US presidents take to the big screen

Whether it’s Oliver Stone’s recent depiction of President Bush in “W.” or Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein’s journey through the Watergate scandal in “All the President’s Men,” Hollywood consistently cranks out politically charged films.
They vary in quality and reality – some are fictitious while others are based on true events. The following list is an assortment of films portraying life in Washington, whether in an accurate manner or not.

1. Wag the Dog (directed by Barry Levinsion, 1997)
Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman star in this political satire of the role of media manipulation in politics. When the president is rumored to be involved in a sex scandal just two weeks before the election, a Hollywood producer (Hoffman) is brought in to create a fake war with Albania. A musician (Willie Nelson) is brought into the mix to write patriotic songs to help the country gear up for war.

While the film is fictional and not based on any definite events, it seemed to predict president Bill Clinton’s sex scandal that occurred just months after the film’s release.

“I thought it was brilliant,” said Alex DiBlasi, a 21-year-old film studies major. “That film works because it shows you how the media can use smokescreens. Whenever something of great concern is making the news, like the renewal of the Patriot Act, or the worst weeks of fighting over in Iraq, what happens here? Some pretty white girl goes missing in the Caribbean.”

DiBlasi said he thinks “Wag the Dog” is one of the best political films in the past 15 years.


2. The Candidate (directed by Michael Ritchie, 1972)
Robert Redford plays Democratic presidential candidate Bill McKay, an attractive 30-something who knows little about politics despite being the son of a former governor. A political election specialist (Peter Boyle) hires McKay based on his image because the Republicans are far ahead in the race.

McKay is told he can’t win the race no matter what happens, so he can say whatever he wants in his speeches. He focuses on his liberal values with little reaction from potential voters.

As the party begins to mold McKay, his speeches focus less on real issues and use pre-packed rhetoric. This causes the poll numbers to soar until he finds himself in the White House unsure of what to do next.

Communication and culture professor Jon Simons uses the film in his class, Words and Images in Public Culture.

“I’m not sure it’s a great film as a film, but it’s an excellent illustration of how a well-meaning, progressive candidate is transformed by his campaign management and PR firm into an ‘image,’” Simons said. “It also illustrates how the Redford character becomes a successful campaigner, but as the final scene shows, has not a clue what to do once elected.”

Simons said the film speaks to the era.

“I think it resonated very much with its times, when awareness of political marketing and ‘image politics’ was becoming established in culture consciousness,” he said. “Some claim it’s actually about Kennedy, but it’s rather obvious for audiences now.”


3. Fahrenheit 9/11 (directed by Michael Moore, 2004)
Controversial filmmaker Michael Moore released this critical documentary of President Bush, drawing the ire of many from the right. The film questions the results of the 2000 election and asks if Fox News affected the election by prematurely declaring Bush the winner in Florida.

The film criticized Bush’s vacation time and famously shows footage of the president in a classroom holding the book “The Pet Goat” shortly after being informed of the attacks on the World Trade Center.

The film was a success, grossing nearly $120 million in the U.S. and winning the Cannes Film Festival for Best Picture. However, Moore was accused of editing material in unethical ways.

“Moore has been criticized for taking quotes out of context, using editing to juxtapose unrelated topics, like using a snippet of Eric Clapton’s ‘Cocaine’ when discussing Bush’s attendance for the Texas Air National Guard,” DiBlasi said.

He said he only those in the mainstream media such as Moore are successfully able to criticize presidents.

“If you want to wage a critique of the president and his administration, good luck,” he said. “Because if you aren’t in the mainstream, you’ll find yourself out on the lunatic fringe. You could be speaking the truth about the crimes committed by Bush and Cheney, but you’ll be two doors down from a guy yammering about 9/11 being staged by the reptilian illuminati.”


4. Good Night and Good Luck (directed by George Clooney, 2005)
David Strathairn and George Clooney act in this star-studded cast about the conflict between famous radio and TV journalist Edward R. Murrow and Sen. Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin. The major topic of the film is the anti-Communist actions with the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations in the ’50s. The movie was released in black and white in an attempt to reflect the times.

DiBlasi said there is a parallel between the anti-Communist chatter from the ’50s to the fear of terrorism since 9/11.

“It came out in a time where the word ‘terrorist’ has become the new ‘communist,’” he said. “Anyone out there an enemy of the U.S.? You’re a terrorist. People are hung up on Obama being black, but instead they are going to call this pro-democratic centrist candidate a ‘socialist’? They should call it like it is.”

He also said he enjoyed how the movie’s filming technique presented a message.
“The black and white cinematography was brilliant,” he said. “It made a great point. It was great because it highlighted the past, and more importantly, it touched on the terrorist hunt as opposed to the communist hunt. It worked as a political allegory.”


5. All the President’s Men (directed by Alan J. Pakula, 1976)
Robert Redford and Dustin Hoffman play Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein in this movie based on the book of the same name about the infamous Watergate scandal that ultimately forced President Richard Nixon to resign.

The film chronicles Woodward and Bernstein’s reporting work from the Watergate break-in through the revelation of the Nixon tapes in 1973. Woodward’s secret meetings with anonymous source Deep Throat is shown at various points in the film. Almost 30 years after the film’s release, Deep Throat was revealed to be former FBI Associate Director W. Mark Felt.

“For the public, that was definitely the eye-opener for how insidious Watergate was,” DiBlasi said. “It was an accurate glimpse into the Watergate scandal.”