I watched Game Change on HBO. I really enjoyed the book so I was looking forward to the movie. There were 2 things I kept hearing about it before I watched:
1) Julianne Moore is amazing.
2) Sarah Palin comes off as a sympathetic figure.
Well holy shit, we must have a liberal media because I do not agree with those two things.
First off, I liked the movie. I thought it was entertaining. But I'd hope that people who haven't read the book, do so. Because it is a lot better.
And while I did like it, I do have a problem with these types of historic/biopic movies that come out right after the events they're dramatizing happened. It's hard to look at Ed Harris as John McCain and Julianne Moore and find them believable, no matter how good they are. The reason? We JUST watched all of this play out on a daily basis on TV in 2008.
It's like when Michael Mann and Wil Smith did "Ali". A year before, there was a documentary about the very same subject that was extremely good. So now you want me to watch the same exact story but with actors? Why? I just saw the real thing with the real people. You're not gonna do better than that.
We need time. We need to get away from it for awhile and then come back to it. Game Change the movie coming out right now just feels too soon. It's too fresh, and I don't need to see actors when I'm still seeing the real life people every day.
This is doubly true because of Tina Fey.
I'm surprised that Tina Fey hasn't been mentioned more in the "Julianne Moore is awesome" talk, because when anyone thinks of a Sara Palin impression they think of Tina. She did it first, and she did it best, and we all know it.
It reminds me of when everyone's George Bush (the first) impression was really just an impression of Dana Carvey doing George Bush.
Now, I didn't think Julianne Moore was terrible. She wasn't great though. I would say "uneven" at best. I didn't like her at the beginning, but the impression grew on me in parts of the middle. But don't take my word for it, some crazy asshole put together 12 minutes (!) of back to back Sarah Palin and Julianne Moore...
There's something too slow and retarded about Julianne Moore's take. Sarah Palin believes in what she's saying and is completely confident in how dumb she is. Julianne Moore is too measured, and it's like she's thinking about her impression and accent the whole time. It's too self conscious.
Okay, point number 2. Sarah Palin does not come off as a sympathetic character in this film. The only way you could possibly think that is if before watching it you believed she was a drooling, Ann Coulter meets Hitler ignorant hick.
Well, maybe that wouldn't be that crazy of an assumption, but still...she does not look good in this, and I don't think anyone who actually likes her would think she does. Only someone that hates her already and thought the absolute worst of her could be like, "oh, well at least she had some human characteristics". I think George W Bush called it the soft bigotry of low expectations. So F-U, liberal media.
That doesn't mean to say that the film is wrong in the way she's treated. Many of these events come right from multiple witnesses in the campaign, and many more of the events are what we all watched happen on TV. And there is one person who may come off even worse, and that's Steve Schmidt.
Steve Schmidt was the senior adviser to the campaign, and a source for a lot of the book and the movie. He's the guy who should be denouncing the film as not true, but instead, he's saying this is what really happened. And that should tell you something.
Because he is admitting that Palin was his idea. That he was responsible for her (non) vetting. That he stuck with it even after he realized that she would be quite dangerous for the country if she was elected.
He was also the one who came up with the very, very, very stupid idea to "suspend the campaign" when the economy collapsed. The movie shows him to be the genesis of almost all the stupid things in the campaign.
Steve Schmidt really sucks at his job. And he's not just admitting it, he's profiting on it now! Weird. I haven't seen someone make so much money for being incompetent since...well, Sarah Palin. So let's bring it back to her.
This movie reminded me of how very important she is to me. She is the source of all my political confusion. She's the reason I've taken up the fight against conservative extremists for the last 3 years. She is the beginning and she is the end. Because here's the thing about hardcore conservatives that I can't make sense of in my head:
They refuse to admit that she is bad.
This is it! This is the thing. This is my problem with every single one of you.
I don't care about disagreements over the issues. Pro Life? Fine. Anti-Stem Cell? If you like. Think all girls are sluts? Whatever.
But admit you were fucking wrong about Sarah Palin! If you can't admit that, then we can't talk. Because my follow up has to be, what would you admit to? What would she have to do for you to say, "okay, she is bad".
Well, you might say, Steve Schmidt and Nicole Wallace and every single other person on that campaign is lying about her. Okay, fine. But look at what is on the record. Look at that interview with Katie Couric. I dare you to look at it. Or look at what she's done since. Look at her quit being Governor. Just look.
Yes, she should admired for becoming Mayor, then Governor. For having a million babies and being a mom. Those are (sorta) good things. She made a terrific speech at the convention. But she should not be considered a plausible candidate for anything beyond Alaska. And this is not a partisan thing, the fact is she was not ready to be a breath away from the presidency. She thought the Queen of England was calling the shots for England! What does it take for you people to understand this!
And again, it's not her beliefs that bother me. It's not that she's a woman. It's not that she's a bumpkin. It's not she criticizes Obama. I have no liberal conspiracy against her. I have a conspiracy against dumb people. And Sarah Palin, through the course of that campaign, proved herself to be too dumb to be Vice President or God help us, President.
And even worse, she was proud of her ignorance.
If you can't admit these things about Sarah Palin, then there is no debate to have about anything. Cause you are living in crazy town.
