Donald Trump doesn't understand what Citizen Kane is about
'There was a great rise in Citizen Kane, and there was a modest fall,' Trump says of the film.
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Donald Trump doesn't understand what his favourite film is even about.
He's stated in the past that Orson Welles' iconic Citizen Kane is his most treasured film of all time; telling Bloomberg that he loves the director, though he was "totally f*cked up. He was a total mess. But think of his wives. Think of his hits." Ah yes, forget that he was one of the most ambitious, influential, and inspired creative voices of his time - what's most important here is having Rita Hayworth hanging off your arm.
Of course, that opinion will be of no surprise to anyone; yet, Vulture has now unearthed a video of Trump elaborating a little on his love of Citizen Kane and managing to completely misinterpret what the film was about in the process.
Trump delivers his own version of one of those intolerable YouTube video essays - so brilliantly spoofed here; stating the kind of painfully obvious visual clue that Kane's wealth creates both a physical and emotional distance with his wife, as seen in their increasingly lengthening dining room table.
And who's fault is that? Is it Kane's, a narcisstic meglomaniac who treats women like pawns in his power games? Don't be silly - it's his wife's, of course! "The relationship he had was not a good one for him," Trump declares. "And probably not a great one for her. Although, there were benefits for her. But in the end, she was certainly not a happy camper."
Which seems to be his entire takeaway from the film; when asked if he had one piece of advice for Charles Foster Kane, he replies, "Get yourself a different woman."
Indeed, it doesn't seem as if Trump absorbed any of Welles' critique of power structures, or even the basic plot of the film. "There was a great rise in Citizen Kane, and there was a modest fall," Trump says of the film. "The fall wasn’t a financial fall. The fall was a personal fall, but it was a fall nevertheless."
Ah yes. Losing everything you ever loved in life is a "modest fall", now. Just like the Death Star getting blown up was a "minor setback" for the Empire, right?
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