It’s Independence Day which is a patriotic holiday so I want to ask the question, what is with the movie, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer? The L.A. Times reported the movie tanked and decided this was a sign that the vampire trend was dead. I just think the tastelessness and disrespect inherent in the concept is what killed it.
Normally I might appreciate the irony and humor in using a beloved political figure in a satirical way. I didn’t have any problem with Bill and Ted cavorting with historical characters but it’s the current political climate that makes Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer kind of a touchy subject. Because of all the current right-wing Obama bashing, making fun of anything racial is tricky and doing anything blatantly racist just won’t be tolerated, but making fun of a white man is always fair game. Maybe you can’t do a remake of Blazing Saddles these days but you can ridicule and make fun of the white man who freed the slaves.
Maybe it’s just me but the whole idea behind the movie Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Killer just makes me uncomfortable. Why not George Washington: Vampire Killer? He fought the British who are always made to be the enemy anyway. Even as a small child it always puzzled me why all the Germans in the World War Two movies on TV all had English accents. Didn’t the English fight the Nazis too? Why did American movie makers always cast Englishmen as Nazis and why can’t English actors use a German accent? They’re certainly adept at using American accents. I didn’t know Hugh Laurie, Gary Oldman or Hugh Jackman weren’t American until I heard them talk on interview shows. Happy Fourth.
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