The Oddest Movie Review Ever: Man of the Year

Recently I plumped into my bed, snug, comfortable and ready for stimulation. No, I was not preparing for flesh-on-flesh action but something that occurs much more frequently-the viewing of a movie. That movie was the newest Robin Williams flick to hit DVD, Man of the Year. For those who haven't seen the film let it be known that this is a review with a twist; be warned spoilers may inject themselves later on, however, that depends on how easily things are spoiled for you. Personally, I will gladly watch a movie if I know what is going to happen; a good movie is still a good movie regardless if you know the basic premise. Hell, someone could explain The Usual Suspects or Donnie Darko to a person, but one would be deprived of a great cinema experience if that person felt satisfied with just a summary rather than the entire audio and visual package. The reason for me saying that is because what I am about to do is give you a summary, a review and a little extra. But if for some reason you feel all of the following is good enough it is important that you remember this introduction and understand that it is not.

Man of the Year chronicles the rise from talk show comedian, Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams), to President elect of the United States. Dobbs is a comedian with a similar show to that of The Daily Show. In all actuality it is easy to see that this movie was surely inspired by The Daily Show, but more importantly by the current state of America. We have had a long run of horrible and incompetent Presidents, and I am sure there is a good amount of level-headed Americans who would rather have someone like Jon Stewart in office than many of the standard options. But in the year 2008 will the status quo finally be shoved into the proverbial trunk? There is a woman running as well as a non-white man with a chance and a few other random politicians who figured that after Bush anyone has a shot at the Oval office. Would a comedian be a contender in an election where the winner can't possibly be worse than the former head of state?

Maybe not in 2008, but if core American values and policies continue to digress, we could very well see the day where Americans are so desperate for change that they are willing to take drastic measures-we have done it before. Essentially that was the premise of Man of the Year; Dobbs was an honest man, running a campaign of full disclosure with nothing to hide and no fear of revealing anything that would eventually bubble up to the surface. By avoiding any of the typical political strategies of Presidential campaigns he stuck out when compared to the competition, and was seen as the alternative option to the usual best-of-the-worst scenario. Dobbs was adamant about refraining from advertising as he contended politicians are not products.

Eventually he went on to win the election, but only as the result of a glitch in the newly introduced electronic voting machines. Of course the glitch was discovered prior to the election but as most political movies go, the glitch was covered up as a means to protect profits and stock shares of the company making the machines. The person who discovered the glitch felt they were responsible for telling Dobbs of the slip up, leaving it up to him to decide whether or not to bring the issue to the public. To prevent "spoiling" the movie entirely I will not say what path he chose.

Nevertheless, it is only fitting that the movie remained honest, as in the present day a comedian would not win the Presidency. They would get a decent amount of votes and if they were a well-informed and intelligent person they would have credibility, however, this country is not ready to split from the normal two-party routine. For some unexplainable reason people are comfortable voting on instinct, on their gut, which translates as their emotions. We are highly emotional people and really, all humans are. That is precisely why there is chaos in the world, we lack rational criticism. People are handed a situation and the first reaction most people have is an emotional one. And since emotions are powerful things that come quite easily it is no wonder why we often respond based on those innate feelings.

Whether it is choosing a President or a frozen pizza we are often swayed by appearance, presence and whatever stimulus that tickles the right synapses. Sure you're wondering, "This is a movie review, right?" But remember I mentioned it had a twist and that twist is a passionate tangent, which I will say, is partially emotionally driven. So why focus on emotions? It is merely where this wordy road has taken us. Considering that a good portion of human decisions are often made based on emotional bias, it is safe to say that in order break the habit something extreme must happen. Now I do not mean that in the sense of an event like 9/11 or other heinous displays of the darker side of mankind. Those events tend to shake up the psyche causing wide spread confusion, which leads to fear, panic and further irrational action.

What I mean by extreme is a wake up call, a swift kick in the ass that lets us know we must think our actions through rationally. The more and more I read the news I find myself noticing that common sense and rational thought is lost among most of the population. Why? It is tough to pinpoint one main reason, but the easiest way towards rational thinking is through constant education. Many teachers are reporting that due to the "No Child Left Behind" initiative classes are more focused on training kids to succeed on standardized tests rather than actually educating them. It has gotten to the point where our ego would rather cheapen the minds of an entire generation just to keep up with countries such as China who have been a standardized test taking powerhouse.

Am I saying that we need to suppress out emotions? Certainly not, but what we need to do is understand that just because we feel one way doesn't mean it is right. There comes a time when every society realizes they have been acting on irrational beliefs, but as more societies fall and new ones rise we should make the realization much sooner than our societal predecessors. Maybe laziness is a factor as we often find the first idea that comes along to be the best choice, but as we continue forward it is common that something better will come along. Some people will gladly upgrade to that better option while others desperately cling to an ideal that their brain says is wrong but their gut says is right. This struggle has being going on since the beginning of humanity. For men it is a triangle of brain, gut and penis, but remember it may feel difficult to put your gut instincts (and other primitive desires) to the side in favor of your brain; however, it is necessary.

