Palin is no Potter

I usually don’t bother with midnight showings. The film will still be there a few days later when the crowds have died down. But for the last Harry Potter movie, the experience was definitely worth it.

The theater I went to the night of July 14 had 12 screens, all of which were playing “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.” And all of the 12 screens were completely sold out.

This is Harry Potter weekend; I’m surprised anything else would try to compete with it — though I suppose the new Winnie the Pooh movie draws a different crowd.

The other movie being released in Indianapolis this weekend? “The Undefeated,” the Sarah Palin movie.

The movie is on limited release, and after premiering in Iowa, it opened in 10 cities with strong tea party connections.

I’m not even going to try for a joke about how the movie’s title is “The Undefeated,” and Palin is most famous for being the losing vice president candidate in 2008.

I’m just going to say that whoever is running this show won’t be in charge of the next Batman movie.

Specifically Steven Bannon, the man behind the documentary. “It’s pretty extraordinary to put a film like this opposite ‘Harry Potter,’” he said.

No, it’s not. It’s idiotic. Nothing is going to compete with Harry Potter. Most people are not going to see two movies in one weekend, so who is going to choose Sarah Palin over the last Harry Potter movie?

Bannon said of his movie, “It’s really good versus evil.”

Okay, it’s a movie about Sarah Palin produced by a guy who thinks he can compete with Harry Potter. But Palin isn’t Potter and her opponent isn’t Voldemort. In the real world, things aren’t so clearly delineated.

Well, one might say Mother Teresa was good and Hitler was evil. But Palin isn’t Mother Teresa, and she isn’t Hitler.

But to present Palin as a bastion of “good” and degrade her opponents as “evil” villains? Evil is a very strong word, and it shouldn’t be tossed around lightly.

Someone who rapes and murders children is evil. Someone in the media who criticizes a political figure isn’t evil, or even bad; or even, possibly, wrong.

Harry Potter is the only good versus evil adventure here. Potter’s opponent actually kills people.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I don’t understand the Palin phenomenon. I also don’t particularly like her. She might or might not be an idiot, but she definitely needs public speaking lessons.

People can make whatever movies they want. They can make a movie about an evil wizard trying to take over the world, or they can make a movie about a former vice presidential candidate. It’s a free country, right?

And to be honest here, the Palin documentary is a series of clips and interviews about the 2008 race that purposely show Palin in a good light and her opponents in a bad one.

It’s not going to appeal to all viewers because it’s not unbiased and because lots of people don’t like Sarah Palin. It’s not going to provide good competition to Harry Potter because nothing will ever compete with Harry Potter and come out looking good. The franchise is just too popular.

If Sarah Palin is your thing, whatever. It’s none of my business. But don’t try to present the movie as something it’s not.

­— hanns@indiana.edu