this post was submitted on 16 Jul 2024
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Tim Robbins is shutting down any “deranged” comparisons between his 1992 film “Bob Roberts” and the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

Conspiracies surfaced on social media after Thomas Matthew Crooks killed a Trump rallygoer and tried to assassinate the former president, injuring two others in the crowd as well. Robbins weighed in after one theory claimed the shooting was arranged by convicted felon Trump to boost his campaign for re-election, much like the plot of Robbins’ political drama “Bob Roberts.”

“To anyone drawing a parallel between my film ‘Bob Roberts’ and the attempted assassination of Trump, let’s be clear. What happened yesterday was a real attempt on a presidential candidate’s life,” Robbins wrote. “Those that are denying the assassination attempt was real are truly in a deranged mindset. A human being was shot yesterday. Another killed. They may not be human beings that you agree with politically but for shame folks. Get over your blind hatred of these people. They are fellow Americans. This collective hatred is killing our souls and consuming whatever is left of our humanity.”

“Bob Roberts” was written and directed by Robbins, who also starred. The film centered on the rise of a populist conservative politician (Robbins) who stages being shot by an assassin to win a U.S. Senate seat in Pennsylvania.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Applying the razor to this, it’s more likely that a candidate who is extremely divisive and talks about persecuting and executing opponents as payback really just attracted karma.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago

For what we know, the suspect could even be a supporter of Trump that... Thought on making a martyr. Or, missed deliberately for this very outcome. Or, was a religious fanatic and wanted the best for Trump, sending him to heaven.

My point is, that we shouldn't get speculative, and more importantly, we shouldn't reinforce our own worldviews and biases on the basis of such untestable hypotheses.

All the third scenarios in my post sound absurd. Yet, they are equally probable to any other theories.

And indeed, based on evidence (the attempt was done by a kid with an AR-15) we should rethink policies (e.g. gun ownership)

[–] [email protected] 17 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I understand that it's a believable, yet wild conspiracy theory. I also think it's a stretch for the man who wrote and directed a movie with that exact situation as a plot point to be calling it deranged. It's obliviously not that farfetched seeing as he wrote a movie with the concept.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

The film is a comedy/satire so perhaps he felt he pushed elements of it into wild and wacky territory that would be considered farfetched, possibly deranged.

However, the deranged bit refers to the people who are suggesting it is as conspiracy - it's one thing to use the idea in comedy movie and quite another that this would happen in real life. For one, that shot would be incredibly risky for someone to attempt especially without a sniper rifle or the relevant training.

I think he may be overreacting as it may not have even been mentioned if not for the Pennsylvania link.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

it may not have even been mentioned if not for the Pennsylvania link.

It was the first thing I thought of.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Very true. Unfortunately being a satire doesn't seem to protect anything from becoming a reality anymore. The Onion is news. Idiocracy is morphing into documentary territory.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago

Do these guys have a boundary beyond which they can recognize what they're defending against political hatred is the fountainhead of political hatred? Or does it go all the way to, "you might not agree with Hitler's politics politically but a human being was shot."

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I feel like there has to be more movies with this premise

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

It was a central plot point of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

Get over your blind hatred of these people. They are fellow Americans.

There was a failed coup.

Fuck anyone pretending the backlash is based on vibes. We have reasons to hate these particular motherfuckers. They are judged on their actions and the content of their character.

Even the dead guy, the retired firefighter shielding his family, died in the front rows of a fascist rally. If that doesn't diminish how sorry you feel for him - what would?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

It would probably help if the FBI got off their butts and nailed down a motive for the crime.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 month ago

... like it's a fuckin' mystery.

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Man, this is a sad day. I didn't know Tim Robbins was a conservative.