tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/arnold-schwarzenegger-18479/articles
Arnold Schwarzenegger – The Conversation
2022-11-28T13:32:59Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/194949
2022-11-28T13:32:59Z
2022-11-28T13:32:59Z
Celebrities in politics have a leg up, but their advantages can’t top fundraising failures
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496841/original/file-20221122-12-7b55od.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=159%2C55%2C4462%2C2654&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mehmet Oz speaks on Nov. 8, 2022, shortly before losing his bid for Pennsylvania senator during the midterm elections. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1244627627/photo/us-vote-election-pennsylvania-oz.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=lUvOAgR4MaAjyRLRCnPAexyipJWV7qC10aFXa49rJOg=">Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>TV personality <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/09/1131245958/fetterman-dr-oz-pennsylvania-senate-midterm-results">Mehmet Oz lost</a> his bid for Pennsylvania senator during the November midterms. And former NFL football star Herschel Walker appears to be falling further behind his opponent, incumbent Raphael Warnock, as they head to a Dec. 6, 2022, <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2022-11-22/warnocks-lead-over-walker-widens-in-new-georgia-runoff-poll">runoff election</a> for senator in Georgia. </p>
<p>While celebrity political candidates have advantages, like name recognition and media attention, they <a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666923162/Celebrities-in-American-Elections-Case-Studies-in-Celebrity-Politics">often lose their bids for public office</a>. </p>
<p>They lose for the same reasons other candidates lose. If they represent the minority party in a one-party-dominated district or state, they lose. If they take unpopular policy positions, they lose. If they are never considered to be serious candidates, they lose.</p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=4cPgCI4AAAAJ&hl=en">political science scholar</a> who specializes in American politics. In my recently published book, “<a href="https://rowman.com/ISBN/9781666923155/Celebrities-in-American-Elections-Case-Studies-in-Celebrity-Politics">Celebrities in American Elections</a>,” I show that celebrity candidates who win the fundraising battle tend to win their elections – and those who fall behind in fundraising tend to lose. </p>
<h2>Political fundraising matters</h2>
<p>Both <a href="https://www.wesa.fm/politics-government/2022-10-25/in-countrys-most-expensive-senate-race-fetterman-buoyed-by-local-national-support">Oz</a> and <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-10-05/donations-jump-for-georgia-gops-kemp-warnock-stays-strong">Walker</a> lost the fundraising battle against their opponents, Democratic politicians John Fetterman and Raphael Warnock, in the November 2022 midterms. </p>
<p>Not including substantial spending by outside political and advocacy groups, <a href="https://www.fec.gov/">Federal Election Commission</a> data shows that Fetterman raised US$17 million more than Oz and Warnock raised $86 million more than Walker. </p>
<p>The ability to raise money is an indicator of a candidate’s <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-012-9193-1">strength</a>. It also allows candidates to hire professional staff and pay for advertising to persuade voters.</p>
<p>Candidates, celebrity or not, who raise more money tend to win. </p>
<p>There are many examples that show the specific connection between celebrity candidates raising money during campaigns and getting elected.</p>
<p>Hollywood stars Ronald Reagan, Clint Eastwood and Arnold Schwarzenegger all spent more money than their opponents and got elected. Singer Sonny Bono, meanwhile, spent more than his rival in the mayoral and House races and won in the 1980s and ‘90s. When Bono <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/31/us/the-1992-campaign-senate-race-sonny-bono-s-political-curse-fame-without-respect.html">spent less</a> than his opponent on his Senate seat bid in 1992, he lost the race.</p>
<p>Other examples show the link between celebrity candidates’ failure to top their opponents in fundraising and their eventual loss.</p>
<p>Hollywood performers Shirley Temple, Gary Coleman, Roseanne Barr, Cynthia Nixon, Kanye West and Caitlyn Jenner all raised less than their opponents and lost their elections. </p>
<p>Self-financed candidates who rely predominantly on their own wealth, like Dr. Oz, <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-11-19/it-was-a-brutal-election-year-for-self-funding-candidates?leadSource=uverify%20wall">tend to lose</a>. Because self-financed candidates tend to be political outsiders, they are less likely to be supported by the political insiders who are major donors. <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11109-012-9193-1">The donor class tends to support stronger, more experienced candidates</a>. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496847/original/file-20221122-25-ghvfns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A white woman with a black shirt holds up a white rose, standing at a lectern on a dark night" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496847/original/file-20221122-25-ghvfns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496847/original/file-20221122-25-ghvfns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496847/original/file-20221122-25-ghvfns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496847/original/file-20221122-25-ghvfns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=372&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496847/original/file-20221122-25-ghvfns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496847/original/file-20221122-25-ghvfns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496847/original/file-20221122-25-ghvfns.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=467&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Actress Cynthia Nixon, who ran for governor in New York, conceded to Andrew Cuomo at a Brooklyn restaurant in September 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/1032968238/photo/cynthia-nixon-holds-primary-night-watch-party-in-brooklyn-with-other-progressive-democrats-on.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=LqPHhIuo4RDU_NytFbpYYueDpkICnui__pY5MtGDhi0=">Spencer Platt/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Other rules to the game</h2>
<p>There are other trends at play during an election. Some of them include whether a candidate is an incumbent and has name recognition and what their party affiliation is. And while celebrity candidates certainly have many advantages, they are not as popular as <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Star-Power-American-Democracy-in-the-Age-of-the-Celebrity-Candidate/Wright/p/book/9781138603950">some observers would suspect</a>.</p>
<p>Pennsylvania and Georgia have been key swing states in recent election cycles, with both the presidency and control of the Senate linked to their voters’ choices.</p>
<p>Political science consistently shows that it is <a href="https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/congressional-elections/book258015">easier to flip an open seat than it is to defeat an incumbent</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2020/10/05/pat-toomey-senate-retirement-426429">Republican Sen. Pat Toomey</a> announced in October 2020 that he would not run again for election in Pennsylvania. That opened the door for Democrats to flip the seat. </p>
<p>Fetterman, a statewide elected official with a <a href="https://www.penncapital-star.com/campaigns-elections/in-pgh-john-fetterman-rallies-the-base-in-u-s-senate-races-closing-hours/">strong base of support</a>, name recognition and a fundraising advantage, secured this open seat on Nov. 8. Democrats were worried about losing the race after Fetterman’s <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/10/25/fetterman-struggles-during-tv-debate-with-oz-00063467">poor debate performance</a>, but he nevertheless prevailed. </p>
<p>While Oz had name recognition thanks to his television show, he was successfully defined as a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-carpetbagger-label-that-fetterman-stuck-on-oz-may-have-been-key-in-defeating-him-194388">carpetbagger</a> in the state and could not match his opponent’s spending. </p>
<p>In Georgia, incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, has a <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/11/13/georgia-senate-runoff-warnock-walker/">base of support</a>, name recognition and a fundraising advantage. Walker has the name recognition, but he faced questions about his <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/20/us/politics/herschel-walker-mental-illness.html">mental fitness</a> and seemed <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/04/politics/herschel-walker-georgia-senate-republican-gamble">inept</a> on the campaign trail. Although the race is undecided, Walker’s inexperience showed and he has been outspent by Warnock thus far. </p>
