There have been many movies, all of them terrible, with the plot of two people magically changing places (parent and child, a man and a woman, a black man and a white man, etc). The religious right seems to be repeating that plot in their absurd claims to be the victims of their own past behavior, now perpetrated by liberals.
We’ve seen this pattern operate in a myriad of ways as they try to flip reality on its head, portraying themselves to be the modern equivalent of liberal victims of right-wing authoritarianism in the past. They’ve declared themselves to be the true heirs of Martin Luther King (Glenn Beck particularly loves this one, aided by Alveda King, MLK’s right wing niece). Lately we’ve seen them claim to be the new Rosa Parks more than once. Now Bryan Fischer and Al Mohler are claiming that Christian righters are victims of a “new McCarthyism.”
As usual, they stand reality completely on its head with these declarations. All of the people whose legacy they now claim to be the rightful heirs to were victims of right wing bigotry and authoritarianism. If Glenn Beck had been active when Martin Luther King was alive, he would have been standing at his blackboard drawing connections and declaring King to be a communist out to destroy America (as he’s done with practically every liberal in the country). If Bryan Fischer had a radio show during the McCarthy era, he would undoubtedly be supporting those witch hunts. This is the sort of rhetoric that sets Orwell’s corpse to spinning.
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d.c.wilson
January 16, 2013 at 12:41 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
While there was nothing magical about it, Trading Places is a classic from the days when Eddie Murphy was still funny. It’s about the only good movie about switching roles that I can think of.
Modusoperandi
January 16, 2013 at 12:44 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
1. Beck’s hero is Willard Cleon Skousen.
2. Beck views himself as a modern MLK.
3. Willard Cleon Skousen regularly demonized as a Communist..Martin Luther King”.
Ergo, Beck views himself as a communist.
Moggie
January 16, 2013 at 12:47 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Hey now, Freaky Friday wasn’t bad (the 2003 version). Granted, it had Lindsay Lohan in it, but, on the other hand, Jamie Lee Curtis!
Johnny Vector
January 16, 2013 at 12:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And since I really have nothing to add about the substance of the post…
Watching Enver Gjokaj play a duplicate of Fran Kranz’ Topher character on Dollhouse was one of the great moments on TV from the last five years. So there’s that. If you’re, y’know, a geek.
Funny Diva
January 16, 2013 at 12:52 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Freaky Friday come on Wednesday, so we’s SAFE!
(apologies to Walt Kelley and Pogo)
fojap
January 16, 2013 at 1:11 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Wasn’t Jamie Lee Curtis in both Freaky Friday and Trading Places?
Doug Little
January 16, 2013 at 1:20 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Let’s fast forward 20 years and see what they claim about the Obama presidency. Should be good for a laugh… in 20 years.
d.c.wilson
January 16, 2013 at 1:25 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Johnny Vector:
Gjokaj’s performance as Topher 2.0 was one of the best parts of Dollhouse.
Fojap:
Yes, Jamie Lee Curtis was in both movies and Lindsey Lohan was also in the remake of the Parent Trap, back when she was still considered a promising child actress instead of the burn out she is today.
zekehoskin
January 16, 2013 at 1:33 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Bad beginning, knocking all places-swapping movies. I haven’t seen Turnabout as a movie, but the book was reasonably even-handed for its day. But that is different in a profound way from, say, an English torturer claiming the moral high ground from Joan of Arc, or a rapist rhapsodizing about how his victims enjoy it. It is the difference between a (hopefully) entertaining or informative exploration of viewpoints, and purest doublethink.
dickspringer
January 16, 2013 at 2:05 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ll note a curious thing and I wonder about the reasons. The three wing nuts mentioned (Fischer, Mohler, and Beck) all have German surnames. Historically German-Americans have not been on the right, Hitler notwithstanding.
I am free to make this comment because two of my three names are German.
The Lorax
January 16, 2013 at 2:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
They’re probably figuring, “It’s working for them, so we try it.”
cheesynougats
January 16, 2013 at 4:16 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Can we figure out a way to put Orwerll’s remains on an axle and generate electrical power from these doublethink incidents? We could probably put Beck in charge of renewable energy, as long as he never shuts up.
Rodney Nelson
January 16, 2013 at 4:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Certain American Christians claim simultaneously to be a supermajority in the country who should dictate how everyone else behaves and a persecuted minority denied their rights by whoever they’re ranting about. It would be nice if they’d pick one position and stick with it.
billseymour
January 16, 2013 at 5:15 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I’ve long thought that everything that comes out of wingnut mouths is projection. I wonder whether Chris Mooney has any thoughts about that. 8-)
Akira MacKenzie
January 16, 2013 at 7:11 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
What a minute! I thought that Tailgunner Joe Was a patriot and a hero who was unfairly maligned by the pinko liberals. The U.S. was CRAWLING with KGB spies and communist agitators until he unleashed the power of the HUAC on those borscht-eating Marxists!
Or in this just the right-wingers eating one of their own!
Modusoperandi
January 16, 2013 at 7:29 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Akira MacKenzie, it’s Jenny McCarthyism.
Area Man
January 16, 2013 at 10:18 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
And on the flip-side, right-wing monsters of the past are now being cast as liberals. Did you know that Hitler was a gay-loving veggie hippie socialist? Me neither, but it’s now established canon on the right that he was a left-winger, and that those of us whose politics are diametrically opposed to fascism are his true heirs. Conservatism, you see, can never have any stains on its history. Everything bad was caused by liberals.
I have yet to hear McCarthy portrayed as a liberal, but give it time.
Michael Heath
January 17, 2013 at 7:57 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Area Man writes:
Perhaps because some conservatives are trying to revise history sufficiently enough to monolithically assert Joe McCarthy was a courageous, unjustly maligned American hero, e.g., Ann Coulter’s book on the topic.