Film Review Podcast – Game Change (2012)

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Episode 38 direct download

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Time Stamps
0:00 – Introduction
1:46 – Political figures, social media, the 24-hour news cycle and celebrity
5:04 – The movie’s characterization of John McCain
9:00 – The movie’s characterization of Sarah Palin
14:14 – The movie’s characterization of the campaign staffers
16:50 – Other odds and ends
20:57 – Wrap-up

Summary

We take a break this week from our typical TV in Review podcasts to talk about HBO’s original movie Game Change, based on the book of the same name by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin. While Heilemann and Halperin’s book covers both sides of the 2008 presidential race, HBO’s adaptation centers exclusively on the McCain/Palin campaign, focusing primarily on the choice and aftermath of picking then Alaskan Governor Sarah Palin as the Republican Vice Presidential candidate.

While we don’t delve into the actual politics discussed in the movie (not the time nor the place to debate those types of issues), we instead examine the movie as an intriguing and often enlightening account of the sudden and drastic change taking place in American politics. In addition, we examine the movie’s characterizations of the major players in the campaign, including John McCain (Ed Harris) and Sarah Palin (Julianne Moore), as well as the filmmakers’ choice to utilize actual footage from Obama/Biden campaign throughout the film.

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