Washblog

But the reviews were strong and I'm always intrigued by anything the British Channel 4 network produces, so off I went.

What you'll find, to keep it simple, is a quiet film that approaches the assassination of George W. Bush on October 19th, 2007, and its aftermath, from the point of view of those that are handmaidens to those in power - the Secret Service, Bush's personal staff, the FBI - that can't, at heart, accept the incident and its repercussions.  They believe in the institutions of power that they represent, and the intensity of the challenge to them, by both the demonstrators in Chicago and, eventually, by the assassin, is something that, at heart, they fear deeply.  

The other thing that you'll find is that it displays the real battle we all face today in a specific example - that of blind certainty versus evidence-based conclusions.

An example...late in my undergraduate days, my campus church was given some new Bible study materials, and they wanted a guinea pig group.  I and a couple of friends from church signed up to see what it was all about, and among the group was a new student to the campus, just entering graduate school.  The material seemed a level too low for us - perfect for high school, but not for college-age kids.  One example that sticks in my mind is a set of drawing-based questions to put to the study group, of which one was a person skating blissfully over a pond with a "Thin Ice" sign.  I forget now which book was being discussed for the study lesson, but what I clearly remember was that all of the group, except for the graduate student, saw the image as an example of not "testing" God.  The graduate student, however, was convinced it meant that the skater's faith in God would protect them even in dangerous situations.  And it became clear, over time, that she felt that she and those she cared about could do whatever they wanted and were protected by God himself, that it would be made clear over time that they had done the correct thing, even if it was self-serving.

Death of a President ends ambiguously, leaving the viewer to decide what happened that night.  If you check the user ratings in detail for the movie at the Internet Movie Database, almost 20% give it the lowest rating possible.  While I'm certain many gave it a black mark because the movie is about the potential assassination of a sitting President, I would not be surprised if, once you had some discussions with most of these people, what angered them most was the ambiguous ending, because it wouldn't allow them to simply accept what they wanted to be true, rather than to review the evidence and try to figure out what really happened.

And this is why so many of us are in the fight of our lives.  Because we are fighting not the Republican Party, not people with wealth and power, but blind certainty.  

Blind certainty that only through war with Iraq can terrorism, which increasingly shares the same meaning in their eyes as the word "Islam", be contained.

Blind certainty that a free hand to the rich and powerful will eventually lead to a better life for the rest of us - the ones who matter, at any rate.

Blind certainty that abstinence, and only abstinence, is a valid form of birth control.

Blind certainty that less restrictions from the Constitution, the courts and the Congress will result in a safer country.

Blind certainty that their fears trump the evidence in front of their eyes, and that time will prove the certainty of their convictions, no matter what reality puts in front of them.

Our fight, in effect, is to stop the constant forcing of round pegs into square holes, with tragic results.  And this movie scares those, very much, who want to continue the practice.

(Cross-posted at Daily Kos...)