I’VE been watching The Penguin all week. What better way to escape the dark, dystopian prospect of America under Donald Trump than by watching a dark, dystopian drama set in Gotham starring Colin Farrell in a rubber mask and a fat suit, eh?
Not that I’m knocking it. It’s one of the best series I’ve seen in a while and Farrell is a sensation under what looks like 1200lbs of prosthetics, as he is transformed into Oz Cobb, aka The Penguin.
If Todd Phillip’s Joker did superhero lore through the lens of Scorcese’s Taxi Driver, then The Penguin is The Sopranos with a DC twist and Farrell is as good as I’ve ever seen him.
It’s been a strange old week. Although most of us had an inkling Trump was going to win, we weren’t prepared for the manner or margin.
The Democrats are obviously entirely out of touch with working class voters, and Harris lost ground all across the board, from Hispanic to Black neighbourhoods and even amongst female voters. They lost ground in every single county when compared to Biden’s campaign in 2020.
It seems no amount of money or Beyoncé or Bruce Springsteen endorsements was going to swing it.
There now seems to be a vacuum, a calm before the storm, while we wait to see whether the Donald is going to go full Fascist and invade Canada or whether, as many of us suspect, wild things were promised for the sake of harnessing votes and the reality may be a little more prosaic.
What isn’t in doubt is that he’s got a team of Maga true believers lined up for all the big jobs and with the Senate and, most likely, the House under his control, the checks and balances written into American democracy have never seemed so flimsy.
When you consider the Trump-appointed Conservative majority in the Supreme Court and the hollowing out of traditional media as people tune in to more ideological channels like Joe Rogan’s podcast, then you really start to worry about where this might lead.
What’s certain is this. Whatever action Trump takes over the next four years will be done so for one main reason – keeping his name in lights and maintaining a sense of heightened drama, controversy and confusion. It’s from the Steve Bannon playbook – ‘Flood the zone with s***’ – and is designed to distract everyone at all times, as much as possible, from what is really going on.
Which will mostly involve Trump and his acolytes making as much money as possible, by the way.
Notice how this column has barely even mentioned the UK since Labour took over and began the slow, boring work of reinstating some sense of normality after years of Tory soap operas.
We’re lucky to have a fairly similar atmosphere in Ireland. The run-up to the general election feels normal and mature, for now at least, in comparison with the WWF-style politics that are holding sway in the USA.
To think we are insulated from all this would be foolish, however. These things have a habit of turning up on our shores ten years later.
The housing crisis, the cost of living crisis and the sense of the young being left behind by the old are not unique to America, lads.
Penguins v Monks
THERE were hints of this in the paper during the week.
As I enjoyed The Penguin on the big screen at home, the Monk was signalling his intention to run for The Dáil just down the road.
Asked whose seat was in danger because of his candidacy, he said: ‘I don’t know … any seat will do me.’ All these things are a joke until they become a reality – we all thought the idea of Trump becoming president so preposterous that we laughed it off at first. If the Monk runs, he will be up against Mary Lou McDonald and Paschal Donohoe in the Dublin Central constituency. Given the last few months for Sinn Féin, Mary Lou might consider heading him off at the pass by running as The Riddler. And Paschal will probably consider himself Batman in this scenario, but you get a sense he’ll become Robin fairly quickly if Simon Harris gets a shot at the lead role.
A-peel-ing art is bananas
I WAS intrigued to read that a banana duct-taped to a wall is estimated to fetch up to $1.5m at a New York auction. The supposed artwork named Comedian by Italian artist Maurizio Cattelan is literally a banana, bought for 30 cents in a Miami grocery store and stuck to the gallery wall with a ‘aul piece of tape. The successful bidder will receive the banana, a roll of duct tape, a certificate of authenticity and instructions on how to install it. It will go under the hammer at Sotheby’s on November 20th next alongside works from Picasso, Monet and many more. Bananas.
