When the past, present, and future presidents gathering yesterday, I was reminded on one of my favorite scenes in Hot Shots! Part Duex.
It’s one of those slap stick comedies my high school and college friends have watched countless times, and it’s one of those where the more you watch it, you’ll notice stuff you’ve missed before.
In this scene. Lloyd Bridges plays President Benson, and all the former presidents (Nixon, Ford, Carter, Reagan, Bush) are gathered together for his library dedication. During the ground breaking ceremony, just keep an eye on the second to last president. I’ll describe why I think it’s funny after the jump.
I crack up everytime watching this, and yes, I love this form of humor even if you loath it. It’s obvious that they all get injured, except for that one president. He’s never touched, yet he just falls down for no reason. If you saw it on a larger screen you would notice he never gets touched and just has a silly smile the whole time. The first time I noticed that was when one of my friends pointed it probably the 43rd time I watched it.
It also appears that you can hear him say, “Whoops” as he is falling down. It is a spoof on President Ford’s reputation as a bit of a klutz, made famous by Chevy Chase’s impersonations on Saturday Night Live.
Great video.
On a serious note, I have to say that seeing those presidents in the oval office yesterday stirred up in me a rare moment of patriotism. What an amazing country we live in, where current, former and future leaders aren’t killing each other. Seriously. Pretty amazing.