The Dangerfield of Trump

Goodness, how late I am this morning. Didn’t wake up until the sun was actually in the sky, which is what time now? Six o’clock? Anyway, needed to sleep in after such a busy weekend.

As I have many times opined in these illustrative interwebs, I did not grow up in this country and so missed a vast sea of interesting cultural information that has shaped and formed the American Landscape, or is it Dream… Most of what I missed have been movies. But also American literature, and certainly music. So the free, unfettered, leisure moments of my marriage have been taken up by Matt trying to remember all the movies of his youth and show them to me. So far I’ve seen great classics like Big Trouble in Little China, Flash Gordon, Ghost Busters, Indiana Jones, Star Wars, something inappropriate called Fast Times at Ridgemont High, and then, last night, Back to School.

So the main character, Rodney Dangerfield (pretty sure he had a different name in the movie) doesn’t get to go to college but becomes very rich by selling clothes to taller and more full figured people (it’s a microagression to say the word ‘fat’, right? Don’t want to tread into offensive waters) and then, when his son threatens to drop out of college, signs up himself to show how important it is.

As soon as the movie ended I felt I understood more of everything. I yawned and said to Matt, “so this is why we have Trump, then? Maybe some of this political cycle could begin to make sense to me.” He was already asleep so he was unable to affirm my incredible insight.

As far as I can tell, the presence of an optimistic, can do, very funny, older man with bravado, carefully swept hair, occasional insight, and lots and lots of “Come On, It’s going to be awesome” is strangely appealing to the restrictive, politically correct, we-must-carefully-follow-all-the-rules-America that remembers a more raucous and prosperous past. That far distant time when the women were appealingly plump and fresh faced with hair that was wild and free–and very very big. The long lost era when the police would bring beer to your party if you paid them enough. Now we can’t drink beer unless we feel a little bit guilty while we’re doing it.

I felt the nostalgia, for a few bright minutes, even though it’s not my own. I can see why ordinary people are tired of the pinched, you’re-doing-it-wrong attitude of the establishment economics professor type who has the fancy degree but doesn’t know what it’s like out there in the “real world”. All the elements are there–elitism vs ‘the people who make America run”, (maybe I’m thinking of a commercial here) we need to win something so that we can get our self respect back, and finally, quoting popular poetry to sweeping, uplifting music. Well, maybe that last one hasn’t been seen on the campaign trail yet. But hopefully it will be.

There, that’s my cultural insist of the day. Now I’m going to Aldi because the chocolate there is both cheep And delicious. Have a lovely day.