<p>For Walker to win the runoff, a few things would need to happen. </p>
<p>Walker would need to gain the votes of the Libertarian candidate, Chase Oliver, who thus far <a href="https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/georgia-senate-runoff-walker-warnock-libertarian-1234628538/">hasn’t endorsed either Walker or Warnock</a>. Turnout in the runoff election is also critical. <a href="https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3746400-huge-age-gap-shows-up-in-aarp-poll-of-warnock-walker-runoff/">Polls indicate</a> that Walker leads among voters 50 and older. Older voters tend to vote at higher rates <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781315663746/voting-young-people-martin-wattenberg">than younger voters</a>, which means Walker has the lead with higher-propensity voters. On the other hand, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2022/11/10/1135810302/turnout-among-young-voters-was-the-second-highest-for-a-midterm-in-past-30-years">younger voters seem more energized than in the recent past</a>. Warnock, who has experience with runoff elections, would need to keep young people energized for a few more weeks in order to win. </p>
<p>Finally, in most states, candidates, celebrity or not, can win with a plurality of voters. Indeed, many celebrities who won elected office did so with less than 50% of the vote. </p>
<p>Wrestler Jesse Ventura won with 37% of the vote when he was elected <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1998_Minnesota_gubernatorial_election">governor of Minnesota in 1998</a>. Arnold Schwarzenegger became the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arnold_Schwarzenegger#Governor_of_California">governor of California in 2003</a> with 49% of the vote. Comedian Al Franken got less than 42% of the vote when he was elected Minnesota <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_United_States_Senate_election_in_Minnesota">senator in 2008</a>. And Donald Trump <a href="https://theintercept.com/2016/11/28/donald-trump-first-sore-loser-elected-president-united-states/">got 46%</a> of the popular vote when he won the presidency in 2016. </p>
<p>The United States’ <a href="https://electionbuddy.com/features/voting-systems/plurality-voting/">plurality rule</a>, which allows a candidate who receives the most number of votes to win, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Electoral_College">Electoral College systems</a> have allowed celebrities to win elections even when they have less than a majority. This does not suggest overwhelming popularity; rather, their victories are made possible by specific election rules. </p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496842/original/file-20221122-24-7k8rr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A middle aged white man with dark hair wears a tuxedo and stands in front of a white backdrop with the letters GQ on it" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496842/original/file-20221122-24-7k8rr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/496842/original/file-20221122-24-7k8rr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496842/original/file-20221122-24-7k8rr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496842/original/file-20221122-24-7k8rr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496842/original/file-20221122-24-7k8rr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496842/original/file-20221122-24-7k8rr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/496842/original/file-20221122-24-7k8rr1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Arnold Schwarzenegger is an example of a celebrity who succeeded in politics and won office in California in 2003.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://media.gettyimages.com/id/872185396/photo/germany-entertainment-gq-men-of-the-year.jpg?s=1024x1024&w=gi&k=20&c=Frf43xqOUTbbs0tQRmJOlB3090U5jlBP7rusXfoN6_w=">John MacDougall/AFP via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Future celebrity candidates</h2>
<p>Oz and Walker won’t be the last celebrities to seek public office. Celebrities have the talent and fame to make them viable political candidates. They are at ease in front of cameras and audiences and they are skilled at creating a personal brand that resonates with the public.</p>
<p>They also benefit from copious media coverage. The free media attention gives them an advantage that noncelebrity candidates do not have. </p>
<p>But it’s likely that celebrities who had political experience before running for office would perform better than celebrities who are political neophytes. </p>
<p>Schwarzenegger and Franken offer an example of how it can benefit celebrity candidates to be involved in politics before seeking office. Schwarzenegger, for example, first campaigned for <a href="https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-oct-22-me-prop4922-story.html">Proposition 49</a>, a law that created after-school educational enrichment programs, before officially diving into politics. </p>
<p>Franken founded the political action committee <a href="https://www.midwestvaluespac.org/">Midwest Values</a> and called upon his celebrity friends to donate so he could fund Democratic candidates who would later serve as his political allies. This allowed Schwarzenegger and Franken to learn valuable political skills before running for office. Even Trump was an active <a href="https://www.politico.com/story/2019/03/05/2020-presidential-dems-trump-money-1202938">political donor</a> and <a href="https://time.com/5166393/donald-trump-endorses-mitt-romney-twitter/">celebrity endorser</a> before declaring his bid for the presidency. </p>
<p>Oz’s loss and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/meet-the-press/meetthepressblog/warnock-holds-narrow-lead-walker-runoff-aarp-poll-finds-rcna58341">Walker’s current deficit</a> demonstrate that even celebrities must pay their political dues before seeking office.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194949/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Richard T. Longoria does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Celebrity politicians have instant name recognition. But unless they trump competitors in fundraising, and hit other check boxes, they aren’t any more likely to win than traditional politicians.
Richard T. Longoria, Associate Professor of Political Science, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/170612
2021-11-15T13:12:36Z
2021-11-15T13:12:36Z
The ancient history of adding insult to injury
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431744/original/file-20211112-15043-1hzexe8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=33%2C16%2C5534%2C3681&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The witty one-liner is a calling card of the James Bond film franchise.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/actor-sean-connery-on-set-of-the-movie-james-bond-never-say-news-photo/1307541937?adppopup=true">Bob Penn/Sygma via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>At one point in the James Bond film, “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2382320/">No Time To Die</a>,” the henchman Primo has the upper hand on 007. But Bond has a wristwatch that can trigger an electromegnetic pulse keyed to local circuitry. Primo, conveniently, has a biomechanical eye, so when Bond activates his watch next to Primo’s head, it explodes. </p>
<p>Bond’s gadgeteer, Q, radios in, and Bond delivers the rhetorical goods: “I showed him your watch. It blew his mind.”</p>
<p>This sort of witty quip after killing someone isn’t unique to the Bond franchise. From “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066999/">Dirty Harry</a>” to “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1853728/">Django Unchained</a>,” they’ve become staples of the action film genre.</p>
<p>Audiences might assume action films invented these one-liners. <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/abused-bodies-in-roman-epic/2B6465583910BA124AD85A8B6EC325B5#fndtn-information">But as I’ve demonstrated in my work</a> researching ancient Greco-Roman epic poetry, the origin of this sort of rhetorical violence goes back thousands of years. </p>
<h2>A perverse eulogy</h2>
<p>The one-liner is in many ways the calling card of action films. The motif took off in the 1960s and peaked in the mid-1980s and early 1990s. Today you’ll see occasional nods to the tradition in films like “No Time To Die.”</p>
<p>Earlier James Bonds also delivered post-kill zingers. In “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0059800/">Thunderball</a>,” Sean Connery’s Bond spears a foe with a harpoon gun, then jokes: “I think he got the point.” After “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070328/">Live and Let Die</a>” villain Dr. Kananga balloons and explodes from ingesting a gas pellet, Roger Moore’s Bond gloats, “He always did have an inflated opinion of himself.”</p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MWSGpO3akhk?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Roger Moore’s James Bond delivers a classic post-kill zinger.</span></figcaption>
