Hollywood Predicted the 2016 Election, But We Missed the Signs
Hollywood has a way of predicting the political climate of the future. Donald Trump is nothing new. Hollywood and history tell us that there have been many like him before, and there will be many like him to come. Films have also featured figures that bear a striking resemblance to Bernie Sanders, Jeb Bush, Hillary Clinton, and the other major figures in the Presidential election. Figures like those we're seeing on the national stage today have recurred again and again in the artistic imagination: the rich demagogue, the rumpled populist and the ambitious centrists. These are all characters that we've seen over and over again on the silver screen before they arrived on the 2016 Presidential debate stage. Here is how Hollywood Predicted the 2016 Election.
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Predicted: Bernie Sanders, Ben Carson
Though you may know Jimmy Stewart best from his Christmas classic It's A Wonderful Life, he is also beloved for his work bringing his beleaguered everyman routine to D.C. in Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. Americans love the idea of an unschooled politician who brings human decency and common sense to the cesspool of D.C. politics. This year saw a candidate take the Mr. Smith route on each side of the aisle. Though Bernie Sanders is a life-long politician, he ran as a rumpled, truthful outsider. Ben Carson championed policies that favor the rich, but couched his point of view in a folksy everyman veneer.
Citizen Kane (1941)
Predicted: Donald Trump
Charles Foster Kane (Orson Welles), like Donald Trump, isn't a career politician. Kane starts in the newspaper business while Trump comes from real estate. Both men are more interested in power than policy, and both men understand that reality and perception are two entirely different things. In one of the most memorable sequences of the film, we watch Kane's young wife launch an ill-advised opera career as newspapers Kane owns report the terrible singer is actually the songbird of a generation. The awful spiral of delusion is only interrupted after Susan (Dorothy Comgingore) attempts suicide. Like Trump, Kane allowed his delusions of grandeur to impact national politics and endanger the lives of others.
A Face in the Crowd (1957)
Predicted: Donald Trump
Lovable TV Star Andy Griffith took a dark turn in this 1957 film, about a homeless drifter who rises to national stardom as a charismatic media personality. Unlike Trump, Larry Rhodes rises from nothing, but just like Trump, Rhodes uses a combination of populist appeal and the media's hunger for content to rise to the top of the entertainment and political fields. Eventually, Rhodes is undone by the same egomania that made him a star. Sadly, we're still waiting for that chapter of Donald Trump's story. In this scene, Rhodes talks about transitioning his entertainment fame into a political career. Sound familiar?
Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb (1964)
Predicted: Ted Cruz
In fairness to Ted Cruz, he isn't the first crazy right winger to use the promise of carpet bombing as a centerpiece of their foreign policy plan. Dr. Strangelove makes the key point that rhetoric has consequences, and in the country that invented the military industrial complex, those consequences could be dire. The hawkish policies of the right could truly one day end in total war. In the 1960s, it was the Soviet Union and today it is the Middle East, but the rhetoric of General Ripper (Sterling Hayden) isn't far off of what we heard from Ted Cruz and the other hawks on the Republican debate stage say.
The Candidate (1972)
Predicted: Bernie Sanders
The story of the candidate is the story of so many politicians. The story begins with Robert Redford's Bill McKay being told by his campaign manager that he can say whatever he wants because he's guaranteed to lose. Any Bernie supporter will feel aching familiarity there, after last Tuesday's performance. McKay moderates his message and sells out his principles to close the gap. There's one place where the fictional candidate and Sanders differ.
The Dead Zone (1983)
Predicted: Donald Trump
Martin Sheen's Greg Stillson has parallels to Trump that a number of writers have already shouted out, from his special hat (worn in the book by Stephen King, but not in the film) and his penchant for ridiculous promises. Like Trump, Stillson's plan to make America Great Again involves significant military action. Our hero Johnny Smith (Christopher Walken) has a vision that, if elected, Stillson will bring about a nuclear holocaust. Trump, to his credit, only seeks to carpet bomb an entire continent, not destroy the world. You can see the similarities between Stillson and Trump yourself (in this admittedly low quality clip) where instead of proposing to "Make America Great Again," Stillson promises to "send mediocrity to Hell."
Wall Street, (1987)
Predicted: Donald Trump
"Greed, for lack of a better word, is good." These words were immortalized after Michael Douglas spoke them as Gordon Gecko in Wall Street. This speech encapsulates the moment in history when the rich realized that they no longer had to pretend to humility or aspire to social good. The modern Republican Party has created a climate where its okay to say that you don't want to give back, and to publicly announce that your goal is to make as much money as possible. Here is a literal quote from Donald Trump in January:
“I like money. I’m very greedy. I’m a greedy person. I shouldn’t tell you that, I’m a greedy – I’ve always been greedy. I love money, right? But, you know what? I want to be greedy for our country. I want to be greedy. I want to be so greedy for our country. I want to take back money.”
Dave, 1993
Predicted: Jeb Bush
The 1993 Kevin Kline vehicle Dave involved a man who never wanted to be President being thrust into the role of Commander in Chief. In the case of Dave, it is because he is a body double for the late current President. In the case of Jeb Bush, he was forced into the legislative ring because of his family name. In both cases, you feel really bad for the weight placed on weak shoulders.
Gangs of New York (2002)
Predicted: Donald Trump
Throughout American history, the easiest way for the rich to stay rich is to pit immigrant groups against each other. The poor British were told to hate the Irish who were told to hate Italians who were told to hate the Eastern Europeans who were told to hate the Mexicans who have been told to hate the Chinese who have been told to hate Arab Muslims and so and so forth through history as the rich continue to line their pockets. Here is an example of how Bill the Butcher used anti-immigrant rhetoric to consolidate power back in the 1800s that isn't at all a far cry from Trump's anti-Islamic rhetoric.
Commander In Chief, 2005
Predicted: Hillary Clinton
There have been a few examples of female Presidents in pop culture, from the first example in recent memory, Polly Bergen in Project Moonbase (1953) to Cherry Jones in 24. Geena Davis' turn as President Mackenzie Allen in the short-lived series Commander in Chief deserves some credit, as it was one the first projects to put a female President front and center. If polling holds, Hillary Clinton will prove the series predicted the future, though it couldn't have predicted its own early cancellation.
All The Kings Men, (1949, 2006)
Predicted: Donald Trump
Huey Long was one of the United States' most famous demagogues. The charismatic, corrupt Louisiana Governor was the inspiration for Robert Penn Warren's novel, All the King's Men , which was has been adapted several times for the screen. This scene from the 2006 adaptation starring Sean Penn might remind you of a Donald Trump stump speech. It isn't about issues, it's about the "hicks" versus the "city folk." He also talks a lot about building, though he offers to build a bridge instead of a wall.
Idiocracy, (2006)
Predicted: Donald Trump
This certainly isn't the first article to suppose that Trump's vision for America looks remarkably like Idiocracy. But, the similarities between President Comacho's politcs and Trump's are just too good to ignore. Not only does Terry Crews use a Trump-like strategy combining empty promises and insults, but just like President Comacho, Presidential Candidate Trump has professional wrestling experience at the highest levels.
The Campaign, (2012)
Predicted: Republican Debates
Will Ferrell's Cam Brady and Zach Gaifianakis's Marty Huggins seemed ridiculous when we first saw The Campaign back in 2012. Now, the film feels like more of a documentary. This exchange before a debate isn't too far off from the exchanges between Marco Rubio and Donald Trump in the Republican debate in Michigan. Both feature discussion of genitals quite prominently. At least Brady and Huggins had the decency to exchange insults away from the microphone.