[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
Humor Title: ‘The Young Pope’ Is A Surreal Watch In The Age Of Trump The Young Pope Is A Surreal Watch In The Age Of Trump By Kayla Cobb @kaylcobb Jan 20, 2017 A man was elected. A man was elected into one of the highest offices in the modern world and given complete control, but not because he was proven to be the best for this position. No, this inexperienced man was elected because the powers that be for this society were so obsessed with manipulating votes to ensure certain people wouldnt be elected, they let him slip by. This man was elected because of compromise. A man, who has little patience or respect for tradition, was given complete control by a society that has no idea what he will do with said power. A man was elected. Thats the plot of Paolo Sorrentinos miniseries, The Young Pope. Im not the first critic to say this and I certainly wont be the last: The Young Pope is eerily similar to the election of Donald Trump. One of the questions asked during the shows panel at the TCA Winter Tour was how Jude Laws Pope Pius XIII compared to other figures, including Tyler Oakley, Marcus Aurelius, St. Francis, the Dalai Lama, Damien, and Donald Trump. (Law noted that the difference between his character and the others is that hes not a liar.) Vultures Jen Chaney recently published a thoroughly detailed, point-by-point analysis, comparing Trumps campaign, path to the White House, and statements to that of HBOs young pope, Lenny. Even if you dont want to see them, the connections are overwhelmingly there. As Chaney notes in her article, many shows and movies from this point forward are going to inevitably be tied to the Trump administration. Thats a given considering Hollywoods outspoken disapproval of the now-president (If you need proof of that, turn to any awards show). However, The Young Pope is not a show thats consciously tied to Trump or even Brexit. The series premiered in Italy on October 21, 2016, weeks before the U.S. election, and the beautifully scripted series was created between 2014 and 2016. The Young Pope is not about Trump in any way, and claiming that it is is reductive to a complicated series that explores the politics of the Catholic church, religion, and the complications that accompany being human. My colleague, Meghan OKeefe, has been watching the series through a Catholic lens and has such come to completely different conclusions than I have. But, to me, this is a series about the unexpected overthrow of an established and powerful system by a wildcard. Few things feel more Trumpian right now than that. I wont lie. Watching Lenny brush away tradition every episode to do whatever he wants is highly entertaining. Through its established and almost expected beats, the first five episodes of the series (which have been released to critics) almost watch like a laughless sitcom: Every episode Lenny wants to do something. The Church opposes it. Lenny does it anyway. Everyone begrudgingly moves on. Its a great dynamic I dont think Ill ever tire of watching. However, when youre in the middle of this new world instead of binging it, its far less amusing. Its not the particulars that bind Lenny and Trump but their larger stories. A consistent theme throughout The Young Pope is that no one knows what the Popes going to do. Lennys rise to power involves several members of the Church who were fearful of a too-conservative leader. As a result, they elected a man whom they knew next to nothing about. Lenny doesnt have the rallies surrounding him that Trump did during his campaign, but for anyone who watched the 2016 presidential campaign, its next to impossible to argue that Trump was the Republican partys most comfortable pick. And then theres the upheaval of tradition. Much like how Lenny has embraced smoking in the church and insists of keeping his face hidden, so too has Trump done away with several practices we as a society have honored for so long they are practically considered law. Trumps treatment of the press and intensely antagonistic social media presence are certainly departures from tradition. We have yet to see Trumps tax returns. So what can we take away from this reading of The Young Pope? Its far too early to say. Were far from the series finale, and Season 2 is already in production, which means theres more papal drama in our futures. Whos to say whether Lennys untraditional methods destroy a sacred institution or give it the modern wake up call it needed? Its looking to be more like the former than the latter, but theres still time, and I still have hope. However, it is bizarre that so many clear parallels can be made between a fictional pope who has claimed he doesnt believe in God and the new president of the United States Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest
#1. To: tpaine (#0)
Oh horror of horrors. As long as they are legal, they are none of my business.
Oh horror of horrors. As long as they are legal, they are none of my business. We agree... Trump is doing a great job of shaking up the establishment. Now if he can only shake up Congress, and get some real work done. --- I'm not gonna hold my breath tho...
have you never heard that congress is the opposite of progress?
Have you ever had an original thought?
let me see where did I leave that, ah, there it is
|
[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Mail] [Sign-in] [Setup] [Help] [Register]
|