Posted by
Arik on Wednesday, July 01, 2009 9:48:20 PM
My wife and I took the kids to see the new Transformers movie this past weekend. It was pretty cool. It had Megan Fox running in slo-motion. And there was some other stuff, too. There was also one line in the movie that upset my wife a little, until I explained the (most likely unintended) logic behind it.
The line in question was a throwaway line, over a radio, or tv, or military communication of some sort, and I almost didn't hear it. It states simply that "President Obama" is being shuttled to a bunker in Kansas, or somewhere. Now, putting the president in a bunker during a major crisis is pretty much S.O.P. What my wife objected to was the naming of a president at all, as most movies usually give a fake name, or just say "The President." Frankly, I think she was upset over nothing, but the mere mention of Ovomit sends her into paroxysms of nausea.
What I suspect the people behind this movie were trying to do was give a shout out to Oblahma in a big summer hit. Hollywood being what it is, I suspect the people behind the scenes are likely on the left. I know Spielberg is. Anyway, what they ended up doing was making him look like an idiot.
In the movie, there is a guy who keeps giving the military grief. He is the typically Hollywood-style Washington bureaucrat vermin: kind of slinking, weaselly, thin and fond of throwing his authority around. This is where it gets good: He keeps telling everybody he speaks for the President, and that he intends to negotiate with the bad guy Decepticons, and tries to toss away the alliance with the good guy Autobots. Sort of a Palestinian/Israeli vibe going on there. The kicker is that he repeatedly tells everyone and anyone who will listen that he is speaking with the authority of the president, who we are informed in that one throwaway line, is Obama.
Now, like I said, Spielberg is a pretty liberal guy. I love his movies, and admire his skill as a both a director and a producer, even if I disagree with him often politically. As an Executive Producer, he may not have had a hand in this, but that would be the only theory that makes sense if it is not an unintentional slam. Is Spielberg taking a whack at Obama and standing up for Israel? His Jewish heritage and advocacy are well known. I wonder if he added that as a "hidden" message, something an astute viewer would pick up on.
Of course, the best money is on it being inadvertent, but I like the idea that Hollywood might take a backhanded swipe at the Obamessiah.