Posted on 07/21/2024 4:45:12 AM PDT by Indy Pendance
MILWAUKEE, WI — At the end of former President and U.S. Presidential candidate Donald Trump's 90-minute acceptance speech, the sounds of opera opened with "Nessun Dorma" ("Let No One Sleep"), a majestic musical piece performed by tenor Christopher Maccio.
-----
However, the aria also has a more sinister connotation beyond its original intention in the opera. It is featured in the 2002 film "The Sum of All Fears," based on Tom Clancy's 1991 novel. This political thriller, a sequel to "Clear and Present Danger" (1989), involves CIA Deputy Director Jack Ryan, who attempts to prevent a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union circa 1985. Ryan faces entrenched bureaucrats from both sides and a missing nuclear warhead, which each side uses to further their agendas. At the end of the movie, Ryan is triumphant in preventing a nuclear holocaust, and "Nessun Dorma" plays. The camera shifts to various antagonists who meet their deaths by car bombs, throat slashing, and other means.
-----
Trump often claims to be a victim of the deep state or the swamp, and he promises to drain the swamp if elected. Although the violent scenes accompanied by "Nessun Dorma" in "The Sum of All Fears" are intense, they may serve as a hyperbolic metaphor for Trump's campaign rhetoric. Performing it after his triumphant speech at the RNC convention might be one of the most ingenious trolls of all time.
They were not Jack Ryan's enemies, they were the enemies of every. single. one. of. us.
Every human on earth, Russian, American, Brazilian, Nigerian, Chinese, German.
It's as if they had vowed to kill 7½ billion of us.
That's just plain evil. They got what they deserved, and less. They got a quick coup de grace, it would have been more satisfying to have the sweat through a decade of trial with all their evil exposed and then tremble in anticipation of the noose.
That would have been just.
But I'm satisfied with what they got.
Prince Calaf is in love with Princess Turandot. (I can't imagine why.) He wants to marry her, and to do so, he must answer three riddles; a wrong answer will result in his execution. He gets 'em right, but she still refuses to marry him. So he tells her that if she is can guess his name before dawn the next day, he will accept death. (Really dumb if you ask me.) A decree goes out that nobody in Peking can sleep until she learns his name and if she can't learn it everybody in town's going to be wiped out. That's when Calaf sings Nessun Dorma. She doesn't guess it. He refers to her as "The Princess of Death." (She had also reneged on her agreement to marry him when he answered the riddles.) Nevertheless he kisses her--and then marries her! (Consummation was probably the biggest challenge yet.)
Who would want her for a wife?
I can't connect this to the present situation, but maybe someone who's smarter than me can.
The homeland of Calaf and his father has been conquered and oppressed by China. Maybe he's hoping to liberate it, but a marriage to "The Princess of Death" is a heavy price.
Maybe this connects to the heavy price Trump has paid for liberating the American People?
The People's Republic of China initially forbade performance of Turandot because they said it portrayed China and the Chinese People unfavorably, but in September 1998 a beautiful performance of it was held in the Forbidden City and broadcast in the USA. Many of us watched. It was very good.
I first misread your post and thought it read “All his enemies to be assassinated instead of T.I.R.E.D.” Which sure fit the theme of the aria.
I think it’s more of a warning promise as in: this COULD be you!
We still listen to The Three Tenors Christmas CD every year.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.