If you're going to have a movie question for a potential governor of California, it ought to be something substantive about the movie business, but "California Gubernatorial Candidates Bicker and Squabble, But Say Little About Hollywood/The demise of a flagship industry drew little attention in Tuesday’s CNN debate" (Hollywood Reporter).
May 7, 2026
A thoroughly idiotic question at CNN's California gubernatorial debate: Who would you want to play you in a movie about you?
This is just so terribly bad. It's also an unfair softball because it's so easy for the 2 Hispanic males. They both say Antonio Banderas. Watch the nonsense:
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70 comments:
I'd have more respect for a candidate who simply dismissed the question as being too stupid to respond to.
CA is the first or second most corrupt run state in the union.
Of course the hack-Soviet Democreeps are going to ask such clown-show unserious nonsense.
Its dead like zombie valentino
Yeah, why didn't any one of them think of reframing the question into how can we save the movie industry. Like: I don't know if there will ever be a movie about me and I don't care one way or the other about that. I care about our dying movie industry... Insert whatever policy they supposedly have. That tax credit stuff or whatever.
We used to know they were all airheads out there. Need a refresher course…
Looking forward to the day the populace is spared from the pie eyed, porcine gaze of Katie Porker.
Charge less money make better films
California voters are thoroughly idiotic as evidenced by the current slate of serving officers. The absurd and reprehensible Gavin Newsom is hardly the worst among them. Because of them the "Golden State" isn't even brass. It like the old saying, frequently misquoted, Ask a stupid question, attract stupid listeners.
When a marvel film was 6 bucks i was game at 18 bucks not so much
…think my pcp’s office nailed me- I’m pretty much Marty Byrde without the cartel baggage…
I can’t watch it. Must. Look. Away…
Becerra should be played by Ren of “Ren and Stimpy” fame. They have the same degenerate look when they smile and Becerra is nothing if not a cartoon character.
La looks too much like the opening to dawn of the dead (filmed in milwaukee)
Insert whatever policy they supposedly have. That tax credit stuff or whatever. I just don't see any policy that can get Hollywood to make good movies again.
Holy crap - the democrat party are such assholes. wow.
Katie Porter: I suggest Broderick Crawford.
Also raccoon city from resident evil
Wilbur - LOL
Omg that is vicious
Much more important is that EVERY Democrat on that stage last night raised their hand in a “yes” when asked if they will proceed with the high speed bullet train to nowhere if elected.
Yeah thats tator salad idiocy
"... why didn't any one of them think of reframing the question..."
Because out of 40 million Californians this is the best and brightest, born to lead the the 5th largest economy in the world.
We had to import a brit of hungarian heritage
From what I have seen, the challengers to the status quo have far outperformed the entrenched Democrats in glaring fashion, but that still will not overcome the foolishness of the voters, and the well-oiled Democrat control machine in CA. That state is locked down, and if needed, the Dems will go to embarrassing lengths to assure they keep power if they are forced to. I don't expect them to lose no matter how popular the opposition, so I do hope they are forced to show us all how corrupt they can get.
There's no way to save the California film industry. It's doomed to a slow and agonizing death by strangulation. AI animation is improving at such a dizzying rate that by 2034 it will be indistinguishable from live action. The whole infrastructure will utterly collapse. Think of it -- no more vainglorious movie stars or overweening directors, no more casting couch perverts, no more studios, and no more fatuous studio execs flashing red and green.
Kaitlin Collins looks embarrassed forcing a half smile.
Years ago in some POTUS primary debate - was it Republican 2008? - some reporter asked a stupid question and only one R Candidate had the guts to say "Im not raising my hand or giving answer. Ask relevant questions".
Why do we always have to put with these stupid reports in debates? The candidates should be asking the questions of each other. the Press should be just moderators. No one elected CNN to control the topics or to ask stupid dumb questions.
Here's a better question for them : "If you were a tree, what kind of tree would you be?"
Insert whatever policy they supposedly have. That tax credit stuff or whatever.
