JONATHAN CHAIT AUGUST 24, 2011
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[Guest post by Isaac Chotiner]
In his column today, Tom Friedman compares President Obama to Tiger Woods--each man is skilled at what he does, and each man, in Friedman's words, is a "natural who has lost his swing." After quixotically urging Obama to push for a "grand bargain" on the deficit, Friedman implores the president to take notes from another golfer, although this one is fictional:
Meanwhile, Mr. President, on a rainy day, rent the movie Tin Cup. There is a great scene where Dr. Molly Griswold is trying to help Roy “Tin Cup” McAvoy, the golf pro, rediscover his swing — and himself. She finally tells him: “Roy ... don’t try to be cool or smooth or whatever; just be honest and take a risk. And you know what, whatever happens, if you act from the heart, you can’t make a mistake.”
Let's leave aside the silliness of this Oprah-level sentimentality, which I have no doubt Friedman does not even believe (wasn't this part of the reason that Friedman disliked Bush--that the latter acted "from the heart"?). The real problem is that Tin Cup has the dumbest "message" of any movie I can remember.
The plot involves a screwed up golfer, played by Kevin Costner, who gets a chance to compete in the U.S. Open and simultaneously win the love of Rene Russo. On the verge of victory (and fame and fortune), he takes a risky shot that he has been told to avoid, and his ball lands in the water. He takes the shot again and again, each time landing in the lake, until he finally sinks it from 200+ yards. Thus, even though he has sabotaged his lifelong dream, he did it "his way." He didn't take anyone's advice. He didn't play it safe.
The moral of this story would be sinister enough if followed by non-politicians, but in a political context it is even more slippery. And the analogy to budget debates is not the one Friedman thinks he is making. The eponymous, annoyingly-named Costner character is actually more analogous to Congressional Republicans, who refused to compromise, refused to listen to more neutral observers (economists, in this case, rather than golf experts), and ended up almost leading the country to default. In other words, do not always follow your heart, and do not rent Tin Cup.
9 comments
Tin Cup? Wasn't that the Republican streetcorner alternative to unemployment compensation?
- Nusholtz
August 24, 2011 at 3:08pm
However, I am dying to see Thomas Friedman tell me how Happy Gilmore explains the Arab Spring.
- Crock1701
August 24, 2011 at 3:17pm
Now if only Friedman can combine his love of golf with his love of authoritarian capitalism, but that's probably left for the next book. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eM2ZoX9PCZ4 "China for a day...."
- Pnaut
August 24, 2011 at 4:00pm
Remember when Friedman was interesting and insightful. I don't either. The thing about blogs is that nobody expects each entry to be a gem, but you have to read each of them to catch the gem. A column, on the other hand, has to be a gem. With PK, his column usually appears first as a blog post (in abriged form). It works.
- rayward
August 24, 2011 at 4:21pm
Why is Costner annoying? The nasal voice? The character (singular, for he plays but one) he plays? Yet, I have watched Dances with Wolves dozens of times. He's like Warren Beattty in Reds. I can't stand to hear his voice (never mind Diane Keaton's "acting") but I've watched the movie dozens of times. And I will watch Dances and Reds many times more. Do people read Friedman's column for the same reason I watch those two movies?
- rayward
August 24, 2011 at 4:34pm
Thank You John - Yes! I thought the moral of that story was that once a loser always a loser. He (Roy) just couldn't help himself. What a screwy analogy. Let's think of more appropriate movie analogies. How about Rick in Casablanca? He wants to stay out of the War but the other side is just so terrible he's at some point going to be drawn in. Time to sing Les Marseillais! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yt1vQ81jNWw And where the hell is Victor Laslo?
- poldpf
August 24, 2011 at 5:14pm
Whoops - sorry, Thanks Isaac not Jon.
- poldpf
August 24, 2011 at 5:22pm
Wow...that's taking thinking to the next (lowest) level. Tom Friedman needs to lay off the pot. I would expect "rent Tin Cup" to be sage advice from the op-ed pages of the Arizona Daily Sun, but the New York Times?
- Andy_Smith
August 24, 2011 at 5:45pm
Good grief. "Tin Cup" is not a message movie. It's a character study, albeit a humorous one, about a man with a self destructive streak who manages to reflexively sabotage his opportunities for success. It's not a lifestyle guide for anyone, and of course it shoudn't be abused to make inapt political points. While Freidman's column is silly, God save us from humorless pedants like Isaac Chotiner. Molly and Roy each come in for a fair amount of gentle ribbing, and none of their dialogue should be taken as the movie's "message" - one of the points the movie makes is that neither Roy nor Molly quite comprehends what they've gotten themselves into, as far as their relationship is concerned. The movie doesn't applaud Roy's antics at the final hole, though it finds some comic glory in the way Roy spectacularly implodes at the end. I can't quite fathom the literalminded blindness that is required to detect a "sinister" moral in Tin Cup. "Tin Cup" also happens to be a genuinely good romantic comedy. Better than any romcom released by the major studios in years.
- ljviolanti
August 24, 2011 at 6:21pm