Associate blog editor, The Huffington Post
Posted: 07/23/2012 12:19 pm
Last week, noted conservative commentator -- and, apparently,
cultural critic -- Rush Limbaugh battered the airwaves with a fresh
conspiracy that had somehow eluded the greater public.
Limbaugh called shenanigans in relation to the
The Dark Knight Rises,
the third installment in Christopher Nolan's Batman franchise. More
specifically, Rush thought something was fishy about the name of
the main villain in the film:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Have you heard this new movie, the Batman movie, what is it, The Dark Knight Lights Up or whatever the name is. That's right,
Dark Knight Rises. Lights Up, same thing. Do you know the name of the villain in this movie? Bane. The villain in
The Dark Knight Rises
is named Bane, B-a-n-e. What is the name of the venture capital firm
that Romney ran and around which there's now this make-believe
controversy? Bain. The movie has been in the works for a long time. The
release date's been known, summer 2012 for a long time. Do you think
that it is accidental that the name of the really vicious fire-breathing
four eyed whatever it is villain in this movie is named Bane?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I'm not going to doubt that Limbaugh is an authority on this subject
as he must watch a lot of action movies -- how else would he have
cultivated such a grand imagination, love of weapons and robust
vocabulary? And while he's been accused of perhaps being a little over
the top in the past, I have to commend him because I feel like he is
spot on with his assessment in this case. Credit to Christopher Nolan --
who reportedly finalized the movie's
story in February 2010
-- for having the foresight to know Mitt Romney would be the Republican
nominee two and a half years later. And if that wasn't enough, Nolan
also allegedly took into account the name of the corporation that Romney
used to run, Bain Capital, while naming his villain for the movie. It's
remarkable that Nolan foresaw that Bain Capital would come under
scrutiny around the release of the movie which again, occurred two and a
half years after he decided on the story. Many people have called Nolan
a genius for his cinematic exploits, but he really outdid himself here.
While I do think Mr. Limbaugh hit the nail on the head, I can't help
but feel like he overlooked the many, many examples of movie characters
who were clearly created just to take swipes at political figures. But
not to worry, I decided to take it upon myself to acknowledge these
characters who were created, in some cases decades before the candidate
rose to prominence, merely as a half-baked attempt to sully the name of a
politician.
The first and most obvious example in Newt Gingrich, who has been
taking shots from Hollywood since the 1940s, when Man killed Bambi.
Gingrich can be fairly convincingly linked to every major motion picture
villain the past few decades, although in recent months the prevailing
argument is that he is most obviously compared to
either a Batman foe or a
Bond villain.
Personally, I'm shocked that he managed to carry the Georgia primary
last spring despite being the obvious inspiration for Boss Hogg from
The Dukes of Hazzard. The voters in Hazzard County, Georgia must have been horrified.
And let's not forget Josh Brolin's portrayal of George W. Bush in the Oliver Stone movie
W.
Watching this character, I couldn't help but conclude that Brolin was
in fact just making a statement about Texas governor Rick Perry, who
just so happens to more or less share everything in common with George
W. Bush. The embarrassment from this smear campaign clearly hit Perry
hard as even years later he remained too flustered to remember his own
political platform -- or
three governmental departments.
But Republican politicians aren't the only ones taking fire -- surely
I'm not the only person who noticed the pervasive similarities between
New York fashionista/liberal Carrie Bradshaw and five-term senator and
former presidential candidate John Kerry. Even though they're spelled
differently -- similar to Bane and Bain -- whenever I hear Kerry, I just
connect it to an out-of-touch rich Northeastern liberal, with a flair
for fashion and an obsession with spending. This is the type of word
association that probably cost him the election, and I can't believe
Rush managed to overlook it.
Now Herman Cain -- and I'm really shocked Mr. Limbaugh never credited
him for this -- took the bold stance of attacking these sinister movie
makers head on by running a campaign so outlandish and whimsical, there
was literally no way to possibly invent a character to lampoon him. Such
a figure would simply be too far-fetched to possibly be taken
seriously. Cain was so dedicated to breaking the mold of politicians
berated by Hollywood, that he struck back by stealing lyrics from a song
in a beloved Hollywood movie to inspire his devoted followers. I am of
course referring to "Power of One," the ballad played during the end
credits of cinematic classic
Pokemon: The Movie 2000.
Seriously.
But as much as these blatant negative portrayals by movie characters
can hurt a politician, we shouldn't discredit how much a positive
portrayal can help them. I'll never forget the time Barack Obama and
Jeff Goldblum saved the world from aliens.
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