MUTINY ON THE SHIP OF STATE

Just in time for the Christmas Season a new Spectacular is playing in Washington and simultaneously on small screens across the nation. The Karl Rove production of the venerable Mutiny on the Bounty with Bill Frist cast in the role of the reluctant mutineer, Fletcher Christian. Trent Lott plays Lt. William Bligh, the Captain of the Bounty whose ill-advised acerbic manner alienates his Lieutenant and drives him into the arms of the mutineers. You will recall that in the older versions of the story Bligh’s mission was to gather and transport breadfruit plants from the South Pacific to Britain’s Caribbean colony to satisfy the hunger of slaves. The Tahitian tropical paradise was the mission’s undoing and mutiny erupted when Bligh attempted to round up his crew to complete their task.

The plot has been updated for this Whitehouse version. Bligh’s (Lott) mission is to bring home the bacon in the form of more tax cuts to satisfy the hunger of rich white guys and their heirs. Instead of Tahiti this post-election paradise is set in Washington, DC where the mutiny unfolds. When Bligh’s mouth gets him in trouble discontent bubbles through the crew and some disaffected crewmen, (played by Nickles, Warner and Allen) approach Christian (Frist) to lead them in rebelling against their Captain. At first the steady Christian refuses, declaring his loyalty to his superior but then, succumbing to the importuning of the ranks, agrees to lead the mutiny. Instead of killing Bligh they set him adrift in the vast Pacific Ocean along with the few crewman (Spector, McConnell and Shelby) who remained loyal to naval tradition and refused to participate in the rebellion. The now undermanned Bounty makes for Pitcairn Island where they seek to avoid the consequences of their act.

Unlike the prior versions of the story the ending is not yet clear. In the original Bligh navigated his longboat, brought the loyal crew home and lived to testify against the mutineers at the trial of those who remained behind in Tahiti and were caught. In the Rove version the Captain, faced with the inevitable, has voluntarily climbed into the longboat for a perilous journey to Pascagoula to try to keep his tiny command in November 2004. Will the mutineers make it to Pitcairn or will the ship founder on the way? We have to await the last reel to find out. It remains to be seen whether Frist can turn in a performance as Christian to powerful those of Clark Gable or Mel Gibson and whether Lott can match the power of either Charles Laughton or Anthony Hopkins as Bligh or whether it will be as weak a production as Brando’s disaster.

In any event the Whitehouse studio that is releasing this drama should remember the fate of the historical Bounty. It was burnt to the waterline at Pitcairn to hide it from the Royal Navy marooning the mutineers permanently on that tiny islet. We will see what kind of leader Frist’s Fletcher Christian turns out to be.