Today’s clip isn’t exactly film-related, but it does tie into Kevin’s list from earlier about unsuccessful movie prophecies. Plus, its title somewhat references Back to the Future, and anything paying tribute to BTTF immediately sparks my interest (this tie-in may have even influenced my vote for president). The comedy short comes from FunnyorDie.com and stars Paul Scheer of Human Giant (and Bride Wars, just to make this more movie-related) in two roles. One role, really, but its divided into two parts, “Alex” and “Future Alex.” And the whole thing is a play on the idea of fashions of the future.
Anyway, the video made me think of the Oscars’ usual ignorance of science-fiction costumes, particularly of designs for films set in the future (meaning Star Wars‘ win in the category was apparently okay). Why wasn’t Jean-Paul Gaultier nominated for The Fifth Element? And what about Milena Canonero for A Clockwork Orange? Of course, even more disappointing than those snubs was the failure to nominate Joanna Johnston for Back to the Future Part II, a film so visionary in its futuristic fashions that fans campaigned to have Nike produce a pair of sneakers similar to those seen in the movie. Maybe we won’t have self-drying clothes in 6 years, but what a great concept and what a great execution of that idea in Marty McFly’s jacket. Much better work than anything seen in Driving Miss Daisy, that’s for sure.
If only we could go back in time and change the Academy’s mind.
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Will this year’s presidential election be determined by which candidate is more hip? Barack Obama is younger, listens to Jay-Z and Kanye West and is something of a trendy choice among college students. McCain, on the other hand, is older and (now) less athletic but is still considered to be hip in a cool grandpa kind of way. Like the grandpa who has exciting war stories to share. Have you seen the video footage of him jumping from an explosion during the USS Forrestal fire? That’s pretty cool.
So, the outcome of the race may depend on what the majority of Americans think is cool. Charisma or Muscle. It reminds me of an election for high school class president. Who is more popular, the preppy basketball player or the more jockish captain of the wrestling team?
But do we really want a cool president? Let’s take a look at some of the coolest fictional presidents from the movies and decide if it’s truly a good idea to base our vote on which candidate we’d prefer to hang with.
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With the New Hampshire primary upon us, and in response to the results of last week’s Iowa Caucus, I’ve been thinking about the possible influence of pop culture on Democratic voters. Is it possible that Obama performed better than Clinton because 24 is a more popular TV show than was the short-lived Commander in Chief? The former has so far featured two African American Presidents, played by Dennis Haysbert and D.B. Woodside, while the latter was about a female President, portrayed by Geena Davis. The next season of 24, which is set to premiere once the WGA strike is finished, will actually feature a female President, played by Cherry Jones, but it may be too late. Americans could already be set on nominating a black man, because they’re more familiar with seeing such a President on both the big and small screen.
And what a crop of African American actors we’ve seen as the leader of the United States: Morgan Freeman (Deep Impact); James Earl Jones (1972’s The Man); Tommy ‘Tiny’ Lister (The Fifth Element); Chris Rock (Head of State); Terry Crews (not so well known, but extra points for playing a porn star-President in Idiocracy); and of course Haysbert and Woodside. Now, let’s see who we’ve got for white female Presidents: Polly Bergen (1964’s Kisses for My President); Lisa Simpson (in a flash-forward episode of The Simpsons); Dulcie Smart (a TV movie called Post Impact); Ernestine Barrier (1953’s Project Moon Base) and of course Davis. Which group has more star power? Exactly. Even Robert Zemeckis chose to exclude the female President featured in Carl Sagan’s novel Contact when the director made his film version. Anyway, Clinton at least has a better chance than an African American woman. The only black female Presidents I can find in TV and film include one played by Melanie Henderson on an episode of The Electric Company and reference to one in a deleted scene from Star Trek V: The Final Frontier, which features the woman as an added fifth face on Mount Rushmore.
