The Distinguished Gentleman revolves around the life of a con artist in Florida named Thomas Jefferson Johnson who specializes in blackmailing people through his sex phone service. Trying to find more ways on how to get richer, Thomas Johnson later on discovers that there's a bigger con happening in Washington and congressmen as well as senators are able to get away with it because it's "legal". Intrigued by what he discovered, Thomas immediately wanted to take part in the political arena. Fortunately, his luck came when Jeff Johnson, a popular congressman in Florida,dies of a heart attack and gave Thomas the idea of running for congressman by using his middle name. He used the name "Jeff Johnson", hoping that people will vote him due to the name recognition. He then used the former congressman's campaign materials and ran on low budget campaigns assuming that people wouldn't give much attention and instead vote for the "name you know". True enough, Thomas Johnson won the elections with slim victory and is now on his way to Washington. Upon reaching Washington, Thomas discovers that there are more expert con politicians than what he thought of himself. In search of the pot of gold, Thomas joins the Power and Industry committee headed by senator Dick Dodge who is considered as the master con of all. Thomas then learns about the greed and corruption embedded in the nature of the con game in Washington D.C. However, after he met some concerned constituencies, he realizes that it is difficult to address the issues of environmental protection, reforms and electrical companies that have greatly affected the lives of several citizens. After gaining conscience, Thomas had to turn the tables and perform the biggest con of his life to expose the greed and corruption happening inside the congress.
It is no longer a surprise for us to see many aspiring politicians running for government positions. Many of those candidates only want to acquire power and wealth. Just like what is portrayed in the film, the congress is where the "pot of gold" resides. And what would be more exciting to run for elections is the corruption that happens inside which is considered by the officials as "legal". Because of power, wealth and "legality" of serving special interests, many candidates are lured into desperately wanting to be elected. They do different strategies during the campaign in order to win. They usually spend a lot of money during the heat of elections. Besides, they know that they would be able to recover that spent money when they are able to win the elections. In result, the game of politics is played by serving the special interests of eager politicians instead of serving for the common people. Hence, many government projects/programs are ineffective in improving the lives of the local people because these are just mere whitewashes to cover for the corruption happening among the officials.
The Distinguished Gentleman gives me hope in believing that despite the rife corruption in politics, there are still politicians out there who are principled and honest to serve the people. This is what makes them distinguished in a game full of "con artists". However, I still cannot guarantee that there are distinguished politicians out there because of the fact that these people can be lured and influenced by how the system in politics is played. And we can never assure that the game of politics is always played fair.
Another point that can be made in the film is the tactic of aspiring candidates to appeal to the masses by name recognition. In the Philippine setting, this has always been evident. Majority of Filipinos only vote for the "name they know. Hence, it gives us to political dynasties among the families of the politicians. However, what is wrong with this kind of tactic is that the people tend to rely on the popularity instead of the credibility of politicians. People rarely give attention to the platforms and viewpoints of the candidates. This what makes it difficult because what if an aspiring politician, who has the potential to lead the country, is running for elections but has gained little popularity from the people is competing against a candidate (who had little background with politics) whose name is already known known because of his former relatives that were also politicians. Do you to think people would choose the candidate who has gained little popularity and actually listen to his platforms? Or would they just stick to the candidate whose name is already known in politics? A few people who would really care for their votes to be counted to someone who deserves it will pick candidate A. But for the majority?....Candidate B will still be preferred. Hence, even though candidate A had the potential to actually lead the country, he is not given the chance to because people would rather vote for candidate B who they think they trust more because of the name recognition. And besides,people would not really bother to listen or pay attention to the candidates' platforms because they think that they're all just the same. Another problem that could arise from name recognition during elections is that, when families try to maintain their political dynasties, they would select any family member (even those without the experience/background with politics) just continue their legacy. Usually, the family member chosen to run for elections is inexperienced and unequipped with the background of politics. So, it ultimately affects to how he works for his position. It reflects his motive of just attaining the family legacy in politics rather than actually serving his own countrymen.
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