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<p>These one-liners had become de rigueur by the 1990s. In “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105698/">Universal Soldier</a>,” Jean-Claude Van Damme’s Luc Deveraux kills Andrew Scott by feeding him through a woodchipper that hurls bits and pieces of his corpse through the air. Deveraux’s companion asks where Scott is, to which Deveraux laconically replies, “Around.” And after killing Screwface in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100114/">Marked for Death</a>,” John Hatcher, played by Steven Seagal, discovers there’s another Screwface – or, rather, that twins have been running the criminal organization he’s fighting. Hatcher then executes the second Screwface in one of the most violent, prolonged death scenes in film history. </p>
<p>Hatcher catches his breath, before muttering, “I hope they weren’t triplets.” </p>
<p>But Arnold Schwarzenegger, who rose to fame during the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/9781119100744.ch13">golden era of action films in the 1980s</a>, was the <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/chapter/84853">king of one-liners</a>.</p>
<p>“<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088944/">Commando</a>” ends with John Matrix, played by Schwarzenegger, impaling the villainous Bennett with a massive metal pipe that travels through Bennett and, inexplicably, into a boiler. The blast of steam travels back through Bennett and out the end of the pipe. Surveying the carnage, Matrix quips: “Let off some steam, Bennett.” In “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093773/">Predator</a>,” Schwarzenegger’s character pins an enemy to a wall with a knife, inviting him to “stick around.” And in “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093894/">The Running Man</a>,” he chainsaws his adversary Buzzsaw vertically, crotch up. </p>
<p>When asked what happened to Buzzsaw, he reports: “He had to split.”</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Arnold Schwarzenegger, virtuoso of verbal daggers.</span></figcaption>
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<p>The quips literally add insult to injury, defaming the victim immediately after their demise, emblazoning the death with a caption, like a perverse eulogy. Film heroes deliver the best taunts because their rhetorical skill is linked to their physical prowess. </p>
<p>This might seem incongruous. But the link between martial and rhetorical skill goes back to Western literature’s beginning. </p>
<h2>The ‘vaunts’ of the ancient epics</h2>
<p>Ancient epic poems are, in many ways, the antecedents to today’s action flicks; they were the violent, thrilling blockbusters of their era. </p>
<p>Homer’s heroes in the “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/Iliad/KctgDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=homer+iliad+lombardo&printsec=frontcover">Iliad</a>,” written sometime between 750 and 700 B.C., are not just deft fighters but also adroit talkers. Achilles, for example, is lauded as both the best fighter and the best speaker among the Greeks at Troy. </p>
<p>The parameters of ancient epic duels mirror action film fights. When two warriors square off, they taunt each other. When one warrior wins, typically the victory is punctuated by a witty defamatory “<a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/41234500">vaunt</a>” that signals the champion’s prowess and the loser’s now-verified inadequacy.</p>
<p>In Virgil’s “<a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Aeneid/WrQTEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=aeneid+translation+ruden&printsec=frontcover">Aeneid</a>,” Turnus avoids damage from a spear cast by the young warrior Pallas thanks to his thick shield. After hurling a spear of his own that pierces Pallas, Turnus boasts of the performance of his weapon by comparison. The taunt is soaked in sexual innuendo: “See whether my weapon can penetrate better.” </p>
<p>Turnus later sneers over the slain Eumedes, whose throat he’s severed: “Hey, Trojan, the Western land you hoped to conquer, measure it with your corpse.” Since Eumedes sought to colonize parts of modern-day Italy, he would have surveyed the land for settlements; Turnus sardonically suggests using his dead body as a measuring stick. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431729/original/file-20211112-23-1lnhmlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Warrior stands over dead person on battlefield." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431729/original/file-20211112-23-1lnhmlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/431729/original/file-20211112-23-1lnhmlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431729/original/file-20211112-23-1lnhmlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431729/original/file-20211112-23-1lnhmlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=408&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431729/original/file-20211112-23-1lnhmlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431729/original/file-20211112-23-1lnhmlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/431729/original/file-20211112-23-1lnhmlo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A 1688 engraving depicts Turnus taking Pallas’ sword belt after killing him.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://dcc.dickinson.edu/images/eimmart-turnus-takes-pallas-sword-belt">Bavarian State Library</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In the “Iliad,” Polydamas spears Prothoenor in the shoulder. He falls and dies, whereupon Polydamas jokes that the spear will be useful to lean on “like a staff when he descends to the underworld.”</p>
<p>At another point in the “Iliad,” Patroclus kills the Trojan charioteer Cebriones by smashing his face with a stone. The force of the strike ejects Cebriones’ eyes from their sockets; they hit the ground, and Cebriones follows them headfirst onto the battlefield. The bizarre situation elicits Patroclus’ zesty bon mot: “What a spring the man has! Nice dive! Think of the oysters he could come up with if he were out at sea …”</p>
<p>In this vaunt-cum-metaphor, Cebriones’ eyes, which he “chases” into the sand, have become precious pearls in the oysters he’s imagined to be hunting.</p>
<h2>Breaking the fourth wall</h2>
<p>What value does wit hold in genres defined by brute strength? </p>
<p>Never mind the fact that a corpse is hardly a suitable target for clever punchlines. The jokes are for the audience, and it’s as close as the genre gets to breaking the fourth wall. Viewers are attuned to these witticisms not simply because they are funny, but because they’re self-consciously ridiculous. They help <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1002/9781119100744.ch7">distance the audience</a> from the often horrific levels of violence on display.</p>
<p>[<em>Over 115,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>Epic poetry has traditionally held a highbrow status in literary criticism, while action films are regarded as puerile and brutish. These designations collapse at the level of rhetorical violence. In truth, epics like the “Iliad” skew more “action film” than most literati would like to admit, and vice versa.</p>
<p>The larger-than-life heroes from John Matrix to James Bond are ultimately the silver screen progeny of warrior-poets from antiquity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/170612/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew M. McClellan does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Epic poetry tends to be seen as highbrow, while action films are regarded as puerile and brutish. But the two share an affinity for dressing up brutal deaths with rhetorical flair.
Andrew M. McClellan, Lecturer in Classics and Humanities, San Diego State University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/146755
2020-10-27T18:31:36Z
2020-10-27T18:31:36Z
Total Recall at 30: why this brutal action film remains a classic
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364895/original/file-20201022-23-1rqzgeu.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption"></span> </figcaption></figure><p>People often roll their eyes when they hear about a major Hollywood studio re-releasing a film from its back catalogue to cinemas. Director’s cuts, “reduxes” and remastered prints can seem like cynical corporate moves, re-commodifying a long dead vision of the world. </p>
<p>But in the case of Paul Verhoeven’s <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100802/">Total Recall</a> — a masterpiece of late 20th century Hollywood cinema, being <a href="https://cinema.heavymag.com.au/total-recall-30th-anniversary-re-release-announced/">re-released on its 30th anniversary</a> — this cynicism is unwarranted.</p>
<p>As someone born in the 1980s, who was too young to watch this extremely violent film on its cinematic release, I am excited by the prospect of finally being able to see it on the big screen.</p>
