About That New Hillary Ad, Part II

You know, I didn't quite see it first, but I thjink Ann Althouse really is on to something with this ad. I'm a writer (I'd like to think of myself as one), so I usually pick up on these things. I'm not sure if I was just being lazy, or what, but the carrot vs onion rings sexual imagery fits.

Oh, and I guess the carrot really is a phallic symbol. Nothing like those masturbation stories, huh? Thanks, Google!

About That New Hillary Ad...

I've seen the ad, and frankly I thought it was cool. I suspect that there are various reasons why Hillary chose to do the ad, and various interpretations of its meaning. In case you haven't seen it, it's a spoof of the final scene of The Sopranos, with Bill and Hillary sitting in the diner, eating, picking songs in the jukebox. Ann Althouse has an interesting analysis, but I think she reads a bit too much into it.

I think the problem of non-Sopranos watchers is interesting, but it's fair to say that Hillary made a safe judgment in assuming that the average person who would watch the ad probably watched, or at least heard of the show, and with the coverage of the finale, the reference was already out there. Of course, assumptions are by their nature fallible. I suspect the only ones who would think using a Sopranos reference is elitist, are those who probably won't vote for her anyway.

Ann's second point is entirely valid. Let us not forget that in the midst of this great story about these complex characters, that we're dealing with hardcore criminals. Tony Soprano is the protagonist, but he is the boss of an organized crime family, and Carmela turns a blind eye. We love these characters, but they aren't exactly role models. Such associations could backfire. You know full well how this could be spun.

The rest of it I'm not touching, because it reeks of reading too much. As one commenter put it, sometimes an onion ring is just an onion ring (BTW, the carrot really is a phallic symbol? I didn't know that!).

At the end of the day, just as the show was a show about family, that happened to involve mobsters, this ad was a clever way for Hillary to try to be hip, current, and edgy, I suppose.

And Johnny Sack was in it. That was cool.

Oh, and the comments are getting ugly on her blog, BTW.

What The Heck Was That?

The Sopranos finale just ended. SPOILER ALERT. Everyone except Meadow is sitting at the table in the restaurant, and Meadow is taking forever trying to park. She finally gets through the door, and...blackout. Blackout. THen credits. No music. I thought my cable was out, but that was the end. Confused as hell. Did David Chase execute the biggest swerve of all? Were they all killed, and we just don't get to see it? Did he just override all speculation and just decide to leave us in the dark, forever?

You don't end a series with a cliffhanger! WTF?!

Is it really the end? Was the biggest swerve that this wasn't the real finale? I don't know what to think.

UPDATE: You know what, after reading the comments over at Althouse, I'm wondering if the feeling in my gut is correct that this a stroke of genius by Chase. In one sense he wants us to suffer, never really knowing, and in other sense he expects we'll be figuring out the ending in our heads for years. Heck, we could just look at it for what we saw: Tony and his family lived. Period.

UPDATE#2: You know what, I think this guy nails it.

UPDATE#3: Well, if you were looking for the big bang finale, it seems the WWE has done it. I was thinking in the back of my head how crazy it would be if something like the limo blowing up happened, and how it would never happen. That's silly. And then it happened. Wow. REally didn't see that coming, that it actually happened, I mean.