The first time I saw this gag was 15 years ago, when I shared it here on the blog. (Sorry, but YouTube has taken down the link to the video, but you’ve probably seen it. Here’s a spoof of the spoof.)
My friend Burl Burlingame had brought it to my attention, so I experience some sadness thinking of it now, but mostly laughs. I think that was the first time I mentioned Burl here — he and I had just recently established contact through our blogs. I hadn’t seen or spoken to him for 38 years at that point.
Anyway, it’s amusing to see that people are still having fun with that epically serious scene from “Downfall.” (It’s a sort of mini-industry itself.) By the way, if you’ve never seen that film, go do so right away. (It’s streaming on Amazon Prime, Tubi and Peacock.) It’s pretty awesome. If you don’t speak German, that’s cool. The subtitles — the real subtitles, I mean — will carry you through. It’s about Hitler’s last days in the bunker, through the perspective of a young woman who had recently become his secretary. But don’t expect any laughs.
Anyway, this one is funny, although not as clever as the Star Trek one. There’s a little too much 8th-grade humor (he seems to say things like “my dick” a lot). Actually, the funniest thing about it — and the thing that drew me to watch it — is the premise: “Trump Learns About Taylor Swift’s Endorsement.”
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I’ve read a few headlines about Taylor Swift “endorsing” Harris/Walz. I read what she actually posted. Swift said she would be voting for Harris/Walz and stating her reasons for her vote. She started off by saying an AI generated image of her supporting Trump showed up on his website, so she thought it was important that she state clearly that is voting for Kamala Harris/Tim Walz ticket. She went on to suggest that voters should research the candidates and their values and decide on who lines up with their own values to determine who gets their vote.
To me, her statements on her views and vote are a little different from an endorsement.
Well, Pat, as someone who has written uncounted endorsements, that is precisely what we intended them to do — raise important points that should cause people to think harder (or think at all, which too few do) about their vote.
People get confused about endorsements, I know full well. But as I’ve always said, the important thing about an endorsement isn’t the “who,” but the “why.” Look at the reasoning presented, and decide for yourself whether you agree. Of course, if the endorsement is any good, that will require going out and finding out more, because the reasons given go beyond what you’ve thought about thus far…
I see your point. I think her point was to refute the AI generated post on Trump’s website while advising her followers to decide how to vote after comparing their values with former President Trump’s policies and values.