It’s a plain-sight not-quite-twist that was sitting in front of us this whole time. Following Donald Trump’s selection of the hilariously cursed trio of Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone and Jon Voight for a made-up ambassadorship to Hollywood back in January, it was revealed that the position may not be ceremonial after all; it was actually Voight himself who helped goad Trump into making that bizarre statement about placing a 100% tariff on foreign-made films.
The president has since clarified that he was “exploring all options” for revitalizing the US film industry; hopefully that includes some sample plans from Gibson and Stallone, too. (We can assume Stallone’s involves a 44-page treatment for a movie where Rocky Balboa returns to the ring and becomes the main character in Creed IV.) For his part, Voight said he that he and his partner submitted a “comprehensive plan” including federal incentives for film productions, production “treaties” with other countries, and “limited” tariffs. Naturally, Trump glommed on to any proposal with even a glancing mention of tariffs, with the added bonus of being authored by an 86-year-old man.
