Pippin: The Original Obama?
by Larry O'ConnorI saw a really solid production of the Stephen Schwartz’ musical “Pippin” at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. There was a sequence that made me think of our current political climate. The character of Pippin realizes that his father, the King, is a tyrant and must be overthrown. He delivers an eloquent speech to the people (book by Roger O. Hirson):
I think it’s time for a change. We’ve got to dedicate ourselves to a better world for all people. Peace and justice must be restored to this great land. The tyrant must be overthrown. Terror and bloodshed must be ended. We need a leader with the wisdom and the courage to seep out the old order and create a better world. Down with Charles! Up with ME!
Pippin assassinates his father and assumes the throne. Immediately, he begins to implement the changes he promised:
BEGGAR:
Thank you, sire. I am a very poor man. I can’t find work. You have much and I have nothing. Is that fair?PIPPIN:
No. That’s completely unfair. Treasurer? I order you to distribute money to the poor:(THEY ALL applaud as the BEGGAR thanks him)
LEADING PLAYER:
King Pippin, the Charitable:PEASANT:
Sire, I’m a peasant. A simple working man. I own not one millimeter of land on which I’ve worked so hard all my life. Is that fair?PIPPIN:
No. That’s terrible. But I will do something about it. I hereby decree that from now on all peasants will own the land that they cultivate.(THEY ALL applaud)
LEADING PLAYER:
King Pippin, the Just:NOBLE:
Sire, now that you’ve given the land to the peasants, we loyal nobles have no source of income. Therefore, we can no longer pay taxes.PIPPIN:
Well then I hereby abolish taxes.(THEY ALL applaud)
SOLDIER:
You realize sire without taxes you’ll have no money to support an army.PIPPIN:
That’s all right. I don’t need an army. That’s it. No more taxes, no more army.(THEY ALL applaud)
LEADING PLAYER:
King Pippin, the Peaceful:FIELD MARSHALL:
Sire, it is my duty to inform you that the Infidel hun has attacked in the East. He has destroyed three villages, raped hundreds of women. Tortured and murdered thousands of your royal subjects.PIPPIN:
Can he do that?FIELD MARSHALL:
He has. But he will withdraw:on one condition.PIPPIN:
Well, that’s very reasonable. I’m certainly willing to make any small concession. What’s the condition?FIELD MARSHALL:
He demands your head on a pike staff.PIPPIN:
Oh. Well, in that case, I guess you’ll just have to go out and destroy the Infidel.FIELD MARSHALL:
But sire, I have no more men to wage a campaign:I have no money to buy supplies:I have no army.PIPPIN:
Excuse me a moment. Nobles? You remember that decree I made a little while ago about land and taxes?NOBLE:
Yes, sire.PIPPIN:
That’s off.NOBLE:
You mean you want me to pay taxes again and raise an army?PIPPIN:
Yes. That’s right.NOBLE:
But sire, without land I have neither money nor power over the peasants.PIPPIN:
Oh, yes, that’s a very good point. I hereby suspend land reform.PEASANT:
Suspend land reform? Why the hell should I work when the poor get handouts from the royal treasury?PIPPIN:
You’re absolutely right. I hereby revoke charity to the poor.BEGGAR:
Up thine, sire.PIPPIN:
Take that man away and hang him! No. Stop! Wait! Could you just let me think a minute, please.
Now THAT’S a great example of change you can believe in.
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20 Comments
I saw a movie recently in which the bad guy was a real power-junkie who wanted to use coercion against other people in order to get his way.
He reminded me of a liberal.
Liberals suck.
Lather, rinse, repeat
Hey, this is fun! Let's all play!
That’s a great example! BTW: I love that musical! But you’re right…Pippin is the original Obama. Makes you wonder if Obama can sing a strain from “Corner of the Sky”?
GLENN
If you find it so boring you can leave any time you want. Seriously, you can just go away…forever.
A+ in Aptness
Who would be more uncomfortable at an Obama press conference, Obama or Chris Matthews?
If only Pipin’s father hadn’t angered the Hun by calling him “evil” or not surrendering to him earlier, or by just existing. It’s not the Hun’s fault he raped and killed those people. The Huns’ poverty forced him to do those thing and/or they’re part of the Hun’s culture, which must be respected.
And Pipin didn’t need to suspend his reforms. He should have just traveled east personally and sang the Hun a great song without preconditions. That would have set everything right!
Roger Hirson was certainly prophetic when he wrote that. I hadn’t thought about Pippin in Obamaic terms, but it certainly fits. When does Obama get to the “Glory” phase? Or has that already passed us by?
I’ve heard of this show. Alas, my only thoughts on it were to imagine Merryadoc Brandybuck scolding his friend after he was hit with an apple. “…Pippin!”
But the songs, man, the songs! Are they any good? Neither political leaning nor inherent coolness nor anything else matters unless the songs are good. I’m still kicking myself for buying the Spamalot soundtrack for that very reason. Who would have guessed they could only squeeze a single decent original tune out of Monty Python’s Quest for the Holy Grail…
We did "Pippin" in college. I'd almost forgotten. I THOUGHT this regime seemed familiar, but I was thinking in terms of Hitler's rise or Ayn Rand's "We The Living". Thanks for the reminder. Off to find YouTubers of the show…
Thanks for the tip..just found a $20 ticket for Pippin this Tuesday.
[...] Pippin and Obama. [...]
"I THOUGHT this regime seemed familiar, but I was thinking in terms of Hitler's rise"
Seriously, can't people think of ANY other creepy political cults of personality?
"Seriously, can't people think of ANY other creepy political cults of personality?"
I did..in the second half of the statement, which you simply to cut off in order to validate your point.
And his point, which you missed entirely because you got fixated on the word "Hitler" and then stopped processing, is that Obama is more like Pippin than Hitler.
Okay, glad that's all cleared up.
What's ridiculous is comparing the two analogies.Bush was NOT Hitler, nor is Obama. The CULT of Obama worshippers IS analogous to the cult around Nazism, which was my initial reaction to the current regime…coupled with the memory of having had Rand's "We The Living" assigned reading in school. By the time "Pippin" was on my radar, I was a college-indoctrinated Liberal, and didn't notice the message.
My point is that people ALWAYS compare the cult of Obama to the rise of Hitler, even though it's a ridiculous and inherently unfair comparison. You'd think that eight years of 'Bush=Hitler!' would have taught us all a lesson…
When the woman who promised to love, honor, and mark up my script took me to a local production of Pippin, I felt like I was being subjected to road-kill crime projected in slow motion on a screen constructed of sheets of old tofu. Not because of shoddy production quality or bad acting; but because the story itself was so painful to watch. You just can’t help but loath these shallow and petty characters.
"Obama worshippers IS analogous to the cult around Nazism, which was my initial reaction to the current regime"
Again, that's my point: history is filled with cults of personality, yet *that's* the first that comes to mind?
I haven't lived through ALL of history. The history of the Nazis was important to me because my family endured that regime. Ayn Rand's 'We The Living" was important to me because I read it in my formative years. We react to things based upon what we know or what has imacted us. Someday my kids will be chided for referencing every creepy cult as being 'just like the Obama fanatics'.
[...] play’s the [...]
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