Water for a Weiner….or is that Weiners for an Elephant?

 

Okay, so I said I would post a blog entry on what I thought of the movie Water for Elephants.  So, here it is.  But wait?  What’s this Weiner reference in the title?  Believe me, one really does have to do with the other.

Let me start with the realm of fiction…..politics in our modern society.  No, wait, that’ll be the second section.  I was meaning the movie.  Reese Witherspoon and Robert Patterson delivered excellent performances, as did basically the entirety of the cast.  The soundtrack was pleasant and not overbearing.  Production-wise, I can’t really fault this film for anything.  Production-wise.  As for the content…….

I was enjoying the film until I realized that the story was leading us to hope that an adulterous couple would end up together.  Now, it’s highly possible I missed something along the way,  but I don’t think so.  Potential Spoilers ahead.

Now, thanks to Stephanie Sullivan, I might have to do a bit of re-evaluation on this.  She’s read the book, and explained that the adulterous affair only occurs in the last 6 chapters of the book.  Apparently Patterson’s character in the book agonizes and tries to avoid the inappropriate relationship with the circus owner’s wife.  Maybe I wasn’t paying attention enough to the movie, but that wasn’t the impression I garnered from it. 

To be fair, the circus owner (wish I could remember the characters name – where’s IMDB.com when you need it) was a major piece of poodoo (Star Wars reference, should be easy enough to figure it out).  And I’m struggling to find a redeeming quality of the character.  His treatment of the animals, his wife, his employees was totally deplorable and despicable.  His comeupance was well deserved, given what he was doing when he died.  Ooops.  Spoiler!!!!  Sorry.

In the end, I don’t have a problem with Patterson and Witherspoon’s characters getting together. I have a problem with them getting together before the “villan” has exited the scene.  This is what steamed me about the story line.  Our heroine was in an abusive, destructive relationship.  I wanted her to get away from the Sithspawn of a husband she had.  I was very disappointed in the choice of the extra marital affair.

Sadly enough, this basically ruined the movie for me.   Sorry Dani, I enjoyed spending the time with you watching it, but I just didn’t enjoy the film all that much.  Call me a prude, call me old fashioned, call me conservative!  Frankly, I don’t care.  This is just how I feel.  Your word is your word, a vow is a vow, your MATE is your MATE!  When you say “I do”, it’s not for a moment, or for a season, or “until the love runs out”.  It’s a forever thing; from now until the end of the universe, as far as I’m concerned.  I’m getting married in a few months, and when I make that vow before friends, family, and my God, I intend on meaning it.  Frankly, if I ever did cheat on Dani (and I can’t think of WHY I would), I’d rather commit seppuku (Japanese reference, go Google it) than face the shame and embarrassment. 

So, what does all this have to do with a Weiner?  Glad you asked, because this is the part where I talk about reality. And if you have no idea who Weiner is, you really haven’t been watching the news recently, have you?

First off, was anyone really surprised about Weiner’s announcement today that he’d lied about the hack and he had sent the pictures?  He dodged the answers and wouldn’t give anyone a definative “No, it wasn’t me".  Can we say serious red flag?

Secondly, this guy doesn’t resign?  Really?  There’s enough precedent from both sides of the aisle of our elected officials who have been caught with their pants down (don’t pardon the pun) that have resigned because of their scandals.  Does Weiner really think he’s better than anyone else?  Does he believe he’ll actually be effective in office any more? 

Really, how can we trust ANY elected official who blatantly lies, engages in immoral, deviant actions, and exhibits such poor lack of judgment? 

Thirdly, where’s the political fall out from his party?  As was just pointed out, a certain former speaker of the house once used a member of the rival political party to instigate a “draining of the swamp” and get rid of a culture of corruption in politics.  But yet someone of the same party, who is in a position of power, does something this disgusting and exhibits a serious lack of judgment, there’s no call for Weiner to resign and leave the culture of corruption. 

I’m not railing against Dems or Repubs at the moment, I’m railing against a mentality that exists in a sector of society that appears the think that although they make/interpret the law, they are above it.  If someone of the opposite political philosophy does something wrong and gets caught, there’s an immediate uproar, but when someone of the same ideology does a like thing, it’s “let’s cut them a break”. 

I was recently in my karate class, and one of our sempai was wrapping a broken hanbo with some clear duct tape.  I cracked the joke, “Unlike our government, this is transparent.”  Our sempai started to try and chew me out (seeing sempai is aligned with one political party, while I claim to be an independent).  I was able to cut her short as I pointed out I had said “our government” not, “Democrats”, not “Republicans”.  I was making the claim against both parties.

All told, Weiner is a total loser.  He’s got a beautiful wife (she looks pretty, don’t know what her personality is like) and goes and cheats on her.  He lies to his constituents and the whole of the country.  He refuses to do the honorable thing and step down from his position of leadership.  He’s lost the trust of the American people.

Weiner, step out of the spotlight.  Let the American people get back to debating and dealing with the real issues facing this country; our rising debt, our sluggish (stalled?) economy, our nation’s lack of security, cats and dogs living together, mass hysteria (and the coming zombie apocalypse).  Go home.  Deal with the issues you have in your own life.  Clean your own house and do triage on your marriage.  If your wife is staying with you through this, God bless her soul.  But get yourself back in order

Rant over.