A President (and a USA) to Wish For

The “greatest nation that has ever lived”, the United States of America, is facing grave danger. Now what? You could say that finally, for once they did the right thing by actually electing the “right” President. So isn’t the Bush era over and done with already?

Unfortunately for them, and for us, it’s not. Whilst one can’t exactly pin the financial crisis, climate change and the wars in the Middle East on President George W. Bush alone, he does deserve the credit for contributing quite majorly to them. It’s easy to argue that Americans had it coming for a long time; however it’s only now, during one of the biggest declines of the American Empire in history, that everyone has become aware of the brink on which it stands.

This time it’s not Michael Moore doing the panicking. Finally, documentary in the US is getting a serious shape. 2008 might’ve brought “change” in America after a long campaign, but the films that are showing this year at IDFA were created prior to the elections, and just might’ve contributed to this transformation before November the 4th.

Patrick Creadon’s I.O.U.S.A. is one of the “awareness shots” that strikes directly into one of the biggest public secrets of the American Nation: the national debt. The film explains in clear illustrations what the American national debt consists of, how huge it is, and why it is that way. Although every passer-by in New York City can see the national debt clock – which now counts more than 10 trillion dollars – not everyone understands or cares for it. Creadon follows the Fiscal Wake up Tour of experts from the Concord Coalition, delivering his point straightforwardly: Americans have to save and pay more taxes. In an age of consumerism and unpopular wars, the question is whether they will listen to this advice.

Creadon makes it clear that the lack of leadership in this area has been a major ingredient in this astronomical increase of debt. Americans spend money they don’t have because that’s the lifestyle which was promised to them in every election. President Bush has used tax cuts to win elections while he spent billions of dollars on the Iraq war; one that almost everyone agrees makes no sense anymore.

The tragedy of a war waged in vain is shown clearly in Tony Gerber’s Full Battle Rattle – which, as tragedies go, is actually hilarious. In the middle of the Californian desert there are four simulated Iraqi villages where US soldiers practice before going to the real war. The film examines the specific case of one battalion, whose task was to stop the simulated Medina Wasl village from slipping into a civil war. American Iraqis play the Iraqi villagers – and they’re the only ones having fun. While the soldiers do enjoy the game, in the end they are sent to the hellish real Iraq. The film is interesting, but it’s definitely a guilty pleasure. One can’t help but wonder; whose fault is all this?

In the same line of thought is also Robert Drew, whose clips of JFK remind us of a lost time when dignity prevailed in the Oval Office. A President to Remember: In the Company of John F. Kennedy, portrays Kennedy’s election and presidency; not failing to mention the Civil Rights Act. Drew’s attempt to recall a President whose legacy is anything but embarrassing is not a futile one. The audience can clearly see what’s been missing in the world these past few years: a clear vision. Whether the new president will be capable of offering it, who knows? One thing is for certain though; ignoring the rest of the world as Bush has done won’t do any good.

Lura Limani