Something in Churchill resisted. There’s a factually ridiculous but dramatically powerful scene when Winston jumps out of his official car and into the tube, where the passengers greet him first with British politeness (no mass selfies back then), and then begin a conversation. Andrew Sullivan.
Are you kidding me? Even Andrew Sullivan is on-board for that ridiculous scene, and outright fabrication, designed to appeal to soft heads and mushy hearts? Oh, the people support me, even if the elites have doubts! Because the people are right!
Those same people, those salts of the earth, embraced Mr. Hitler too. Sullivan admits that he got emotional and tearful as he watched the scene. Seriously? I knew immediately that it was staged precisely because it played so well into the cliche about a celebrated leader being closer to the pulse of the average guy than to the “elites”. And these average guys were portrayed as unpretentious, hard-working, in possession of hearty souls.
And you got all tearful about it?