Brilliant as always (meaning, the sub-series of poetry).
He's SO stupid. He comes at the subject in an almost Warholian way, without — of course — the grace, precision and clarity of vision...but Warhol was not bright, and Trump makes Warhol look like Don DeLillo.
And really, we've gotten used to it all, but what the hell is he doing with these rally speeches? How is this a "campaign speech"? I guess if you've grown accustomed to extemporizing in front of a crowd of detestable cultish idiots who will cheer whatever you say and must be "rallied," and yet neither you nor they have any idea what's going on in the world or the nation, it would make sense — out of sheer boredom, contempt and anxiety — to drop names and show off.
In the past I've compared Trump to the slightly cooler loser amongst the high school losers, who maybe helps one of the popular pretty girls with her math homework, and, in the lunchroom, regales the other losers with tales of what he saw at her house or the party he was briefly at or anything to get status over them by bragging about how he "totally hangs out" with the cool cliques who actually detest him. Anyway there's an element of self-loathing, a Charles Laughton kind of decadent misery, in the way Trump spends so many hours regaling these ignorant unwashed fools (whom he hates) with his nonsense, knowing it makes no difference what he says.
I can't think of anything else to add. It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it?
I guess it's too obvious to point out, but it's typical of Trump that he could watch something like that (which he did; you've convinced me) and get nothing from the scene except the broad, basic physical concept of fighting uphill — because, as we know, abstractions like "honor" and "treason" and "sacrifice" (not to mention "secession" and "liberty" and "constitutional amendment" and "reconstruction" and "civil rights") mean nothing to him.
I'm reminded of that old video (from before he entered politics) wherein he was asked to discuss "Citizen Kane" — the only message he could discern from the movie (despite the ton of obvious parallels and resonances) was "He should have gotten a new wife" — meaning, of course, that he missed the part where Kane DID get a new wife; he seemed to be blending the early "breakfast montage" arguments with Emily Monroe Norton Kane and the later screaming matches with Susan Alexander Kane into a single "bad wife" "message." (Trump, of course, "got a new wife" TWICE, so in his mind he's got it up on Kane.)
"Robert E. Lee, who's no longer in favor—did you ever notice it? He's no longer in favor."
Not that it need be said, but this comment again reveals that he has no understanding whatsoever of the Civil War beyond a vague sense that it's got colorful pageantry that his supporters like (a flag; statues etc.) and that the "enemy" disapproves, so he's got to say it slyly...but it's like admitting you like an uncool band or something; it carries no moral weight.
He may not understand that Lincoln — the only president he allows might be "greater" than Trump — was on the other side, or even that it was about slavery.
I do find myself doubly struck by his idea that soldiers learned the no-uphill rule only as recently as Gettysburg, given that as a lad, he was packed off to military school. I don't know how much military history is taught in military school, but I'll bet they spend at least a day on it, which is enough to learn that being on top of a hill has been a known advantage since the days of bronze axes. His brain really is broken in almost every way a human brain can be.
Great analysis, and you're absolutely right about Trump's inability to process the phrase "laid to rest." I can't bear the thought of four more years of this.
I found another take on the speech that you might like....
Brilliant as always (meaning, the sub-series of poetry).
He's SO stupid. He comes at the subject in an almost Warholian way, without — of course — the grace, precision and clarity of vision...but Warhol was not bright, and Trump makes Warhol look like Don DeLillo.
And really, we've gotten used to it all, but what the hell is he doing with these rally speeches? How is this a "campaign speech"? I guess if you've grown accustomed to extemporizing in front of a crowd of detestable cultish idiots who will cheer whatever you say and must be "rallied," and yet neither you nor they have any idea what's going on in the world or the nation, it would make sense — out of sheer boredom, contempt and anxiety — to drop names and show off.
In the past I've compared Trump to the slightly cooler loser amongst the high school losers, who maybe helps one of the popular pretty girls with her math homework, and, in the lunchroom, regales the other losers with tales of what he saw at her house or the party he was briefly at or anything to get status over them by bragging about how he "totally hangs out" with the cool cliques who actually detest him. Anyway there's an element of self-loathing, a Charles Laughton kind of decadent misery, in the way Trump spends so many hours regaling these ignorant unwashed fools (whom he hates) with his nonsense, knowing it makes no difference what he says.
I can't think of anything else to add. It just gets worse and worse, doesn't it?
I guess it's too obvious to point out, but it's typical of Trump that he could watch something like that (which he did; you've convinced me) and get nothing from the scene except the broad, basic physical concept of fighting uphill — because, as we know, abstractions like "honor" and "treason" and "sacrifice" (not to mention "secession" and "liberty" and "constitutional amendment" and "reconstruction" and "civil rights") mean nothing to him.
I'm reminded of that old video (from before he entered politics) wherein he was asked to discuss "Citizen Kane" — the only message he could discern from the movie (despite the ton of obvious parallels and resonances) was "He should have gotten a new wife" — meaning, of course, that he missed the part where Kane DID get a new wife; he seemed to be blending the early "breakfast montage" arguments with Emily Monroe Norton Kane and the later screaming matches with Susan Alexander Kane into a single "bad wife" "message." (Trump, of course, "got a new wife" TWICE, so in his mind he's got it up on Kane.)
"Robert E. Lee, who's no longer in favor—did you ever notice it? He's no longer in favor."
Not that it need be said, but this comment again reveals that he has no understanding whatsoever of the Civil War beyond a vague sense that it's got colorful pageantry that his supporters like (a flag; statues etc.) and that the "enemy" disapproves, so he's got to say it slyly...but it's like admitting you like an uncool band or something; it carries no moral weight.
He may not understand that Lincoln — the only president he allows might be "greater" than Trump — was on the other side, or even that it was about slavery.
I do find myself doubly struck by his idea that soldiers learned the no-uphill rule only as recently as Gettysburg, given that as a lad, he was packed off to military school. I don't know how much military history is taught in military school, but I'll bet they spend at least a day on it, which is enough to learn that being on top of a hill has been a known advantage since the days of bronze axes. His brain really is broken in almost every way a human brain can be.
Great analysis, and you're absolutely right about Trump's inability to process the phrase "laid to rest." I can't bear the thought of four more years of this.
I found another take on the speech that you might like....
https://www.reddit.com/r/WhitePeopleTwitter/comments/1c6ccrc/what_am_i_going_to_do_with_this_student/#lightbox
I think Lee fell out of favor as Frederick Douglass became more and more well known.
To be clear: you're saying Trump saw this specific movie, or at least this scene?