Over the weekend, a trailer for a blatantly right-wing biopic about president Joe Bidenâs son, Hunter Biden, made the rounds. It looks all kinds of bonkers. Also, itâs directed by a voice actor from Bungieâs Halo trilogy. Hey, letâs all give it up for the gaming angle!
The film, titled My Son Hunter, has been threatened since late last year. Itâs being brought to us by production company The Unreported Society, which âstrives to broadcast truth that the media tries to cover up.â (Former projects including ObamaGate the Movie and a podcast about the Harvey Weinstein trial.) My Son Hunter stars London mayoral hopeful (1.9% of the vote) Laurence Fox in the titular role, with â80s soap star John James playing Joe Biden. Actor and former MMA fighter Gina Carano also appears in a role thatâs billed as âSecret Service Agentâ but really just appears to be one of those fourth-wall-breaking narrator roles. Itâs being distributed by Breitbart, the far-right commentary site.
Narratively, My Son Hunter will, to borrow The Unreported Societyâs logline, âtell the story of the Biden Family Corruption through the eyes of Hunter Bidenâ (capitalization unchanged). Footage in the trailer seems to portray the cacophony of incongruous, unsubstantiated conspiracy theories about Hunter Biden and Ukraine. Itâs like a right-wing echo chamber come to life as dramatically color-balanced cinematography. Youâve gotta see it to believe it:
In the directorâs chair is Robert Davi, an actor who connoisseurs of â80s and â90s cinema will know as a familiar face who appeared in everything from The Goonies to Die Hard, and made perhaps his most notable appearance as the villain in the 1990 James Bond film Licence to Kill. But you may also recognize him as the voice behind âRtas Vadum, the Covenant shipmaster from Halo 2 and Halo 3. A key ally of the Arbiter, Vadum spearheads the Elitesâ defection from the Prophets in an effort to back humanity on the quest of âmaking it so all sentient life in the galaxy isnât eliminated in an instant.â Vadum also gets the trilogyâs âthen it is an even fightâ line, which was, back then, a requisite for all action series.
Carano, of course, appeared in The Mandalorian as a bounty hunter opposite Pedro Pascalâs leading character. Over the past few years, she repeatedly used her social media accounts to peddle dangerous right-wing talking points (transphobia, covid denialism, some hints of anti-Semitism). Last February, both Lucasfilm and Caranoâs agency dropped her
âThe script [for My Son Hunter] was instantly intriguing and side-achingly hilarious to me, especially after being newly exposed to the political realm in 2020,â Carano told Deadline. âRobert Davi is someone who reached out to me as soon as I was âcanceledâ in February 2021.â
My Son Hunter appears to have had the opposite of its intended effect, with commenters across social media platforms noting how damn cool the trailer makes Hunter Biden look. It also permanently tarnished one of the coolest characters from my favorite game. Tsk tsk, thanks Obama.
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