From an email I just got.
Not likely you would see this film, but my foster sons dragged me along tonight. At one point, when Earth is under attack, there is a scene where Leslie Nielson is the president sitting in a classroom listening to "My Pet Duck". His chief of staff comes in and tells him the world is under attack, but he wants to wait and find out what happens to the duck. I was in a theater full of jr. High schoolers, and none of them caught it- but I thought it was telling when the president is mocked so openly on the level of Michael Jackson in a teen movie (it is a recurring joke that he is worried about the duck). It was also funny in that the joke was that the president would sit and listen to the story after being told we were under attack- the scene did not go out of its way to look ridiculous, and it was easily recognized.Something has changed. You can tell there's been a quantum shift in the culture when people are finally comfortable knocking Bush, but especially knocking him for his screw ups on September 11.
