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THE
CONTENDER REWINDS THE CLINTON TAPES
 When
President Clinton was asked whether he had an extramarital
affair, was the question itself proper? This is the conundrum
subliminally posed in The Contender, written
and directed by Rod Lurie, who has improved greatly from the
misspelled and misfired Deterence
(2000) by cloning the classic Advise and Consent
(1962). President Jackson Evans (played by Jeff Bridges),
a Democrat, is considering various nominees for Vice President
after the death of the elected Vice President. The press clamors
for Senator Jack Hathaway (played by William Petersen), whose
nomination is assured because he has the support of Illinois
Senator Shelly Runyon (played by Gary Oldman), the Republican
slated to chair confirmation hearings. Evans instead nominates
Ohio Senator Laine Hanson (played by Joan Allen), who would
be the first female Vice President. In order to knock her
out of contention, Hanson is rumored to have been involved
in an orgy during college, and the media are complicit in
transmitting innuendo without checking the facts. With doctored
photographs and perjured testimony, Runyon tries to embarrass
Hanson, who steadfastly refuses to answer any question regarding
the alleged incident, which she knows to be untrue, because
she believes that the question itself is improper, stating
"It is simply beneath my dignity.'' Moreover, she discerns
a double standard, "If I were a man, nobody would care how
many sexual partners I had in college; if it's not relevant
for a man, it's not relevant for a woman.'' In other words,
women are called "whores" for conduct that is considered a
mere "indiscretion" in men. As exculpatory evidence emerges,
however, Senator Hathaway is discredited, Congressman Runyon
is exposed for framing Senator Hanson as a sexual McCarthyite,
and she is confirmed after a dramatic speech by President
Evans to a joint session of Congress.
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Clearly,
the film is telling Washingtonians that American democracy
depends upon a debate on issues of national and international
importance rather than gossip and rumors, for which the
Political Film Society nominates The Contender
for awards as best film raising consciousness of the need
for greater democracy and improved human rights. Dedicated
"To our daughters," the film indicates that those involved
in the movie are arguing that the time has come for qualified
women to break through glass ceilings that prevent them
from rising to positions of responsibility at the top of
corporate and political ladders. The Contender demonstrates
that men of both major political parties are quite capable
of mean-spirited political chicanery to advance their own
partisan, personal, and policy agendas, with the press willing
dupes in mudslinging. In contrast, Vice Presidential contender
Hanson (a Republican who switched to become a Democrat)
remains above the fray, the only one who puts principles
above the pursuit of power. The film has drawn criticism
for pitting reactionary Republicans against progressive
Democrats just before a close presidential election, but
of course the producers are staunch Democrats. MH
FOUR
NEW WORKING PAPERS PUBLISHED
Thanks
to the recent Film and History League conference, four authors
have contributed Working Papers
to the Political Film Society, bringing the total number
of Working Papers to eighteen:
#15. J. Matviko, Television Satires of the Presidency:
The Case of Saturday Night Live
#16. B. Dennett, The American Presidency on Film:
Real and Celluloid as Seen from Down Under, or . . . We’ve
Seen All the Great Presidents in Boolaroo
#17. B. Romel-Ruiz, Redeeming Lincoln, Redeeming the
South: Representations of Abraham Lincoln in D.W.Griffith’s
The Birth of a Nation and Historical Scholarship
#18. Kent Casper, All the Presidents’ Women.
To obtain copies, send a check for $5 each to Political
Film Society, PO Box 461267, Hollywood, CA 90046.
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