Andy Griffith Film Foreshadows Taylor Swift’s Role in Politics

Every time I hear about Taylor Swift and how she might influence the outcome of this year’s presidential election, I think of a 1957 movie starring Andy Griffith.

That film, A Face in the Crowd, is a masterpiece, and you owe it to yourself to watch it if you haven’t already.

A Face in the Crowd is not a comedy. This film came out at the same time that politicians in real life were learning how to exploit television and the power of celebrity to enrich themselves. And that’s the theme of this movie. 

Andy Griffith portrays celebrity, Larry “Lonesome” Rhodes, who, like Sheriff Andy Taylor, puts on a folksy demeanor. Rhodes bonds with his audience. That audience buy whatever product he endorses. More or less, members of Rhodes’ audience are a flock of sheep who have no minds of their own. 

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Politicians in Washington, D.C. notice this, and, before too long, Rhodes advises a presidential candidate and influences national political policy.

Rhodes has a few things in common with Andy Taylor and Ben Matlock but he is, in fact, their polar opposite. He’s hateful. He’s a bully. He’s malevolent. He holds his own audience in contempt. 

And if you only know Andy Griffith from Matlock, The Andy Griffith Show, or the movie No Time for Sergeants, then you might find this movie a bit jarring.

Many people who have seen the film insist Griffith should have won an Oscar. 

“I’m not just an entertainer,” Rhodes says at one point during the film. 

“I’m an influencer. A wielder of opinion. A force.”

Later, as Rhodes’ ego gets the better of him, he compares the public to “a cage full of guinea pigs.”

“There are a lot of trained seals,” Rhodes said. 

“I toss them a dead fish, and they’ll flap their flippers.”

And this brings me to Taylor Swift. I’ll concede that I know little of her. Maybe she’s talented. Maybe she’s not. As a 40ish straight male, I don’t exactly belong to her key audience demo.

This young woman has all the money she’ll need for 20 lifetimes. She has no idea what Bidenomics has done to most of us (and neither, evidently, do her fans). She isn’t old enough yet to accumulate wisdom. But she believes Kamala Harris is well-suited to serve as president.  

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Now, millions of her female fans 30 and under will vote for Harris, without examining whether Harris’ values match their own. 

Again, I don’t know enough about Taylor Swift. I hope she’s not a toxic and malignant personality, as Rhodes was. Nevertheless, Swift exerts an unhealthy amount of influence over millions of voters.

And, because of that, I hope that a year from now that Kamala Harris isn’t president. I’m hope I’m still not paying twice as much as I should for gas and groceries. 

If Taylor Swift isn’t careful, her fans might not have enough money to pay for any more of her albums or concerts. And only then will they learn what the rest of us already knew.

It’s called Economics 101. 

Special thanks to Warhammer’s Wife proofreading this story before publication to make certain there were no misspellings, grammatical errors or other embarrassing mistakes and/or typos. Follow Warhammer on Twitter @Real_Warhammer