Rap Master Ronnie: A Report Card

See, I actually REMEMBER break-dancing to this song with my cardboard and boom-box (nee 'Ghetto Blaster') in 1984. Back then it was cute, poking fun at Reagan who was rapping to try to get more of the black vote for his re-election bid. If Gary Trudeau has made this today, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would have protested and boycotted Doonsbury, the comic strip that Gary writes! But we are discussing the video here.....

It is a campy, musical/sketch oriented video follow-up to the song released in 1984 (mentioned above), by the Doonsbury Break Crew. Depicts the former Commander In Chief as a complete bumbler, a bigot, a man only out for the rich, and a manipulator of facts. It has a definite bent against Reagan.

For instance, we saw a skit about how he supposedly couldn't remember the Iran-Contra affair, but yet there was no skit about him taking down the Russian Empire with his Stratejic Defense Initiative plan. This would have made a great sketch, if they had done it, but one gets the feeling that Gary Trudeau (the writer), wanted us to despise Reagan, not like him.

The movie has some great songs - Notably "Counting, counting, counting", which is hilarious! That sketch alone is the best part of the whole video! But if you like Reagan, be prepared to see an opposing viewpoint!

Garry Trudeau occasionally broke away from the chore of DOONESBURY to try other ventures, like A DOONESBURY SPECIAL, plays, or "Rap Master Ronnie." While this show lacked the sweetness of A DOONESBURY SPECIAL, it has a more important function. Reagan really was "a bigot, a man only out for the rich, and a manipulator of facts," but he had a massive PR machine out convincing America he was Their Friend. So Trudeau felt it important to help expose this guy. Too bad more people weren't willing to listen.