Here is where the problem lies. The movie industry wasn't built through policies, it was destroyed by policies. California became the movie capital partly due to the fact that there were fewer restrictions. It was the eventual "policies" that destroyed it. If they really wanted to have a vibrant industry the only answer would be "I would strip away all the business unfriendly policies and let them do what they did 100 years ago." But to a democrat, a business is a tool of the state. A tool to serve favored groups, a tool to punish unfavored groups, a tool to serve the government's policies, and a whipping boy when they don't kowtow to the issue de jure.
Did Katie Porter say "Kathy Bates" and clarify "the Misery one, not the Molly Brown one?"
And why the hell should I care about Hollywood? These assholes are 95 percent Democrat/leftist and love open borders. If you think California is a mess, well rich creeps in Hollywood have been funding politicans who made it that way. And they've been doing it for 70 years.
Quaestor said...
California voters are thoroughly idiotic as evidenced by the current slate of serving officers.
I suppose it depends on how many of those ballots are cast by actual voters.
Making a movie about anything, absolutely anything, will soon cost nearly nothing. The movie industry has no path to survival. Once it's that easy, it will lose its allure. The difficulty and expense were subconscious reasons we would pay to see a movie.
Lena Dunham
We learned nothing from Nixon/Kennedy. We run these things and we analyze all the style and gotchas and policy gets lost, and if we had debates where the pols ask the questions it would be a farce of 'Have you stopped beating your wife?' stuff and pie throwing. Just get rid of them all. They're stupid beauty contests....
Someone should have asked the moderators the same question to fight fire with fire and expose the inanity.
The Democrats are just squeezing every penny out of the California economy because of the uniquely beautiful and valuable geography of the State. They figure that value is so high, people will put up with anything.
Someone thought about that question, and still decided to ask it on a televised debate, and the person who did that was carefully selected for their skills and knowledge. We have no standards at all anymore.
The most disappointing aspect of these candidates is the absence of both quality and volume of hand jive. It's almost unwatchable without that.
To play me? A young Spencer Tracy, of course.
"...the uniquely beautiful and valuable geography of the State. They figure that value is so high, people will put up with anything."
It almost kept me there, but then my coveted hiking areas all burnt to the ground every year until the ones left were overcrowded like everything else. The price got too high for what you get.
Nobody said Danny DeVito?
California is running reruns with progressive returns. Still, there are some independent, coming productions that promise transition to a Republican form of government and a viable evolution of the People and our Posterity. Here's to AI... Anthropogenic Intelligence.
Yeah, the R's could have said "I can't think of a specific actor, but it will have to be someone in Georgia or Wales, because the Democrat Party has destroyed the California film industry. Maybe Tyler Perry, huh? He's replicated Hollywood in a state that's got a lot of problems but is at least smart enough not to drive out a massive source of jobs and tax revenue." CC, JSM
"Making a movie about anything, absolutely anything, will soon cost nearly nothing. The movie industry has no path to survival. Once it's that easy, it will lose its allure. The difficulty and expense were subconscious reasons we would pay to see a movie."
The real issue is whether the physiological response to something not created by humans will matter. Even without AI, people are constantly complaining about the green screen/Stagecraft nonlocations and the lousy lighting that results from shooting LED projected environments because as the human brain can clearly discern is - it's not real. Yes, Gone With the Wind was shot on sets and we can tell that they are not real as well but there was a separate artistry to matte painting and set design that helped dramatize the action. The blending of the real/not real is more disconcerting to the brain (perhaps Uncanny Valley isn't just about faces) than an obvious fake painted backdrop.
Being a movie buff is getting harder. Yes, there are fewer good movies made, but there are still a lot of good movies made every year. They, however, all tend to get lumped together as "Hollywood" and dismissed due to political reasons.
If the Latino candidates had huevos, they would have said Danny Trejo. A native of LA County, not like that pretty-boy Malagan. CC, JSM
"Kaitlin Collins looks embarrassed forcing a half smile."
