So, he wins the election and says to Lucas, "What do we do now?" It seemed like he was disappointed that he won, since he was expecting to lose all along. Now, he's a senator, and it's like he doesn't even want the job. He just didn't seem very happy with the results.
shareI think its more a reaction that he doesnt really have any idea what he'll DO with the office of senator. Toward the end of the film you can see him just reciting the words of his speech with no passion or drive....
You're both right. I've used this film before teaching government and a lot of kids miss how McKay has changed (some see it clearly). It's fun to watch motivated kids chew on this movie.
"You eat guts."--Nick Devlin
i think he just realized that now he is a politican,something he never had any intention of being(possibly due to his fathers' holding high office).
shareI think just about every politician who was ever elected has asked themselves this question - secretly or otherwise.
I think what this film was saying is that, even for the ones who get into it for the right reasons, fighting a campaign is all-consuming, takes up every ounce of your emotion and energy and drive. You lose control of your life, being flown here and there, never sleeping in the same place two nights in a row, shaking hands with endless lines of people and having scripts thrust into your hands, microphones into your face etc etc. In a democracy it has to be like that, otherwise you wouldn't win. But the downside is that in the process you lose sight of what it was that motivated you in the first place. Then once the campaign is over, if you have won, you are left with that emptiness. The good politicians are the ones who re-discover their motivation. Sadly, the majority of them dont, and just become like the rest!
The other great line that sums this up is when his father says to him, completely without irony, "Congratulations son. You're a politician!" and McKay Junior realises that he has become everything that he always hated about his father - the empty political election-winner.
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"Maybe I should go alone"
- Quint, Jaws.
Yes! Thats exactally what I got from the film. Tonyhu pretty much summed up my thoughts about the movie. In the beggining he wanted nothing to do with his father, in the end he became his father. Really a great movie, they don't get made like this anymore, its all quick cut scenes these days, to keep the youth's attention, which is funny because I'm 19 so I am the youth. It was nice to see a movie where you got to see the character slowly, painfully lose sight of what he set out for. He got so good at saying what he was gonna do, that at the end he was terrified because he realized he had no idea how to do it. Good movie.
sharei really liked the "your a polition" line
OH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
I had to laugh at that last line. . . McKay appeared to be confused and perhaps sorry that he won. "What do we do now?" The poor guy was probably going to have a nervous breakdown.
Redford never really got hot about issues. He spoke about them in moderation and did all the things a candidate is supposed to do, but I don't think his heart was really in it.
The scene where he's about to be on tv and he starts laughing pretty much says it all. This is a big joke. . .