Crazytown

Chewing on Freedom: One Last Ride

Obama, I see you!
By Erica Slutsky (Writer/Singer/Songwriter)

I’ve watched a ton of political documentaries over the last year and a half, and I keep coming back to Jesse Jackson and Julian Bond. Both tried to be the first Black President, and both failed due to similar factors outside of their control: Youthfulness, a lack of government experience, ties to specific cultural organizations, youth appeal, and the overall fear of putting a minority in charge. It’s strange to think that even fictional portrayals of Presidents were just as reticent to cast a Black actor in the role before President Barack Obama. It was downright revolutionary for director Mimi Leder to single out Morgan Freeman as her choice for the President in 1998’s Deep Impact. The film succeeded anyway, with little controversy. And it’s almost cliché to reference Freeman’s Deep Impact role now, as he would go on to play God (in multiple projects) and narrate Disney’s Hall of Presidents after Obama’s election (watch it be James Woods in 2018). My mom said that she was sure that we’d see a lot more of Samuel L. Jackson and Angela Bassett during the Obama administration because of his reach on the culture. She was wrong.

Of course, satire like this was also taken at face value. But it was a different time…

Even with Obama’s successes, history seems to conveniently erase the anger, paranoia, and “Oh, God, this guy again” talk surrounding both men. While Jackson heartily stumped for Hillary in 2016, Bond, who later became President of the NAACP, received the biggest applause during the Montage of People Who Died™ at the last Democratic National Convention. It’s hard not to feel heartened at this one change Obama incurred, even remembering the near-universal acclaim and upheaval that Obama inspired during his recent years as a rising star in the Democratic Party. It seemed right: After hundreds of years of white men in the White House, which was built by slaves, Obama’s presidency wasn’t just desirable after a disastrous economy and an unpopular war; it was significant. It’s easy to forget that, at the recent DNC, inspiring Black men dominated the proceedings with a message of hope, love, and acceptance, from Lenny Kravitz singing “Let Love Rule,” to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, the very first Cultural Ambassador. Maybe the post-Obama influence extended far more than we realized, even if it was all too brief.

Video: Chappelle's Show/Comedy Central

Chewing on Freedom: G. Dubs and Special Episodes

A ton of people, both Republicans and Democrats, really miss George W. Bush. But why?
By Erica Slutsky (Writer/Singer/Songwriter)

I don’t know if anyone under 30 knows this feeling now, but being a young Democrat in the early 2000s was like being the fan of a sports team that constantly lost despite great odds. There were a lot of television episodes and movies from that not-too-recent era that carried the unmistakable sentiment of “Rigged!” and most of them took the high road by not even showing then-President George W. Bush as a character (See: Recount). We felt like we were stuck with a President that we didn’t elect, and every excuse felt valid, from the missing ballots in Ohio and Florida, to the fact that the person controlling the ballots happened to be the brother of the President-Elect. Al Gore won the popular vote by a huge margin but lost the Electoral College by 0.5%, and John Kerry lost 49% of the popular vote. Trump’s win and his tax plan may hit millennials the hardest, but many of us over 30 had to deal with a very similar feeling of “It don’t make sense” for years until Nancy Pelosi took back the House midway through Bush’s second term. We did not get hot chocolate and free counseling.

Remember when Mr. Peanutbutter stumped for John Edwards? So full of hope.

Bush seemed like he could barely form sentences, let alone run a country, despite being a C student at Harvard and Yale who served in the National Guard, the second First Kid to become President, the first President to hold an MBA degree, and someone whose biggest non-government job was running a baseball team (yes, really). Writers were afraid of making W look bad, largely because he was a Southern gentleman who respected women and minorities. It seems insulting now to compare Trump to Bush, as I’ve heard way too many times to count from people who were also there. Today, the younger Bush is usually referenced in small, subtle ways (“Like you could grab a beer with him!”) So, when George W. Bush was portrayed fictionally in the moment, we got far more attempts to humanize a man, rather than portray him as the puppet of a vast Republican Axis of Suspicion or the architect of a useless, never-ending war. Even pre-9/11 responses to Bush like the Modern Humorist’s book My First Presidentiary took the obvious route, because very few people expected the outcome. Here’s a fun game: Try to guess how many TV episodes set in the future will feature a tyrannical President Barron Trump.