<p>Not to mention several of its iconic images: Arnold Schwarzenegger pulling a giant tracking device out of his nose, eyeballs popping out of faces on Mars and the infamous, three-breasted prostitute.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/C3qYVSSyuDU?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>A noirish, pulp narrative</h2>
<p>Total Recall marks a rare confluence of extraordinary talents and technologies. The source material is excellent. Phillip K. Dick’s twist-laden, science fiction <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/15929452-total-recall">narrative</a>, interweaving speculation about potential future technologies with the social and psychological interrogation of the present world, is adapted for the screen brilliantly (and wittily) by a group of writers including genre maestro Dan O’Bannon (Dark Star, Alien, Dead and Buried). </p>
<p>Its noirish, pulp narrative, involving double (or triple?) agent Doug Quaid (Arnold Schwarzenegger) following clues to his true identity, is embedded in a rousing sub-plot structured around conflict between the haves and have nots.</p>
<p>The setting — Mars, colonised for its minerals — is beautifully rendered with the expressionistic exterior backdrops reminiscent of the cover illustrations of 1950s pulp sci-fi novels. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/buried-lakes-of-salty-water-on-mars-may-provide-conditions-for-life-146928">Buried lakes of salty water on Mars may provide conditions for life</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Typical of Verhoeven’s films, this is complemented by a detailed, fully developed background media ecology, involving fake advertisements, products, and communications technologies. Added to the mix are the superb cinematography of Oscar nominee (and regular Verhoeven collaborator) Jost Vacano, and editing by Frank J. Urioste, another Oscar nominee. </p>
<p>And of course, Total Recall features the most memorable (and idiosyncratic) action man of the era in the lead role. With his impossibly muscular body, cartoonish, chiselled features and distinctive Austrian accent, Schwarzenegger brings a delightful over-the-top quality to otherwise straitlaced macho roles. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364890/original/file-20201022-16-1aptx4v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364890/original/file-20201022-16-1aptx4v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364890/original/file-20201022-16-1aptx4v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364890/original/file-20201022-16-1aptx4v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364890/original/file-20201022-16-1aptx4v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=339&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364890/original/file-20201022-16-1aptx4v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364890/original/file-20201022-16-1aptx4v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364890/original/file-20201022-16-1aptx4v.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=427&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Schwarzenneger: at his acting peak.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© 1990 Columbia/TriStar Pictures</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>He will probably never be more suited to a role than he was to The Terminator — his intonation and signature wooden delivery are perfectly robotic. But Total Recall captures him at the peak of his acting career, before he became swept up in his own myth, with pointlessly self-referential performances (such as that in <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107362/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">The Last Action Hero</a>). </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/why-do-fans-love-schwarzenegger-his-terrible-one-liners-of-course-44302">Why do fans love Schwarzenegger? His terrible one-liners, of course</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Schwarzenegger is joined in Total Recall by brilliant character actors Ronny Cox (as main baddie, corporate psychopath Cohaagen) and Michael Ironside (Cohaagen’s vicious right arm, Richter). Sharon Stone, in a relatively low-key role, is amusing as Quaid’s secret agent wife.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364896/original/file-20201022-19-13d7han.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364896/original/file-20201022-19-13d7han.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/364896/original/file-20201022-19-13d7han.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364896/original/file-20201022-19-13d7han.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364896/original/file-20201022-19-13d7han.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=454&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364896/original/file-20201022-19-13d7han.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364896/original/file-20201022-19-13d7han.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/364896/original/file-20201022-19-13d7han.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=570&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sharon Stone and Rachel Ticotin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© 1990 Columbia/TriStar Pictures</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is all brought together under the eye of a master filmmaker. As usual, Verhoeven skilfully endows epic pulp scenarios and settings with an intensity reminiscent of the most viscerally immersive kinds of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linda_Williams_(film_scholar)">body-genre cinema</a> (a term coined by film studies professor Linda Williams to describe films that aim chiefly to elicit a physiological reaction on the part of the viewer). </p>
<h2>Technological detachment</h2>
<p>At the same time, Verhoeven’s images have a kind of technological detachment. His camera floats around, swiftly moving between bodies and things, capturing action with a clinical vision. </p>
<p>In this way, Verhoeven’s images — and films — are relentlessly unsentimental. In his universe, countless bystanders are killed in a bloody, vicious fashion without any lingering lament or consequence. His signature cinematic move (present, of course, in Total Recall) involves characters being lethally pierced by long, sharp objects. </p>
<p>Under the studious eye of Verhoeven’s camera, people appear insect-like. This point was made literal in his 1997 film <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120201/">Starship Troopers</a> (about interplanetary war between humans and giant humanoid insects) when the separation between insect and human becomes more a matter of politics than anything else. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w8V9fdJgzKA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Total Recall, like most Verhoeven films, combines a sense of youthful adventure with explosive moments of violence, underscored by a wry (slightly clownish) sensibility. </p>
<p>Verhoeven won’t win any awards from The World Association of Liberal Humanists, but his films make for fascinating, and viscerally engrossing, viewing. As a biographical aside, it’s worth noting Verhoeven grew up in the Netherlands during the second world war, experiencing the perennial violence of the period — bombs, burning houses, masses of dead bodies — <a href="https://scrapsfromtheloft.com/2017/12/12/black-book-2006-interview-with-paul-verhoeven/">with a small boy’s sense of horror and excitement</a>. </p>
<h2>A rare big-budget spectacle</h2>
<p>Total Recall is an increasingly rare, big-budget, Hollywood spectacle. Hard-edged and brutal, it is far removed from the “family-friendly” blockbuster film popularised by the <a href="http://cinemajam.com/mag/features/lucas-and-spielberg-friendship">Spielberg-Lucas</a> complex in the 1970s (characterised by a wan, often uninteresting, palatability).</p>
<p>With its economical, fast-paced narrative embedded in a spectacular and detailed cinematic world, Total Recall is an example of pulp fodder magnificently realised by one of Europe’s leading auteurs.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/strippers-on-film-battlers-showgirls-and-hustlers-125882">Strippers on film: battlers, showgirls and hustlers</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Testament to Verhoeven’s seamless transition from the Dutch arthouse (Spetters, The Fourth Man) to big budget Hollywood (Robocop, Basic Instinct and the much maligned but remarkably entertaining, Showgirls), Total Recall remains one of the most thrilling action films of its time.</p>
<p><em>A 4K, Ultra High Definition™ version of Total Recall can be seen at <a href="https://www.eventcinemas.com.au/Movie/Mf---Total-Recall#date=2020-11-07">select cinemas</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/146755/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ari Mattes does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Total Recall is being re-released on its 30th birthday. With its economical, fast-paced narrative embedded in a spectacular cinematic world, it is a masterpiece of late 20th century Hollywood.
Ari Mattes, Lecturer in Communications and Media, University of Notre Dame Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/131178
2020-02-07T13:50:14Z
2020-02-07T13:50:14Z
National Prayer Breakfast was a moment for leaders to show humility – Trump changed it
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/314043/original/file-20200206-43102-1v5ew0i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Donald Trump holds up a newspaper to show a headline that reads, 'Acquitted,' at the 68th annual National Prayer Breakfast, in Washington D.C..</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/APTOPIX-Trump/f4a417443712429088d83627217f46ff/1/0">AP Photo/ Evan Vucci</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A heaping plate of partisan politics, sprinkled with religious faith, topped the menu at the 68th National Prayer Breakfast. </p>
<p>On the morning of Feb. 6, President Donald Trump surprised listeners by eschewing traditional themes of unity, humility and reconciliation. Instead he called out <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/trump-impeachment-inquiry/trump-holds-newspaper-front-page-headline-acquitted-national-prayer-breakfast-n1131421">“dishonest and corrupt people”</a> who tried to “destroy” him and “hurt” the nation. </p>
<p>And though he did not name Sen. Mitt Romney, who voted for one article of impeachment, and U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, who steered the impeachment effort through Congress, the president <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/02/06/803445433/trump-blasts-romney-over-impeachment-vote">lashed out</a> at those who he believes use religion to justify hypocritical actions. Romney, a member of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said his religious faith prompted his vote, and Pelosi, a Roman Catholic, said she prays for the president. </p>
<p>An annual Washington, D.C. event, the National Prayer Breakfast is an opportunity for new friends and old associates, from 50 states and 140 countries, to break bread and forge fellowship in Jesus’ name. As a <a href="https://communicationleadership.usc.edu/fellows/faculty/diane-winston/">scholar</a> of American religious history, I follow the annual the get-together because I am intrigued by how political leaders approach religion. </p>
<p>Convened on the first Thursday in February, the gathering, known as the Presidential Prayer Breakfast until 1970, has always included the American head of state. </p>
<p>Trump, putting his personal stamp on the event, has used it to praise his accomplishments, malign his enemies, and thank God for being on his side. </p>
<h2>Faith first</h2>
<p>President Dwight Eisenhower began the tradition with the first breakfast in 1953. While Eisenhower was initially wary of attending a prayer breakfast, evangelist <a href="http://www.basicbooks.com/full-details?isbn=9780465049493">Billy Graham convinced him</a> it was the right move. </p>
<p>Speaking to an audience that included Graham, hotel magnate Conrad Hilton and 400 political, religious and business leaders, Eisenhower <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/theoval/2016/02/04/how-presidents-pray-prayer-breakfast-eisenhower-obama/79786384/">proclaimed</a> that “all free government is firmly founded in a deeply felt religious faith.” </p>
<p>Today, “Ike” – the 34th president’s nickname – is not remembered as being deeply religious.</p>
<p>However, he was raised in a pious household of <a href="http://www.reformedreader.org/riverbrethren.htm">River Brethren</a>, a Mennonite offshoot. His parents named him after <a href="https://www.moody.edu/about/our-bold-legacy/d-l-moody/">Dwight Moody</a>, a famous 19th-century evangelist who likened the state of the world to a sinking ship and stated,</p>
<blockquote>
<p>“God has given me a lifeboat and said … ‘Moody save all you can.” </p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=492&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/155239/original/image-20170201-29898-rspah0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=618&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">President Dwight D. Eisenhower in a personal chat with Rev. Dr. Billy Graham in Gettysburg on Sept. 8, 1961.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AP Photo/Ziegler0</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Soon after his election in 1952, Eisenhower told Graham that the <a href="http://www.basicbooks.com/full-details?isbn=9780465049493">country needed a spiritual renewal</a>. For Eisenhower, faith, patriotism and free enterprise were the fundamentals of a strong nation. But of the three, faith came first. </p>
<p>As historian <a href="https://history.princeton.edu/people/kevin-m-kruse">Kevin Kruse</a> describes in <a href="http://www.basicbooks.com/full-details?isbn=9780465049493">“One Nation Under God</a>,” the new president made that clear his very first day in office, when he began the day with a preinaugural worship service at the National Presbyterian Church. </p>
<p>At the swearing in, Eisenhower’s hand rested on two Bibles. When the oath of office concluded, the new president delivered a spontaneous prayer. To the surprise of those around him, Eisenhower called on God to “make full and complete our dedication to the service of the people.”</p>
<p>However, when <a href="http://www.fcarlsonlib.org/AboutUs/FrankCarlson/FrankCarlson.php/">Frank Carlson</a>, a senator from Kansas, and a devout Baptist and Christian leader, asked his friend and fellow Kansan to attend a prayer breakfast, Eisenhower – in a move that seemed out of character – refused. </p>
<p>But Graham interceded, Hilton offered his hotel and the rest is history.</p>
<h2>A strategic move</h2>
<p>It is possible that Graham may have used the breakfast’s theme, “Government under God,” to convince the president to attend. Throughout his tenure, Eisenhower promoted God and religion.</p>
<p>When he <a href="https://spectator.org/38107_eisenhowers-religion/">famously said to the press</a>, “Our government has no sense unless it is founded in a deeply felt religious faith, and I don’t care what it is,” he was not displaying a superficial attitude to faith. Rather, as Ike’s grandson David Eisenhower explained, he was <a href="http://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Going-Home-To-Glory/David-Eisenhower/9781439190913">discussing America’s “Judeo-Christian heritage.”</a> </p>
<p>The truth is, Ike was a Christian, but he also was a realist. Working for a “government under God” was more inclusive than calling for a Christian nation. It also was strategic. Under his watch, the phrase “under God” was added to the Pledge of Allegiance, and <a href="http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-eisenhower-signs-in-god-we-trust-into-law">“In God We Trust”</a> imprinted on the nation’s currency. But legitimating the National Prayer Breakfast was a signature achievement. </p>
<h2>A guide for the powerful</h2>
<p>The prayer breakfast’s success would have pleased <a href="http://thefellowshipfoundation.org/history.html">Abraham Vereide</a>, the Methodist minister behind the meetings. Vereide immigrated from Norway in 1905 when he was 19. For many years, he ministered to the down and out – society’s cast-offs. </p>
<p>He started Goodwill Industries in Seattle and provided relief work throughout the Depression. But seeing how little progress he’d made, Vereide turned his attention from helping the poor to guiding the powerful.</p>
<p>According to author <a href="http://english.dartmouth.edu/people/jeff-sharlet">Jeff Sharlet</a>, <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060559793/the-family">Vereide’s ultimate goal</a> was a “ruling class of Christ-committed men bound in a fellowship of the anointed.” A fundamentalist and a theocrat, he believed that strong, Christ-centered men should rule and that “militant” unions should be smashed. Between 1935 and his death in 1969, he mentored many politicians and businessmen who agreed.</p>
<p>During the 1940s, <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/9780060559793/the-family">Vereide ran small prayer breakfasts</a> for local leaders and businessmen in Washington, D.C. The groups were popular, but he wanted to spread and enlarge them. Sen. Frank Carlson was Vereide’s close friend and supporter. When Eisenhower, the first Republican president since Herbert Hoover, was elected, Vereide, Graham and Carlson saw an opportunity to extend their shared mission of nurturing Christian leaders. </p>
<h2>Using the breakfast moment</h2>
<p>In the years since, presidents have used the prayer breakfast to burnish their image and promote their agendas. In 1964, President Lyndon Johnson <a href="http://cdsutherland.blogspot.com/2015/02/lyndon-b-johnsons-remarks-at-12th.html">spoke about the harrowing days</a> following John F. Kennedy’s assassination and his desire to build a memorial for God in the nation’s capital.</p>
<p>Richard Nixon, speaking after his election in 1969, said that prayer and faith would help America’s fight for global peace and freedom. In 1998, Bill Clinton, faced with allegations that he had a sexual relationship with a White House intern, asked for prayers to <a href="https://www.c-span.org/video/?99829-1/national-prayer-breakfast">“take our country to a higher ground</a>.”</p>
<p>But while presidents have been cautious about their prayers, preferring generalities to specifics, keynote speakers – who are not announced until the morning of the event – are forthright. </p>
<p>In 1995, Mother Teresa <a href="http://www.priestsforlife.org/brochures/mtspeech.html">condemned abortion</a> as President Clinton, who supported women’s right to choose, quietly listened. In 2013, pediatric neurosurgeon Ben Carson castigated the nation’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83IiLN_EaF4">“moral decay and fiscal irresponsibility”</a> while President Barack Obama sat in the audience. </p>
<h2>More changes with time</h2>
<p>In 2017, his maiden appearance, Trump broke precedent with a powerful no-holds-barred <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/02/02/donald-trump-national-prayer-breakfast/97392348/">speech</a> that put other countries on notice, threatened church-state separation and mocked actor Arnold Schwarzenegger. At the time, his performance stunned listeners who expected the breakfast to be a staid event. </p>
<p>This year, Trump again had his say at the morning meeting. Supporters tuned out his vitriol and focused on his example of strong Christian leadership.</p>
<p>“We know that our nation is stronger, our future is brighter, and our joy is greater when we turn to God and ask him to shed his grace on our lives,” <a href="https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2020/02/06/trump_at_national_prayer_breakfast_corrupt_people_put_me_through_terrible_ordeal.html">Trump said</a>. “On Tuesday, I addressed Congress on the state of the Union and the great American comeback. That’s what it is. Our country has never done better than it is doing right now.”</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article <a href="https://theconversation.com/national-prayer-breakfast-what-does-its-history-reveal-71978">first published</a> on Feb. 1, 2017.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/131178/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Diane Winston does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The National Prayer Breakfast has been a time to forge friendships. But, as a scholar says, Trump used it to praise his accomplishments, malign his enemies, and thank God for being on his side.
