election

Could Argo Affect the 2012 Election?

I went to see Ben Affleck’s Argo over the weekend and I have to say it was one of the best films I’ve seen all year. As a director, Affleck continues to raise the stakes for himself and hasn’t failed to deliver.

In the same way this fall’s season premiere of Homeland echoed the recent attacks on the U.S. embassy in Egypt and consulate in Libya (even though it was written and shot before those events), the 1979 hostage crisis in Iran depicted in Argo feels as though it could just as easily be happening today. Appearing on Real Time with Bill Maher this weekend, Ben Affleck remarked on how little has changed over the last 30-plus years in terms of the West’s relationship with the Muslim world.

There was plenty of griping from the Right when it looked like Kathyrn Bigelow’s film about the killing of Osama bin Laden was going to released before the election, reminding voters of one of President Obama’s greatest achievements. If Argo is the mainstream success it should be, it could have the opposite effect. Republicans have been trying their hardest to turn the Benghazi consulate attack into President Obama’s Iran hostage crisis. Argo has the potential to bring that history back to the forefront and force Jimmy Carter comparisons that liberals like Ben Affleck would probably prefer to avoid.

-Matt Wilstein