Julianne Moore has done the impossible!
She made me feel sorry for Sarah Palin. Prior to viewing this movie, I felt that Governor Palin was simply an opportunist who completely lacked self-awareness. This movie makes it clear that while she was indeed blind to her own faults, she was also incredibly naive. The real villains (culprits) were those in the McCain campaign who chose to nominate a candidate without thoroughly vetting her. People who decided that personality politics mattered more than the ability to serve the public and ignored their own "country first" slogan. It is no coincidence that all of the people in McCain's campaign who threw Governor Palin to the wolves were men. I believe that rather than admit their culpability, they decided to let her be the scapegoat. Let me clear, that I am no Sarah Palin fan and I am as unconservative as it gets but I now understand why Governor Palin viewed what happened to her as being the result of sexism. No, sexism doesn't explain her lack of knowledge and she could certainly have declined the McCain camp's offer and waited until she gained more experience and knowledge. However, the fact that they so desperately wanted a female candidate to appeal to women voters that they didn't even consider anything beyond the superficial speaks to the depth of their sexism. Governor Palin's fitness for the job was a nonissue in their minds because they believed that all that mattered was having a female "trophy" vice presidential nominee. The reaction of the country caught them off guard not only because of how much they underestimated Governor Palin's lack of knowledge but because of how much they underestimated the electorate's standards for female candidates. They failed to realize that Hillary Clinton had already changed the game, not in 2008 but in 1992.
Back to the topic of the thoroughly underrated Julianne Moore - will someone please give this woman an Oscar! Her performance as Governor Palin makes Meryl Streep's Margaret Thatcher look like child's play. This was more than an impersonation. She really got inside Palin's head and her heart. You could really feel the insecurity, self-doubt and regret seeping in through her increasingly caustic veneer. This was a woman disappearing into herself - almost dissociating, her level of denial became so high. Julianne Moore nailed this and I really felt that I got to know the woman behind the headlines. It was easy to make fun of the Sarah Palin that we got to know through the lens of the election year political media but after watching Julianne Moore's portrayal, I feel that there is a complexity there that the political feeding frenzy missed.
Would I have ever voted for this woman? No. However, "Game Change" made me keenly feel the loss of a potential political star. Not everyone starts out at the head of their class. George W. Bush certainly did not. However, we like to think that in the United States, hard work and determination makes it possible for anyone to achieve greatness. Perhaps that was never in the cards for Governor Palin but I can't help but to think that something was stolen from her in 2008 and those responsible were never truly held accountable for it.