The gang over at Big Hollywood directed me to Variety magazine today. I used to subscribe to and actually read Variety as part of my work duties in olden times. (Yikes!) So I figured it might be funny to see what they had to snark about Governor Palin's bye-bye speech.
Having worked in Hollywood I find it amusing to see how little the troops there know about most of the USA. This Variety column did not disappoint. But far better are the comments after--- the first one was so dead solid perfect I wish I'd written it.
Here are excerpts from the clueless column:
July 26 Sarah Palin's Attack on Twig-like Hollywood Starlets
Sarah Palin's farewell address as Alaska governor contained the standard conservative targets of big government, the media and Hollywood, but it's the latter where Palin forged new ground.
She didn't just attack the industry elite, but the wafer-thin starlet elite who embrace vegetarianism and have age-defying figures.
Her comments came about halfway through her speech, when she warned the state's residents of Hollywood's penchant for targeting Second Amendment gun rights.
"You are going to see anti-hunting, anti-second amendment circuses from Hollywood," she said. "And here's how they do it. They use these delicate, tiny, very talented celebrity starlets. They use Alaska as a fund-raising tool for their anti-Second Amendment causes." The crowd clapped.
Then came the line that got one of her biggest cheers. "By the way, Hollywood needs to know. We eat, therefore we hunt."
Sarah Palin's farewell address as Alaska governor contained the standard conservative targets of big government, the media and Hollywood, but it's the latter where Palin forged new ground.
She didn't just attack the industry elite, but the wafer-thin starlet elite who embrace vegetarianism and have age-defying figures.
Her comments came about halfway through her speech, when she warned the state's residents of Hollywood's penchant for targeting Second Amendment gun rights.
"You are going to see anti-hunting, anti-second amendment circuses from Hollywood," she said. "And here's how they do it. They use these delicate, tiny, very talented celebrity starlets. They use Alaska as a fund-raising tool for their anti-Second Amendment causes." The crowd clapped.
Then came the line that got one of her biggest cheers. "By the way, Hollywood needs to know. We eat, therefore we hunt."
......
... perhaps Palin's motives were some kind of ingenious populism: the very same checkout counter magazines that have hounded her family also routinely obsess about celebrity weight loss and gain. In other words, stir up the resentment among anyone who's ever tried and failed to obtain unobtainable physiques.
She did spend a greater portion of her speech talking about energy, one of her signature issues, as well as criticisms of the federal stimulus package. But like her pre-Independence Day bombshell announcement that she was resigning, there were parts of this speech that were just incoherent, a stream-of-consciousness recitation of her accomplishments and resentments as if she were posting it on Twitter.
Take this part, in which she addresses the state's tradition of independence and living off the land:
"We would roll up our sleeves and we would diligently sow and reap. And we can still do this, to carve wealth out of the wilderness, and make our living out of the water, with strong hands and innovative minds, now with smarter technology. It is what our first people and our parents did. It worked, because they worked."
She did spend a greater portion of her speech talking about energy, one of her signature issues, as well as criticisms of the federal stimulus package. But like her pre-Independence Day bombshell announcement that she was resigning, there were parts of this speech that were just incoherent, a stream-of-consciousness recitation of her accomplishments and resentments as if she were posting it on Twitter.
Take this part, in which she addresses the state's tradition of independence and living off the land:
"We would roll up our sleeves and we would diligently sow and reap. And we can still do this, to carve wealth out of the wilderness, and make our living out of the water, with strong hands and innovative minds, now with smarter technology. It is what our first people and our parents did. It worked, because they worked."
Palin thrives on being unpolished, but even that is of little help it you can't understand what you are saying. Her persona came through at the Republican National Convention, in what was regarded as her best speech on the national stage, but that was a fully scripted endeavor.
More problematic is the fact that she is leaving office period. Again, she cast her reasons for departing the governorship early as a desire not to play it "politics as usual" and bide her time as a lame duck. It's an argument that can just as easily be twisted the other way, that your very status as a lame duck makes you more valuable, because you are more likely to make decisions without reelection considerations. In a Republican primary, that will be held against her, from Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota in particular. He's a likely presidential candidate in 2012 and also a lame duck governor. But he remains in office.
More problematic is the fact that she is leaving office period. Again, she cast her reasons for departing the governorship early as a desire not to play it "politics as usual" and bide her time as a lame duck. It's an argument that can just as easily be twisted the other way, that your very status as a lame duck makes you more valuable, because you are more likely to make decisions without reelection considerations. In a Republican primary, that will be held against her, from Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota in particular. He's a likely presidential candidate in 2012 and also a lame duck governor. But he remains in office.
"We eat, therefore we hunt" was an amusing line --- something you can envision on a bumper sticker. But if it is a higher office she is seeking, campaigns aren't won or lost based on the support or opposition to Hollywood, as much attention as the industry gets when it makes a foray into the political arena.
Before I could even point out how coherent and sane the "incoherent" passage was, others beat me to it. Take a look:
Comments
I'm afraid that this writer's own intelligence is to be questioned here. That sentence that seemed so elusive to him or here made perfect sense to me. But then again, like Governor Palin, my IQ is higher than the average turnip in California.
Actually it was a rather good restating of Fredrick Jackson Turner's Westward Expansionist theory of history.
I'm afraid that this writer's own intelligence is to be questioned here. That sentence that seemed so elusive to him or here made perfect sense to me. But then again, like Governor Palin, my IQ is higher than the average turnip in California.
Actually it was a rather good restating of Fredrick Jackson Turner's Westward Expansionist theory of history.
