As a classic movie fan, I wonder at the president’s comparing his response to the coronavirus pandemic to the film “Mutiny On the Bounty.” The closest resemblance I can come up with is Trump’s resemblance to the film’s ruthless villain, Captain Bligh.
It appears that Twitter must have many classic movie fans because they have provided a plethora of tweets – most of them wondering if the only thing that Trump saw pertaining to the three-hour-long film was the word “Mutiny” in the title.
I know this isn't a huge priority, all things considered, but Mutiny on The Bounty is three hours long, there's no way he's seen that movie in its entirety, and it would be fun for any reporter to ask him to name any actor, character, or detail from it outside of the word Mutiny.
— Daniel Kibblesmith (@kibblesmith) April 14, 2020
“Tell the Democrat Governors that ‘Mutiny On The Bounty’ was one of my all-time favorite movies,” Trump said Tuesday in a tweet. “A good old fashioned mutiny every now and then is an exciting and invigorating thing to watch, especially when the mutineers need so much from the Captain. Too easy!”
This escalation of words between Trump and a bipartisan group of governors regarding who has the power to “reopen” business as usual in individual states is bordering on the ridiculous. This is especially true because Trump has failed to offer any specifics regarding the source of his asserted power, which he claimed, despite constitutional limitations, was absolute.
Many governors, representing both parties, disagreed with Trump. “The president’s position is just absurd,” said New York Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo in an appearance Tuesday on “CBS This Morning.” “It’s not the law. It’s not the Constitution. We don’t have a king. We have a president.”
New Hampshire Republican Gov. Chris Sununu told CNN that, “All of these executive orders are state executive orders and so, therefore, it would be up to the state and the governor to undo a lot of that.”
You heard the man: When you have a cruel and incompetent Captain Bligh who cares more about being in charge than looking out for his men's well-being, it's time to all get together and kick him off the boat.
…We are talking about the same Mutiny On The Bounty, right? pic.twitter.com/5kDPLYoK0b
— St Simeon the Holy Fool (Hermit Mode) ܫܡܥܘܢ ܣܠܘܣܐ (@SimeonTheFool) April 14, 2020
It is hard to tell which version of the movie Trump was referring to, after all, there were three versions, and all of them are good or even great. One thing is for sure – Bligh was portrayed as the villain in all of them. Was it the Best Picture-winning 1935 film starring Charles Laughton as Bligh alongside Clark Gable as his first mate who leads the mutiny?
There is also the 1962 version starring Marlon Brando with Trevor Howard as Bligh, which was nominated for seven Oscars. There is even the version of the movie called “The Bounty,” which came out in 1984 starring Anthony Hopkins and Mel Gibson.
As a point of clarification, @GovMurphy wants to know if the tweets referred to “The Charles Laughton Mutiny on the Bounty? Or the Marlon Brando Mutiny on the Bounty?”
We’d like to know too, Governor! #ClassicFilmGov #MutinyOnTheBounty pic.twitter.com/PLvlb8jVhc— Marci (@marcik) April 14, 2020
Just one more Tweet –
Mutiny on the Bounty is ok, but it’s really all about the Caine Mutiny, as @batchelorshow wrote a million years ago April 14, 2020
