The subgenre of memes is often referred to as “ Cage Rage,” poking fun at Cage’s over-the-top, expressionist acting style. The strange phenomenon is something of a double-edged sword for the actor, who has gained both a reductively ridiculed reputation and a loyal cult following from his memes. (As you can guess, memes of Cage saying, “I’m gonna steal the Declaration of Independence,” gained a second-or millionth-wind during the insurrection on January 6.) But, it doesn’t take a cryptographer to deduce the direct tie between National Treasure memes and the Internet’s decades-long penchant for memeifying Cage. Of course, if there’s one other hero responsible for preserving the memory of this cryptic cultural relic, it's the franchise’s subsequent memeage. But no one-and I mean no one-will ever forget Nicolas Cage delivering the line, “I’m gonna steal the Declaration of Independence.” You may forget whether or not you’ve even seen it. You might forget what National Treasure was about. Where critically-acclaimed '00s classics like Shrek and Finding Nemo hold rent-controlled real estate in our collective nostalgia, National Treasure had the potential to plummet into the “Did I fabricate that memory?” wasteland of childhood cinema. What isn't a reach, though, is Cage’s role in the cultural shelf-life of the National Treasure franchise. Maybe this connection is a reach! But we’re talking about a movie franchise where there’s an invisible-ink map on the back of the Declaration of Independence. Cage comes from the Coppola lineage of cinema greats, embarking on a scavenger hunt of offbeat roles in order to forge a name for himself. Gates is an eccentric historian who, coming from a long line of treasure hunters, embarks on a wild goose chase through historical landmarks to clear his family name. Not to mention: Cage and Gates share some parallels. In fact, Cage seems oddly at home in the role, his propensity for finding gravity in silliness on full display. Any role that most actors in Cage’s position would never take on seems to be where Cage delivers his best performances. It’s brazen, entirely unnecessary, and, ultimately… camp? It’s a role that only the rubber-faced, ever-earnest Cage could fully lean into.Ĭage’s decision to take on the leading role in the 2004 kid’s conspiracy adventure movie- which Roger Ebert essentially reviewed as a Disney-fied Da Vinci Code-somehow makes perfect sense. So much of what is beautiful about Benjamin Franklin Gates lies in character’s namesake alone-with a founding father shamelessly shoe-horned into it without any lick of nuance. In honor of preserving our nation’s history, it's high time to reflect on the national treasure that is Benjamin Franklin Gates: the only kid’s movie protagonist to steal the Declaration of Independence-and up the ante by kidnapping the President of the United States in the sequel.
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