Thoughts on Willow and Politics

Long before The Lord of the Rings was committed to celluloid, there was Willow.

Willow is one of those sword and sorcery epics in which an ordinary, rather diminutive fellow is plucked from his pedestrian, ho-hum life by events beyond his control and then called upon to – well – save the world. Of course, here, as in other stories, he gets help along the way from some talented warriors and a powerful sorceress.

I draw your attention to one of the movie's more memorable scenes: as a pitched battle rages between the armies of good and evil, Joanne Whalley (as Sorsha, daughter of the villain of the picture and a leader of the evil forces), finds herself transfixed by the figure of Val Kilmer (as swordsman deluxe Madmartigan) battling a two headed dragon which he eventually dispatches with enough derring-do to make Errol Flynn jealous. Just watching Madmartigan wield his broadsword is too much for her to resist (hello, calling Dr. Freud) and -- there on the spot -- she falls head over heals in love with him and joins the good guys.

I’ve always wondered about the plausibility of this scene. That is, until now.

Kathleen Parker, the southern conservative syndicated columnist, was among the harshest critics of Barack Obama during the campaign. Back in May, for example, she questioned his patriotism in her column, suggesting that Obama didn’t "get" American core values. Now, after seeing him in action, she has become hopelessly enamored. The day after the election, she wrote:

Fess up. You wept. OK, I’ll go first. Tears came twice. First, when John McCain hushed his booing crowd to acknowledge the significance of this nation’s electing an African-American to the presidency. Second, when Barack Obama delivered his acceptance speech.

And more recently, she held up the Obamas as models for conservatives everywhere:

You want Ward Cleaver? Meet Barack Obama. Michelle is June Cleaver with a law degree. Family values don’t get any more traditional than the Obamas, who ooze marital bliss and whose adorable daughters make feminist cynics want to bake cookies and learn to smock.

Though we may perish of boredom, the Obamas may do more to elevate the American family than all the pro-marriage initiatives conceived by those who claim to speak for the deity.

And what about Obama’s change we can believe in?

The change we’ve been waiting for may not be immediately quantifiable, but personal responsibility, educational ambition and smart public diplomacy — all by example rather than exhortation — could go a long way toward curingwhat ails us.

Of course, Parker is not the only dyed-in-the-wool conservative to swoon for Obama. Guys, too, have fallen under his spell. Mr. Conservative’s son, Christopher Buckley, ended up endorsing Obama, and lost his job on the National Review for it. And David Brooks, token conservative columnist for the New York Times, can’t suppress his admiration for the guy (“And yet as much as I want to resent these overeducated Achievatrons [Obama’s cabinet nominations], I find myself tremendously impressed by the Obama transition.”)

Sometimes, the good guy is so good, we just can’t resist. Unfortunately, Obama’s dragon has a lot more than two heads – economic collapse, spiraling deficit, and a foreign policy in shambles, among others. But don’t get too discouraged, though. If he can woo the likes of Kathleen Parker over to his side, he may be capable of anything.