![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
I've realised what this election reminds me of.
In the excellent animated series The Boondocks, there's an episode where the character Tom Dubois (a black lawyer) is prosecuting the singer R. Kelly for charges of indecent acts with a minor. The central piece of evidence is a video of the alleged acts, which Tom duly plays. We see a naked man from the rear, performing said act. "Objection, that could be anyone!" cries Kelly's (white) lawyer. R. Kelly duly looks into the camera. "That proves... nothing" retorts the lawyer. On screen, the phone rings. "Hello? Yes, this is Robert Kelly. Yes, the singer. You want my Social Security number? Sure! It's 916 34 7865. OK. God bless."
The case seems closed. Tom will go home the victor, justice will be done, and Riley will pee on Tom's cat in frustration at not being able to listen to the new R. Kelly album. But then Kelly's lawyer (conspicuously white, remember) gets up, declares that the whole thing is a plot by the white man to keep the black man down, quotes a load of hip-hop artists, and finally puts on a tape of backing music and hands R. Kelly a microphone. The whole courtroom, including the judge, gets up and starts dancing. Tom is left clutching his head in his hands, crying "But... the videotape! You've seen the tape!"
It doesn't hurt that Obama looks a lot like Tom Dubois. Though hopefully he's a better debater.
You can see most of the key bits from the episode in this compilation:
In the excellent animated series The Boondocks, there's an episode where the character Tom Dubois (a black lawyer) is prosecuting the singer R. Kelly for charges of indecent acts with a minor. The central piece of evidence is a video of the alleged acts, which Tom duly plays. We see a naked man from the rear, performing said act. "Objection, that could be anyone!" cries Kelly's (white) lawyer. R. Kelly duly looks into the camera. "That proves... nothing" retorts the lawyer. On screen, the phone rings. "Hello? Yes, this is Robert Kelly. Yes, the singer. You want my Social Security number? Sure! It's 916 34 7865. OK. God bless."
The case seems closed. Tom will go home the victor, justice will be done, and Riley will pee on Tom's cat in frustration at not being able to listen to the new R. Kelly album. But then Kelly's lawyer (conspicuously white, remember) gets up, declares that the whole thing is a plot by the white man to keep the black man down, quotes a load of hip-hop artists, and finally puts on a tape of backing music and hands R. Kelly a microphone. The whole courtroom, including the judge, gets up and starts dancing. Tom is left clutching his head in his hands, crying "But... the videotape! You've seen the tape!"
It doesn't hurt that Obama looks a lot like Tom Dubois. Though hopefully he's a better debater.
You can see most of the key bits from the episode in this compilation: