Rick Santorum was in Akron yesterday, pitching himself like McDonalds pitches a new Big Mac deal. He talked about how voting for him would be a welcome change for the country who has "suffered" under the arms of President Obama. Rick talked about his faith, and how we need someone who will not fall under special interests pursuits back in the White House. While supporting big business regarding the right to fracture land (which did cause an earthquake in Youngstown recently), he stated that letting business go freely without any responsibility or minor regulation encourages self-sufficiency. Of course, the event was very populist-oriented- to get in you had to pay 50 bucks a plate. The event was also meet with protestors who disagree with Santorum's views on civil rights for GLBT Americans, as well as people selling another candidate, Ron Paul, on the side. While one only has to look at his voting record and his audience to determine how populist he really is, there is a bigger issue at hand. If elected, how well would he represent his constituency? His constituency being every single American be they rich or poor, black or white, employed or unemployed. Our political culture today is very fractured, and while the author will not make a political statement one way or the other, one only has to look back at a time when politics were very fractured and representatives preferred the distance from their constituency. A film that best reflects this is 1967's Marat/Sade.
Based on the 1965 play by Peter Weiss and directed by Peter Brook, the film stars the original cast from the play: Patrick Magee, Ian Richardson, Michael Williams, Clifford Rose, Glenda Jackson, and Freddie Jones. The film is set in the Charenton Asylum in post-French Revolution France, now called l'Hopital Esquirol. The play is directed by the Marquis de Sade(Magee), and the cast is made up of insane asylum inmates. Watching the performance, is Coulimer(Rose), the rich hospital director, with his wife and daughter. The play within the play is about the assassination of Jean-Paul Marat(Richardson), a revolutionary writer, by Charlotte Corday(Jackson). The inmates flesh out the characters they play and the time of which they played wonderfully. The characters fleshed out talk about what drove the country to revolution based on the neglect of the ruling class and the government that represents them. Coulimer is surprised when these inmate-characters say something off the lines they memorized, like lines that were repressed by him as they do not hold his patriotic views, or even going into their own opinions on what occurred themselves. As a lower class, no matter their mental illness, it is suffice to say that they are not pleased with how it all came out. Will the play within the play be told to fruition? Will Coulimer censor these unpatriotic thoughts that don't confirm his views? How will the Marquis de Sade handle these side interpretations of what is going on? Watch the film and find out.
Politics is very theatrical, especially in our own country. Today, our political culture is very fractured indeed, even though issues previously undiscussed are now being discussed at the forefront through Occupy, much to the discretion of Tea Party politicians, like Santorum, who prefers the privileged distance from his constituents. We do not need a violent revolution to fix our countries's problems, but we do need our politicians to not be so distant and superficial in their rhetoric relating to us, especially if they don't care and want to correct our thinking with a shallow reassurance. We don't want the changes made to our own political culture to be anywhere near the violence of the French Revolution. Everybody's voice deserves to be heard and considered in making policies and representing the interests of the constituency at large, and not those who can pay 50 bucks for dinner and offer loads of money to support the campaign. This is America, and everyone's voice deserves to be heard no matter their income level and be considered as valuable. Rick Santorum may have said relatable words to a crowd yesterday, but not counting racist and classist underscoring tones, does he really relate to us, or is he a Coulimer in disguise? That is your choice to make.
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