One of the ways a free republic devolves into something else is by making idols out of military and political leaders. Unfortunately, this seems to be a growing form of entertainment in an industry that has apparently lost the ability to provide creative, thought-provoking content. For example, how much more do you want to know about Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg?
Yesterday, hope for more creativity and comedy died when Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos apologized to his activist employees for defending Dave Chappelle’s comedy special The Closer. Simultaneously, the media reported that Amazon Prime would treat us to a documentary film about Transportation Secretary Buttigieg’s failed bid for the presidency. You read that correctly. There has been an entire documentary made about a failed campaign. “Why?” you may ask. According to Deadline:
Buttigieg reflects on his coming out story and campaign in the trailer for the Amazon Prime original documentary Mayor Pete, which is set to premiere on the streamer November 12. From director Jesse Moss (Boys State) and co-written by Moss, Amanda McBaine and Jeff Gilbert, the film chronicles Buttigieg’s campaign to be the first openly gay U.S. president, from the earliest days to his unlikely, triumphant victory in Iowa and beyond.
The film also reveals what really goes on inside a campaign for the highest office in the land — and the myriad ways it changes the lives of those at its center. Now the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Buttigieg serves as the first openly LGBTQ cabinet member in U.S. history.
These two paragraphs are precisely why entertainment magazines should not do political commentary. Buttigieg won Iowa by 0.1%, and Senator Bernie Sanders hotly contested it following a complete failure of the electronic tabulation system. A recanvas determined that Sanders won the popular vote and Buttigieg won the delegate count. Not sure that qualifies as “triumphant.”
Buttigieg is not the first openly gay cabinet member. President Donald Trump appointed Ric Grenell as the ambassador to Germany and then to acting director of National Intelligence. Republican presidents have appointed many “firsts,” but the left-leaning media prefer to memory hole that fact. In some cases, such as with Justice Clarence Thomas, they will actively try to prevent it.
A larger question is, why should anyone care about this? Buttigieg currently leads a bureaucratic agency that is struggling to solve a severe supply chain crisis. For the last two months, he has been working remotely following the adoption of twins. We are supposed to celebrate this for some reason that is not particularly clear. Buttigieg has been kicking it on the taxpayer dime while you wonder if you will be able to buy your kids Christmas presents.
Related: Buttigieg Pressed by Fox News Anchor Over Supply Chain Chaos
Furthermore, why should we be excited to view a documentary about someone who has accomplished very little? Buttigieg was a McKinsey consultant before becoming a small-town mayor. Not particularly revolutionary for an Ivy League graduate whose father founded the International Gramsci Society. Buttigieg was appointed to lead an executive agency because he was willing to drop out of the primary and consolidate behind Joe Biden.
The documentary lionizing Buttigieg is part of a larger trend. Netflix kicked it off with 2019’s Knock Down the House, featuring Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. She won a primary that fewer than 30,000 people voted in. New York’s 14th district has a population of 696,664 and, as Speaker Nancy Pelosi noted, would vote for a “glass of water with a D on it.” To date, no legislation she has authored has passed. AOC and the Squad were successful in pressuring the CDC to reissue an unconstitutional rent moratorium, but other than that action and other various stunts, that’s it.
More recently, Disney+ offered up a glowing documentary on Dr. Anthony Fauci, a lifelong bureaucrat. In managing the COVID response, he has been responsible for recommending policies that destroyed livelihoods, small businesses, and potentially entire cities as the vaccine mandates he supports decrease emergency response personnel. The LGBTQ community has criticized his response to the HIV epidemic for decades, and despite his best advice, nearly 750,000 Americans have died of COVID-19.
Luckily, viewers don’t seem to fall for this push to make role models out of mediocre people. According to Rotten Tomatoes, the woke elites running the entertainment industry are entirely out of step with the audience:
Americans are clearly telling these companies what we want more of, yet at least one CEO felt compelled to apologize to the humorless woke mob:
The few critics who have caught the trailer for Mayor Pete give an 80% positive rating. We can only hope Americans continue to reject this trend with their reviews and by withholding their hard-earned cash.
Join the conversation as a VIP Member