Re: The Movie Trope That Explains American Politics (fwd)

[robert <http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert>]

I'm not sure that it was these movies that drove the ideology, but,
rather, the ideology drove the content of these movies.

It's natural that people would want to break out of the endless cycle of
Republican pro-wealthy politics and Democrat mostly pro-wealthy politics
by trying something different.  The problems are that (1) there aren't
really any choices (and the big boys like it that way) and (2) people are
not activated to come up with alternative models (such as grassroots
projects, like cooperatives).

And, perhaps "the outsider" concept isn't all bad: we wouldn't have
Mamdani, Sanders, or AOC without it.  And, although troublesome, Platner
could show us something else.

We'll see.

 > From: Noelle <noelle>
 > Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2026 08:23:06 -0700 (PDT)
 >
 >  > Date: Thu, 11 Jun 2026 12:53:48 +0000
 >  > From: Levercasts <http://www.levernews.com/~editor>
 >  > 
 >  > Season two of Master Plan is here. Start listening [
 >  > https://www.levernews.com/r/53c59202?m=c7c41f62-6bc5-4c98-ae9b-16d6eceafe07
 >  > .
 >  > 
 >  > https://www.levernews.com/r/c87239a3?m=c7c41f62-6bc5-4c98-ae9b-16d6eceafe07
 >  > 
 >  > Perhaps the key to understanding modern American politics isn’t an 
 >  > academic think tank report but rather rambunctious cult classic films, like 
 >  > Caddyshack and Animal House, that pit low-status underdogs against 
 >  > high-status bluebloods, preps, and jocks. In an essay for Politico, author 
 >  > Dan Brooks argues that movies like these hardwired Americans to root for the 
 >  > rude, rule-breaking outsiders over the buttoned-up establishment, and it’s 
 >  > shaping how people vote.
 >  > 
 >  > Today on Lever Time, David Sirota sits down with Brooks to discuss how the � >  > �slobs versus snobs” movie trope can be a metaphor for American political 
 >  > parties, why candidates like Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner may be 
 >  > finding traction with voters, and whether Democrats can ever rewrite their 
 >  > role in this story.