Yesterday my folks and I went to the movies and saw "The Campaign," Will Ferrel's latest film with Zach Galifianakis. I left the theater thoroughly pissed off, and this time it wasn't because ZGal's obscurities annoy the heck out of me. It was because every stupid, selfish, obscene campaign "tactic" that the two main characters threw at one another, no matter how absurdly exaggerated they seemed, rang loudly, resoundingly, true.
Our election system is messed up. Completely. For me everything hit home when Will Ferrel assigns a random guy to be his campaign manager and the guy says "I have so many ideas. Did you know corporations that out-source jobs get tax-breaks?" and Will says, "You get the **** out of here," and assigns the job to a sports marketing specialist instead.
"The Campaign" is, from my understanding, a satire. It may not be as ingeniously thought out and developed as Jonathan Swift's "Modest Proposal," but the weight of the topic it addresses is just as heavy, and it's come just in time for the elections. The issue at hand: America gets so caught up in the petty details of politics that it forgets the point of voting for and holding an office. Government officials are supposed to develop the community.
First, the story has some definite archetypes bordering on flat-out cliches: the formidable, unbeatable opponent who has power but doesn't utilize it for good is met by the soft-spoken, kind-hearted underdog who has nothing but positive intentions. Then the underdog must choose between a sure-win at the risk of losing his identity or maintaining his values at the risk of a blind-leap and in the end he follows his heart and humbles his opponent in the process...yaddy yaddy ya.
But let's add some meat to the bones. Galifianakis, who is the adorable reject in this film, has his life invaded by a corporate-funded campaign manager (who is rather like a vampire with his good looks, dark hair, dark imagery, bad influence, and complete infiltration into Galifianakis' life) who forces the republican to adopt the stereotypical republican look. Guns, American flags, intolerance of communistic chinese pugs. Check, check, check. This transformation reveals the generalizations of America toward republicans.
What was the most powerful satire of how we see republicans, however, occurred in the beginning when Galifianakis' character Marty Higgins goes to visit his mean, rich father. He knocks on the door and from within comes the voice of what sounds like a southern, uneducated African American servant, but when the door opens, the maid is really an Asian-American who is paid to talk like a slave because it "reminds your father of the good ol' days." The contrast between Marty and his father reveals the contrast between reality and stereotype. Not all rich republicans are racist, power-hungery evil-doers like Higgins Sr.
As the movie progresses, the campaign between Marty and Ferrel's Cam Brady quickly turns ugly under the influence of Cam's ego and Marty's evil campaign manager. The most noteworthy use of propaganda that relates to political strategies of late centers around Marty Higgins' facial hair.
Cam Brady: "The Taliban. al Queda. Sadam Hussain. What do all these American-haters have in common? Facial hair...Is Marty al Queda? Is he a terrorist? Maybe we should start asking where Marty Higgins was on 911." Does this sound familiar? Candidates make indirect associations between enemies of democracy and their opponents all the time. Obama is a Muslim. Obama is a communist. Romney out-sources jobs. Cutting Medicare is as good as pushing old ladies off of cliffs. This instance in the movie was brilliant because it was so funny, so ridiculous, and so true.
Especially in this electoral race, the people--and the candidates--are ignoring the real issues at hand. The economy is in turmoil. We're still in Afghanistan. Iran may or may not be harnessing nuclear power. But, gosh dang it, Republicans will see Obama's real birth certificate even if it kills them, and Democrats will not vote for a man who's ancestor had four wives! Conflabbit!
Politics has degenerated drastically. People are tricked into believing that it's a matter of capitalism vs communism or the 1% vs the 99%; patriotism vs flag-burning or imperialism vs peace lovers. But it's not. In reality, the two sides of the spectrum are the willfully ignorant and the ignorantly unaware.
That, in essence, is the message of "The Campaign."
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