Election

I have wanted to watch this movie for a long time and I had tried once or twice before the pedophilia always stopped me. Not today.

Today I decided to paint my nails during the movie, essentially forcing myself to sit throughout. I’m glad I did but I can’t say I liked this movie and don’t really understand why any of you like it. What are you getting from it?

If you haven’t seen or it has been a while, this story follows a high school student body election where Reese Witherspoon is a kind of uptight overachiever, Matthew Broderick is a lonely teacher, Chris Klein is the original himbo, and other people are also there.

Tracy is the only one running for student body president but after Matthew Broderick plants the seed, Chris Klein decides to run. His sister Tammy (Jessica Campbell) also decides to run after her best friend/girlfriend Lisa (Frankie Ingrassia) leaves her for her brother and they start dating.

Tracy accidentally pulls down her big poster and then in a fit of rage pulls down all the other campaign posters and hides them in a dumpster. Tammy sees her and takes the blame, it’s kind of unclear why. She doesn’t care about this position at all and gives a speech the main point of which is, “Who cares?” and “Don’t vote.” This angers the faculty who feel like she’s making a mockery of the process and them, and decide to suspend her for three days and kick her out of the campaign. She loves this.

Now it’s just down to Tracy and Paul and when they go to vote he says it doesn’t feel right voting for yourself so he votes for Tracy. During the independent count, Tracy wins by one vote. Matthew Broderick is mad and throws away two votes and declares Paul the winner, which they announce to the school.

Later they find the ballots in his trashcan and he is fired and moves away. His wife is also divorcing him because he slept with his neighbor, who’s single because her husband who also worked at the school was caught having an inappropriate relationship with Tracy.

The end of the movie is one year later and Matthew Broderick has moved to New York and works at the Museum of Natural History and is dating a woman there, Paul is in college at a frat that he loves, Tammy got sent to Catholic school and met her girlfriend Jennifer, and Tracy went to Georgetown where she didn’t have friends and is now working for a Republican congressman. Matthew sees her and throws his soda at the limo, then runs away. We later see a little girl in his tour group raise her hand to answer a question and him not call on her.

So, lots of things I didn’t like. First, obviously, the depiction of the teacher having sex with a student as a ‘relationship’ and not grooming-the principal shows a note Tracy’s mother found that he wrote her asking her to go to Maui and asks, “Did you cross a line with this student?” clearly implying if they’ve had sex or been physical but writing a note asking a female student to go on vacation with you was already crossing the line!

To me it was interesting that Matthew Broderick’s character had so much vitriol and dislike for Tracy but they seemed pretty similar. Passionate about what they think is right but lonely and alienated from meaningful relationships and connections.

It seems like Tracy is painted as a villain but she didn’t do anything wrong, she worked hard and got something and valued the wrong stuff but a lot of people are like that. They care about the job they get and their successes more than the community they have. She seems very capitalist to me which is why I’m not surprised she was so successful throughout.

Matthew Broderick seemed like a misogynist, why was he so upset that she win and get stuff? It seemed like he blamed her for his friend having a sexual relationship with her and divorcing his wife and having to move in with his parents but in what world is that the fault of the high schooler an adult man has sex with? I’m just very aware that this was based on a book a man wrote and I think it’s so common for men to see themselves as victims in these kinds of scenarios where they are clearly the person in the wrong.

And when he didn’t like any ambitious or smart little girls at the end? Weird, AND he fantasized about her while he was fucking his wife, which is disgusting I hope we can all agree? I think unfortunately the time where I could enjoy this movie passed, and if it had gotten in under the wire, like in the early 2000’s maybe I would like it like the rest of you but now it just seems like a weird movie about gross men.

I’m curious what Reese Witherspoon thinks about this movie now, and what she would say about this character.

Looking up reviews it seems like the reception/perception is that Reese Witherspoon’s character is manipulative and bad but what did she do that was wrong? She didn’t cheat that I can remember, he cheated! And who did she manipulate? She just puts out gum to get signatures and works hard. She’s annoying but she’s not wrong. Also was it funny? I’m seeing it be labeled a ‘dark comedy’ and ‘razor sharp’ and where was I? What was funny about it? Like actually what was one joke. I don’t remember and I just saw it.

