Last Updated on February 23, 2024
The upcoming movie Civil War is premiering in March at the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas. The movie stars Hollywood actors Kirsten Dunst and Nick Offerman, who played anti-government patriot “Ron Swanson” on the sitcom Parks and Recreation. In a departure from the spirit of Ron Swanson, Offerman’s character in the film is the President of the United States and he wages military war against the so-called “Western Forces” who secede from the Union.
In an improbable turn of events, the states of Texas and California have both teamed up against the U.S. government in the movie. The film boasts a $50 million budget and is being distributed by the Manhattan-based film company A24, responsible for previous arthouse hits Uncut Gems, The Witch, and the A.I.-lady-comes-to-life movie Ex Machina, which was also directed by Civil War director Alex Garland.
Given the film industry’s well-documented practice of “predictive programming” (making the public aware of concepts and talking points before those concepts actually become real-world events) it is disturbing to see the portrayal of a U.S. president bombing Americans, and it is especially disturbing to see an actor who played a well-liked conservative character on TV portray the face of a government at war against its own people.
Nick Offerman is the husband of actress Megan Mullally, who, though talented, peaked as a grating cosmopolitan character on the lame agenda-pushing sitcom Will and Grace. In real life, Offerman is an anti-Trump Democrat, but his performance as Swanson at least indicated that he has some sympathy for working-class right-wing people. Why would he star in such a tasteless concept film that depicts a scenario that the Deep State desperately wants: the U.S. government mobilizing militarily against dissident Americans?
For what it’s worth, the movie seems pretty self-serious and boring, according to the trailer.
Let’s move past the mental image of the guy who played Ron Swanson now playing an American-killing war tyrant. Instead, let’s remember the real Ron Swanson from his Based Days. Enjoy!
