Every so often, ignorant, arrogant populists rise to power and diminish our
lives. They are invariably fueled by their own narcissism, megalomania and paranoia and
often vaulted into leadership positions as a result of unusual political and cultural
circumstances.
Yes, these
thin-skinned autocrats almost always self-destruct as people of goodwill reveal
and resist them. As Mel Miller (Walter Matthau) said to Marcia Jeffries
(Patricia Neal) in Elia Kazan's painfully prescient "A Face in the
Crowd," "We got wise to him. That's our strength." Sure, but the
real question is always how much damage these vainglorious fools and their enablers inflict before we
actually do get wise to them.
The great Budd
Schulberg wrote the film's screenplay based on his short story, "Your
Arkansas Traveler." His lead character Lonesome Rhodes (Andy Griffith) is
the archetype for the worst of human nature. It's a devastatingly superb big-screen portrayal
that leaves one imagining what might have happened had Andy Griffith pursued a
serious film career.
Rhodes closes the
movie ranting and raving alone and amidst the luxury of his skyscraper
penthouse. He's livid because he's been discovered as a self-serving fraud, a
con artist and a grifter after having bathed in the adulation of so many
Americans he cynically believes to be gullible.
Schulberg presents a
man without a moral code, out of touch with reality, obsessed by media and
determined to avenge anyone perceived to slight him. In truth, however, it is
Rhodes' non-stop, jowly bombast and blather that make him a truly hideous
figure. His self-destructive
fate is sealed because, well, he most certainly does love the sound of his own
voice. He thought the microphone on his reality TV show was muted, but Patricia
Neal's character turned it back on in order to kill the beast she created.
That's when the national TV audience hears Rhodes say that he can get away with
anything "because the people are stupid ... trained seals. Those
morons out there ... I can feed them dog food and they'll think it's
steak." Vicious, painful words, no doubt, but Lonesome Rhodes certainly believed them.
It's not hard to be
deeply shaken after watching this movie. Budd Schulberg may have left us in
2009, but he captures well our current, frightening political moment. That's because
petty, small-minded and destructive frauds are timeless. They will always lurk among us. Of course, the lesson is to keep them as far away from power as possible. When will we ever learn that lesson?
Image courtesy of Patheos.