have him be Henry Fonda's Wyatt Earp.

Comments

[momof2girls.livejournal.com]

You make some good points. Obama is really going to have to take some decisive action to counter the effect of Sarah Palin, which I'm surprised is as positive as has been.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Obama had the initiative- and has lost it- largely because of Palin. He needs to pump up the volume.

[lblanchard.livejournal.com]

Have you been following the money on the financial sector meltdown here? Hint: Obama got a bundle from them, and he even hired a former director of Fannie Mae to vet his vp candidates.

Meet the new sheriff, just like the old sheriffs.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Ah well, the real Wyatt Earp had some rather questionable entries on his CV too.

[michaleen.livejournal.com]

Total contributions from Wall Street, as of today:

Obama: $15 million
McCain: $10.2 million

Pot meets kettle. And Phil Gramm played a major part in crafting McCain's financial policy, while working as a lobbiest for Swiss banking giant UBS.

Remember Gramm? He led the charge for deregulation of the financial sector some years ago and is arguably one of those most responsible for this horrid mess. Among other things, Gramm co-sponsored the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Services Modernization Act, which partially repealed Glass-Steagall, one of the safeguards put in place after the Great Depression.

[oakmouse]

*splorf* This is too good.

It also reminds me of Blazing Saddles. *g*

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

You know, I've never seen that movie. I've seen the Producers and Young Frankenstein and even Men in Tights but somehow Blazing Saddles has always eluded me. :)

[oakmouse]

I've only seen parts of it myself, but I can just see Brooks making a sequel along the lines of what you've described above.

[brttvns.livejournal.com]

Yes, beloved Ford - 'Print the legend' (The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance).
Unfortunately Palin is very real, no matter how mythical and Homeric we may wish her to be (she is the creationist's Joan Crawford to the scientist's Bette Davis).
Not sure about Obama being Fonda's Wyatt Earp (My Darling Clementine is one Ford film I have issues with - as great as it is - in its historical accuraccy I mean). Film references aside let's just hope Obama is quick enough on the draw, and has a Doc Holiday to help him defeat the Clantons (or should that be Clampetts?)
Cheers
Brett

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I don't suppose any of Ford's westerns are particularly accurate. For one thing he leaves you with the impression that every significant historical event- from the Indian wars to the gunfight at the OK Corral- took place in the shadow of the Buttes at Monument Valley. If he were a lesser artist this might matter, but Ford is the American Shakespeare...

[veronica-milvus.livejournal.com]

Sarah Palin as Cat Ballou... or Calamity Jane!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Oh Calamity!

[daisytells.livejournal.com]

Well, the Republicans got a bit of a "bounce" from all the excitement over Palin's nomination. However, this morning the polls show that McCain's weeklong lead in the polls has disappeared and he and Obama are now even. I expect the trend to continue and to see Obama back in a small but comfotable lead within another week.
Palin is an "empty suit", and the American people usually get pretty tired of a novelty very quickly.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Well, we'll see.

I'm agnostic about Palin. We haven't seen her really tested yet. Sure, she's ignorant and inexperienced, but who's to say she won't learn- and learn quickly?

Some of the disparaging things that are being said about her remind me of things that were said about Mrs Thatcher in the early days- and look what a formidable figure she turned out to be!

[jackiejj.livejournal.com]

Tony, we're all talking about this Saturday Night Live skit, featuring Tina Fey's interpretation of Sarah Palin. It's really uncanny, and extremely funny!

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

That is good, yes!

[senordildo.livejournal.com]

The only Palin who deserves to be Vice-President is named Michael.
Have you seen Ford's second version of Wyatt Earp, played by Jimmy Stewart in Cheyenne Autumn? It's a wonderful 10 minute cameo in an otherwise heavy and joyless film.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've seen Cheyenne Autumn. I think it's under-rated. OK, the story isn't up to much, but the cinematography is gorgeous.

Maybe I missed something, but I never quite worked out what Stewart's splendid, little cameo was doing in the movie

[senordildo.livejournal.com]

My guess is that Stewart's Earp was supposed to be a cynical counterpoint to the racist hysteria of the white townspeople--he knows the Indians don't represent a threat, so he humors and manipulates the citizens, as other Ford heroes do. Still, that section has such a wild tonal contrast to he rest of the film that it initially seems out of place. There's an excellent book called "The Invention of the Western Film: A Cultural History of the Genre's First Half Century" that discusses CA's Earp and the segment's relation to Ford's earlier work. I'm not sure how available the book is in Britain, but I definitely recommend it.

[poliphilo.livejournal.com]

I must look out for that.

I imagine it's available over here. We Brits love our westerns, really we do. I think John Wayne is almost as big a cult hero with us as he is in the States.