There has been some controversy over the current production of Shakespeare's "Julius Caesar" by the Public Theater of New York. Delta Airlines and Bank of America have pulled their support for the theater (Delta pulled support for the nonprofit completely and Bank of America just for this production) because Breitbart and Fox News (and others) made the fact that this production has a "Trumpesque" portrayal of Caesar. As you may remember, Caesar is assassinated during the play.
Jen Yamato, who covers film for the Los Angeles Times, writing in the paper's entertainment section drew a comparison between the death of a sitting president in the Public Theater's production and the death scene of an Obama look-a-like in the 2014 movie Kingsman: The Secret Service.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
T"he point of "Kingsman" was much less pointed than fitting Julius Caesar (played by actor Gregg Henry) with a familiar blond coif and a business suit. But no corporate partners distanced themselves from "Kingsman." It opened in wide release, grossing $414 million worldwide, and now has a sequel set for release in September. The Trumpius Caesar-disapproving Delta Air Lines even extended its partnership with 20th Century Fox post-"Kingsman," launching a big cross-branded campaign for the studio's "Snoopy" movie later that year."
You can see the shot from the Kingsman movie at roughly 25 seconds into this clip:
In terms of making a comparison of the imagery, there may be an argument to be made. The allusion to then-President Obama is obvious, but we don't see his face. Nor is he singled out for attention as a Trump-clone of Caesar is in the play in the park.
But where the comparison becomes an extreme false equivalency is that Ms Yamato is comparing a movie that was made to generate profits for those who invested in it to a nonprofit organization's program to provide free theater to the public.
Delta's connection to the Public Theater was giving money to a nonprofit organization. Their partnership in the upcoming Kingsman sequel is a marketing partnership. Both are designed to raise their public profile. But the play isn't an attempt by the organization that is putting it on to make money. Matthew Vaughn and the people who put up the money to make the movie did it solely to make money.
I have no problem with the people who want to boycott Delta and Bank of America for their choice to give in to pressure to pull their support from the Public Theater. They have that right. That doesn't mean that it was not a business decision to pull that support. Just as ESPN has made a business decision to bring Hank Williams, Jr., back to Monday Night Football.
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