Hollywood Reporter

Instant Arnolds swarm the Net
Recall spurs freelance flood of pic parodies, barbs

BY: Paul Bond

Team Arnold has been bragging that more than 3,500 Californians registered at Meetup.com to attend Schwarzenegger-for-governor meetings across the state and that the site JoinArnold.com gets about a million hits a day. But the real online fun surrounding the action star's gubernatorial bid is at a myriad of somewhat less reverent political Internet sites. . .

Instant Arnolds swarm the Net
Recall spurs freelance flood of pic parodies, barbs

BY: Paul Bond

Team Arnold has been bragging that more than 3,500 Californians registered at Meetup.com to attend Schwarzenegger-for-governor meetings across the state and that the site JoinArnold.com gets about a million hits a day. But the real online fun surrounding the action star's gubernatorial bid is at a myriad of somewhat less reverent political Internet sites. . .

Much of the online entertainment surrounding the impending California recall election consists of parody Schwarzenegger movie posters. "The Terminator" becomes "The Governator," "Collateral Damage" is "Gubernatorial Damage," "End of Days" is "End of Grays" (a reference to Gov. Gray Davis, of course), "Junior" is "Kennedy's Baby," and "Kindergarten Cop" morphs into "Kindergarten GOP."

Two movie titles needing no alteration are "Twins," which now co-stars Gary Coleman (also a candidate) instead of Danny DeVito, and possibly the most parodied movie title in modern history, "Total Recall," which is "produced by the voters of California for the enjoyment of an entire nation." And, in some corners of the Internet, Conan _ normally a barbarian _ has become a Republican.

Also floating about the Internet is a photo of Schwarzenegger's appearance on "The Tonight Show" in which he announced his intent to run for governor. "I am not foolin' around heah," he tells Jay Leno while displaying the severed head of Davis.

During George W. Bush's run for president against Al Gore, a doctored photo of Mini-Me (George W.) sitting on the lap of Dr. Evil (W's father) made the online rounds. The same photo now features Davis in the role of Dr. Evil and candidate Cruz Bustamante as Mini-Me.

Much of the amateur artwork pertaining to Schwarzenegger's bid for governor has been aggregated at politicalhumor.about.com. Also featured there are actual quotes from the actor, such as: "I'm not into politics; I'm into survival," a line from "The Running Man."

For those looking to confirm or disprove rumors that Schwarzenegger has groped women in the past, they can check out the photos for themselves at that same site, though an honest assessment of them won't shed any light on the subject.

And there's an extensive list of late-night jokes about the recall, like David Letterman's observation: "An old interview of Arnold Schwarzenegger has surfaced where he admits to smoking a lot of pot and having sex with hookers. Finally, a Republican all Californians can get behind."

That interview Letterman refers to, given to Oui magazine more than two decades ago, can be viewed at TheSmokingGun.com, a Web site owned by Court TV.

Another unusual tidbit online concerning the recall can be found at, of all places, tacobell.com, where they have been running a "Taco Poll." Buy a beef crunchy taco, and that's a vote for Schwarzenegger. A chicken soft taco is a vote for Davis, and a grilled stuft burrito is a vote for all other candidates. Go to the Web site for latest results. So far, it's Schwarzenegger by a landslide.

Celebrity Rants .com, where folks pay 50 cents to hear sometimes embarrassing audio and video of a variety of celebrities, is featuring Schwar zenegger at a convention during the 1992 presidential campaign. And KewlBox.com built an entire online game around the California recall election.

Finally, there's a host of Web sites, such as CafeShops.com and TotalRecall2003.com, selling both pro- and anti-Schwarzenegger apparel and bumper stickers. One T-shirt features a photo of Schwarzenegger smoking a joint, the photo being lifted from the 1977 "Pumping Iron" documentary.

CafeShops.com co-founder Maheesh Jain said that, before the recall qualifying, the site was selling more "serious activist" products, though no

Instant Arnolds swarm the Net
Recall spurs freelance flood of pic parodies, barbs

BY: Paul Bond

Team Arnold has been bragging that more than 3,500 Californians registered at Meetup.com to attend Schwarzenegger-for-governor meetings across the state and that the site JoinArnold.com gets about a million hits a day. But the real online fun surrounding the action star's gubernatorial bid is at a myriad of somewhat less reverent political Internet sites. . .

Much of the online entertainment surrounding the impending California recall election consists of parody Schwarzenegger movie posters. "The Terminator" becomes "The Governator," "Collateral Damage" is "Gubernatorial Damage," "End of Days" is "End of Grays" (a reference to Gov. Gray Davis, of course), "Junior" is "Kennedy's Baby," and "Kindergarten Cop" morphs into "Kindergarten GOP."

Two movie titles needing no alteration are "Twins," which now co-stars Gary Coleman (also a candidate) instead of Danny DeVito, and possibly the most parodied movie title in modern history, "Total Recall," which is "produced by the voters of California for the enjoyment of an entire nation." And, in some corners of the Internet, Conan _ normally a barbarian _ has become a Republican.

Also floating about the Internet is a photo of Schwarzenegger's appearance on "The Tonight Show" in which he announced his intent to run for governor. "I am not foolin' around heah," he tells Jay Leno while displaying the severed head of Davis.

During George W. Bush's run for president against Al Gore, a doctored photo of Mini-Me (George W.) sitting on the lap of Dr. Evil (W's father) made the online rounds. The same photo now features Davis in the role of Dr. Evil and candidate Cruz Bustamante as Mini-Me.

Much of the amateur artwork pertaining to Schwarzenegger's bid for governor has been aggregated at politicalhumor.about.com. Also featured there are actual quotes from the actor, such as: "I'm not into politics; I'm into survival," a line from "The Running Man."

For those looking to confirm or disprove rumors that Schwarzenegger has groped women in the past, they can check out the photos for themselves at that same site, though an honest assessment of them won't shed any light on the subject.

And there's an extensive list of late-night jokes about the recall, like David Letterman's observation: "An old interview of Arnold Schwarzenegger has surfaced where he admits to smoking a lot of pot and having sex with hookers. Finally, a Republican all Californians can get behind."

That interview Letterman refers to, given to Oui magazine more than two decades ago, can be viewed at TheSmokingGun.com, a Web site owned by Court TV.

Another unusual tidbit online concerning the recall can be found at, of all places, tacobell.com, where they have been running a "Taco Poll." Buy a beef crunchy taco, and that's a vote for Schwarzenegger. A chicken soft taco is a vote for Davis, and a grilled stuft burrito is a vote for all other candidates. Go to the Web site for latest results. So far, it's Schwarzenegger by a landslide.

Celebrity Rants .com, where folks pay 50 cents to hear sometimes embarrassing audio and video of a variety of celebrities, is featuring Schwar zenegger at a convention during the 1992 presidential campaign. And KewlBox.com built an entire online game around the California recall election.

Finally, there's a host of Web sites, such as CafeShops.com and TotalRecall2003.com, selling both pro- and anti-Schwarzenegger apparel and bumper stickers. One T-shirt features a photo of Schwarzenegger smoking a joint, the photo being lifted from the 1977 "Pumping Iron" documentary.

CafeShops.com co-founder Maheesh Jain said that, before the recall qualifying, the site was selling more "serious activist" products, though now it has switched to more parody stuff.

"It's not one of the biggest things that have happened to us," he said.

What events sold more product, then? The Florida recount, the recent Iraq war and, naturally, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Jain saidw it has switched to more parody stuff.

"It's not one of the biggest things that have happened to us," he said.

What events sold more product, then? The Florida recount, the recent Iraq war and, naturally, the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Jain said