Rifftrax, “Patriotism”

In these divided times, it can be helpful to remind ourselves of what unites us and what it means to be a part of this great nation of ours. But it can be far more amusing to watch an actor with an infamous secret life prattle on incoherently to a bunch of wall-eyed children who have to act like they understand any of the gibberish he is spewing.

Today’s kindhearted mockery from Rifftrax (Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett—along with writing assists by Conor Lastowka and Sean Thomason) is the 1972 educational (?) short, Patriotism—written by Noah Keen, directed by Ray Nankey, and starring Bob Crane and a bunch of child actors with terrible parents. It so broadly defines patriotism that it feels less like jingoistic propaganda and more like someone scrambling to finish a project the night before its due. There is also a pretty famous bit of dialogue from Crane that is basically a sentence that’s impossible to diagram as it twists and turns into garbled nonsense.

As Rifftrax describes the short:

When you hear the word "patriotism" what's the first name that pops into your head? Wrong! The answer is Bob Crane. And not Hogan's Heroes Bob Crane, but rather creepy, post-Hogan's Heroes Bob Crane, home video, um, "pioneer". There is no one - NO ONE - better equipped to imbue America's youth with a sense of pride in their magnificent country - you know, once you get past the overwhelming, suffocating creepiness. Fear not, feelings of discomfort soon turn to laughter thanks to true patriots Mike, Kevin and Bill.

There are free entire films and shorts, along with previews of other titles, on the Rifftrax YouTube channel. And you can go to their website to purchase other Riffed movies/Riffed tracks (ohhhh, now it makes sense).