At the movies with Hillary
John Everett
Issue date: 4/3/08 Section: Viewpoint
One of the worst things to happen to television in recent times, perhaps only surpassed in atrocity by "The Hills," is the trend of cable networks straying from their stated purpose. TV Land is supposed to show episodes of classic television series, but good luck finding Happy Days or The Dick Van Dyke Show. Instead, they've got a bunch of people who graduated high school together 20 years ago in the same house. Indeed it seems sometimes that C-SPAN is perhaps the last channel left resisting this ignoble trend, although I hear if you want to see the really good legislation, you have to go to C-SPAN 2.
The worst offender is American Movie Classics. Their level of complicity is so disturbing because by including the word "classic" in their name they imply that anything they air has attained the level of classic, when in fact I once stumbled upon Catwoman, the 2004 Halle Berry vehicle, on the network. Now, I have no problem with that movie being shown on television, but isn't there a Starz: Reputation-Wrecking Performances Channel where they could show such films?
For every Catwoman that AMC shows there is a much better movie they could be showing in its place, something that might in some circles be considered, you know, a classic. The result is that the public becomes less conversant on classic film, a problem recently encountered by the real subject of this column, Hillary Clinton.
Recently, the former First Lady, and also former prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination for president, began comparing herself to ultimate underdog Rocky Balboa in a remarkably condescending appeal to Pennsylvania voters in advance of the state's April 22 primary. Mrs. Clinton's belief that the voters of Pennsylvania are stupid enough to buy the comparison shall be left to other writers. What I am interested in is the fact that, due to the negligence of AMC, not one person on the Clinton campaign staff has ever seen the Best Picture winner from 1976.
The worst offender is American Movie Classics. Their level of complicity is so disturbing because by including the word "classic" in their name they imply that anything they air has attained the level of classic, when in fact I once stumbled upon Catwoman, the 2004 Halle Berry vehicle, on the network. Now, I have no problem with that movie being shown on television, but isn't there a Starz: Reputation-Wrecking Performances Channel where they could show such films?
For every Catwoman that AMC shows there is a much better movie they could be showing in its place, something that might in some circles be considered, you know, a classic. The result is that the public becomes less conversant on classic film, a problem recently encountered by the real subject of this column, Hillary Clinton.
Recently, the former First Lady, and also former prohibitive favorite for the Democratic nomination for president, began comparing herself to ultimate underdog Rocky Balboa in a remarkably condescending appeal to Pennsylvania voters in advance of the state's April 22 primary. Mrs. Clinton's belief that the voters of Pennsylvania are stupid enough to buy the comparison shall be left to other writers. What I am interested in is the fact that, due to the negligence of AMC, not one person on the Clinton campaign staff has ever seen the Best Picture winner from 1976.