Image: My First Presidentiary

Chewing on Freedom: You're WHAT?!?!

What happens when a loved one is (gasp!) a Republican?
By Erica Slutsky (Writer/Singer/Songwriter)

There’s this great episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm where gleefully offensive hero Larry David is allowed a hall pass to cheat on his wife. He gets seduced by Tony winner Cady Huffman (playing herself), but then sees a photo of George W. Bush on her table and realizes that he can’t sleep with her because she’s a Republican.

Skittishness about Republicanism has been around since the Reagan era’s Family Ties, which featured a lovable young Republican going against his hippie parents. But, in the twenty-first century, particularly after George W. Bush, there’s been a mainstream fictionalized discomfort (blue balls?) around the admission that anyone could be proudly conservative, particularly in comedy. It would be too easy to cite liberal writers, who are certainly free to express a point of view through their work. But the majority of states in the early twenty-first century put a Republican in the White House twice. Perhaps this result was more in spite of than because of Bush’s missteps.

Gerald and Jimmy at the bar. And you thought the “Land of Confusion” video was terrifying.

CHEWING ON FREEDOM: ALWAYS TWIRLING…

Did The Simpsons really predict the Drumpfinator’s rise? A lifelong fan investigates.
By Erica Slutsky (Writer/Singer/Songwriter)

I’m happy to announce that “Chewing on Freedom,” my pop culture review of the recent election, has been approved as a CrazyTown serial, updated on Fridays! If you have any suggestions for future columns, put them in the comments – the only rules are 1. No documentaries and 2. Nothing that could be read as propaganda. And now for (Hot Shots) Part Deux!

Since the denouement of Decision 2016: Neverending Story 4, I’ve listened to a lot of opinions. The two most frequent comments I’ve heard, though, are that 1. Trump predicted the rise of FOX News in this one 1998 interview and that 2. The Simpsons not only predicted his presidency in “Bart to the Future,” they predicted the electoral map that gave it to him.

Let’s not conspiracy-monger here: FOX News didn’t gain prominence until 2000. The writers came up with “President Trump” because they wanted the funniest name possible. The background artists, not the writers, drew that map arbitrarily, and it was for an online short, not an old episode. Then again, “President Trump” did lead to a bankrupt economy. #MeatRomneyin2020

Guess which convention is which! Image: Frinkiac

Pop culture is always going to have its finger on the pulse of the moment, and this kind of speculation makes about as much sense as, say, blaming Trump’s wall idea on Gorman Seedling in Coneheads (Who am I kidding? Even Seedling’s idea to electrocute refugees on the border seems more sensical in retrospect.)

But did The Simpsons really choose the Happy Squirrel from the Tarot deck and foretell a relationship where America gets jerked around? (Season 6, Episode 19, “Lisa’s Wedding”) Let’s find out!

Chewing on Freedom: Satirical Scenes in 2016

Therapeutic post-Election TV recommendations that aren't Veep or House of Cards
By Erica Slutsky (Writer/Singer/Songwriter)

It is an understatement to say that many of us are feeling vulnerable right now. Maybe it’s the raging ulcer I’ve been fighting since Tuesday, or the compulsion to advocate for my beliefs, but I think I finally understand what the term “fire in the belly” means.

In between giving and receiving empathy, I’ve tried to find safe spaces to laugh, smile, and share in between the other thoughts I’ve had on this election. While every case is different, Americans on both sides are nevertheless taking time to process the 2016 presidential election. For some of us, it feels like it’s way too soon for satire. I don’t know how long it’s going to take for me, but one of the ways that my friends and I have been coping is to watch classic episodes of our favorite TV comedies.

Since these episodes deal with topics and characters from the recent election, I’m issuing a trigger warning. On the other hand, it is somewhat fitting that this President-Elect may be the first pop culture President, or, at least, the first to speak out against female Ghostbusters.

I know, I heard it too. Moving on…