With the 2012 Presidential campaign in full swing, I decided
to pull out a political gem from 1999. “Election” is a comedy about an annoying
little overachiever named Tracy Flick (Reese Witherspoon) and her pursuit to
become school president. We all went to
school with a Tracy or at least her male counterpart. They are involved in
anything and everything to the point of overkill, nobody really likes them and
we suspect that they must have a dirty secret or strange quirk that no
one knows about. Witherspoon, fresh off the success of “Cruel Intentions”,
plays this role perfectly. I suspect it’s because that’s how she really is, but
what do I know.
Anyways if you pay attention to politics even just a little bit, then you
know that campaigns at any level sometimes tend to get a wee bit nasty. Candidates will lie, cheat, steal and even
cover up a love child to fulfill their political aspirations. “Election” and
Tracy Flick show us that school politics are not immune to the dishonesty of
political power plays and backroom deals.
Today’s scene is near the end of the movie. We watch as former
teacher Jim McAlister (played by Matthew Broderick) spots Tracy Flick while he walks
the streets of Washington D.C. Too say that these two didn’t see eye to eye would
be an understatement, so when Mr. McAlister sees Tracy's bubbly little
face all of his anger returns. He
resents that she has ascended to where she is despite her
indiscretions back in high school and also for being indirectly involved with him
losing his job. So overcome with anger, McAlister does what any mature middle age man would do, he gets
pissed and throws stuff.
I hope you enjoy the scene and if you haven’t seen the movie
I encourage you to check it out. Happy
Friday!
