Sections of One Nation Under Trump are narrated.
At the beginning, the narrator tells us, “His campaign slogan was clear and
concise, striking a chord with many throughout a deeply divided land: Make
America Great Again.” What the narrator fails to mention is that this
slogan was lifted from the campaign of another nut, Ronald Reagan. Though the
DVD case promises this movie to be “the first comprehensive feature
documentary” on Trump, we are given a very small amount of biographical
information, and all of it harmless, such as the fact that Trump co-produced a
play that flopped (Paris Is Out!). The narrator does mention the beauty
pageants: “For nearly twenty years Trump was the owner or partial owner of
the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA beauty pageants.” But he says
nothing about the controversy surrounding Trump’s questionable behavior
regarding the contestants and his showing up in their changing rooms.
Comprehensive? The movie is only an hour, including credits. Most of it is
focuses on Trump’s presidential campaign.
Though sections of this movie are narrated, a large part
of the film is just footage of Trump’s political speeches, offered without
commentary. In one of his speeches, Trump says: “We tell it like it is. We
tell the truth.” The narrator does not offer any of the overwhelming
evidence to the contrary. The narrator does tell us, “From the outset, Trump
stayed true to his rebellious reputation, making himself available to
mainstream and fringe media outlets alike.” Sure, until they published anything
he didn’t appreciate, at which point he banned them from his events. The film
includes footage of him ripping on the press. “They are the most dishonest
people,” he says. “They are the worst,” he says. “The press is so
totally dishonest,” he says.
The problem, of course, is by including his speeches at
any length, the film cannot help but show what a complete asshole Donald Trump
is, even to a woman working for FOX News. And for a film that promises to be a
“comprehensive feature documentary,” there is absolutely nothing about
his much-documented criminal behavior. There is nothing about his alleged rape
of a thirteen-year-old girl, nothing about his fake universities and the
resulting lawsuits, nothing about his possible mob ties, nothing even about how
he somewhat casually urged the assassination of Hillary Clinton.
But there is footage of him boasting about his position
in the polls and so on. “I get by far the biggest crowds,” he says. He
also boasts to his supporters that if he’s elected, “You people are going to
be so rich so quickly.” And there is footage of him urging security to
remove a protestor, indicating that protestors are the problem with this
country. Yes, why can’t everyone just get in line and support everything Trump
says, lies and all? Check out those kids with “Trump Wall” T-shirts, using the
cover of the Pink Floyd record for inspiration. They chant “Trump, Trump,
Trump.” It’s frightening. But again, this movie was written by a horror
movie writer.
The film’s title is unintentionally very telling
regarding Trump’s outlook. One Nation Under Trump indicates that Trump
considers himself to be God, or at least on equal footing with God. If you
watch several of his speeches, he does seem to suffer from that kind of
delusion. At one point he goes on and on about how he’s won the votes of men
and woman, rich and poor, white and black, educated and uneducated. It’s
bizarre.
One Nation Under Trump was directed by Jim
Gufferson, and is scheduled to be released on DVD on October 25, 2016 through
MVD Visual (who should be embarrassed to have any part in it). The DVD contains
no special features. By the way, an instrumental rendition of the National
Anthem plays on the DVD menu screen. Oh boy.
No comments:
Post a Comment