HBO Obama Doc: The Bland Leading the Blind

by James Hudnall

Last night HBO debuted the documentary “By the People: The Election of Barack Obama,” which chronicles the historic election of our 44th president. The film was shot by Alicia Sams and Amy Rice with a key assist from actor Edward Norton. The directors wanted to follow Obama around on his campaign after seeing his speech in the 2004 Democrat Convention. They couldn’t get any calls back until Ed Norton stepped in to help. Norton doesn’t appear in the film. But there are plenty of other starry-eyed voters lined up to praise “the one.”

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The film’s first 45 minutes deals with the Iowa Caucus where Obama’s campaign begins. He spends eight months meeting people and working his bland charm, trying to convince everyone he’s just like them. An agreeable, prosaic kind of guy who looks good in a suit and grins a lot. There is no indication of his politics or past associations being radical. He seems a moderate. There are a few people interviewed who question his past, but it’s given little attention.

Obama coasts through his campaign like some kind of prom king who’s used to people throwing rose petals at his feet. Michelle is shown as being the supportive wife and the kids are along for the ride. It’s an image of the family that goes along with the narrative they created for themselves. The film makers said in interviews that they were impressed by how zen-like the Obama team seemed to be. My impression was they never seemed that emotionally engaged. Obama often smiled, but he was generally very detached, almost like he was coasting to victory on a wave of hubris. Robert Gibbs and David Axelrod were shown as two tired-looking, almost bored middle aged guys wrangling Obama’s scruffy young ideologues as they tried to get more voters on their side.

Obama’s “genius” as a politician is to be a blank slate for people who didn’t know him. They projected their own aspirations and expectations on his candidacy. He appeared at a time when people were afraid the economy was tanking and they didn’t see answers in the usual faces running for president. They were able to see Obama as someone calm and in control. An image he was able to maintain throughout the race.

Isn’t it funny how looks are often deceiving?

The film’s villain wasn’t so much John McCain but Hillary Clinton, who gave Obama his biggest fight. Yes, the revealing thing about this doc was how Obama seemed to be largely unaffected by the ups and downs of the race. Part of that comes from the fact that Obama was “selected and not elected.” He won caucuses, Hillary won elections. Obama was able to get enough delegates by caucuses to appear the leader in the race. Then momentum carried him home.

Obama’s career has been full of opportunities and awards handed to him on a platter. And when that doesn’t work, he uses underhanded tricks.

The film is a lot like Obama himself: bland, humorless and full of meaningless platitudes. But it looks nice.

And that’s the problem with ObamaMania. The Dems threw Hillary Clinton under the bus because many of them didn’t like her baggage, yet these same people, who screamed bloody murder about President Bush’s missing National Guard records, didn’t even blink at the fact that Obama has locked away so many things in his past and denied his associations with America-hating radicals. Yet his cabinet is full of those very same kind of people. Which brings us to the two most hilarious statements Obama made in the campaign, which were repeated in the film:

“People are tired of fear, distractions and diversions.” and “They (the people) don’t deserve four more years of failed economic policies.”

No wonder his poll numbers are dropping. He’s right!

The irony of this show was that it debuted on the night Obama was given a glimpse of his political future. Major losses were handed to the Dems. And over on ABC, a remake of the ’80s sci fi show “V” was aired, only this time it was a comment on ObamaMania. Attractive aliens come to earth and promise “universal health care” and hope and change in return for our trust and devotion. Little do the foolish earth people know, the aliens are here to destroy us.

Don’t you hate it when that happens?


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Posted Nov 4th 2009 at 8:11 am in Film, Politics, Reviews | 54 Comments