subject: DVD rental for politicians [print this page] DVD rental for politicians DVD rental for politicians
If there's one thing that a politician fears, although there's obviously far more than just one thing, it's being shown to be out of touch with the electorate.
Films are the medium of the people so why do we know so much less about the favourite films of those in power than we do of their summer reading lists or the music on their ipods.
Perhaps it's partly because books are seen as more intellectual - and far more likely to be featured in the pages of the broadsheets - and music is seen as such as basic that is hardly counts as a time waster at all.
Taking a few hours out of running the country to watch a film is more of a commitment than taking three minutes to listen to a rage against the machine song or five.
Still, it's fair to say that it might be worth politicians remedying that a little with a DVD rental subscription, especially since films can be so relevant politically.
Obama has said that his favourite films are Lawrence of Arabia and Casablanca.
Interesting choices (although Casablanca is always a pretty safe bet) since neither are set in the US.
Lawrence of Arabia is of course based on the life of T.E Lawrence the famous orientalist writer and general who presided over the British in the Middle East during the period of the Arab revolt.
Without Lawrence of Arabia and others like him, the kingdom of Iraq as it stands now wouldn't exist. Perhaps the president was hoping that he would be equally influential.
He might also be well-advised to watch film versions of real events such as 'the road to guantanamo' or documentaries such as 'Iraq In Fragments'.
The latter saw American director James Longley film in Iraq over three years to show a picture of the war-torn country through the eyes of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds.
The film won Best Director, Best Cinematography and Best Editing awards at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival for a glimpse of the Iraq that doesn't appear in the mass media.
Having said all this, it's unlikely that an electorate would respond so well to a game rental subscription.
Politicians would be well advised to go with a site that rents both films and games to keep their dirty gaming habit under wraps.
They could still take advantage of the DVD rental free trials, though.
