Well, Disney has gone and made a terrific trilogy of sorts. In 1996, they released "First Kid," about the President's son and his relationship with his body guard. It was funny, sweet, and made life in the White House accessible, fun, and full of adventure. In 1998, Disney made "My Date with the President's Daughter," an equally enjoyable movie that also showed the troubles and tribulations of being a 'first kid' as well as the parental side of being a President. In that movie, having the presidential parents come together with the regular parents of his daughter's "date" out of real concern and not for a photo opportunity was something you don't see every day.
Disney has now made yet another wonderful film that explores a President who is both out of touch with the public and his daughter. It takes a regular kid to teach the President the art of communicating to everyone else. Randy Quaid is ideal as the type of President running for re-election who uses words that William Buckley or Ben Stein might use to confuse a debate opponent. He quickly becomes a Ronald Reagan type of President using folksy and middle-class examples to describe the economy, the defense, and the role of a world leader. He uses the kid's description of game shows to describe defense spending: buying a four hundred dollar hammer because of a defense contract is similar to being forced to buy an overpriced vacuum on a Wheel of Fortune type game show; wouldn't you rather have the money and buy want you wanted where you could get it cheaper? Clever. Randy Quaid lampooned Ronald Reagan on Saturday Night Live, but here he seems to capture his spirit, or as the kid describes to the President: not everyone may agree with you, but at least they can relate to what you are saying. The kid also teaches the President how to bowl in the White House bowling alley (who knew?) which eventually becomes a lesson in life itself. He tells the President there are two ways of going for the 7-10 split, playing it safe and just knocking one down, or taking a chance and risk a gutter ball by going for both.
There's a lot of holes in this type of fantasy, but that's not important. This is a message movie meant to make a point and inspire. The point is 'why should politicians care about you if you don't care about politics.' A second point is 'politicians are hopelessly out of touch with the people who elect them.' I hope Disney continues to use the White House as an area for family humor, they do a pretty good job of it. Now, if only someone will slip the real candidates these films maybe they will get the point too.