Diane Winston, Associate Professor and Knight Center Chair in Media & Religion, USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/70726
2017-01-01T13:42:15Z
2017-01-01T13:42:15Z
The violent, post-truth 2017 predicted in The Running Man? We’re living in it
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151395/original/image-20161222-17301-12kgij1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">'It's showtime!' </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/moviesinla/7399761058/in/photolist-cgTHad-2ktn69-dTnLks-jiV3CX-obwWtE-e6yxhH-udo1F-aXJQEK-9n113T-cwEJW-6TwWbH-hMzMRb-2ULzvZ-89Ct3N-kPnApu-5tHxfp-bwTk8Y-9xewX8-7kxcPw-eDhBZx-7TWYMD-76q7PE-5ADuT1-4Ej1H6-qPtocn-bawgN-amczfE-odvgVo-7kxcPu-2XUpyT-7KuTZA-4HnQSt-bv9PHm-4oF9nj-5wKuXm-4ozHJ3-4C9Spf-7KuVFL-5YrLTC-9WhgAD-7xZ1yr-5xyBex-7KqVYr-7KqXgM-7xUGiZ-7cVuYH-5yuH7a-5js8NU-kDF2o-6iNDQ">Movies in LA</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Welcome to a world where fake news stories are used to manipulate public opinion. Dissent is no longer tolerated and all your communications are monitored; the economy is not functioning and reality TV is used to distract you from harsher realities. Welcome to 2017.</p>
<p>I don’t mean our 2017 but an imagined one from 30 years ago. This was the setting for 1987 movie The Running Man, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. The bad news? Much of this action-adventure slugfest looks eerily prophetic now that we’re here for real.</p>
<p>In the film, Schwarzenegger plays police helicopter pilot Ben Richards in a 2017 when many people are living on the streets and food, natural resources and oil are in short supply. The movie begins with him refusing to fire on a food riot from his helicopter because the people are unarmed, with women and children caught up in the protest. He gets overpowered by colleagues and the rioters are massacred, with footage of the incident edited to make him the perpetrator – and a useful scapegoat. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151408/original/image-20161222-17321-hxg599.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151408/original/image-20161222-17321-hxg599.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/151408/original/image-20161222-17321-hxg599.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151408/original/image-20161222-17321-hxg599.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151408/original/image-20161222-17321-hxg599.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151408/original/image-20161222-17321-hxg599.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1265&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151408/original/image-20161222-17321-hxg599.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1265&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/151408/original/image-20161222-17321-hxg599.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1265&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The original.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Imprisoned for life, Richards is offered the chance to win his freedom by competing in the most popular TV programme in history, Running Man. This state-sponsored show pits contestants against high-profile hunters with extreme weaponry. It’s a Schwarzenegger vehicle from his 1980s heyday, so you can probably guess who wins.</p>
<p>The script by Steven E de Souza loosely adapts a <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11607.The_Running_Man">1982 novel</a> of the same name by Richard Bachman, the pseudonym of horror author Stephen King. The source material is set in 2025 and far less heroic. It ends with Richards hijacking an aeroplane and flying it into the television company’s skyscraper headquarters – stop me if this is sounding in any way familiar.</p>
<p>The film adaptation is a product of its time, with 1980s props that look out of place in the fictional 2017 setting. People carry clipboards instead of tablet computers, use analogue phones rather than mobiles, and store their music on cassette. The Running Man does feature smart home technology, like voice-controlled coffee makers, but the computers are primitive. It’s the satirical touches that stand out most in this film, such as the president of the United States having his own theatrical agent.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/-ceegnWSENQ?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<h2>When in Rome …</h2>
<p>The central conceit of both novel and film – that those in power use mass entertainment to distract the population from reality – is part of a long tradition. It dates all the way back to the <a href="http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/plebians.html">Roman empire</a> when the masses were appeased with free wheat and arena spectacles, a tactic described as <em>panem et circenses</em> – bread and circuses. </p>
<p>One of the first writers to transplant this notion to television was <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0049646/">Quartermass</a> creator Nigel Kneale in his 1968 play for BBC Two, <a href="http://www.screenonline.org.uk/tv/id/560006/">The Year of the Sex Olympics</a>. It envisaged a dystopian future where the elite maintains control over the people by broadcasting a constant stream of pornography and trash television. </p>
<p>Kneale effectively predicted the rise of reality TV programmes like Big Brother and I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here; and much other science fiction has drawn on the same theme. It appears, for example, in Doctor Who in the 1985 adventure <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/doctorwho/classic/episodeguide/vengeancevaros/detail.shtml">Vengeance on Varos</a> – set in a totalitarian world where torture and executions are televised to amuse and divert the masses – and more recently in <a href="http://www.thehungergames.co.uk">The Hunger Games</a> trilogy. </p>
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</figure>
<p>The additional element that makes The Running Man even more resonant right now is fake news. The fake footage of Richards’ helicopter massacre is replayed to the live audience in the gameshow studio to coerce them into believing Schwarzenegger’s character is a liar, a murderer and a threat to everyone. The programmers then do the same thing to his sidekick, Amber Mendez (Maria Conchita Alonso), before later faking their televised deaths during the game itself. </p>
<p>It’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-can-we-learn-to-reject-fake-news-in-the-digital-world-69706">not unlike</a> how social media and even some broadcasters have been guilty of distributing and promoting fake news in recent months, especially during the US presidential election. When psychotic Running Man host Damon Killian (Richard Dawson) interviews studio audience members in the movie, their simple-minded responses echo footage of real American voters dismissing reality for what they’ve been told on TV or via alt-right news sites. </p>
<h2>Muscular politics</h2>
<p>Meanwhile, The Running Man cast included not one but two men who would improbably become governors of American states. <a href="http://www.ontheissues.org/Jesse_Ventura.htm">Jesse Ventura</a>, then best known as a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHAQvZCQcXU">professional wrestler</a>, appears as gameshow veteran Captain Freedom. In 1999, Ventura was elected governor of Minnesota, serving a full four-year term. </p>
<p>Schwarzenegger, a former bodybuilder, was <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/october/8/newsid_3659000/3659108.stm">then elected</a> governor of California in 2003 and re-elected in 2006. And having starred in a movie about the potential dangers of reality TV, on January 2 he <a href="http://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/arnold-schwarzenegger-on-taking-over-apprentice-from-trump-w457096">will become host</a> of Celebrity Apprentice in the US. The person he replaces? A real estate tycoon called Donald Trump who will become the president of the United States in the coming days, despite losing the popular vote.</p>
<p>Trump has <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/nov/14/steve-bannon-white-house-racism-fear">appointed</a> as his chief strategist and senior counsellor Stephen Bannon. Until recently, Bannon was executive chair of Breitbart News, a right-wing website accused of massaging facts to promote its agenda and win the election for his new boss. And lest we forget, one key part of Trump’s mandate is to revive an economy that has never recovered from the financial crisis of 2007-08. </p>
<p>Put it all together and the 2017 of The Running Man doesn’t look very far away.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70726/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Bishop does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
It’s 30 years since the 1987 classic foresaw a dark vicious future where reality TV had taken over. Looks like we forgot to pay attention.
