Bernie Sanders has been fighting the same good fight decades, pushing for progressive policies to “save our broken democracy”.
But what does Bernie do after a long day’s campaigning? According to a recent profile published in The New York Times, the Vermont senator likes to kick back on his iPad and watch old boxing matches and films like Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street and Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia.
So let’s unpack this. The guy spends hundreds of hours campaigning against the greed and exploitation of Wall Street, only to unwind by watching a movie about the greed and exploitation of Wall Street. He speaks plainly about the impending climate crisis and develops policies that help us address it, only to relax by watching a dystopia about the annihilation of our planet.
The NYT piece also mentions that Sanders “sings along, tunelessly, with 1960s and 1970s folk rock on car radios”. We can only assume that his playlist is also queued with the likes of Ariana Grande and Cardi B, who are both vocal supporters of the Bern.
Presumably Bernie’s taste can be boiled down to motivation. It’s somewhat comforting to imagine him metaphorically knocking out right-wing politicians and finance bros in a boxing ring, or locking up the tax-evading Jordan Belfort’s of Wall Street. Admittedly, Melancholia – a film about the total destruction of our planet – is tougher to stomach, but hey, at least it’s not Gone With the Wind.