The South Park Republican Empire Strikes Back?

"To my surprise,Meryl Streep really does come across like Hillary Clinton. It's not a physical resemblance so much as the uber-professional-woman aura, and the wardrobe," wrote InstaPundit Glenn Reynolds after viewing the film in July.

Despite some viewers' mistaking Meryl Streep for Hillary Clinton in her portrayal of the Angela Lansbury character in the original, the remake of "'The Manchurian Candidate' could easily be mistaken for a 2-hour-and-15-minute Kerry campaign ad," writes Don Feder at FrontPage:

Even Frank Rich, the dogmatically liberal columnist for The New York Times, admits: "I cannot recall when Hollywood last released a big-budget mainstream feature as partisan as this one at the height of a presidential campaign. That it has slipped into action under the media’s radar, as discreetly as the sleeper agents in its plot, is an achievement in itself. Freed from any obligations to fact, The Manchurian Candidate can play far dirtier than Fahrenheit 9/11." Assuming that’s possible.

[via The Big Trunk at PowerLine]

The Proprietor of coffeegrounds, on the other hand, who went to the movies mainly to escape the heat and humidity, enjoyed the show:

Endless posts could be written (and probably are, right at this moment) about the differences and similarities between the remake and the original. Both were very well done, both followed more or less the same plot (with a few major exceptions). In the 1960s the paranoia was still centered on World Communism. Forty years later global corporations are the boogeyman.

'Guess we know which side of the fence our coffee-grinding friend is on. Update: The Prop clarifies his position in our comments section, pointing out quite rightly that "Just because I like a movie doesn't mean I necessarily believe in its philosophy!"  We weren't referring to his film review per se but to his saying that global corporations -- vs. World Communism in the sixties -- are "the boogeyman" today, our point being that Commie paranoia was pretty much universal then, while anti-globalism today is a Leftie kind of thing.

While GW comes in for some ribbing, left-wing pundits and Michael Moore are reported to be the biggest butts of the jokes in this all-marionettes-all-the-time movie by the creators of South Park.

Re agitprop as big-box-office entertainment, though, we're inclined to believe these picture shows preach mainly to the choir.  As an alto in the Vast Right-Wing Conspiracy Choir, we're looking forward to singing along as the Moores and Streeps of this world swallow some of their own medicine when "Team America: World Police," an "action adventure from the creators of South Park, starring an all-marionette cast," hits the big screen a couple of weeks before Election Day.

Drudge is shock-headlining "WHITE HOUSE ANGER AT HOLLYWOOD ELECTION SURPRISE: PARAMOUNT PUPPET MOVIE MOCKS TERROR WAR," but the ur-blogger's full report gave us a warm, fuzzy feeling:

Marionette puppets are used throughout the film to mock terror threats, and media figures who dominate the nation's airwaves. But Parker and Stone save most of the mocking for left-wing pundits and Michael Moore.

As a staunch South Park Republican, we're quite hopeful that Team America will come out on the side of the good guys ('hope we don't have to eat our words).  Steven W. Stanton, who coined the phrase, had this to say at Tech Central Station two years back:

South Park Republicans are true Republicans, though they do not look or act like Pat Robertson. They believe in liberty, not conformity. They can enjoy watching The Sopranos even if they are New Jersey Italians. They can appreciate the tight abs of Britney Spears or Brad Pitt without worrying about the nation's decaying moral fiber. They strongly believe in liberty, personal responsibility, limited government, and free markets. However, they do not live by the edicts of political correctness. 

In spite of its coarse language and base humor, the show persuasively communicates the Republican position on many issues, including hate crime legislation ("a savage hypocrisy"), radical environmentalism, and rampant litigation by ambitious trial lawyers. In one episode, industrious gnomes pick apart myopic anti-corporate rhetoric and teach the main characters about the benefits of capitalism.

Yah.  Sounds like a good antidote to The Manchurian Candidate's anti-capitalist brainwashing.

Comments

[Rob A.]

I watched the trailer for "Team America" and read the plot synopsis on its website and it looks good to me.

[The Prop]

Just because I like a movie doesn't mean I necessarily believe in its philosophy!

The remake is almost as slick and professional as the original (possibly the most perfect political thriller of all time), whatever its bias. That's what I responded to.

The evil corporation in it is nothing more than a strawman, in other words it is a "MacGuffin", the Hitchcockian term for a device that sets the plot rolling, but which is unimportant otherwise. Besides, its rival is a secret military group -- hardly a reassuring alternative.

Call me dense, but I saw no obvious political bias other than corporate paranoia and a mistrust of government that governs via media images. Streep plays a Hillary, not a Laura, and Raymond Shaw's speeches echo Kerry more than Bush.

Or so I saw it.

[Sissy Willis]

Point well taken, The Prop. I have posted an update above acknowledging your point and clarifying mine.

[Sissy Willis]

I agree, Rob. More about it in my new post:

http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2004/08/_our_streep_vs_.html

[christine]

To tell you the truth, The Manchurian Candidate's manchurian candidate (played by Liev Schreiber) reminds me of John Kerry - talking and talking, all those words, that half-smile, the pseudo-warmth, not really meaning anything ever. Kerry constantly looks like he is being fed his speeches through an ear piece. Despite the anti-big business underscore, this film didn't score any point for the Dems with me! And I'm a registered Dem!!!

[Sissy Willis]

Well, you sound downright reasonable, Christine. Welcome to my blog. Nice to hear from you.