Astral Codex Ten

Gabriel Over The White House

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Gabriel Over The White House

Article

Gabriel Over The White House is a recurring film in the Astral Codex Ten archive, appearing 2 times across 2 issues between February 20, 2021 and March 09, 2021. The archive places it in contexts such as “the most recent, Gabriel Over The White House (released ~December 1932), made an impression”; “Watching Gabriel Over The White House”; “I got from Gabriel Over The White House (sorry, subscriber-only post), the movie exhorting FDR”. It most often appears alongside FDR, Mussolini, anti-colonialists.

Metadata

  • Category: Films
  • Mention count: 2
  • Issue count: 2
  • First seen: February 20, 2021
  • Last seen: March 09, 2021

Appears In

Source Context

Recovered passages from the original issue text. When the raw archive preserved outbound links inside the source passage, they are listed directly under the quote.

Movie Review: Gabriel Over The White House
February 20, 2021 · Original source
I have a friend from the 1930s. I don't know how she ended up in 2021, but we’re glad to have her. She makes me watch 1930s movies sometimes, and the most recent, Gabriel Over The White House (released ~December 1932), made an impression.
Inline links: Gabriel Over The White House
When he reaches the Bonus Army encampment, he strides in purposefully (over the protests of his security detail) and gives a stirring speech about how America has betrayed its grand ideals and they deserve better than this. He promises to turn them into a vast army for creating public works for the common good, and says he will give them good conditions and excellent pay. They all cheer, for (we are told) none of them are lazy or communists, they are just work-loving people who have been cruelly barred from labor by the unfair system oppressing them. We pan back to the White House, where the President's rich friends and advisors are meeting in secret to discuss what to do about him. As they are gloating about the secrecy of their meeting, the President's personal secretary marches in and hands each of them a card, which turns out to say "You're fired" or some flowery 1930s statement to that effect. The advisors are flabbergasted - how did the President know they were there? Can he really fire the whole Cabinet and White House staff in one fell swoop?
Some people tell the President that he has solved Unemployment, solved Crime, and yet America is still in danger because it's running out of money. The only hope is to collect on the debt European nations owe us from World War I. But the European nations refuse to pay, giving mealy-mouthed excuses like "we're in a Great Depression too" and "help, we are literally starving here". The President declares that he shall make them pay. "Should I prepare a conference room?" asks his handsome male secretary. "No," says the President, "there have been enough conferences in rooms". Instead, he asks that the conference be planned on board the Presidential Yacht, which is apparently a thing, and adds as an afterthought "And tell the Secretary of War to have the whole US Navy there, surrounding us."
The Consequences Of Radical Reform
March 09, 2021 · Original source
An alternative thread runs through the French Revolution, social activism, and modern complaints about vetocracy. Its thesis: entrenched interests are constantly blocking necessary change. If only there were some centralized authority powerful enough to sweep them away and do all the changes we know we need, everything would be great. This was the vibe I got from Gabriel Over The White House (sorry, subscriber-only post), the movie exhorting FDR to become a fascist dictator. So many obviously good policies had built up behind the veto point that we needed a Great Man to come in, sweep them away, and satisfy the people's cries for justice. Obviously at its worst this thread can lead to authoritarianism.
Inline links: vetocracy, Gabriel Over The White House