Sergei Eisenstein and the Republican dialectical montage

Thursday, September 9, 2010


This is the Michigan GOP’s new long-form ad "One Chance" attacking the Democrats with some unfortunate (if you want to be charitable about it) comments from the likes of Jennifer Granholm, Virg Bernero, and John Conyers. The Dems are intercut with devastating statistics and ruin porn over a bed of scary music. You’ll notice the music and cinematic style is eerily similar to Carly Fiorina’s FCINO epic (aka the one with the demon sheep) and Rick Snyder’s One Tough Nerd ad.

Before you re-cut "One Chance" with a Mystery Science Theatre 3000 commentary track, I need you put on a beret and uncomfortably tight hipster pants because this post is about to get a little highbrow. If you aren’t reading it on a MacBook (Safari browser, natch) then at least fortify yourself with an organic, fair trade double espresso before going any further. Just to be safe.

These Republican auteurs are producing nearly perfect examples of Soviet dialectic montage. For those of you who haven’t watched The Battleship Potemkin or read Hegel recently, Soviet dialectic montage is the “constructivist belief that factors composing the individual image can be considered as dynamic elements flung together in tense juxtaposition.”

The aesthetic smacks of two things Republicans often complain about: artsy-fartsy elitism and the communists. Seriously, what prompted the GOP to produce film school epics in the style of Sergei Eisenstein, godfather of Soviet cinema?

Maybe it’s all one big inside joke, or just unintentional irony. Or maybe, and without Glenn Beck’s chalkboard we can’t be totally sure, the Republican Party’s creative talent is controlled by secret communist agents. And they’re using Carly Fiorina and Rick Snyder to foment a worker’s revolution against the oppressive profit system! Can't...process...head…about...to...explode…

Nah, let’s just call it unintentional irony and move on.

Posted by Woodwards Friend at 9/09/2010 12:47:00 PM  

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