Eastwood And The Empty Chair: The Real Story

They're calling it "Eastwooding."
That's the new term for doing what Clint Eastwood did so effectively at the GOP Convention -- talking to an empty chair.
Eastwood is an American legend -- an Oscar-winning actor, director, musicologist and Hollywood deal-maker who's still box office gold even at age 82. But he's not a public speaker. And he knows he's not a public speaker.
So, Eastwood did what he does best -- he created a scene and acted it out. And since he couldn't get the other character in the scene to be there live and in person he created a ghost of a character with the use of a prop, an empty chair.
This is one of the oldest theatrical devices ever. And it remains remarkably effective. Why? Because it engages the audience by forcing them to imagine the person in the chair. It activates people's minds by forcing them to fill in the words for the phantom character, imagining what the invisible character is saying or doing to provoke the live characters response.
From Topper to Blithe Spirits, to Harvey to the movie Ghost itself, imaginary characters have been a Broadway and Hollywood staple.
So anybody who didn't understand what Eastwood was doing is either lame, terribly unsophisticated or still suffering from a bad case of Obamamania.
And, let's face it: We've all encountered real, live characters (relatives, supervisors, fellow employees, etc.) that we'd love to verbally admonish while they're forced to listen to us for a change. When Eastwood told the imaginary Obama "With all due respect, you're boring the hell out of me," we were able to identify with Clint because we've all known somebody like that -- some arrogant, self-important, know-it-all who loves the sound of his/her own voice but who is nonetheless boring. And we've all wanted to give that person a good tongue-lashing.
But for one reason or another maybe we haven't been able to do it.
So now, Eastwood has come along and given us a new option. We can talk to the chair. Set up an empty chair and let your nemesis have it. Unload on him/her.
Eastwood was doing what many, many (perhaps most) Americans would like to do -- giving the President of the United States a piece of their minds.
And, why not?
It's cathartic.
Plus, as Eastwood pointed out, it's appropriate because "we own this country" and the President "works for us." We hired the guy and we can fire him.
That would seem obvious, but it's not. Too many of us seem to forget that government exists for the people and not the other way around. We've lost sight of the fact that our democracy began with the words "We the people . . ."
Still, while some inside-the-beltway media types scratched their heads and appeared to wonder if Eastwood had lost his marbles, the viewers at home (and most of those in the auditorium) quickly caught on and by participating in the setup, helped this veteran actor/director complete the scene.
And Eastwood knew the audience was his partner. He understood that. That's why he asked them to complete his most famous line for him: "Go ahead, make my day."
Is Clint Eastwood really dumb, foolish, clueless?
Yeah . . . like a sly old fox!