Tuesday, October 30, 2007
The only, and I mean only, slightly pleasurable part of the wildfire disaster that has now destroyed almost 500,000 acres in Southern California is watching Arnold Schwarzenegger flip on the Terminator switch and take matters into his own hands. People like me, who do not reside in California and thus do not rely on a film actor for things like healthcare, take some sort of pleasure in watching Arnold act less like an elected official and more like Harry Tasker from True Lies. Some of the grimaces he’s been giving to the camera make me afraid that I had something to do with starting a wildfire. And I’m in China. Last week, it was reported that two of the near 20 fires burning in California were started as a result of arson. Saturday, Arnold issued a warning to those firebugs responsible saying, “We will hunt down the people responsible for that… If I were one of the people who started the fires, I would not sleep soundly right now, because we’re right behind you.” The Governator also offered a $250,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of any of the arsons. What’s clear is that Arnold has resorted to the persona that launched his career as a relentless, courageous action hero, the guy that chased an Islamic terrorist off a roof on a horse in True Lies. The guy in Terminator 2 who went into a bar and threw numerous bikers through panes of glass simply to procure clothes, boots and a motorcycle. It seems in California, the line between Hollywood and the rest of the state have become as blurred as the line differentiating kindergarten teacher and cop in Arnold’s 1990 action comedy. As an AP story Monday pointed out, Arnold’s experience as a movie actor means that he understands symbolism. He knows how to march through the relief centers making sure each of those displaced Californians has blankets, food and water. He knows that a disaster like this month’s California fires can make, like Rudy Giuliani, or break, like Kathleen Blanco, a politician. Arnold knows that when his term as governor expires in 2010, his response to this disaster could mean the difference between his telling California “I’ll be back” as a U.S. senator or perhaps saying “hasta la vista” to his political career.
