Party poster recovered from a dumpster behind the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity at San Diego State. “Another smart move from the Sanders campaign,” says SDSU Professor of Political Science Walter Windblows. “There’s the name-check, obviously. But Weekend at Bernie’s was a cult hit from the 1980s, and nostalgia for that decade is high right now among young people. Witness the success of contemporary pop songs like “Shut Up and Dance With Me,” and the loving lookback on ‘80s college life in Richard Linklater’s Everybody Wants Some!! Even an animated show as lousy as Moonbeam City survived for a whole season, purely on the strength of its ‘80s-style visuals. By associating himself with a bygone but beloved era, Sanders nullifies the naturally off-putting fact that he’s old as dirt. And there’s a special genius in placing himself in the role of a dead guy — the Bernie of the original film — who nonetheless serves as the locus of awesome action. It’s a sly comment on the way his campaign has been declared dead again and again, only to spark to life on the strength of surprisingly lively rallies and primaries. Finally, it shows he can take a joke — he does kinda look like he’s tripping balls sometimes."
Posted April 9, 2016