Hail to the chief, he’s the chief and he needs hailing…
Right now it’s hard to escape political coverage of the election at hand. It's consumed "Saturday Night Live" and it’s almost the sole topic of "The Daily Show" and "The Colbert Report." And now this weekend we can’t get away from it in the movie theaters either, with the release of Oliver Stone’s "W," the film starring Josh Brolin as President George W. Bush that tells the story of how Dubya became our nation's commander in chief.
Now, after eight years of Bush, some people might not want to watch another two hours about him. To avoid overload, I dug up some other presidential choices for you. Maybe they wouldn’t have made for the best president to lead the free world, but they are damn entertaining to watch. Try and not be engrossed by their ability to hold down the White House.
'Independence Day' (1996) – A President with Zest
President Thomas J. Whitmore, played by the inspiring Bill Pullman, is by far the most aggressive of fictional presidents. Dubya has flown a fighter jet while in office, but not in an effort to destroy an alien spacecraft. I believe he is only rivaled by President James Marshall (Harrison Ford) from "Air Force One" as presidents actually engaging in first-hand combat with terrorists (alien or Russian).
The moment in which President Whitmore solidifies his eligibility for president though comes with the speech he gives at the military base just before the pilots launch. I only hope, that the day we are attacked by alien life forms, our president at the time can give such a rabble-rousing speech. When he is talking of how this would be their fight for independence, he declares “Not from tyranny, oppression or persecution...but from annihilation. We are fighting for our right to live. To exist.” As a kid I got shivers when I saw that scene for the first time just as I do now, and one day hopefully the same feelings will be summoned in me by a real live president of the United States.
'Dr. Strangelove Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Bomb' (1964) – The Maladroit President
The remarkable Peter Sellers stole this film from all others in the cast list by playing three separate characters, including President Merkin Muffley. Years before TV shows like "The Office" made humor out of awkward silences and higher management bumbling through their own mistakes, Peter Sellers had it on lock-down.
Muffley has to call Russian Premier Kissoff and explain to him that there has been an accident and Russia is about to be decimated in front of the entire counsel in the War Room. The conversation is priceless as it climaxes when the two men begin to argue about who is sorrier that 20 million people might die soon. Oh, and of course he gets the best, most classic line of the whole film: "Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room."
'Dave' (1993), 'The West Wing' (1999-2006), '24: Seasons 1-3' (2001-2004), 'The American President' (1995) – The Presidents we wish were our actual Presidents
President Palmer. President Bartlett. President Shepherd. Dave Kovic. All guys who took the desk at the Oval Office and not only commanded our attention, but also let us see a president who we could actually vote into office. All of them individually had their own quirks and personas, but what each of them did was conjure a vote of trust from the American people. In being fictional pieces, audiences were allowed to see flaws and personal dilemmas.
These sides aren’t ones that the actual president is allowed to share due to the unscripted manner of real life and outside forces, but on-screen we can grasp the reasons they were written into office.
President Shepherd (Michael Douglas) is a president widower who is suddenly torn between his re-election campaign and a new love interest. President David Palmer (Dennis Haysbert) was the “first” black president of the United States. After the end of his first term, he gives up a re-election campaign so to silence investigations into his ex-wife’s role in a murder in order to protect her. When watching these presidents portrayed on screens, it’s a window in that is normally blacked out. It allows us to treat them as people instead of talking heads.
Whether the president gets attacked by Nightcrawler or he isn’t really the president but a lookalike, getting to see these presidents without the filter of real life in front of them humanizes these characters and lets us view them unlike their real-life counterparts. Like their politics or not, they are entertainers, and maybe they wouldn’t do so well at the legit 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., but on screen, our vote is with them.
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