Harvey 2: Clint Eastwood Directs Himself in the 1950 Remake!

As I watched Clint Eastwood giving his prime time address at the Republican National Convention, I felt compassion for a man who's a great movie director.  My compassion stemmed from him seeming so disconnected from reality, rambling and basically out of it.  But maybe not.  Maybe his intention all along was to be disconnected, rambling and basically out of it.  After all, that's what I thought of the whole convention anyway.  In all honesty though, I have to remind myself of the true nature of the Republican message: massive tax cuts that will favor the rich and the lack of any effective intellectual argument that would redefine the American Dream to be more inclusive instead of exclusive.

When Clint Eastwood did his bit with the empty chair, I had the most visceral flashback to the movie Harvey, starring James Stewart as  Elwood P. Dowd.  Harvey was his invisible friend, a 6ft 3 1/2 in white rabbit.  And Elwood would always talk to him as if he was human, sharing everyday quotes and anecdotes.

When Eastwood was rambling on talking to Obama, it was as bizarre as Elwood P. Dowd telling people how he met Harvey and the advice that Harvey always gave him to give to other people he would meet.

But behind the scenes at this convention, the same hand wringing that Republicans were feeling because Eastwood was going over his alloted time was very similar to the movie, in which essence proceeded existence.  In the movie, the longer Elwood talked to people about Harvey, the more they were inclined to believe he existed.  For Romney aides, the more Eastwood talked to the empty chair that was supposed to be Obama, denouncing his policies and character in the "presence" of his absence, the more the risk of both his policies and character having more depth and dimension than the Republican candidate.

It was an interesting sight to watch, bizarre as it was.  Maybe Clint Eastwood will get an Oscar for directing himself in a real world, fantasy remake of a film that co-starred a real world fantasy 6ft 3 1/2 in rabbit.