According to the "Washington Post,"
House Republicans were shown a clip from Ben Affleck's movie "The
Town" to rally support for John Boehner's most recent proposal to resolve the debt limit
crisis.
In the scene Affleck's character Doug, a conflicted career
bank robber from Charlestown,
asks for help from his psychopathic partner James, played by Jeremy Renner, in his
plan to fuck somebody up. "I need your help," Doug says. "I can't tell you what
it is. You can never ask me about it later." "Whose car are we gonna take?" Jamey
replies without hesitation.
After seeing the clip, Rep. Allen West (R-Fla.), who recently distinguished himself
by calling his fellow Florida
representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz "vile, despicable" and "no lady,"
responded by declaring, "I'm ready to drive the car."
Asked to comment on the use of his film, Affleck said, "I
don't know if this is a compliment or the ultimate repudiation." He also said
he thought a more appropriate film to screen would be "The Company Men" in which he plays the role of a guy who loses his job.
With all due respect to Affleck, though "The Company Men"
might reflect the plight of the average American victimized by the economy, I
don't think it quite has the rah-rah rallying quality that the GOP is looking
for. So I tried to think of some other movie scenes that might serve their
purposes, moments that epitomize blind adherence to ideology, fanatical
determination despite the consequences, sheer delusional confidence that
transcends any contact with reality.
Perhaps the much mashed-up scene of Hitler in full bunker
meltdown in "Downfall?"
The Nazi
minions of the Red Skull in "Captain America" chanting "Hail Hydra!"?
The Japanese pilots shouting "Banzai!" as they
set off to bomb Pearl Harbor in "Tora! Tora!
Tora!"
The scene in "Doctor Strangelove" in which General Buck Turgidson argues
the wisdom of nuking the Soviet Union?
The
scene in "The Poseidon Adventure" in which the company man overrules the
captain's insistence on adding ballast, dooming the ship?
The scene in "Austin
Powers" in which Dr. Evil gloatingly threatens the world with destruction and demands
a ransom of "one million dollars!" ?
I welcome your suggestions.
Latest Slideshows
