You’ll Believe a Man Can Fly!
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“You’ll believe a man can fly”, that’s how the advertising campaign went for the first Superman movie with Christopher Reeve. After seeing the movie, I did damn near believed it myself, but I knew that it was just special effects. However, while I was watching the movie, I absolutely believed that Christopher Reeve could fly. That is because of what we call the willing suspension of disbelief. It makes movies, plays, books, etc., really any work of fiction more exciting. If we, as the audience willingly suspend our disbelief then we can go along on the journey of fancy being presented. Most works of fiction have plot holes big enough to drive a truck through and yet we allow them without too many questions because it makes the experience more entertaining. In every horror movie, the cast always splits up, instead of staying together. We all know that they would stand a better chance of surviving if they stayed together, but the characters seem to be oblivious to that fact. We, as the audience play along, because the experience wouldn’t be as much fun if the characters acted like their real life counterparts would.
My co-conspirator SJ over at Random Thoughts wrote a wonderful piece about the willingness of the American people to buy into lies and propaganda. My thoughts are very similar, but I think that the American people are more like that audience at the horror movies. They know what the outcome is going to be and yet they still watch the whole movie. They still choose (with their dollars) to go and see something that is filled with inconsistencies and usually extremely predictable. I think Mike Myers (of Halloween fame, not the Canadian comedian) was killed at the end of every one of his movies and yet there he always was, two years later, once again reeking havoc on another unsuspecting group of individuals. The same goes for Jason Vorhees (Friday the 13th), or Freddie Kruger (Nightmare on Elm Street). The audiences always came back though.
We are now on the verge of a mid term election that could (and most likely will) return the Republicans to power in the House and Senate. How, you ask, could people who just two years ago resoundingly rejected the Republican agenda, once again think that the GOP is the answer to their problems? It’s easy you see, they are engaged in the same type of mental gymnastics that are required to watch and enjoy a movie that makes no logical sense and is entirely predictable. We as a nation are now involved in a willing suspension of disbelief on a massive scale. The claims made by the Republicans and their supporters are entirely predictable. We all know what it leads to and how that story ends and yet it seems we are all going to be a party to a return engagement. We are going to sit down and pay our money and watch this show run it’s course one more time. Lowering taxes on the rich will make eventually benefit everyone…loosening regulations on the banks will help to make money more accessible to everyone…Closing our borders will make us a stronger nation…Health care isn’t so broke that a little tort reform won’t make everything better…etc, etc, etc.
We’ve heard it all before. There is nothing new on the table and yet we, as a nation are willing to suspend our disbelief in order to see the show play out once again. There is a definition of insanity which is doing the same thing over and over again but expecting different results. I don’t believe that we fall under into that category, because deep down, I honestly believe that people know what the end result is going to be, they just don’t care. We are willing to suspend our disbelief one more time because this show, the Republican Side Show, is just more fun than the Democratic one. The Republicans will tell you that everyone can be rich, if you just let them back into power. The Republicans will tell you that everyone will be happy, if you just let them back into power. The Democrats on the other hand are always trying to keep everyone grounded in reality. Well, as the people are about to tell them, reality is no fun. Where’s the fun in hard work and sacrifice? Where’s the fun in continued economic stagnation? Where’s the fun in increased taxes?
So as November rolls around and unemployment stays high and disenchantment with the Obama administration continues to grow, get ready for a new horror movie that’s going to be opening at a city hall and a state capitol and a Congressional office near you. Our suspension of disbelief will be in full effect as we sit down to enjoy, Halloween 2010: the Revenge of the Republicans. The problem is that we’ve already seen how this one ends.
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Thanks for the kind mention MyCue23, and I agree with you wholeheartedly: 1 year and 8 1/2 months of slowing declines as a recent graph by Teeluck on here showed, and people are ready to throw in the towel and run back to the GOP or their pretenders-in-wait, those Tea Baggers.
A question no one on the Right, (especially the people who keep saying Obama is the worst President in history at not even the mid point of his term) will is answer is this:
“Where are all the jobs and debt reduction that the Bush tax cuts created over his two terms? -They’re still in effect, so why isn’t the economy prospering?!!!”
Seriously, -eight years of economic decline and self-serving foreign policy that launched two wars and mounting debt and nobody remembers whose policies got us there?
Why isn’t everybody just laughing in Boehner’s face?
How is Sarah Palin, a woman who selfishly quit her job as governor able to endorse anybody without laughter and ridicule raining down?
-SJ
The misfortune that Obama had is being elected when the storm of past years de-regulation stupidity hit.
Because of the bad situation for a lot of people and the lobbying power of banks and investment firms, the only people that are taking the hit seems to be the middle class.
They are the ones going through hell and getting their homes foreclosed, getting the runaround, while the banks can get tarp money within 3 days with 2 pages of legislation.
The most amazing con job ever is how they convinced people that the only way to get the country back to “good ole USA” is to take more of the same screwing!
After the shocks in the Republican primaries in the past few days we are going to see something different in the coming months. Well, perhaps not that different, deceptions are still deceptions, but Republicans seem to be leaderless right now, unless you call Sarah Palin a leader, the something different I am looking for is that the Democrats start behaving like they are in power.
No doubt there is a new horror movie on the horizon. I suspect it will be the most scary of all. Great post.
Failorina?
I think I’ve had too much voddy……;-)
nite x
The republicans just gave away a seat in Delaware. She is not winning there. Oh and not for nothing, in bright red Kentucky that race is way too close for comfort for the pubbies, they are going in with some serious coin to help out Rand Paul against Conway. That shouldn’t even have been an issue in Kentucky. Angle in Nevada, not happening, so there cuts into the whole they could win right there. No way is California going to go for Failorina, no way in hell. There are a whole lot of races that are now up in the air because of teabaggers.
Up in the air? Like, flying?
Up in the air like toss ups a la Kentucky, which is way too close for comfort like I said, Washington State has a bagger that is going nowhere. California has Failorina trying but failing in her attempt to be some kind of moderate after going all in with the right for her primary. You’re disturbing my John Legend solo concert here, having to answer you, I hope you know 🙂
Well he did fly off that horse didn’t he?…..
…oh be quiet Dinners….;-)
The Revenge Of The Republicans? I’ll wait for the dvd I think…