Recount: An American Horror Story

This is something I'd never thought I'd do in The Other Worlds, one reason being that this is not an Other World. It is ours. Recount is a movie not only based on actual events, but is pretty much a dramatic documentary (more on that later) about an event that happened eight years ago. I wasn't even going to consider watching this until I learned who the writer was.

I first heard about it when Dennis Leary was a guest on The Daily Show, and my first thought was, "Do we really need this now? It hasn't even been ten years." Then again, I was initially opposed to all the movies based on 9/11, which were made before Recount about an event that happened after the 2000 election. However, I will say that I eventually watched United 93 and found it to be a good, if not painful, movie. That same night, on The Colbert Report, Laura Dern showed up to present a clip of her in the role of Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, which didn't further endear me to the film (once again, more on that later). But then I learned that Danny Strong wrote it, and while this is his first written project, I am familiar with his acting work from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Obviously, just because a person can act, the same person may not necessarily be a good writer. However, I am willing to give anyone associated with Joss Whedon the benefit of the doubt (if you haven't noticed by now, Joss Whedon is pretty much my hero). Soon after learning about Strong being the writer, the numerous good reviews started pouring in, and I decided that it was worth seeing.

Most of the reviews refer to the film as a farce, and with Jay Roach as the director (Austin Powers, Meet the Parents), I assumed that the film was going to be a darkly comic satire. In some senses, it is a satire, but its not really funny. To me, it is a fucking horror movie.

I have always tried to avoid talking about my own personal politics in these posts, since they have little bearing on the events of the fictional stories that I report on. The argument could be made that my own views could manifest in how I interpret various stories, but I am pretty certain that I have tried to stay politically neutral. I have even tried to avoid railing on movies, books, and series that I dislike, since the point of The Other Worlds is to tell you what I think you should discover, not what you should avoid. The point is, I am not here to push an agenda; I'm here to make suggestions. However, to fully be able to explain my feelings on Recount, I believe that my personal opinions are slightly relevant.

I claim that I am politically moderate, but I tend to lean to the left more often than I lean to the right. I do not count myself of a member of any political party; both the Democrats and the Republicans have numerous problems, and neither one has all the answers. I don't know too much about libertarianism, but from what I do know, that is close to what I am (social liberal, fiscal conservative, and I believe in small government). I was a high school freshman when the 2000 election debacle occurred, so I didn't really know much about what was going on, except that I wanted Al Gore to win. Eight years later, I find myself wondering what things would have been like if Gore had won, since my opinion of Bush is pretty low. Therefore, I think that these views have skewed the way I view Recount; most reviews herald the movie for being a balanced look at both sides, but I saw it as having a fairly substantial liberal bias.

At least, I felt that the Republicans were portrayed as scheming assholes who exploit every loophole and make a mockery of the law. Meanwhile, the Democrats, who are certainly the protagonists, are shown to be the underdogs, and many of them are weak and ineffectual. In retrospect, the Democrats were also guilty of the exploitation of the way the laws were written, but it seemed like the method and reasons behind the manipulations seemed less slimy (not noble or justified, but less shady than the Republicans). But as I said, my own opinions may cloud my judgment; I have no love for the Democratic party, but within the last four years alone, the actions of prominent Republicans has seriously damaged their credibility in my eyes. And this may lead me to see their depiction in Recount as more sinister than was intended.

Of course, these are the makings of a political thriller, or even a real-life political debate, and not a horror movie. Before we proceed, I have another disclaimer I must give; although my political knowledge is not shabby, it is not as extensive as it probably should be. As I said, I was a freshman in high school when these events occurred, so I'm not sure how factual Recount is. At least one third of the film is told through archive footage from CNN and other news stations, so it is clear that many of the things depicted in the movie are in fact real, but the extent of politicking on both sides may or may not be exaggerated. Therefore, I will not say that any of the events of the film are horrific because they are real; they are horrific because they could be real.

I'll start with the riots, since they (1) threatened peoples' lives, and (2) they don't have (direct) effects on the outcome. I never thought that a fucking ELECTION could engender so much rage and animosity. When an official had to read the results of a Supreme Court decision, a security guard asked if he wanted to wear a bullet proof vest. Before that, a recount official was (nearly?) assaulted when someone wrongly (and possibly was aware of the wrongful claim) accused him of trying to add votes to Gore's count. But the thing that scared me the most about the riot was that a group of pro-Bush rioters convinced security guards to let them closer to where the recount was happening by telling him to judge them by their appearance; they were white and dressed in dress shirts, ties, and polos. They said that the guard could trust that they wouldn't turn violent, but of course, they did (two things; before anyone accuses me of racism, for those of you who don't know, I'm white, and also I find it very interesting that, assuming this riot happened in the way depicted in the film, Bush's supporters would go on to decry protests against the war... ok, focus on the issues, not my own opinions...).

More importantly, there was plenty of back-room shadiness going on in the film. The riots from the pro-Bush camp were shown to be the work of the Republicans working to stop the recounts. By the end of the film, both sides are shown to be doing their jobs, the methods of doing such seem horrific. Maybe I missed something, but I cannot understand why the courts kept imposing deadlines on the recounts. They slowed the process when the Democrats kept appealing them (the quote about our "endless appeals system" from Thank You For Smoking popped in my head numerous time during the film), while the Republicans did everything they could to slow the process down so that the recounts would not be able to be completed.

And then there was Katherine Harris. I had never consciously heard her name before seeing the film, and I don't know how much of her portrayal was accurate, but in the reality of the film, she was downright scary. Harris seemed almost childlike; she did not seem to have a thought in her head, and just did everything she was told. Upon learning of her role in the upcoming recount, she was thrilled that she would be involved in such a "monumental" decision. I would think that any politician in their right mind would be scared out their mind knowing that they would have to oversee what would more than likely become a quagmire of politics. And the idea that she deliberately prevented numerous people from voting is horrific.

But finally, the thing that really got to me was the Supreme Court statement which said that their ruling in Bush v. Gore would not create a precedent. It was an unprecedented action, and its logic baffling. This makes a mockery of the very system that I will soon spend three years learning to understand and respect. This statement is not helping my jadedness with the legal system, which makes my entry into law school that much more baffling (in my defense, I have no interest in working in politics; with luck, I will be involved in film and television litigation).

Overall, the movie was well-written and acted. I don't want to say that this movie is necessary viewing, but it will certainly make you fearful of the government if you aren't already.

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