10 comments:
I agree, dude (with the last part, I loved the movie and the performances)... but here's the thing ... conservatives NEVER admit when they're wrong, because they operate on faith-based agenda ... in other words, their FAITH makes them right, not the facts, not anything else ... they believe what they're told by their "leaders" to believe, and that's it ... hell, most of them still won't admit Dubya was a terrible president, they're still making the case (despite the epic amount of factual data, like the WTC attack, the war against Iraq due to 9/11, the failure of Wall Street, the bailout) that Bush was awesome ... the few times I have seen a conservative admit Bush wasn't the best, he or she will claim that it was only because "bush wasn't conservative enough" ... this despite the fact that Bush had overwhelmingly embraced a conservative agenda ... and they'll lie about his record (no terrorist attacks since 9/11 ... false ... the bailout was Obama's idea ... false, etc) and in their next breath, will claim that even tho' Bush wasn't the greatest President, he was still better than Gore or Kerry would have been ... it boggles the mind, it really does, but what it comes down to is this ... too many conservatives are simply self-deluded individuals who are proud of their ignorance, to the point where not only does it hurt themselves, it hurts others ... And that's the sad fact of the matter. That's why Palin still has fans.
You know, I really liked Moore (I loved Woody, however, he was awesome) ... I thought Ed Harris was just Ed Harris, but Moore, I totally bought her ... I just watched that mashup video and for me, she worked ... the only thing is, I like Moore a lot more than Palin, Moore seems to have something that makes folks like her, whereas Palin herself reminds me of every small town prima donna I've ever known ... full disclosure, I've not read the book (I hate Mark Halpern) but now I want to ... the stunning takeaway I got from the movie was this ... McCain's boneheaded move to pick Palin ALMOST worked ... you know? She did hit with the base, she did get attention, she did turn into a rock star ... the thing is, if she'd only been A LITTLE bit smarter, if she'd only been a little bit more savvy with interviews ... and I'm not saying a lot, because Dubya was dumb, too, but he was smart enough to handle himself in an interview ... if she had one or two more IQ points, or had been a little bit better actor ... it would have worked, because stupid people bought what she was selling hand over fist, and had she not self-imploded ... she would have been VP ... which scares the bejesus outa me ...
The way conservatives see it, Palin IS the best... for a woman. Women have to be held to lower standards, see? Because of their vaginas. So, sure, she's an idiot, but she's a WOMAN, so that's as smart as she can be expected to be.
Sarah Palin makes me want to throw up... not because she has a vagina, but because she's an idiot.
A Betty White quote... "Why do people say 'Grow some balls'? Balls are weak and sensitive. If you really wanna get tough, grow a vagina! Those things take a pounding!"
It amazes me how many people believe in her. What a joke!!!
I think she comes across as sympathetic, if only because the filmmakers try so hard to portray her as a mentally-retarded God-crazy 'I don't know how things work, golly gosh darn, I grew up in a small town in the cold freak state' gal.
And while there are many things you can say about Sarah Palin...she's not retarded. And so while McCain and the others come out unscathed, they hit Palin so hard that we as viewers feel like, 'Whoa, ease up, I don't like her either but c'mon, give her a break, she's not THAT bad.'
Also, it's disingenuous for the movie to make fun of Palin for being stupid and then have reaction shots or tv-watcher commentary for everything dumb that she does (literally, everything she says is either met with a Woody Harrelson 'No, you idiot!' reaction shot or people in the control room doing some version of 'She's amazing!/She's terrible!' play-by-play.
It's a dumbed-down one-sided on-the-nose version of what you already know (and saw) happen four years ago, recreated with good actors, for reasons...that only HBO and Jay Roach would know.
What's the point?
dear anonymous ... bullshit.
denial is not just a river in egypt.
I'd ease up and give her a break if she were the Bachelorette... but c'mon, they picked her the Vice President of the United States! Think about that for a second. She would have been a heart beat away from running this country. That's not only absolutely idiotic, it scares the bejesus out of me, too.
She made her bed.
Professional quitter Sarah Palin! She inspires.
Two senior advisors to McCain, portrayed in movie, said of Game Change, "very accurate," and "true enough to make me squirm".
Wow!
It held me captivated the entire two hours. Woody Harrelson gave a super performance. Moore was good, but sounded more Minnesotan than Alaskan to me.
Things that I learned~
… McCain and Palin didn't have a strained relationship, they didn't have one at all.
… How poorly informed Sarah REALLY was… taking notes on WWII, not knowing about North and South Korea as separate countries, thinking that the queen of England makes the decisions. Unbelievably sad.
… McCain and his staff didn't uncover how bad she was until after they put her on the ticket. Laughable at how inept that was.
… How worried they were during the campaign that she'd be exposed. They knew how dangerous she'd be if ever made president, and tried to cover it up. Unethical, immoral, maybe even treasonous. Definitely scary.
I'll read the book.
Semi-related book recommendation from former hardcore conservative Frank Schaeffer: God, Sex and Mom. If you haven't yet read it, I think he offers some great insight into the mindset of the Religious Right. I was totally hooked all the way through.
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