David Bishop, Lecturer in Creative Writing, Edinburgh Napier University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/61454
2016-06-28T14:02:45Z
2016-06-28T14:02:45Z
Running makes you smarter – here’s how
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128500/original/image-20160628-7851-y2yxzs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=Ya9hpeWc18KCy_bkJidIqQ&searchterm=marathon&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=272797034">Bikeworldtravel/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As far back as the Greeks and Romans, humans have documented the belief that there is a strong link between exercise and intelligence. But in the last two decades, neuroscience has begun to catch up with <a href="http://bit.ly/294Xtmw">Thales</a> and <a href="http://bit.ly/298DQXO">Juvenal’s</a> idea that a sound mind flourishes in a healthy body. While the studies unite in telling us that running will makes us smarter, it is only partly true. The process is more complicated and reveals more about the wonderful complexities of both the human body and its evolution. Although the science might be helping us to understand how the mechanisms work, an important question remains: why does running make us smarter?</p>
<p>Two studies, one published by Finnish researchers <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/JP271552/abstract">in February</a> and the other in Cell Metabolism in <a href="http://bit.ly/29k88px">June</a>, have expanded our understanding of the mechanisms involved in running and the ways that it enhances memory and cognition. Before these, it was understood that exercise induced a process called neurogenesis (where new brain cells are created) in a part of the brain involved in memory formation and spatial navigation, known as the hippocampus.</p>
<p>While intense exercise will create brain cells, they are basically stem cells waiting to be put to use. Exercise doesn’t create new knowledge; rather, it gives you the mental equivalent of a sharpened pencil and clean sheet of paper. It prepares you for learning, but you have to actively do some learning yourself, too. Integrating exercise into your working or studying day would seem like a sensible option, if this particular benefit is of interest to you.</p>
<p>What the new research tells us is that it is not just any exercise that will create new brain cells for you. In the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1113/JP271552/abstract">study by Finnish researchers</a>, they discovered that only certain kinds of exercise are likely to result in the growth of new brain cells in adults. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128505/original/image-20160628-7842-inavs0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128505/original/image-20160628-7842-inavs0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128505/original/image-20160628-7842-inavs0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128505/original/image-20160628-7842-inavs0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=904&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128505/original/image-20160628-7842-inavs0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128505/original/image-20160628-7842-inavs0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128505/original/image-20160628-7842-inavs0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1136&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Marathon man, Alan Turing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/cat.mhtml?lang=en&language=en&ref_site=photo&search_source=search_form&version=llv1&anyorall=all&safesearch=1&use_local_boost=1&autocomplete_id=&search_tracking_id=0b7Ci9aHwT3syfCYuWBdxQ&searchterm=Alan%20Turing&show_color_wheel=1&orient=&commercial_ok=&media_type=images&search_cat=&searchtermx=&photographer_name=&people_gender=&people_age=&people_ethnicity=&people_number=&color=&page=1&inline=3271334">Guy Erwood/Shutterstock.com</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>According to the researchers, the exercise needs to be “aerobic and sustained”. But they also looked at the neurobiological effects of the currently popular “high intensity interval training” (HIT), as well as resistance training (weightlifting). While the team discovered a minor response after HIT there was no response at all after the resistance training. So HIT will have a small impact on cognitive abilities, while weightlifting, it seems, will definitely not make you smarter. (The weightlifters have Arnold Schwarzenegger in their camp. Runners have the mathematical genius capable of running a marathon in 2 hours 46 minutes, Alan Turing, in theirs. As a committed distance runner, I’m saying nothing …)</p>
<h2>Brain’s Miracle-Gro</h2>
<p>Since the <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0006899396002739">1990s</a>, it has been understood that exercise also assists in learning because the activity produces a protein called <a href="https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain-derived_neurotrophic_factor#Function">brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)</a>. BDNF promotes the growth of new neurons and supports existing ones. <a href="http://johnratey.typepad.com/blog/2008/03/miracle-gro-for.html">John Ratey</a>, a Harvard professor of psychiatry, called it “Miracle-Gro for the brain”. </p>
<p>The Cell Metabolism study examined Cathepsin B (CTSB) protein secretion during running. By assisting in the expression of BDNF, this protein had beneficial effects on cognition, specifically enhanced adult brain cell growth in the hippocampus and spatial memory function.</p>
<p>The science is just settling into its pace and I am sure that in the next few years more and more research will appear to make sense of our deep love for this most simple and natural form of exercise. But there’s still that question: why does the body need to reward us with greater cognitive function and more effective spatial memory and awareness just because we run?</p>
<p>I think the answer is to be found in natural selection. We have not evolved to be healthy, or to have a nice experience on this earth. Evolution is only really interested in the human body staying alive long enough to procreate. From that point on, natural selection is more or less disinterested in our well-being. When we look at these cognitive rewards in this way what do they tell us about ourselves and the human body?</p>
<h2>Outrunning your knowledge</h2>
<p>The human body has been around for about 2m years, and only in the last few thousand of these have we become literate – map-makers that can walk, make notes, and record journeys. For most of our history we have not had the technology that allows us to outsource this heavy cognitive work to a piece of paper, or a GPS.</p>
<p>As a child, the 19th-century poet, John Clare, desired to walk to the edge of the horizon to find new worlds beyond. He wanted, he said, to walk all the way <a href="http://bit.ly/28RfGhD">out of his knowledge</a>. I think that what these discoveries about running and improving cognitive abilities tell us is that the hunter-gatherers of prehistory had to have the ability to outrun theirs. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128499/original/image-20160628-7832-pnk4p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/128499/original/image-20160628-7832-pnk4p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128499/original/image-20160628-7832-pnk4p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128499/original/image-20160628-7832-pnk4p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=734&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128499/original/image-20160628-7832-pnk4p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128499/original/image-20160628-7832-pnk4p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/128499/original/image-20160628-7832-pnk4p9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=922&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">John Clare outwalked his knowledge.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/John_Clare.jpg">Wikimedia</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The many tweaks to the human body that make it possible for us to run for 10km on a hot day (standing on two feet, with the ability to sweat to keep cool) mean that even though we are slow in a sprint, we can chase down almost any animal on the planet to the point of exhaustion over longer distances. This is called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persistence_hunting">persistence hunting</a>, and it was a risky activity because it required hunters to leave behind the places they knew in the determined pursuit of prey. With no map-making technologies, the navigational skills of the brain had to step up and do all the work. So those people who adapted this brain cell growth response to distance running were more likely to find their way back to their tribe, and consequently, to survive.</p>
<p>The growth of new brain cells in the hippocampus and the enhancement of spatial memory that is brought on by endurance running is basically an evolutionary safety net for when you have outrun your knowledge, when you have run so far that you no longer know where you are and you need to learn, fast. It is a mechanism that makes information uptake easiest when historically you might have been tired, lost, and at your most vulnerable.</p>
<p>So lace up, step out the door, and prepare yourself for the rewards of an out of knowledge experience.</p>
<p><em>Correction: The original version of this article said that Alan Turing could run a marathon in “2.4 hours”. It has now been corrected to: “2 hours 46 minutes”.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/61454/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vybarr Cregan-Reid receives funding from The Arts Council. He is the author of 'Footnotes: how running makes us human' published by Ebury.</span></em></p>
Running causes new brain cells to grow. But why does this happen? What is the evolutionary advantage?
