This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Interesting letter in today's Salt Lake Tribune Public Forum, comparing those who go to the Republican and Democratic national conventions to folks who go to Comic Con or are out right now hunting Pokémon with their smartphones.
— Two more conventions of imaginary creatures — James F. Oshust | For The Salt Lake Tribune
"The Republican Convention has ended and now on to the Democratic Convention, the next political version of Comic Con. All three so similar, where grown adults dress up in quixotic-looking costuming, spend time living briefly in the unreal world of aspiring to believe in characters and staged events, in film or on the stage. ..."
Speaking of fantasy and politics:
When asked, "And how do you know that the human race is worth saving?" U.S. Supreme Court Justice Felix Frankfurter is said to have replied, "I have read Anne Frank's diary."
Not to put J.K. Rowling at the same heroic level as Anne Frank. But many more people have read Rowling's Harry Potter series. And it has a happier ending.
Which leads to:
— Read Harry Potter, Dislike Donald Trump? — Lenika Cruz | The Atlantic
" ... a forthcoming study from the journal PS: Political Science and Politics makes a better case for how lessons learned from fiction can influence people's political preferences. The researcher Diana Mutz, a professor of political science at the University of Pennsylvania, found that Harry Potter book readers are actually more inclined to dislike Trump. This was the case even after Mutz controlled for variables such as age, education, gender, party identification, evangelical identification, and ideology. ...
" ... People familiar with the series' narrative of good-vs-evil might recognize aspects of the books' portrayals of 'evil' in Trump. Mutz discusses how, in Rowling's novels, the protagonists are constantly defending the outsiders of the wizarding world. ...
" ... It reinforced the virtues of acceptance and diversity, championing marginalized characters such as the house elf Dobby, the half-giant Hagrid, and other 'non-pure' groups. Readers learned that it was right to defend victims of discrimination, even if it meant being ostracized. ..."
Related:
— DNC speaker quotes Dumbledore in search of unity — Bianca Padró Ocasio | Politico
"With tensions running high at the Democratic National Convention's opening gavel, one convention speaker attempted to use a Harry Potter reference to unite a divided crowd.
"Diane Russell, a Bernie Sanders supporter and state representative from Maine, quoted Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts wizarding school, in her bid to bring together supporters of Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.
" 'You know, Dumbledore from Harry Potter once said, it takes great courage to stand up to your enemies. It takes even greater courage to stand up to your friends,' Russell said. ..."
Or he's not Voldemort. He's Biff, from Back to the Future Part II:
— 'Back to the Future' Writer: Biff Tannen Is Based on Donald Trump — Ben Collins |
The Daily Beast
"There's a very specific analog between Biff Tannen, the bully and bad guy in almost every timeline in Back to the Future Part II, and a certain political figure who is rather popular in the United States right now. He's been handed the keys to fortune, he's unrepentantly used that fortune exclusively for himself, and he's even become a public advocate for plastic surgery for women in his family.
It is not hard to put two and two together. ..."
And:
— Dan Aykroyd Slams Racist Trolls Who Attacked Leslie Jones: 'They're Insignificant Gnats' — Liz Calvario | IndieWire
"The original 'Ghostbuster' also compared the haters to Donald Trump supporters.
"This week, Leslie Jones left Twitter after she was flooded with racist and hateful tweets from users after the release of the 'Ghostbusters' reboot. As much as she tried to standup for herself, the hurtful messages were too much and left her feeling like she was in a "personal hell." Original 'Ghostbuster' and producer of the female-led flick Dan Aykroyd called out those Internet trolls and stood up for Jones.
" ... 'These people, first of all, they're insignificant gnats. They're losers, they have no lives of their own, they can probably barely pay for the wifi they're using. I would say you're looking at obese white men between 50 and 60 who are active Klan members, or members of the Aryan Nation, and there are millions of them,'
"Things turned political when Aykroyd stated that these white racists who would attack someone online would be supporting Republicans based on what they've heard from politicians lately. 'I'm afraid to say that contingency will be voting for the Republican ticket. Pretty much that's what the statistics are indicating, that there's a lot of white racist hatred out there that's going to channel into a support for the Republican ticket, maybe in the false belief that these people share their views.'..."