tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post1225358987900806436..comments2024-01-21T11:18:54.087-05:00Comments on Lost in the Movies: Mr. Smith Goes to WashingtonJoel Bockohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-33071597225554869782008-10-25T16:32:00.000-04:002008-10-25T16:32:00.000-04:00Also, I kind of doubt Jefferson Smith's wardrobe c...Also, I kind of doubt Jefferson Smith's wardrobe cost $150,000 (even adjusted for inflation...and gender).Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-28921521150129495812008-10-22T17:51:00.000-04:002008-10-22T17:51:00.000-04:00Yeah, I've always loved It's a Wonderful L...Yeah, I've always loved It's a Wonderful Life - and seen the darker side - but my first impression of Mr. Smith definitely wasn't as nuanced.<BR/><BR/>As for the rest of the series, I'm seeing most of these docs for the first time too and truth be told my interest is more in their subject matter than their form (some are straight-ahead jounralistic TV programs). I'll be trying to open up my write-ups to discussion of the issues involved - which will include health care, the crisis in conservatism, the past 8 years, North Korea, Iran, Darfur, the roots of the credit crisis, and especially the war in Iraq. So feel free to check them out & leave your thoughts even if you haven't seen the particular doc in question.<BR/><BR/>I haven't seen Street Fight and since (aside from Can Mr. Smith Get to Washington Anymore) I'm focusing on issue docs rather than campaign ones, I hadn't planned on looking at it. But in the process of scheduling this series, I discovered a lot of other interesting-sounding political documentaries and added them to my Netflix queue, so I may return to some of these (including Street Fight) in the months to come.Joel Bockohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238338958380683893noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7610074516299275060.post-37242442050588630702008-10-22T15:30:00.000-04:002008-10-22T15:30:00.000-04:00This is a very good write-up. As happened to me w...This is a very good write-up. As happened to me when I finally watched It's a Wonderful Life for my inaugural Film Ignorance piece, you went to this movie looking for a piece of corny American optimism and got a very strange brew in it's place - an amalgam of corny American optimism and it's supposed nemesis, cynical American realism. Understanding Capra is about understanding how his optimism was born out of a certain cynical realism - something you'll get even more of if you watch Meet John Doe.<BR/><BR/>I also think your Palin comparison is spot on, although again (as you yourself allude to) it's John Doe who is perhaps more applicable here. Mr. Smith has the tint of the everyman about him, but he's no anti-intellectual, and he's no panderer. As you point out, labeling Palin a Smith-like figure is more than a little disingenuous. It's hard for me not to see Palin as a John Doe figure: a folksy puppet, who looks and sounds like a regular person, and maybe even is, but it doesn't matter who they are, because someone else is pulling the strings.<BR/><BR/>I'll follow along with this series as much as I am able, but I'm not an expert on documentary film, so I'll be going in blind on many of the entries - like your next one. Just out of curiosity: are you doing a piece on Street Fight? I've never watched it, but it's always looked intriguing.Grahamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14215810599956933532noreply@blogger.com