Death of a President

Last night I went to see the controversial “Death of a President.”

I have to say it was very interesting and very well executed. I was also surprised by how middle of the road the film was, despite the caveat the film permeates.

From what I’ve read about the film, people seem to be missing what I think the point of it is. The narrative of the story is this: Bush is killed, Cheney is installed as President, Patriot Act III goes into effect, the wrong man is caught and convicted, but because he’s Syrian Cheney’s Administration really doesn’t do anything about it because of his ulterior motives.

The point of the film, as I gleaned it, is that this group of hawks will take any tragedy and bend it to fit their will. This is science fiction at it’s best. The assassination of Bush could be seen as allegory for September 11th, and the surrounding rigmarole about finding the wrong man but putting him up on trial and finding him guilty regardless could be seen as allegory for the invasion of Iraq. But this film was crafted in a very interesting, very subtle way.

Some of the “experts” they spoke with were Bush supporters, some interviewees were moved to tears by the events of that night.

The film plays out exactly like a History Channel or TLC documentary would if this had really happened, only without the commercials.

Yes, there were a few spots where the special effects were bad (specifically during Cheney’s eulogy of Bush) and you some of the transitions between impersonated voices and the real thing weren’t smooth. Maybe they would seem smooth if you weren’t terribly familiar with the actual players, but it was an amazing experiment in film, regardless.

The one thing I was really surprised by was the fact that the film made me realize how affected I’d really be if Bush were killed. I actually felt a pang of anger to see him die. Not because I was sorry to see him go, but because I really don’t like to see people die, no matter how much bad they’ve done. And then the reality that Cheney would take over hit and that was even scarier.

I don’t know.

I didn’t find anything terribly offensive about the film. I can understand why it would cause a knee-jerk reaction, but after that it should simmer down. And I think this movie would be viewable by anyone over the age of 10.

It was really, really interesting.

That’s about all I have to say about it.