Rob Reiner’s contributions to American culture are indisputable.
From “Spinal Tap” and “The Princess Bride” to “When Harry Met Sally” and “A Few Good Men,” Reiner’s films stand the test of time.
Others of a certain vintage of course first remember him as “Meathead” in the television series “All in the Family.”
Well schooled in the entertainment business as the son of comedy legend Carl Reiner, Rob spent much of his life trying to get out from under the shadow of his father. But he ultimately did and established a legacy for himself.
The abrupt and brutal end of his life and the life of his wife Michele over the weekend is certainly nothing anyone expected. And the arrest of their own son, Nick, on suspicion of murdering them, is an even sicker twist.
Most people have reacted, naturally, with shock, grief and remembrances of Reiner’s great works. But then came, of course, President Donald Trump.
“Rob Reiner, a tortured and struggling, but once very talented movie director and comedy star, has passed away, together with his wife, Michele, reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME, sometimes referred to as TDS,” Trump said on his social media platform Truth Social.
I will pause for a moment so the presumably well-meaning and especially the self-described religious supporters of the president can reflect on the words of their dear leader.
It seems fitting that Trump would post this in response to the death of Rob Reiner, given Reiner’s outspoken liberalism and attacks on Trump as “mentally unfit” to be president.
Needless to say, every passing day provides stronger evidence for Reiner’s argument.
Yes, Reiner was a proud and often outspoken liberal throughout his life.
He campaigned in support of gay equality co-founding American Foundation for Equal Rights to challenge California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage. Though it seems like a settled issue now, it really wasn’t that long ago that a majority of people thought gay people marrying was some detestable thing.
Reiner campaigned for a litany of environmental causes. His efforts included his fight against the development of the Ahmanson Ranch, now the sprawling Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve, which incidentally is one of my go-to hiking spots in the western part of the San Fernando Valley.
Reiner’s campaigns against tobacco led to the successful passage of Proposition 10 in 1998, imposing taxes on tobacco products to find early childhood education. These efforts would get him satirized by “South Park,” which depicted Reiner as an obese bully trying to ban smoking.
As a “South Park” fan who saw the episode when it came out in 2003, their depiction of Reiner often came to mind when his name would pop up.
Reiner, for his part, later commented when asked about his depiction in “South Park”, “I thought it was funny, but I’m not quite that fat.”
Reiner’s ability to take such things in stride no doubt came in large part from his background. “I think I have a finely tuned sense of humor,” he said in 2011. “I think just being around it and growing up in it… my dad and Mel Brooks and Norman Lear. These are the people I grew up around.”
But, of course, for Reiner, Trump and the rise of Trumpism were no laughing manner. He saw the rise of Trump as an attack on America itself, a blow to democracy and a threat to freedom around the world.
“We see autocracy making its move around the world. And so if we crumble, there’s a danger that democracy crumbles around the world,” he said.
Something to think about.
Agree with Reiner’s politics or not, appreciate his works or not, the fact is that Reiner left a mark on America. He evidently made such a mark that he got Trump to reveal that “Trump Derangement Syndrome” is best understood as a self-description of what plagues the president himself than anything else.
Sal Rodriguez can be reached at salrodriguez@scng.com
