Our Federal Government is the most powerful and well-funded organization in the world. It doesn’t feel like that, though, because it wastes most of its power and money on uninspiring projects.
Well over 50% of the Federal Budget is simply moving money from taxpayers into the hands of other people: the elderly, people receiving medical treatment, and now young middle-class people with college debt. Whether you support these expenditures or not, I trust you will admit that they don’t make you passionate about government or excited for the future.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Government has done and can do amazing things.
“All the King’s Men” is a sophisticated, non-partisan exploration of American government. How can someone be 100% pro-government and 100% anti-government? The film asks: how can you NOT be?
The story begins in a small town of an unnamed southern state. Willie Stark (Broderick Crawford) is a nobody with a wholesome agenda: to call out the powerful politicians for their corruption, graft, and total lack of regard for the rural poor.
When he starts drinking and improvising his own speeches, Willie Stark becomes a star and a viable gubernatorial candidate. He speaks directly to the “hicks” and they love it. He promises them blue collar jobs, building projects, and public services.
And Stark keeps his promises in a big way! Based on legendary and notorious Louisiana Democrat Huey Long, Governor Stark modernizes and transforms his state.
Dirt roads got paved and bridges built. Schoolhouses were expanded and textbooks distributed. He improved the Port of New Orleans and transformed Louisiana State University into a nationally respected college.
Governor Stark builds modern hospitals, with the slogan written on the outside: Medical Care is Free. Not Out of Charity, But as a Right.
So, many readers might ask, what’s the problem?
To get this much done, a politician needs to exercise raw power in a way that is dangerous to democracy. Governor Stark pressures, threatens, blackmails, manipulates, covers-up, and – when necessary – murders any man who stands in his way.
And, most troubling of all, Willie Stark makes it all about himself. Every new building has his name on the side, not the name of the state.
Right-wing viewers will see “All the King’s Men” as a warning about Communism and left-wing viewers will see it as a warning about Fascism. They’re both right. One thing that Fascist Italy and Germany had in common with the USSR and Red China is that they all used the Cult of Personality to concentrate power in the hands of one megalomaniac.
There is no way that this film would be as intellectually challenging if it were made today. Director Robert Rossen is careful to avoid partisanship or potshots at one party or another. “All the King’s Men” is certainly more mature and sophisticated than “All the President’s Men,” the self-righteous movie that was inspired by it.
Just like the real Huey Long, Willie Stark is equal parts appealing and villainous. You can love him or hate him or both.
Fast-forward to today. There is no one in our political landscape even remotely like Willie Stark. The only thing politicians today do is move money around in a meaningless and cowardly manner.
Imagine if there was a politician with the guts and the political know-how to build something big and really change America. It would be exciting. And scary.
