Obama Is The King’s Speech And Romney Our Idiot Brother? We Can Do Better.
By Steven Pate in Arts & Entertainment on Jul 9, 2012 6:00PM
In an appearance on Rachel Maddow’s show, Former Miramax Studios chief, current The Weinstein Company co-founder (and Obama campaign fundraiser) Harvey Weinstein was practiced and clever in explaining why he believes donors to Mitt Romney’s presidential bid are wasting their money. “You can spend all the money in the world,” he told Maddow,” and if you have a bad product, it doesn’t matter.”
To illustrate his point, he used a couple of films from his production company’s recent portfolio:
I spent the exact same amount on two movies. One movie was called The King’s Speech. It grossed $140 million, won a few Oscars including Best Picture, and did sensational based on its budget. The other picture was called Our Idiot Brother, and we spent the same exact amount of money on it and it grossed $25 million... To me, Romney is Our Idiot Brother and Obama is The King’s Speech.
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Point taken, Mr. Weinstein. But, other than having critical success and being popular with liberal, urban, European-obsessed elites, what makes Obama like The King’s Speech, the tale of an unwilling leader overcoming a problem with public speaking?
We think there are better, slightly less tendentious analogies among the 2012 Hollywood products if you broaden your focus from the properties of The Weinstein Company. Here are just a few examples:
Romney: John Carter from Mars. Jaw-droppingly large budget, rehashed ideas from the early 20th century and a plot particularly suited to people who want to continue fighting the Civil War (only against imaginary foes).
Obama: The Hunger Games. Driven by popularity among the young and reliant on the resonance a heroic characterization, stirred countless conversations about whether it lived up to the promise of its source material, and its box office triumph already has fans worried if the sequel can survive the hype.
Winner: Obama
Romney: The Avengers. A cadre of genetically and economically superior heroes reluctantly join forces to thwart an agent of chaos bent on the subjugation of Earth.
Obama: Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted. A European crisis threatens to permanently ruin the lives of friends and loved ones at home, but after jumping through many hoops to please foreign audiences disaster is averted. Everybody gets rainbow afros.
Winner: Romney
Obama: Journey 2: The Mysterious Island. After a journey to the center of the Earth, a naive hero is powerless to prevent environmental catastrophe.
Romney: Prometheus. Confusing and disputed rehash that may explain the secret of life or its ultimate demise.
Winner: Pick em.