ClydeR
05-29-2012, 11:25 AM
This is from 2011 but still relevant.
But what raised my eyebrows was when Romney offered a list of his favorite funnymen to Wolf Blitzer that featured "Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges ... even the Keystone Kops."
The Keystone Kops hit their professional peak in the 1920s. Add that to his off-the-cuff comparison of Newt Gingrich's flailing campaign to "Lucy in the chocolate factory," and you get the impression of a man whose cultural references consist solely of black and white slapstick, most of it filmed before he was born.
More... (http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-30/opinion/opinion_avlon-romney-humor_1_mitt-romney-team-romney-three-stooges)
There seem to be at least two possible explanations.
First, Mitt Romney was hermetically sealed from the cultural influences of his generation, emerging intact as an adult with the taste of someone born at least a half-century before. That almost seems possible. After all, Mitt was 20 when "Sgt. Pepper's" was released, and I think it's safe to say he didn't drink deeply from the Summer of Love. In fact, as a devout Mormon, he doesn't drink at all.
The second explanation is more cynical but at least as plausible.
Given the stiff and scripted nature of his campaign to date, it's entirely possible that Mitt filtered his funnyman choices through a political prism, carefully removing all those films that might offend.
But what raised my eyebrows was when Romney offered a list of his favorite funnymen to Wolf Blitzer that featured "Laurel and Hardy, the Three Stooges ... even the Keystone Kops."
The Keystone Kops hit their professional peak in the 1920s. Add that to his off-the-cuff comparison of Newt Gingrich's flailing campaign to "Lucy in the chocolate factory," and you get the impression of a man whose cultural references consist solely of black and white slapstick, most of it filmed before he was born.
More... (http://articles.cnn.com/2011-12-30/opinion/opinion_avlon-romney-humor_1_mitt-romney-team-romney-three-stooges)
There seem to be at least two possible explanations.
First, Mitt Romney was hermetically sealed from the cultural influences of his generation, emerging intact as an adult with the taste of someone born at least a half-century before. That almost seems possible. After all, Mitt was 20 when "Sgt. Pepper's" was released, and I think it's safe to say he didn't drink deeply from the Summer of Love. In fact, as a devout Mormon, he doesn't drink at all.
The second explanation is more cynical but at least as plausible.
Given the stiff and scripted nature of his campaign to date, it's entirely possible that Mitt filtered his funnyman choices through a political prism, carefully removing all those films that might offend.