Post by The Giant-Size Man Thing on Sept 27, 2004 16:54:37 GMT -5
BY JAMES TARANTO
Friday, September 24, 2004 2:00 p.m. EDT
'Let the Wookie Win'
A blogger called "bkm" has come forth with one of the most inventive insights of the 2004 campaign: John Kerry may actually be C-3PO, the neurotic, English-sounding metallic droid, who by the way served in the Clone Wars. We weren't about to take the word of some jammie-clad no-name, so we went out and bought the "Star Wars" DVD box set, released just this week (Karl Rove must've had something to do with the timing), watched the first movie, which is now called "Star Wars IV" for obscure reasons, and jotted down a bunch of Threepio quotes:
*"We'll be destroyed for sure! This is madness! We're doomed."
*"Hey! You're not permitted in there! You'll be deactivated for sure! Don't you call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease!"
*"Secret mission? What plans? What are you talking about? I'm not getting in there! I'm going to regret this."
*"How did we get into this mess? I really don't know how. We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life."
*"Where do you think you're going? Well, I'm not going that way. It's much too rocky. This way is much easier."
*"What mission? What are you talking about? I've just about had enough of you! Go that way! You'll be malfunctioning within a day, you nearsighted scrap pile! And don't let me catch you following me, begging for help, because you won't get it!"
*"No more adventures! I'm not going that way."
*"That malfunctioning little twerp! This is all his fault! He tricked me into going this way, but he'll do no better."
*"Protocol? Why, it's my primary function, sir. I am well versed in all the customs."
*"No, I don't think he likes you at all. No, I don't like you either."
*"It wasn't my fault, sir! Please don't deactivate me! I told him not to go, but he's faulty, malfunctioning. Kept babbling on about his mission."
*"I suggest a new strategy, R2: Let the wookie win."
"Help! I think I'm melting! This is all your fault!"
The resemblance to Kerry's foreign policy is uncanny. C-3PO also has a lot of awkward arm movements, just like Kerry when giving a speech. On the other hand, Threepio has a certain lack of self-regard that is quite unlike the narcissistic Kerry. At one point, he tells Luke Skywalker: "I'm only a droid, and not very knowledgeable about such things. Not on this planet anyway. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure which planet I am on." Apart from the confusion about what planet he's on, this is a decidedly un-Kerrylike comment. You can't imagine this droid ever demanding: "Do you know who I am?"
If Kerry is C-3PO, which "Star Wars" character most closely resembles President Bush? The obvious candidate is Han Solo, whose cocksure attitude is reminiscent of the president's. "Bring 'em on," he actually says at one point, and at another, Princess Leia mocks him as a "flyboy."
On the other hand, some readers of the "bkm" blog see a resemblance to C-3PO's counterpart, R2-D2. As one explains anonymously: "He's not real articulate, and he doesn't say much, but he's resolute, calm in a crisis, and usually solves the problem while other people are arguing about it." Another reader, Nicole Griffin, offers this suggestion:
Perhaps the Kerry as Threepio and Bush as R2D2 thing would work well in the debates. Just picture it: Kerry can blather on and on in his Threepio fashion and Bush can just beep in response--it's not like anything Kerry will say will warrant a real response anyway. The level of discourse might actually be raised by such a tactic!
The thought of Bush beeping calls to mind another analogy from 20th-century popular culture: the Road Runner. One can imagine Wile E. Coyote opening an "Acme Purple Heart Kit" and having it blow up in his face.
Friday, September 24, 2004 2:00 p.m. EDT
'Let the Wookie Win'
A blogger called "bkm" has come forth with one of the most inventive insights of the 2004 campaign: John Kerry may actually be C-3PO, the neurotic, English-sounding metallic droid, who by the way served in the Clone Wars. We weren't about to take the word of some jammie-clad no-name, so we went out and bought the "Star Wars" DVD box set, released just this week (Karl Rove must've had something to do with the timing), watched the first movie, which is now called "Star Wars IV" for obscure reasons, and jotted down a bunch of Threepio quotes:
*"We'll be destroyed for sure! This is madness! We're doomed."
*"Hey! You're not permitted in there! You'll be deactivated for sure! Don't you call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease!"
*"Secret mission? What plans? What are you talking about? I'm not getting in there! I'm going to regret this."
*"How did we get into this mess? I really don't know how. We seem to be made to suffer. It's our lot in life."
*"Where do you think you're going? Well, I'm not going that way. It's much too rocky. This way is much easier."
*"What mission? What are you talking about? I've just about had enough of you! Go that way! You'll be malfunctioning within a day, you nearsighted scrap pile! And don't let me catch you following me, begging for help, because you won't get it!"
*"No more adventures! I'm not going that way."
*"That malfunctioning little twerp! This is all his fault! He tricked me into going this way, but he'll do no better."
*"Protocol? Why, it's my primary function, sir. I am well versed in all the customs."
*"No, I don't think he likes you at all. No, I don't like you either."
*"It wasn't my fault, sir! Please don't deactivate me! I told him not to go, but he's faulty, malfunctioning. Kept babbling on about his mission."
*"I suggest a new strategy, R2: Let the wookie win."
"Help! I think I'm melting! This is all your fault!"
The resemblance to Kerry's foreign policy is uncanny. C-3PO also has a lot of awkward arm movements, just like Kerry when giving a speech. On the other hand, Threepio has a certain lack of self-regard that is quite unlike the narcissistic Kerry. At one point, he tells Luke Skywalker: "I'm only a droid, and not very knowledgeable about such things. Not on this planet anyway. As a matter of fact, I'm not even sure which planet I am on." Apart from the confusion about what planet he's on, this is a decidedly un-Kerrylike comment. You can't imagine this droid ever demanding: "Do you know who I am?"
If Kerry is C-3PO, which "Star Wars" character most closely resembles President Bush? The obvious candidate is Han Solo, whose cocksure attitude is reminiscent of the president's. "Bring 'em on," he actually says at one point, and at another, Princess Leia mocks him as a "flyboy."
On the other hand, some readers of the "bkm" blog see a resemblance to C-3PO's counterpart, R2-D2. As one explains anonymously: "He's not real articulate, and he doesn't say much, but he's resolute, calm in a crisis, and usually solves the problem while other people are arguing about it." Another reader, Nicole Griffin, offers this suggestion:
Perhaps the Kerry as Threepio and Bush as R2D2 thing would work well in the debates. Just picture it: Kerry can blather on and on in his Threepio fashion and Bush can just beep in response--it's not like anything Kerry will say will warrant a real response anyway. The level of discourse might actually be raised by such a tactic!
The thought of Bush beeping calls to mind another analogy from 20th-century popular culture: the Road Runner. One can imagine Wile E. Coyote opening an "Acme Purple Heart Kit" and having it blow up in his face.
Now, they got Kerry dead on, but Bush is no Han Solo*, or even R2-D2. Bush really is a combination of Jar Jar Binks and Emperor Palpatine. He uses a crisis to get emergency powers to go to war (Iraq, Seperatist). After the war is won, he is then faced with a new threat of terrorism (Rebellion or Islamic Extremist). Maybe I'm grasping at straws here, but I think there's some sort of parralell going.
Oh, and I say he's like Jar Jar Binks because he's optimistic, energetic, and can't quite speak English.
*Comparing Han Solo to President Bush is like comparing a monkey to Indiana Jones. In fact, it's exactly like that.
Just not right now, I'm leaving for an exam.
