We have children in cages. We have concentration camps. We will soon have our government gutting Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Welfare, food stamps, and other forms of public aid will now have work requirements, which for the most part defeat the entire purpose of those programs. Should I even mention the thinly veiled racism that seems to exude from nearly every important individual who works at the White House?
While all of this chaos is taking place within our government, quite a different kind of chaos is happening in the microcosm of the common man. Supporting President Trump can get you blocked on social media. Speaking out against Trump can get you blocked, for that matter. It seems pretty petty at first, but we live in a world where your stated views or actions can affect you in a perilous way. For the most part this has been a good thing. Just look at the fall of Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey, both over gross sexual misconduct. It’s even gotten to the point where well-known political views can get you thrown out of a restaurant or bar, a la Sarah Huckabee Sanders getting a taste of her own medicine. This current attitude has without a doubt already affected the entertainment industry. Mel Gibson’s films have certainly suffered at the box office, over racist statements straight out of his own mouth. Countless conservatives are now boycotting the work of Robert De Niro over his quite simple “Fuck Trump!” speech at the Tony Awards. Kevin Spacey’s career is pretty much over. Now we have David Lynch calling Trump “one of the greatest Presidents in history.” Let me be perfectly clear on this; He didn’t REALLY call Trump one of the greatest presidents in history.
Merely a few days ago, The Guardian published an interview with the bizarre and beloved director that took place in his own studio behind his three houses in Hollywood Hills. Any interview at all with the man is as entertaining as it is enlightening and strangely informative. The way he lives his life and how he views the world inform us of his creative process in ways that he never directly ever will. Even the most mundane things come alive when spoken from his mouth. If Lynch had a YouTube video about how he ties his shoes, you know I would have to watch it, and it might even be life-changing, if only in a microscopic kinda way. Upon given the opportunity to interview the guy, I likely would’ve left politics completely off the table, yet here it does present itself. Lynch’s views regarding the Trump Presidency are interesting to say the least.
“He could go down as one of the greatest presidents in history because he has disrupted the thing so much. No one is able to counter this guy in an intelligent way.”
“Our so-called leaders can’t take the country forward, can’t get anything done. Like children, they are. Trump has shown all this.”
(Sounds like Yoda, he does.)
He’s right. Our leaders can’t truly take our country forward. The Obama presidency has proven this. Here we had a nearly perfect candidate who really strived for change, only to be undermined by a Congress that refused to agree on nearly everything on the floor. In many ways, the Obama presidency was successful and did change a great many things. The reality is that Obama tried to make change, legally, within the system, and the system for the most part utterly refused to work. Meanwhile, liberals everywhere were going, “Where’s all this change that was supposed to happen!?” Did I want Obama to bypass Congress and give more executive orders, as controversial as they may have been? Of course I did. Did I want Obama to be more aggressive about things and call out his political oppositions more than he actually did? Of course. And there was a shit-ton of obvious racism among just about half of Congress at the time that would’ve been extremely cathartic to liberals if Obama only would’ve pointed his finger at it and called it out like a complete badass, but he didn’t. It wasn’t his style. It wasn’t his modus operandi. For better or worse, he was “nice.”
Now we have a president who DOES call people out. He DOES point his finger. He DOES do things his own way, bypassing whatever he feels the need to bypass. Unfortunately, it’s the WRONG guy! I can’t stand Trump. I can’t stand his policies. I can’t stand his racism. Yet our leaders, to a certain extent, ARE like children, CAN’T get anything done, and Trump HAS shown us this. The fact that this possible sociopath even got elected in the first place SHOWS US THAT.
The former part of the statement is quite a different story. While Lynch’s opinion about Trump possibly being one of the greatest presidents in history comes across as a “for all I know” statement, he CERTAINLY has had several individuals counter him in intelligent ways. Or have we? Think about it. Nearly every time someone counters Trump, it involves some kind of insult or derogatory name. “Orange Face.” “Oompa Loompa.” We just can’t stop insulting the guy. Can we not engage him in a reasonable way? While he probably deserves it, aren’t we stooping to his level in the process? To communicate to someone in an intelligent way involves respect, even if the person doesn’t deserve any — in some cases, ESPECIALLY if they don’t deserve it. When we point our finger, when we call him out we don’t need to add that extra oomph of insult. We don’t need that goofy meme that only tells us things that we already know. We’re smarter than that, and we need conservatives to KNOW that we’re smarter than that. Aren’t you tired of being called a “libtard?” I know I am.
I’ve seen the comments on Facebook. Some fans are already through with David Lynch, merely based on these few sentences about the current and controversial POTUS, even to the point where a possible Season Four of TWIN PEAKS no longer means anything at all to them. Don’t boycott David Lynch and his work. It’s simply not worth it. If we can learn from his films, from his art, from his music, and even from merely his interviews, then why can’t we learn from these recent statements? I know I have.
[Please be aware: Daily Grindhouse opinion pieces do not necessarily reflect the views of the Daily Grindhouse staff, editorial department, or ownership, but we firmly believe in open expression and the right of our contributors to state their personal perspective. So there.]
Tags: David Lynch, Opinions
How is Trump racist?