In paying very close attention to this historic presidential primary battle and how it will wind down, a life-imitating-art moment occured. It was brought home in the differences between John McCain and Barack Obama, and the real drama of our general election. The fairly recent identification of the Clinton campaign to Rocky Balboa had me thinking of pop-culture characters where our candidates were concerned, but it suddenly came to me that we were being directed to think about the wrong characters and the wrong movie.
While it was swell for Hillary to think of herself as the fighter who never gives up, and we were all busy reminding each other that Hillary/Syllvester loses in the end, the real problem is that Hillary not only missed the more applicable story line - she isn't even in the movie. The screenplay we will have playing out before us is not Rocky, it is Crimson Tide.
The characters are so clear. John McCain is the grizzled, staunch, old school, experienced commander (Gene Hackman) who in light of his cold-war training takes having his finger on the button very seriously. Unfortunately he is more inclined to take that mission to its logical conclusion - at some point you have to push the button. Barack Obama, however, is the Harvard educated, bright, clear thinking, philosophical younger officer of conscience (Denzel Washington) who refuses to react out of fear. His education informs the kind of decisions he makes, and the seriousness with which he dispatches his responsibilities is always tempered with a global perspective. It is the idea that unintended consequences are not situations that you fall victim to, if you are willing to think it through, if you are willing to apply what you have learned.
I have always liked this movie, and I think I would still find it pertinent even if Obama didn't have the obvious attributes and star qualities of an actor like Denzel. Certainly the casting of Hackman is a stretch for McCain, but I'm quite sure he sees himself this way. Even the temper has some scary elements of type-casting.
The story itself is the real parrallel. Iran is the myriad of Russian targets that we know (as observers) should not be hit. McCain has his finger on the button, and due to his vast experience, training, and hyper-vigilance is going to stop at nothing to let those bombs fly. It is a necessary part of his job, and by God he has the guts to do what he must. No one can dissuade him from his terrible duty. To do anything else would be to back down and risk failure, loss, or surrender.
Obama is the last hope we have of the sane, methodical, cool-under-pressure commander who can see the ramifications of his actions, even though he has never faced a situation of this magnitude. Being able to see clearly in the middle of many agendas is what his education was about in the first place. One must be absolutely positive, beyond a shadow of a doubt, informed with the latest intelligence before one takes action. And, there is no such thing as nuclear war, only nuclear holocaust. Considering Obama's efforts on loose nukes, there is a scary suggestion of type casting here as well.
The more I think about it, the closer the story resonates. It is almost frightening how close. It is also strangely familiar that the older officer, in his vast myopic training, doesn't see that he has not actually faced this exact situation and threat either. That neither character has an advantage in terms of actual experience. That there is no training or personal background that truly prepares one for these types of decisions.
As McCain makes his case for his vast war experience being the deciding factor for the presidency, he leaves us vulnerable to the horrific results that are likely to unfold. He simply doesn't believe the inexperience of his younger protagonist has any value, and will spend all of his time fighting the younger man's credibility. Now that Iran is flirting with nuclear power the stakes are getting awfully high.
As Obama presents his arguments in a measured and cautious manner he is both praised and villified. Half of the people want to follow him, they believe in his decisions because it equals their own sense of right and wrong. Half of the people are prejudging him in the frightened state they have been worked up into in order to follow the antiquated dogma. He is the upstart, the legal mutineer who might change the way things are done forever. People mistake his thoughtfullness for calculation, they mistake his coolness for elitism, and they mistake the measured caution for inexperience. But this thoughfullness, coolness and deliberation is how he is going to approach some of the most dynamic and potentially disasterous crises we have seen since we acquired the ability to blow each other up.
I, for one, want the movie's ending. The old guy retires with commendation, and the young guy gets the command. We don't blow up, the world heaves a huge sigh of relief, and once and for all the rules are changed toward a more humane way of looking at conflict. The battle between young and old is not seen as the end, but as the beginning of what is more informed, more palpable, and quite frankly, more conscious.