Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Since 1907
Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Calvin University's official student newspaper since 1907

Calvin University Chimes

Trump’s political ascension predicted by “Bee Movie”

Donald Trump is a possible choice for president, and as we get deeper into the election cycle, it becomes clear that the conditions leading to his rise were predicted in a 2007 film. Not in the Coen Brother’s “No Country For Old Men” or Paul Thomas Anderson’s “There Will Be Blood.” Not in the unsettling “Zodiac” or the conspiracy-revealing “Bourne Ultimatum,” but in a little film called “Bee Movie.”

“Bee Movie”otherwise known as Jerry Seinfeld’s loveable and underappreciated foray into family animated movies, or “the greatest movie ever made” — centers on a young honey bee named Barry and his fight against the unfair working conditions for bees producing honey. Aiding him in his fight is his human ally, the florist Vanessa Bloome.

Throughout the film, Vanessa and Barry’s bond grows stronger, creating a strange tension for a relationship between a human and a bee. This alienates Vanessa’s boyfriend, Ken (voiced by Patrick Warburton, or that guy who voiced Kronk in “The Emperor’s New Groove”). Eventually Vanessa and Ken’s relationship dissolves, as Ken is unable to handle his girlfriend spending so much time with an insect.

In the film, Ken is painted as a villain. The viewer sees him as over-possessive and closed-minded as he becomes exasperated in that special way that only Patrick Warburton (Kronk) can do. However, if one actually considers what Ken is so upset about — that his girlfriend is ignoring him to hang out with a bee — it becomes clear that he is actually the only person in this universe that makes any sense. This makes Ken’s plight tragic; he is left yelling his rational position at a bunch of people who have somehow allowed themselves to be collectively swept into madness.  

Sound familiar? In the rise of Donald Trump, perhaps you have felt like Ken, left to yell into the unresponsive sea of all of the people who are somehow making friends with the metaphorical bee that is Donald Trump. Maybe you tried making sense of that speech where he asserted that Mexican immigrants are criminals and rapists. Perhaps you got a little louder when he implied that Megyn Kelly only asked him real and difficult questions because she was on her period. Perhaps you really lost it when he suggested that only “second amendment people” could “stop” Hillary Clinton. Or maybe it was when he stated that Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were the founders of ISIS, insisting on conservative radio that he was being literal and not speaking in broad strokes, only to later get defensive on Twitter and claim that nobody can take sarcasm. Whatever did it for you, it hasn’t changed the fact that he’s still here as an actual candidate for the most powerful office in the world.

Whatever your “my-girlfriend-is-leaving-me-for-a-bee” moment was this election cycle, we can all agree that it sucks to be Ken.

More to Discover