What would President Ford do?

[PeruvianSkies]

This past weekend I dusted off my LaserDisc copy of AIR FORCE ONE and watched it for the first time since about 1998, probably around that time since it came out in 1997 and I got around to seeing it the year after. I know it seems primitive that I own the LaserDisc, but it's actually one of the last films issued on the format and still has better sound than the Dolby Digital on the DVD and could go a few rounds with the DTS on the Superbit disc, but does not have quite as good of picture as that issue.

Anyway, after watching this film about terrorist on a place and Air Force One at that....it really had new meaning for me in a Post-9/11 America. Especially since much of the film centers around Harrison Ford's Presidental character who "does not negotiate with terrorists". Too bad GW Bush is not near the President that Harrison Ford is...

Anyway, I always find it fascinating when movies take on new meaning and have new ironic moments with the passing of time and how some films seem to almost predict the future, while others miss the mark completely. So I say...

What would President Ford do? (anyone get the SCARY MOVIE 3 reference?).

Cany anyone think of other examples of movies, songs, etc where new meaning evolved with the passing of time??? Do share.

[thekid]

Since you mentioned Harrison Ford there are certain aspects of "Blade Runner" that are much more interesting since cloning and stem cell research came onto the public discourse scene

-And while it is does not fit your question I did see "Children of Men" over the weekend and while set in the not so distant future you can see how what is going on today politically/environmentally could make the movie all too true

[Dusty Chalk]

You lost me.

[thekid]

You lost me.

I did not get the Scary Movie 3 reference and just took the movies that predict the future part of the thread as a serious question-maybe I am the one who is lost......

[PeruvianSkies]

Ok, the SCARY MOVIE 3 reference has to do with a part where the President (played by Leslie Nielsen) walks down the hall of the White House and goes past the famous pictures of presidents until he finally says "I wonder what President Ford would do" and on the wall of presidents is a picture of Harrison Ford, obviously due to him playing the part in AIR FORCE ONE and it would seem that he is a very favorable actor in that role. When he says the line about Ford, we assume for a second he means Gerald Ford.

[trollgirl]

Presidents [these days] are errand boys.

Gerald, were he still president, would carry out his orders, just as Dubya does.

Laz

[nightflier]

Cany anyone think of other examples of movies, songs, etc where new meaning evolved with the passing of time??? Do share.

How about movies that point out the recurring themes of human history? Pretty much every major event of the GW years has had historical precedents but how many people actually realize that we will be handed our manhood in a bloody bag when we finally crawl tail-between-the-legs out of afghanistan like every other world power that has been there, to name just one example? Maybe if more movies pointed this out in more obvious ways, this would become more widely known. What Fahrenhiet 911 tried to do with a documentary format, really does not score many points on the entertainment front - hence the reason that it and many others like Bush's Brain and Supersize Me have pretty much been dismissed by most. Even such excellent standout "fictional" movies like Thank You For Smoking and Syriana, did a decent job of portraying what we all know to be the same old story, but scored an F on the entertainment scale. They may have a sense of timelessness that in my opinion will have far greater impact on us all in the long run, but who really would go so far as to say they enjoyed them more than Pirates of the Carribbean III, or whatever sequel version they are on now...

I have another suggestion: what's been lacking in all these important movies is the right amount of lurid, disgusting sex. Forget the finger-nail pulling in Guantanamo, what we need is another Porfumo type of scandal with a background story reminiscent of Eyes Wide Shut. Perhaps what we need is for Cheney to have an affair with an intern who somehow neglects to wash her clothes regularly... Or maybe a hearing on how well Condoleeza cleans her dishes after a hot date... These are the kinds of entertainment that seem to rivet a nation, alter elections, and make politicians neglect to assassinate the Ben Ladens in their sights. And if the vaulted 4th branch of government is too cowed into not following through on the sordid details of Foley's pages, then only Hollywood is left to wield the torch of sexual depravity that will bring down the tyrants of this world.

Yeah, right....

[trollgirl]

Cany anyone think of other examples of movies, songs, etc where new meaning evolved with the passing of time??? Do share.

Well, after some time, I took another look at this thread, stumbled on the above part of the Original Post, and recalled a segment of a song which has been on my mind a lot lately [I think I can quote it from memory it's from the album "Cross Between" by the band Lamb. Highly recommended, IF you can find it.]:

...I sing a dirge for the forgotten people
who sufferered intensely BECAUSE OF THE BLINDNESS
and war for the Dollar, and death for the scholar
the masks of the leaders are filling with blood...

or this excerpt, by Jane Getz:

,,,looks like the Empire's on decline
oh, Honey, take a little stroll in Babylon
meet me at the foxhole in the quarry
'cause the Union Boss, he just explained
"Ya get side effects from havin' brains."
better hold off 'till you can take the reins!
ain't as easy as the Doctor claims...

Laz