Our "Soul Man": did the 1986 C Thomas Howell comedy pave the way for Obama?

by Armond White (you knew it).

He’s the first African American to be elected president of the United States. Awesome. But it’s not far-fetched for a movie lover to think that Obama’s rise was prepared—if not predicted—by Soul Man.
...It’s easily the best movie ever set at Harvard, Legally Blonde being the silliest. Love Story, the hugely popular 1970 film version of Erich Segal’s romantic potboiler novel, might be the sappiest. Soul Man doesn’t kowtow to Harvard mythology but uses it to measure late-20th-century social values.

Having never seen SM, I will withhold analysis.
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http://nypress.com/21/46/news&columns/feature.cfm

no that isn't far-fetched at all

this is just horrible

nice new handle, elmo.

boy you guys read that piece fast

i read it yesterday -_-

speaking of c thomas howell

Direct-to-video "Mockbusters" released by "The Asylum"

I already raised this point in the political thread. WHY IS ARMOND STEALING MY BAD IDEAS?

no, i have not read that article

but i have seen the movie several times (thx comedy central)

co, clearly it resonated in your Hope gene!

okay i just read the lede and i think may be overstating the influence of "soul man" just a little

someone really needs to compile the funniest/saddest attempts to explain/give meaning to/take a piece of the obama win.

alternate title: The Audacity Of Howell

hahahahahahahaha

I saw this when I was in grade school and thought it was awesome, and have not seen it since.

What about this movie?

http://z.about.com/d/movies/1/0/t/H/2/headofstatepubn.jpg

NYMAG: What do you think of Obama?

LEE:I’m riding my man Obama. I think he’s a visionary. Actually, Barack told me the first date he took Michelle to was Do the Right Thing. I said, “Thank God I made it. Otherwise you would have taken her to Soul Man. Michelle would have been like, ‘What’s wrong with this brother?’ ”

That is still my favorite Obama fact.

"Michelle said she wasn't going to date me again after I took her to Soul Man, until I explained that I planned to defy rather than admit the movie's truths."

Barack Obama, University of Chicago law professor and author of Sniffing The White Out. October 12, 2008.

I read it.

The Obama stuff is a lame attempt at finding a hook and angle for talking about and old movie.

The bits about the film seem to take great pleasure in talking about the text of the film as if it's some radical subtext that White has unearthed, which is odd -- the only way he can pretend this stuff is incisive is to act as if he's defend the film against a history of unfair detractors.

Morbs, if you watched this movie, I get the feeling you might even find a lot of the stuff White is pointing at to be overly preachy or feel-good. The film basically starts with an, ahem, off-color premise and then is forced to follow through on it in a way that's culturally correct and reassuring: I haven't seen I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, but I'd imagine it takes the same arc, where a charged masquerade (pretending to be black / pretending to be gay) winds up with the characters learning Important Lessons about the real struggles of and challenges faced by the group they so blithely pretended to be a part of.

^^ I am blithely masquerading as part of a group that cannot type correctly or form sentences, and will probably learn something about that shortly

that's about right, but C. Thomas Howell has a better name than Adam Sandler.

He lost me right off the bat with the Legally Blonde dis.

Although wait, I give great credit to that article for informing me that Melora Hardin played the girl who was always trying to get on him.

what the fuck this thread grandpa munster

I think legally blond is a more interesting start point for talking about the election actually

+ selma blair would blap

I think the contrast between Elle Woods ("substance" as defined by the movie masked by inconsequential blather) vs Sarah Palin (inconsequential blather masked by inconsequential blather) is mildly interesting, although really Palin is more analogous to a stupid version of Tracy Flick.

would hella blap selma blair

well srsly, who wouldn't

gabbneb

hahaha

So in this world where mass-market comedies explain politics, we have

Obama = Soul Man
Palin = Legally Blonde
McCain = Back to School
Biden = Liar, Liar

hello gabbneb would you like to blap?

Obama = Soul Man

this is so wrong on so many levels

Don't complain to me, complain to Armond "how can I turn in a piece about Soul Man and pretend it has to do with anything" White!

sorry, aw

So in this world where mass-market comedies explain politics, we have

i don't want to be a part of this world ;__;

Obama = Star Wars originals
Palin = Star Wars prequels
McCain = Star Wars Xmas Special
Biden = Jar Jar Binks

at least he didn't choose "Carbon Copy"

Don't complain to me, complain to Armond "how can I turn in a piece about Soul Man and pretend it has to do with anything" White!

I know, I'm just complaining!

btw "How High" is a much better Harvard movie than "Soul Man"

i thought "With Honors" starring Joe Pesci as a loveable homeless guy was always considered the best Hahvad movie

Man / Redman '08

Our politics is a mass-market comedy

i thought Harvard Man was the best Harvard movie

http://www.slate.com/id/2131457/

Armond should spend more time talking about racial issues this way

(I fundamentally disagree with his characterization of many contemporary black performers, particularly Chris Rock, but I don't think he's making an embarrassing argument.)

I actually hoped someone had Youtubed the nuclear war conversation in Crimson Tide, because in many ways Obama = Denzel and McCain = Hackman in that scene.

how has anybody forgotten already that Tracy Flick = HRC