I finally got around to watching the documentary Weiner this past weekend. I thought it was worth the time. Very interesting behind the scenes type movie.
I found my reaction to the movie interesting. First, I actually started to acknowledge, at some level, a small amount of respect for the guy. Once you have made yourself a joke, publicly, it has to be hard to put yourself out there in the very public eye, day after day.
But about every 15 minutes I was also left with the inescapable feeling that Weiner needs to be punched in the face. Hard. Daily. But then I started to realize that maybe it's just New Yorkers that need to be punched in the face, daily. What an obnoxious, loathsome group of people. The name calling. The arguing and shouting.
No wonder Weiner wasn't struck by the inappropriateness of texting photos of his junk. As a New Yorker he basically spent every day of his life whipping it out in public as he argued "mine's bigger than yours."
But probably the most memorable scene for me is his discussion in the car with his press secretary. She is reading her phone and telling Weiner that a certain reporter is just looking for answers to two or three questions. They are basic questions, like how many women did you send pictures to, and when did you stop sending pictures.
To watch Weiner dissemble is, I fear, a telling picture of American politics today.
He sits there staring out the window, replaying the various lies he has told in response to those questions in the past, softly verbalizing them for the audience. The problem, he notes, is that a few years earlier when the first scandal broke, he said one thing. Then, as he threw his hat in the ring for Mayor and gave a bunch of interviews, he said something else, which as he verbalizes he "walked back" slightly in later interviews. But now the new reports from women are coming out and so he is sitting there trying to figure out the "answer" without ever, for once, just thinking, "hey, maybe I should just tell the truth."
