With
Michael Moore’s latest film Fahrenheit 911 picking
up the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and poised to
take moviegoers by storm this summer, many are speculating that
the anti-Bush film could very well have a tremendous effect on the
upcoming Presidential election. But can something as seemingly trivial
as a movie actually sway the voting public? A quick look at history
shows it can.
1996
After eating up the summer blockbuster Independence Day
like so much butter-drenched popcorn, Americans enter the voting
booths in November with one question in mind: Which candidate will
best protect us from an inevitable alien attack? When Bob Dole proposed
his infamous laser-proof Ameri-dome©, Bill Clinton countered
by promising to appoint Will Smith to the office of Secretary of
Defense if elected. Voters were torn and it looked as if the election
would be a dead-heat until photos of Dole gleefully playing backgammon
with an alien began circulating. Clinton would in by a landslide,
but when Will Smith was killed in a grizzly juggling accident, the
President-elect was unable to keep his campaign promise.
1988
There was no hotter a hot-button issue in the 1988 Presidential
election than “bigging.” Brought on by Penny Marshall’s
lighthearted film Big, a debate had begun to rage throughout
the country. Many felt that it was a child’s inherent right
to become an adult overnight as the result of making a wish on a
magical carnival contraption. However, there were others who equated
the practice of bigging with playing god, citing passages from the
Bible to back up their argument, specifically Leviticus 27:19 which
declares, “No boy shall pray upon a false idol to awake grown,
nor shall any father and son use magic relics or serums to switch
brains. Though results are hilariously madcap, it is an abomination.”
George H.W. Bush came out strongly against bigging, while Michael
Dukakis was a firm supporter of a child’s right to wish. So
great was their level of disagreement that an October debate ended
in fisticuffs. Voters were so turned off by the childish behavior
that they sought out a candidate outside the two-party system. One
month later, Manute Bol was elected President of the United States.
1980
Underdog Ronald Reagan surged ahead at the last minute, claiming
a landslide victory over incumbent President Jimmy Carter after
the former California governor secured an endorsement from Chewbacca.
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