The Death of a President

Last night, I sat down and finally watched The Death of a President. I had heard about this controversial film for months and was initially outraged at the thought of this film, but then gradually my disgust turned to curiosity, as it always does.

The trailer is intriguing, but does not give away a heck of a lot, but definitely peaked my interest. Take a look yourself...



After watching The Queen, I became a huge fan of the inter-mingling of drama with news archives to create a strong sense of realism. However, I was very curious as to how it would be done with a fictitious story as opposed to the retelling of true events, as was the case with The Queen. More than anything though, I was curious as to how the man would be portrayed. I am far from a Bush supporter in any way shape or form, but the last thing I would want to see would be for the man to get shot.

I don't want to give away the film (although one spoiler: Bush gets shot), but it is filmed as a documentary of October 19, 2007 (don't worry, you haven't taken a long nap...the day hasn't happened yet) and the assassination of President Bush in Chicago. It then deals with the aftermath of the investigation, including the introduction of "Patriot 3" and the search for the assassin.

I fully expected this movie to take a strong anti-Bush stance, but two of the main characters interviewed were the Head of the Secret Service and President Bush's speech writer. These two characters display a closeness and reverence for George W. Bush as both a man and a President. It is hard not to get caught up in their sadness, I found myself holding back a tear when Dick Cheney delivered a eulogy for George Bush.

Yeah you read that right, an uber-hippie liberal was sad at the though of one of the worst and most damaging Presidents ever getting removed from office early. Why you ask? Well the movie did a wonderful job at showing the repercussions of such an action. I realized that the Republican Government did an eerily wonderful job at removing civil liberties after 9/11 and spinning the national tragedy for it's own good.

I couldn't help but think just how far they would take the assassination of a President. I couldn't help but think just how terrible the world would be if George Bush were to be made into a martyr. It was Jim Morrison who first said that death was a great career move, and what better move for the uber-right than to have one of their own cast into the pantheon of assassinated Presidents? You ask almost anyone out there who they think that the best President of all time is and I guarantee you that most of them would say Lincoln and/or Kennedy. The thought of having Bush mentioned in those same ranks is enough to bring anyone to tears.

Until next time,

G