The coincidence of a scandal-engulfed White House and the prospect of military action abroad has led some commentators to refer to a “Wag the Dog moment”, in reference to the 1997 movie. But which Hollywood films have the closest parallels to the Trump presidency?
Wag the Dog (1997)
The US president is beset by a sex scandal and decides to start a foreign war to distract voters’ attention. In the film a Hollywood big shot (Dustin Hoffman) is hired to entirely fabricate a war with Albania on green screen. In Trump’s case, this falls down on a couple of grounds. First, who in Hollywood would help Trump out: Scott Baio and Stacey Dash? Also, why fake a war when you can start a real one all by yourself? “Get ready Russia!”
Verdict: American carnage
Air Force One (1997)
The president’s plane is hijacked and the commander-in-chief (Harrison Ford) single-handedly overpowers the gunmen and saves his wife, child and pretty much the world. For the man who said of the Parkland school shooting “I really believe I’d run in there even if I didn’t have a weapon”, this sort of stuff is pretty small beer. There again, the film starts with the president taking out the head of a nuclear-armed rogue state – and it’s all made possible by his close rapport with the president of Russia.
Verdict: An attack on our country in a true sense
The American President (1995)
The US president (Michael Douglas) has a love affair which his political opponents try to use against him. Hmm. First of all, the president in the film is a widower, while Trump’s wife, Melania, is alive and well and almost certainly not spending most nights away from the White House. And Trump having an affair in office? Who writes this stuff, Michael Wolff? The clincher: this president has a 63% approval rating.
Verdict: Fake news
Being There (1979)
A harmless simpleton (Peter Sellers) with no knowledge of the world except what he has seen on television becomes, through a series of misunderstandings, a powerful figure in Washington. People treat his inane utterances as deep insight. At the end of the film he is poised to become president of the United States. While lines like “Is there a TV upstairs? I like to watch” ring true, not all simpletons are harmless.
Verdict: Sad!
The Little Rascals (1994)
OK, this heart-warming tale of playful little scamps does not feature the White House or politics. But the main character is called Spanky and he is the president of the “He-Man Womun Haters Club”. Also this is one of several movies to feature a Donald Trump cameo. He plays a spoiled kid’s dad and his one line is: “You’re the best son money can buy” – which would make Don Jr exhibit A in the case that Trump is not really a billionaire.
Verdict: Covfefe
