RIP, Mr. Coburn

You make excellent points.

Films like "The President's Analyst" and Robert Redford's "The Candidate" are representative examples of outstanding film satire from what must be regarded as a far more interesting America than the corporate monstrosity which emerged in the aftermath of the Vietnam era and the installation of Hollywood politburo agent Reagan as President. As many have noticed, American politics is often a satire of itself, or the most extreme example of life imitating art in the history of the modern world.

And as an all too predictable part of this change, support for intellectually challenging material in any medium which was under the control of corporate ownership was greatly diminished. Monopolistic media ownership ushered in a new dark ages, cynically assessing that the public could be herded into theaters offering Rambo 1-2-3 and some talking animal move with Eddie Murphy.

This is one of James Coburn's finest performances, if not his very finest. What a versatile actor he was, and what a loss to his profession.

Outside of "The Simpsons" and a handful of films, satire is sadly lacking from popular culture today – and this is an era that desperately needs satirizing. It seems like we love to poke fun at the foibles of celebs and world leaders, but where do we go with it? We need more films like "The President's Analyst" (and, more recently, "Wag the Dog") instead of "Meet the Spartans" and "South Park."

I suspect the public just can't grasp sophisticated satire anymore, but I'd love to be proved wrong.