Pop Smart - The presidential race vs. Horton Hears a Who!: Who is who?

Horton Hears a Who! was the number-one movie for the second straight weekend. I might not have guessed that when my daughter and I attended the first Saturday show at Landmark Midtown Art Cinema, since she and I were literally the only people in the theater. Then again, that was at 11:40 a.m. on a gorgeous Easter-weekend day. (As my wife suggested, “Maybe most of the Midtown residents were still at brunch.”)

Watching Horton for my second time during the neverending presidential primary season, I couldn’t help but look for contemporary political implications. Like the original Dr. Seuss story, Horton is rife with politics. The story involves a tyrannical kangaroo who mobilizes public opinion against a mild-mannered elephant over his unpopular position that a tiny dust-speck contains a microscopic population. The tiny Whos, struggling to be heard, are the ultimate disenfranchised demographic. Matching the right character to a contemporary political figure turns out to be more tricky than you’d think.

The Sour Kangaroo. Judgmental, power-hungry and at times sharply sarcastic, the kangaroo (above) shows some unfortunate similarities to Hillary Clinton. The parallel proves nearly unavoidable because the kangaroo exudes such entitlement to her authority, and goes negative so eagerly. When Horton stands up to her, she warns that “things will get very ugly very quickly,” sounding exactly like the way you imagine “fighter Hillary” would sound behind closed doors, particularly after Barack Obama became the front-runner for the Democratic nomination.