But since the writer's intellect and education seems to be rather limited, like much of Hollywood, let me explain it in simple terms for you. I promise to try and keep the words small:
"We would roll up our sleeves and we would diligently sow and reap."
In past, people worked hard on family farms, and in other industries. They made plans, worked toward them and profited from that hard work.
"We would roll up our sleeves and we would diligently sow and reap."
In past, people worked hard on family farms, and in other industries. They made plans, worked toward them and profited from that hard work.
"And we can still do this, to carve wealth out of the wilderness, and make our living out of the water, with strong hands and innovative minds, now with smarter technology."
People (that is people in fly-over country who feed the rest of you wastes of oxygen) can and still do this. They find new areas of need, and find a way to fill those needs. They work at sea, and on the land. They work hard, and they work smart, and they use the new technology (I'm hoping this word isn't too big for you) to make the work more profitable.
People (that is people in fly-over country who feed the rest of you wastes of oxygen) can and still do this. They find new areas of need, and find a way to fill those needs. They work at sea, and on the land. They work hard, and they work smart, and they use the new technology (I'm hoping this word isn't too big for you) to make the work more profitable.
"It is what our first people and our parents did. It worked, because they worked."
This is what the first pioneers did, and what our past generations did. They were successful because of their hard work and their dedication.
This is what the first pioneers did, and what our past generations did. They were successful because of their hard work and their dedication.
What she is saying is that same spirit is still alive today in the farms and fields, factories, and small business across America. Those people are still working and they are the people that matter, because they are the people who pay the bills for the country- not the brain dead little starlets who spout off at the mouth about subjects they are unqualified to give an opinion on.
I suggest next time you avoid political thought. It is obviously too difficult for you. Next time just drink your kool ade and think of 0bama. You seem incapable of grasping much else.
Posted by: Asatruteacher July 26, 2009 at 09:56 PM
I suggest next time you avoid political thought. It is obviously too difficult for you. Next time just drink your kool ade and think of 0bama. You seem incapable of grasping much else.
Posted by: Asatruteacher July 26, 2009 at 09:56 PM
....
And this is why many Americans are pissed off. You guys don't get it! When your homes, jobs and family security are in danger WE DON'T NEED FANCY POLISHED SPEECHES-JUST THE FACTS. This whole article was about style not substance. And what was so hard to understand?! WORK! That was the point of her speech. Our country wasn't built on savvy politicians and shiny suits. It was built on the backs of hard workers. This is why I'm ashamed to be a New Yorker. You guys from the two left coasts are elitist snobs and you're the ones out of touch! Keep tring to figure Palin out, all the while your golden President with the perfect teleprompter speeches will keep on tumbling down the polls because of his FAILED POLICIES THAT YOU VOYED FOR. When your energy bills, grocery receipts, taxes, insurance skyrocket, you only have yourself to blame because Palin warned you. OBAMA IS A FAILURE-THAT'S A FACT.
Posted by: LisaBK July 26, 2009 at 10:27 PM
Posted by: LisaBK July 26, 2009 at 10:27 PM
....
Asatruteacher - thank you. The paragraph in question was perfectly clear to me as well, but the notion of "working" may be an alien concept to those whose primary occupation is playing make-believe on TV.
Posted by: J R July 26, 2009 at 10:53 PM
Posted by: J R July 26, 2009 at 10:53 PM
....
what she is saying is pretty darn clear to me. but when the only "rolling up your sleeves" your used to is when you are purchasing your lattes from starbucks, I can see how you missed the point.
Posted by: sharise parviz July 27, 2009 at 04:18 AM
Posted by: sharise parviz July 27, 2009 at 04:18 AM
....
If this isn't EXACTLY the same type of snobbish, snarky, pseudo-intelligent hackery that Sarah and most conservatives have been fighting against for years then I don't know what is. It still floors me just how much the majority of people in entertainment and the press just don't get it.
Amazing.
Posted by: Tim Hathaway of NC July 27, 2009 at 06:12 AM
Amazing.
Posted by: Tim Hathaway of NC July 27, 2009 at 06:12 AM
Theodore Levitt once wrote a business masterpiece, "Marketing Myopia." It describes how the railroad industry thought it was in the railroad business instead of the broader transportation business.
I suspect that B-school students may now be writing something similar to that about the entertainment/news industry's myopia about most of the rest of America.
Based on polling that shows the entertainment/news industry's credibility declining I would have to say that it is headed for a brick wall obscured by its own brand of marketing myopia.
You people just don't get it. So many twigs in your industry, and I don't just refer to the so-called "talent," seem to think that success in pretending (which is really what acting is all about) and the adulation heaped by limited minds automatically translates into a carte blanche to waltz into the limelight and opine on complex issues.
Enough already. Go back to pretending and leave complex issues to those who have actually spent adequate time to understand and manage them.
Posted by: Maggio July 27, 2009 at 06:24 AM
....
I suspect that B-school students may now be writing something similar to that about the entertainment/news industry's myopia about most of the rest of America.
Based on polling that shows the entertainment/news industry's credibility declining I would have to say that it is headed for a brick wall obscured by its own brand of marketing myopia.
You people just don't get it. So many twigs in your industry, and I don't just refer to the so-called "talent," seem to think that success in pretending (which is really what acting is all about) and the adulation heaped by limited minds automatically translates into a carte blanche to waltz into the limelight and opine on complex issues.
Enough already. Go back to pretending and leave complex issues to those who have actually spent adequate time to understand and manage them.
Posted by: Maggio July 27, 2009 at 06:24 AM
....
The article was worthless but the comments are pure gold.
Posted by: Frazetta_girl July 27, 2009 at 07:36 AM
They don't get it. And they never will.
I am so happy I got out of there while I could still think straight.
