Not too long ago, I again watched the 2003 movie Head Of State, written by Chris Rock and Ali LeRoi. Head of State is a gut-busting comedy starring Rock as Mays Gilliam who has become the first African-American candidate of a major political party. Mays was approached by the party to appeal to minority voters to earn favor among minority voters. Even though Mays was not expected to win the election, he went on to claim victory.
After watching the movie for the first time in years, I noticed many parallels to the campaign and election of the United States first elected African-American President. Much of the same rhetoric from the Rock-directed movie seemed very similar to that of Barack Obama, up until Obama’s acceptance speech. So, I created a video that highlights some of those parallels.
It may be a stretch to say that the marketing of Obama was extracted directed from the writers of Head Of State, but the overall strategies are closely intertwined, from the ‘came-from-nowhere’ candidate to the liberal and populace rhetoric.
The movie ends with May Gilliam being elected, but there is no sequel to show what his time in the White House may have been like. But, Barack Obama did go on to (and continues to) serve as the head of state, so it is possible to see whether his rhetoric and campaign promises match up with his actual work in the White House.
Recently, I watched a documentary entitled Lifting The Veil that features a collage of pre-presidency video clips of Barack Obama’s promises and goals. Most that were featured in the film were broken promises. I decided to feature the montage in my video to show that some of the reasons many people voted for Obama can not possibly be the same reason those same people re-elected him in the 2012 election.
It makes me wonder what new ways his campaign team can come up with to galvanized voters the way Rock’s character galvanized them in the hilarious comedy released five years before the election of Barack Obama. Did the strategy presented by James Rebhorn’s character, Senator Bill Arnot, work at drawing unwavering support from minority voters? We shall see…