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But Hollywood may be the last place in America where the dream of a nonideological consensus survives, if only in the form of commercial anxiety about alienating potential ticket buyers. It would be impolitic of me to point out that, actually, you can. He serves up some pretty shocking stuff, boldly coming out in favor of environmental protection and improved education, while pointing out that politics is dominated by “special interests,” that Americans are sick of bitter partisanship, and that you can’t tell the two major parties apart anyway. Like Chris Rock’s character in the similar (and similarly disappointing) “Head of State,” Tom is meant to be honest and fearless, offering a welcome antidote to the usual timid, hypocritical candidate-speak.
#TIMES MAN OF THE YEAR FREE#
Tom’s shtick, however, is the familiar rapid-fire Robin Williams free association, more silly than stinging and more likely to titillate with sexual naughtiness than to provoke with topical insight. His name is frequently mentioned in the same breath as real-life models like Bill Maher and Jon Stewart. Its hero, Tom Dobbs (Robin Williams), is a comedian who is the host of a popular television talk show. “Man of the Year” wants to plant itself in the noise and fury of the present, but without raising any hackles.
#TIMES MAN OF THE YEAR MOVIE#
But that movie was made at a time - the late 1990’s - when its cynical paranoia could feel fresh and pointed rather than one more voice in a weary chorus.
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Levinson was responsible for “Wag the Dog,” a gratifyingly sharp and imaginative dissection of the media spectacle that often confuses itself with political reality. The status quo is usually safe from whatever arrows the movies aim in its direction, and it is hard to think of a movie less likely to incite discomfort than “Man of the Year.” Never mind that the wish this pseudopopulist dream fulfills is less for the restoration of democracy than for its abrogation. A sort-of-political kind-of-satire written and directed by Barry Levinson, the picture resurrects a fantasy that periodically seizes the imaginations of Hollywood studios, and also, a bit less frequently, of some American voters: that a plain-talking outsider will roll into Washington, propelled by popular frustration with the status quo, and clean up the mess.
#TIMES MAN OF THE YEAR FULL#
Don’t make this joke.In a pre-election season full of drama, contention and surprise, “Man of the Year” arrives on the scene with the blistering impact of a spoonful of cold mashed potatoes. But whatever cleverness it has to offer is, at this point, completely negated by the joke’s ubiquity. If you were the only person making this joke, it would actually be a pretty good joke. According to a search on Follower Wonk, 1,404 people boast of being Time ’s 2006 “person of the year” in their Twitter bios, while another 91 went for the more outdated “man of the year.” Two people shortened “person of the year” to “ POTY.” And one dude wrote “New York Times Person of the Year in 2006,” which is either some kind of genius meta-joke or, more likely, just a mistake. We make this suggestion not because you weren’t the magazine’s Person of the Year in 2006 - famously, or infamously, the “person” of the year that year was “ you” - but because everybody is making that exact same joke. Except for one thing: Don’t joke that you were Time’s Person of the Year in 2006. Probably, you should write your Twitter bio however you want. Should you try to be funny? Self-deprecating? Ironic? Mysterious? Professional? Self-promoting?Īll of these are good questions, and we have no answers. With but 160 characters to make a first impression to the world, the stakes are high. As recently showcased by Hillary Clinton, constructing one’s Twitter bio can be a stressful undertaking.