One of the great things about Netflix is their deep catalog. That, and being able to log on and add something to your queue every time a “Hey, that looks like a good movie” thought crosses your mind. Because of one of those random thoughts, the Frank Capra/Jimmy Stewart classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington arrived in my mailbox this week.
I admit, I’m a sucker for “how to straighten out the country” kinds of movies like Dave and The American President, so it’s amazing it’s taken me this long to watch the acknowledged pinnacle of the genre (#99 on the IMDb Top 250). It’s even more amazing how little has changed since Capra took up the lance in 1939 to tilt at the DC windmill. Some examples:
- Stewart’s Jefferson Smith character is viewed as a malleable rube by the Washington establishment because he’s new and not part of the club.
- Sitting Senators are portrayed as contemptuous of new ideas. (Don’t you know how things have to get done around here?) Plus, they’re rich. Senator Paine’s daughter traipses around in mink while working girls like Saunders put in extra hours. When did a $1 million-plus bank account become an unwritten rule to run for elected office? Think there’s any hope that a common man/woman, like a teacher or garbage collector with great ideas could be elected? I didn’t think so.
- Background money men pull the strings of elected representatives. The slimy “Taylor machine” of the film has nothing on today’s corporate interests–Big Oil, Big Pharma, Big Sugar, Big Auto, etc. If the money men don’t approve, progress is smashed under its profit-making boot.
- The quaint notion of “graft” seems to have vanished from our lexicon of outrage thanks to K Street’s vampires. Anyone else notice a huge conflict of public interest when the only voices that get heard come from lobbyists?
- The Willett Creek Dam project’s got nothing on Sen. Stevens’ Alaskan Bridge to Nowhere. Doesn’t someone recognize the difference between a useful project and a full-bore cash grab for pork? When you read the word “earmark,” say “oink.”
- Lawmakers groaning in disgust when Sen. Smith reads the Declaration of Independence and Constitution during his filibuster. Like they couldn’t do with a refresher from time to time.
And now we find that the Supremes have struck down most of the soft money provisions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill. It’s enough to make you puke. Maybe each session of Congress should open with a Capra screening. Maybe some of the folks we send to Washington (and could we all start thinking before we vote, please??) would remember why they’re there, and who they really should be representing.
Interesting to know.