Greek philosopher, Socrates once said, "True knowledge exists in knowing that you know nothing," and for someone who existed before Christianity it is a statement that further illustrates the importance of a never ending education. Some people believe that life is the greatest teacher, however, life can only teach so much. There needs to be more and most can attest to that fact the average person serves their 12 year sentence from kindergarten through high school and then feels like it is good enough. Others go to college and either drop out or learn that old Greek wisdom that they know nothing and must continue to pursue knowledge in all forms. It is those people that truly understand that education is the key to doing away with Presidents who are elected on emotional pretenses. A person who stops acquiring knowledge cannot possibly possess full rational thought and must rely on the most primitive of decision making systems-emotions. That is precisely why you often see people who felt high school was enough working jobs that are based mostly on physical labor. Of course there are exceptions, but in society we never speak of the minority only the majority.

And it is the majority that elects the President. With a majority voting on emotional stimulus it is easy for a candidate to use certain tactics that will move voters into their favor. The democratic process works and all is well, right? Well if that is all that matters to voters then maybe we deserve everything we get. Maybe we deserve to be ruled by rich executives who smile at cameras and parade their wives and children around. A working democratic system is just as good as a working communist or socialist system, remember that. The important factor is who is the one pulling the strings and pushing the buttons. In a democratic system the people have the power to select who gets that honor, and if we are going to do so based on who looks the part then we are better off as a communist society. At least with that we won't have to waste our time to go vote.

I've said it before and I will say it until I see it begin to happen. We need drastic social reform, a renaissance of values and a return to rational morality. The only way to achieve that is to overhaul the countries educational structure because face it, education in this country is not honest. If we plan to elect people who will act in the best interests of America and not in the interests of only their supporters then we must learn every truth not just certain ones. That was another main point in Man of the Year, which acted as a prelude to this seemingly unrelated missive. But it will all tie in and if you remain patient you will see there is a greater purpose for this rant.

Think back to when you were a child and remember what you were taught about American history. For me I remember hearing tales of the great success of America and how we overcame harsh tyranny to become a free and independent nation. Sure we did escape British rule, but our past was not as glorious as our history books make it appear. Thomas Jefferson was not the great man most Americans believe he was. In fact, he was a hypocrite and an ignorant racist. He compared black women to orangutans yet had 6 illegitimate children with one of his slaves whom he raped. Due to the situation that she was in-being the property of Jefferson-she was raped regardless if she was willing or not; it is unlikely that she was willing to be his slave and chances are she was not willing to screw the man who claimed to speak for freedom yet oppressed fellow humans. It was merely an action of emotional response to a churlish situation; she acted out of fear for what would happen if she refused.

I also remember learning that the white European settlers who discovered the New World were peaceful with the native people upon arriving. However, the general consensus was that the native people were sub humans who needed to be civilized, and the white settlers deemed it their duty to do so. During the discovery of the New World their were approximately 12 million natives stretching from the equator up into Canada, but by the time the Declaration of Independence was signed there were roughly 300,000 remaining-and even less today. Disease was a primary reason for the genocide, but it was disease that the Europeans brought and let's not forget the natives killed by European weaponry. The reason I bring this up is because I didn't learn this through my 12 years of free education. I had to learn this on my own and it opened my eyes to the fact that those 12 years were more or less social training meant to teach us a glorified view of America.

In doing so it has crippled numerous generations, and as we now begin a new century we must address the fact that our education system is not honest and when a country is not being taught honestly, it is impossible for the political system to exhibit any kind of frankness. They understand that in being open about their actions they will in turn kiss social order goodbye and order is the sweet nectar that they need to survive. So they ignore the real problems and supplant them with bullshit concerns such as abortion and gay marriage. Both are examples that we function on emotion rather than rational criticism. If you were to honestly view both "problems" by taking your own personal beliefs out of the equation you would see both are not as harmful as the higher ups make them appear.

Understand America is young in terms of countries, but that is no excuse to make the same mistakes as other great nations. They are our examples to learn from and if we choose to be like a stubborn child by neglecting their mistakes and in turn repeating them, then we deserve to suffer the consequences until we finally grow up. But why be stubborn? Stubbornness is probably the most irrational response to any situation whether it is a dispute with friends or an entire nation of people. So I ask you to take it upon yourself to pursue a life of never ending education and to try and convey that notion to as many people as possible. And while you're at it check out Man of the Year as it was a surprisingly good movie that has managed to produce this monster of social commentary. Remember earlier as I said you should keep the introduction in mind. Well if you think this "summary" is good enough you should understand that it is not. Nothing is ever just good enough and that is evident throughout history as we, as a species are constantly striving for a better way. Age Quod Agis.