“People of the World?” Obama or Klaatu?
One of my favorite old SciFi movies is “The Day the Earth Stood Still” with Michael Rennie, Patricia Neal, and Sam Jaffe. And Billy Gray (from Father Knows Best). Klaatu (Rennie) comes to earth with Gort, his robot friend, to warn the people of the world that they must live in peace or face obliteration (I was never sure why, if the aliens were against war, why they would destroy people). Anyway, it seems Barak Obama has picked up Klaatu’s refrain.
During his recent speech in Berlin, he referred to his audience several times as “People of the World” and he designated himself as a “fellow citizen of the world.”
Sounding very presidential, Obama spoke where Kennedy and Reagon gave resounding speeches to the people of Berlin. Kennedy’s “Ich Bein Ein Berliner” speech and Reagan’s “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” speech both were pivotal events in European and American history. Will Obama’s speech prove to be as powerful or influential? Only time will tell.
And I hope we can understand the words of Klaatu:
Your choice is simple: join us and live in peace, or pursue your present course and face obliteration