Criswell’s Razor ties in nicely with recent talk about the role of faith in our leaders:
Ask anyone his or her favorite closing line in a movie, and you will probably get a melodramatic climax (such as “Tomorrow is another day!” from Gone With the Wind) or a melodramatic dénouement (such as “This looks like the beginning of a beautiful friendship.” from Casablanca).But for sheer contemporary poignancy, no closing words can match the gauntlet thrown down in the closing seconds of Plan 9 from Outer Space.
Directed by the legendary transvestite filmmaker Ed Wood Jr. (portrayed by Johnny Depp in Tim Burton’s valentine of a tribute Ed Wood), and narrated by TV weatherman turned psychic Criswell the Great, Plan 9 is considered by many to be the worst film ever made.
After 75 minutes of ludicrous proceedings in which aliens whose spaceship is furnished with wooden tables unsuccessfully try to conquer the earth by bringing three dead people (including the actually deceased Bela Lugosi) back to life, Criswell makes a final appearance, haranguing the audience with the ultimate challenge: “Can you prove it didn’t happen?!”
Who would have thought that these six simple words (referred herein as “Criswell’s Razor”) could undergird so much of today’s political discussion?