Primary Colors (1998)

There was so much mystery around the novel Primary Colors by Anonymous when it came out. I remember the hoopla. Who had written it? Was it true? Which parts were made up?

Eventually it was reveiled that Joe Klein of Newsweek was the author. Now, I like Joe Klein's op ed pieces. He tends to be a little more sane than the rest -- most of the time. I was intrigued to see what the story was all about.

The book is based on the Clinton Presidential Campaign in 1992. I love reading about politics, watching political movies, reading op ed columns and generally sticking my nose in the issues so I also wanted to see the movie just because it dealt with politics.

What I saw was a poginant piece on politics in our time. Politics is messy. It is ugly. There are shades of grey in political life that outsiders never comprehended to be possible. I know some of what I am talking about. I was a campaign manager breifly. My dally in local politics soured me so much that to this day I do not want to be involved in the dirty business of electing someone -- unless I am absolutely certian that they are not a liar, cheat and fraud. I am still looking for that person.

The climax of the movie is Kathy Bates monologue on how playing dirty in politics should not be an option. We should care a little for human decency and dignity. It should be about the ideas that can better society and not about how much we can tear the other down.

I wish this were true. I really wish people stood by their principles more and didn't spend so much time and energy tearing each other down. How kindergarden is that?

Anyways, I thought it was an excellent movie -- bad acting aside -- because of the clear portrayal of what a political machine can do to people.