0 Julia Gorin
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Jewish World Review Feb. 4, 2000 /29 Shevat, 5760

Julia Gorin

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Bubba's big break

http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
I WROTE A JOKE over a year ago in which Bill Clinton appealed to Steven Spielberg for a possible job with Dreamworks for when his presidency expired. A few months later the papers were reporting rumors to this effect—and, it seemed, it was no joke.

Neither is his upcoming stint this weekend as Roger Ebert’s co-host on "Roger Ebert and the Movies." "People Online" this week quoted Ebert as saying, "My impression is that here’s a guy who, if he didn’t have the White House screening room, would be at a multiplex."

This weekend, then, could serve as the president’s audition for his friend and future boss—to demonstrate his cinema savvy. The man is thinking ahead. While other ex-presidents kick back and act dignified, this guy is looking for the next gig.

For Ronald Reagan, show business turned out to be a vehicle that helped him win the presidency. For Bill Clinton, the presidency will have been a stepping stone into show business. He’s certainly made a lot of connections—some more intimately than others (e.g. Markie Post, Barbra Streisand, etc.--someone should have told him that if you’re already president, you don’t have to sleep your way into the industry.)

Now I have no doubts that the president must have been kicking himself every year when Cannes and Sundance rolled around and he couldn’t go. I can just picture him pouting and complaining, "Gosh darnit! All my friends are at Cannes, and I have to spend the weekend with Boris again."

So it turns out that his early saxophone-playing stint on "David Letterman" was prophetic. It’s a wonder he didn’t go to Yugoslavia to entertain the troops personally.

What will his first Dreamworks project be, I wonder. A feature about how a group of evil Republicans conspired to topple an innocent but fun-loving leader? Or maybe a documentary on the overall Clinton presidency? (Never mind: that would be risking an NC-17 rating.)

Perhaps he might even take an acting turn and star in one of his own productions. In his State of the Union Address last week, those in my company hailed him as an excellent actor. (Personally, I thought he was a bit over the top.) But why not? He never really struck me as a president; he seemed more like someone doing a poor impression of one.

I could even imagine him, in a return favor to John Travolta, one day producing and starring in a TV movie of the latter’s life story. When the movie gets to the part where "Primary Colors" is made, Clinton can play Travolta playing Clinton.

I just hope he doesn’t start looking for something new again after Dreamworks. Because if the politician/musician/producer/thespian should one day also turn comedian--and show up at Caroline’s on a night when I’m booked--I’m not getting bumped!



JWR contributor Julia Gorin is a journalist and stand-up comic residing in Manhattan. Send your comments to her by clicking here.

Up

12/21/00: The Sport of Sitting
11/19/99: He wants his brother back!
11/15/99: Hollywood: Just jamming
10/29/99: Bomb all bans
10/04/99: Welcome, Mr. Buchanan!
09/24/99: The Financing of Hill's House
09/10/99: 'I cause your pain'
08/20/99: Believing the hype
08/09/99: Chickens bombing ... chickens?
07/30/99: Why I'm eating so much chocolate
07/16/99: The reluctant partisan
06/29/99: Maddy and Bill went up the (Capitol) Hill
04/29/99: "Never again"? This isn't exactly what we had in mind
03/19/99: The Thin Yellow Line
03/03/99: How many more are out there?
10/19/98: Got milk? Don’t know. Do I?
07/30/98: Kofi Annan's crimes against sensibility
05/15/98: Susan McDougal: a real stand-up kinda guy
01/08/98: In defense of the appetizing shiksa

©1999, Julia Gorin