James Cameron could use the bottom half of her face for inspiration.
I am Laslo.
I've used the bottom half of a lot of women's faces for...inspiration. CC, JSM
The commie press.
The mayor might want Antonio Banderas, but I think that Edward James Olmos gets the part.
Laslo, Christopher Nolan could use Ms. Collins likeness to reprise The Dark Knight with a female Joker.
https://x.com/Hotshot_Movie/status/2052416186340855901
Olmos was literally born in East LA! CC, JSM
If I were asked that question in a gubernatorial debate, I would say "That's a stupid question: ask me another." Unless I was asked last, and the others had already answered it by giving the names of famous actors they wanted to play them. In that case, I would say "That's a brilliant question! Anyone who has actually thought about who should play him or her in a movie is way too narcissistic to hold down any serious job, like governor. They should maybe go into acting, instead. As for me, I've never thought about that question and am not going to think about it now. Who cares? Ask me something relevant to the job I'm applying for."
Even though he was not in the debate, I would like to see Gavin Newsom played by the young Steve Martin.
A young and alive Larry Linville would make a perfect Gavin Newsom
California deserves what it's about to get.
Javier Bardem in NCFOM.
Hervé Villechaize
Chigurh could run away with it
Wilbur said...
Katie Porter: I suggest Broderick Crawford.
10-4
OT except insofar as it reveals the silliness of too much of modern journalism (I'm lumping in debate moderation since the questions are journalistic fodder): I was just idly checking what Google's news feed was going to serve up to me today, and encountered a story about the dreaded brain-eating amoeba's having been found at 3 NPS-administered areas in a recent water quality survey.
Well geez, we're visiting several parks on the current leg of our travels, and we're traveling with our still-alive dog (we don't THINK her lymphoma diagnosis was incorrect, just that she's in a persistent remission from the steroid she's on, but at this point...) who is of course not allowed in national parks, but if any of the nearby public lands or state parks we're also visiting might be affected - I figured I'd just see which parks.
So - the story acknowledged that this single-celled predator is typically found in warmer states (where there are warmer Waters, natch). But (take a guess!) because of climate change, the amoeba is moving northward. Uh-oh!
And then, at last, the lede: it's been found in Yellowstone and Grand Teton NPs, and at Lake Mead National Recreation Area.
In hot springs.
"Richard Dolan said...
California deserves what it's about to get."
You still live in New York, right? How's that workin' out for ya?
Well Katie Porter could go with the actress who played Cruela Deville. And if Gavin Newsom were running again, he could ask Moe Shemp (?) of the Three Stooges. Larry and Curley are busy.
It seems kind of racist that they chose a Spanish actor rather than a Mexican one.
Peachy said...
Holy crap - the democrat party are such assholes. wow.
There are no words. Please tell me there's going to be a huge lawsuit.
I know there are many here (and elsewhere) who say California voters get what we deserve but a good 50% or more of us are just ignored, scorned and plain dismissed. There are no options for us except to leave the state. Problem is, we don't want to leave and consign this state ultimately to China's control.
So, just to play devil''s advocate, just say one of the Republican candidates does win. So what? a Dem supermajority in Sacramento will just tie things up or sit on their hands and wait out the 4-year term.
Only the top Latino candidate can be Antonio Banderas. The runner-up will have to settle for Benicio del Toro, Diego Luna, or Pedro Pascal.
Arnold Schwarzenegger could quite simply have answered, "Me." Ditto for Spencer Pratt, though he might choose someone more likeable than the VH1 villain Spencer Pratt.
"So, just to play devil''s advocate, just say one of the Republican candidates does win. So what? a Dem supermajority in Sacramento will just tie things up or sit on their hands and wait out the 4-year term."
Oh, they won't wait 4 years- if the GOP take the top two spots in next month's primary, one of two things will happen: (1) a court will order a Democrat be placed on November's ballot or, (2) the new governor will be recalled before he even gets sworn into office.
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