Just Saying | Movies and Muslims: the misunderstanding of Islam is everywhere
Political drama Game Change exposes prejudices among even the most creative and liberal-minded in Hollywood
I recently watched an excellent HBO film from 2012 about US senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign. Game Change, based on a 2010 book about Barack Obama’s election victory, offers a fascinating look at the Republican strategy to field Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as McCain’s running mate. Of course this is Hollywood, so you have to take the melodrama and exaggerations in the name of artistic licence with a generous dose of salt, but it does provide a fascinating insight into what must have happened behind the scenes.
Sarah Palin, brilliantly played by Julianne Moore, is portrayed as a hugely charismatic yet stunningly flawed character. To their credit, rather than just ridicule her, the filmmakers try to show Palin in a sympathetic light. That comes through successfully despite the often jaw-dropping displays of her ignorance and unsuitability for the job. But it’s not what Palin says and does in the film that I have an issue with, as frightening as the thought is that she could have become the vice-president of the most powerful nation on this planet.
It’s about McCain.
He’s portrayed - again, brilliantly - by Ed Harris as a tough, straight-talking and ultimately noble political veteran – the Grand Old Man of the GOP. The film depicts him as a champion of “proud American tradition” who becomes horrified by the negative turn his campaign takes and the racist vilification of his rival, Obama.
McCain’s “nobility” shines through at an October 2008 town hall meeting in Minnesota. He hands his microphone to a woman in the audience who declares: "I can’t trust Obama. I have read about him and he’s not - he’s not, uh - he’s an Arab. He’s not…"