I think I just didn’t like it. Jim (Matthew) hits on his best friend’s wife when he’s shopping with her then complains to his wife about her, then sleeps with her then when she tells his wife says she ruined his life- it’s comical how little self-awareness he has and how little accountability he takes. He is the villain! And I think people are like, “We’re not supposed to like him” but the movie is VERY sympathetic to him.

What healthy adult man has a feud with a teenage girl? It’s psychotic. I feel like depicting high schoolers as adversaries and sexual objects, it’s so diabolical and gross. Have you met a high schooler? They’re little and they don’t know anything. I mean, some of them are smart but their brains are still in the microwave and not finished cooking yet.

I think this movie disgusted me?? Lol. I think a lot of people’s response to some of what I’m saying will be, “It’s satire!!!!” But, why? Because someone said it is? Of what? Literally what is this satirizing, and in what way? According to dictionary.com, a reliable and trustworthy source it’s: the use of humor, irony, exaggeration or ridicule to expose and criticize people’s stupidity or vices, particularly in the context of contemporary politics and other topical issues. If it was a satire of politics he wouldn’t have been caught, and if it was a satire of high school she wouldn’t have won. I think satire is just something people say when they they don’t get why it’s bad and they like it but they do. “It’s a SATIRE.” This is like when people really liked Baby Cobra. God.

AND if you think it’s a satire, what is it saying? Ambition and morality seem to be the major themes up for discussion, and loneliness-what is the film saying about them that is satirical? Because it seems to be saying ‘have ambition’ and ‘morality is subjective’ which don’t feel like big departures from anything in politics, certainly not a criticism.

I also feel like the casting is doing a lot of heavy lifting for the movie, like people REALLY like that Matthew Broderick was Ferris Bueller, a cool fuck school type, and NOW he’s a COG in the MACHINE of school! Different from the other character he played!! Reese Witherspoon is undeniably good but maybe too good because some of you are attributing things to her that just aren’t there. Like manipulation? When? I think she’s just a little delusional and cares too much about stuff but all she does is make posters and bake cupcakes and cry.

The book this is based on is written by Tom Perrotta who also wrote Little Children (a good movie) but both deal with adults sexualizing children, interesting!

I just kind of hated it. Tammy’s character I liked, I liked that she was adopted and that only got one line. I liked the freeze frames.

I just think people thinking she’s manipulative or a villain, stems from the opinion that she ‘got’ the male teacher fired, and seeing it that way instead of that he was sexually abusing and grooming her and he got himself fired feels like a big crux of dissonance here. I think when this film came out that would have been majority public perception (and still now) but that is an impossible view for me to hold and I feel like you need to hold it to like the movie, because otherwise everyone seems stupid and wrong. Matthew Broderick becomes an adult man harassing a child who his friend abused who later cheats on his wife. And the bee sting, this physicalization of his downfall, it’s just too much.

The idea that she’s SO ambitious I also contend with-she doesn’t have any friends and wants to get into a good college. Her mom has put all her dreams for her life onto her. When she’s devastated and crying that she lost the election, the only thing that matters to her, her mom is like, “You should have done the things I said” and “Why didn’t you do this?” essentially blaming her and not comforting her at all. She’s a sad character.

It’s also annoying I keep seeing a lot of reviews that are like, “It’s about how far you will go to achieve success” but who does that? Tracy wants success but doesn’t do anything underhanded to get it, she rips the posters but out of frustration that she ripped hers down accidentally, it’s not calculated, and then she lies about it because she doesn’t want to get in trouble. That’s not some mastermind high IQ chess plan, that’s a dumb teenage mistake. And Jim throws away two ballots but that’s not for “success” he’s not even in the election, he just hates Tracy. Paul doesn’t care either way and Tammy doesn’t care either way. So who is this attributable to? I just don’t think people watched the same movie I did.

2.5/5 sticks of gum in a fishbowl, would never masturbate.