The Second Civil War
Unclear and Present Danger
Jamelle Bouie
4.7 • 660 Ratings
🗓️ 4 November 2024
⏱️ 71 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
On this week’s episode of Unclear and Present Danger, we watched the The Second Civil War, a 1997 satirical film directed by Joe Dante for HBO.
Starring James Earl Jones, Elizabeth Peña, Denis Leary, Beau Bridges, Phil Hartman and James Coburn, The Second Civil War takes place in a future where rapid, unlimited immigration has produced a balkinized society of ethnic enclaves. California is essentially been re-absorbed into Mexico and Rhode Island is home to millions of Chinese migrants.
When an international relief organization makes plans to bring Pakistani refugees into Idaho, the state’s governor, played by Beau Bridges, orders the its national guard to close the borders, sparking a stand-off with the federal government. As both sides escalate, Americans start to choose sides, with other western states joining Idaho in its pushback against Washington.
Eventually, the war of words becomes an actual war, as shooting starts between the U.S. Army and the various national guards now allied with Idaho.
As viewers, we see all of this unfold through the eyes of a news network, whose anchors and reporters are on the scene, covering developments as they occur.
The tagline for The Second Civil War was “A Very Uncivil Comedy.”
You can find The Second Civil War streaming for free on YouTube.
Our next episode will be on The Saint, the 1997 thriller adapted from the television show of the same name, directed by Phillip Noyce and starring Val Kilmer and Elizabeth Shue.
And don’t forget our Patreon, where we watch the films of the Cold War and try to unpack them as political and historical documents! For $5 a month, you get two bonus episodes every month as well as access to the entire back catalog — we’re almost two years deep at this point. Sign up at patreon.com/unclearpod.
The latest episode of our Patreon podcast is on the 1979 thriller Hardcore.
Connor Lynch produced this episode. Artwork by Rachel Eck.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You all know, you all know that I just ordered the borders of Idaho to be closed. |
| 0:06.0 | When it's over, this president could be out building houses for the poor like Jimmy Carter. |
| 0:10.0 | I've never even fixed a faucet. |
| 0:12.0 | Thank God for arrogance, lust and greed or it would all be doing them for commercials. |
| 0:16.0 | Let's go, people. I smell a 20 share. |
| 0:18.0 | Someone once said those whom the gods destroy they first make mad. |
| 0:22.6 | Let's jump right over those left-wing liberal media elite types and bring your story right to the American people. |
| 0:29.6 | Governor, aren't you afraid you put something else in motion that you can't control? |
| 0:34.6 | There's some things in life you just have to do. It's coming. |
| 0:39.3 | Whatever. Welcome to Unclear and Present Danger, a podcast about the political and military |
| 1:04.5 | thrillers in the 1990s and what they say about the politics of that decade. |
| 1:08.2 | I'm Jamel Bowie. |
| 1:09.4 | I'm a columnist for the New York Times opinion section. I'm John Gans. I write the Substack Newsletter Unpopular Front. And I'm the author of the book When the Clock Broke, Conman, Conspiracists, and How America Cracked Up in the Early 1990s, which is available wherever good books are sold. You may notice something a little different about this |
| 1:27.7 | episode we're recording in person rare in person episode I'm right here sitting |
| 1:32.5 | directly across not directly across diagonally from John and yeah maybe a little |
| 1:41.2 | different energy even sometimes I don't know yeah it's in any case don't worry sometimes. I don't know. |
| 1:46.3 | In any case, don't worry. |
| 1:48.0 | Don't get worried, audience. |
| 1:51.8 | On this week's episode of Unclean Present Danger, |
| 1:54.5 | we watched the Second Civil War, |
| 2:05.8 | a satirical comedy film produced for HBO directed by Joe Dante, starring Bo Bridges, Phil Hartman, |
| 2:12.9 | RIP, James Earl Jones, RIP, Dennis Leary, Joanna Cassidy, Dan Hediah, Elizabeth Pena, RIP, |
... |
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