Vybarr Cregan-Reid, Author of 'Footnotes: How Running Makes us Human' (Ebury, 2016) & Reader in Nineteenth-Century Studies at the the University of Kent, University of Kent
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/44302
2015-07-07T20:08:41Z
2015-07-07T20:08:41Z
Why do fans love Schwarzenegger? His terrible one-liners, of course
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87445/original/image-20150706-17506-1n3outq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Where does 'I'm old, not obsolete' fit into the Arnold Schwarzenegger pantheon of well-delivered cheese?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP Image/Yonhap News Agency</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been just over three decades since <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088247/?ref_=ttmi_tt">The Terminator</a> (1984), wherein Arnold Schwarzenegger first declared “I’ll be back”. In the latest chapter in the franchise, <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1340138/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Terminator: Genisys</a> (2015), he continues to make good on his promise. He’s back (again) – and he has a new catchphrase: “I’m old, not obsolete.” Not his most menacing one-liner, is it? Even Bill Shorten could do better! Doesn’t it sound a little pathetic, even laughable? </p>
<p>But laughable, ridiculous one-liners have always been part of Schwarzenegger’s Hollywood career. He came to prominence as a prolific world champion in bodybuilding. His impressive physique was his ticket to stardom. </p>
<p>It landed him his first big role as <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0816462/?ref_=nv_sr_1">Conan the Barbarian</a> in 1982 and then as the Terminator two years later. Schwarzenegger was one of several muscle-bound action stars to emerge in the 1980s. The dominant physical profile of the action hero – tall, slim figures of grizzled masculinity such as Clint Eastwood or John Wayne – gave way in the 80s and early 90s to a more muscular frame. </p>
<p>Film scholar Susan Jeffords – in her 1994 book Hard Bodies: Hollywood Masculinity in the Reagan Era – <a href="https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Hard_Bodies.html?id=7nERHha7TZUC&source=kp_cover&hl=en">links the emergence</a> of these “hard bodies” to the socio-cultural climate of the time. The Reagan presidency, American ascendancy in the wake of the crumbling USSR, the reputed weakness of the previous Carter administration and popular obsession with fitness all contributed to Hollywood heroes transitioning into big, muscular metaphors for a reinvigorated United States. </p>
<p>While his bodybuilder’s physique was important for embodying larger than life, “All-American” action heroes, what made Schwarzenegger distinctive was his peculiar vocal performances in those roles. American action films often employ the wisecrack, the one-liner, or the pun after dispatching an enemy in a particularly creative way. But the vocalisations are invariably performed with an American accent, delivered with the confidence and fidelity of a native English speaker. </p>
<p>Where do we place Schwarzenegger in this tradition? Film and Women’s Studies scholar Chris Holmlund – in her book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Impossible-Bodies-Femininity-Masculinity-Comedia/dp/0415185769">Impossible Bodies: Femininity and Masculinity at the Movies</a> (2002) – suggests Arnie’s accent ensures a perception of “foreign ethnicity” that “is a plus in a country where, for the first time since 1930, one in ten people is now foreign born”. But one wonders whether this can fully account for Schwarzenegger’s mass appeal, particularly outside of the United States.</p>
<p>His heavily-accented delivery of snappy, pun-filled dialogue is often not quite right, just a little askew. The cadence or the inflection is frequently off. This, coupled with his generally low register, constantly reminds us we are watching Schwarzenegger rather than the character he is supposed to be playing. </p>
<p>This paradoxical demand to be the quintessential American hero while sounding “less American” than any of the other contenders is part of what endears him to his fans. It’s a sort of unintentional subversion of the Hollywood action hero. This appreciation for that artificiality is especially evident on the internet, where Arnold’s cumbersome vocal performances can be enjoyed with a kind of camp appreciation.</p>
<p>To be clear, camp, first popularised in Susan Sontag’s essay <a href="http://faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Sontag-NotesOnCamp-1964.html">Notes on Camp</a> (1964), is a term that suggests an ironic devotion to heightened, over-the-top style or artificial emotion – cultural product that is just “too much” or excessive, not measured or austere or subtle.</p>
<p>It has historically been associated with pop cultural icons adored by gay men (think Judy Garland), but the internet has enabled camp to become a far more common way of approaching culture. Many <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-are-memes-20789">memes</a>, quizzes, listicles, and “content” encourage an ironic perspective on celebrity and pop culture that’s awfully close to camp. Perhaps because of the association with homosexuality, camp has rarely been applied to action film, a notoriously heteronormative genre. But Schwarzenegger’s films tick all the boxes: over-the-top, heightened and artificial emotion, “style” over substance. So it’s no wonder this sensibility carries over into <a href="http://www.thearnoldfans.com/">fandoms online</a>.</p>
<p>Online fan activities that engage with Schwarzenegger’s vocal performances can be grouped into two broad tendencies: imitation and reiteration. Imitation is obvious enough. People on YouTube, and other platforms that allow recording, produce their impersonations of Arnold. There are even tutorials on “how to do Arnold”:</p>
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<p>Reiteration is where most of my research has been focused, and includes video montages of Schwarzenegger’s <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDxn0Xfqkgw">greatest quotes</a> as well as soundboard pranks. These are prank calls that are made using a selection of voice clips recorded from movies onto what is known as a soundboard, which the prankster uses to interact with a victim on the other end of the phone line. </p>
<p>These soundboard pranks are accompanied by a montage of images from Schwarzenegger’s films and other media stills, usually with him pulling an amusing facial expression or looking ridiculous: </p>
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<p>Much of the “comedy” of these pranks derives from taking Schwarzenegger’s dialogue out of its cinematic context and re-purposing it to bizarre ends. These pranksters find a kind of nefarious joy in subjecting people on the other side of the phone to the strange directions Arnold’s recorded responses can take the conversation. </p>
<p>Another practice that can produce strange results is the phenomenon of Arnold-themed Twitter accounts. One of the most interesting was an <a href="https://twitter.com/111001001101010">automated tweet bot</a> from a few years ago that scanned all of Twitter for account names that began with or included “Sarah Conner” or some similar variation. </p>
<p>The entire Twitter feed of this account was the bot simply asking every one of these accounts “Sarah Conner?”, referencing the first Terminator film where Schwarzenegger’s character goes to the house of every Sarah Conner in the phonebook and executes each woman after asking for them by name.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87431/original/image-20150706-17490-1qsxfyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/87431/original/image-20150706-17490-1qsxfyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87431/original/image-20150706-17490-1qsxfyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87431/original/image-20150706-17490-1qsxfyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=513&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87431/original/image-20150706-17490-1qsxfyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87431/original/image-20150706-17490-1qsxfyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/87431/original/image-20150706-17490-1qsxfyd.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=644&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Twitter.</span>
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<p>In his book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/219853.Textual_Poachers">Texual Poachers: Television Fans and Participatory Culture</a> (1992), American media scholar Henry Jenkins described this kind of behaviour as"<a href="http://fantexts.blogspot.com.au/2010/06/what-is-textual-poaching.html">textual poaching</a>.“ Fans appropriate aspects of their favoured texts and will redeploy them in various interesting ways. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s online fans have his prolific filmography to play with, but seem especially preoccupied with textually poaching aspects of his vocal performance.</p>
<p>This would seem to suggest that for most fans of Arnie, and despite much commentary focused on his "hard body,” his voice is paramount. For many of his fans, it doesn’t seem to matter how old and obsolete his once fantastic body becomes. He’ll be appreciated and celebrated as long as he can say things like “I’ll be back,” or <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzJpfUZ2Jp4">my personal favourite</a>, from <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088944/?ref_=ttqt_qt_tt">Commando</a> (1985): </p>
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<p>I eat Green Berets for breakfast and right now I’m VERY hungry.</p>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Sini does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
While his bodybuilder’s physique was important for embodying larger than life, “All-American” action heroes, what makes Schwarzenegger distinctive is his peculiar vocal performances in these roles.
Matthew Sini, Lecturer in Media and Communications, The University of Melbourne
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.