Media with Unconventional Presidents
January 15, 2019 9:59 AM Subscribe
I was reading an article this morning, about 45's fast food absurdity. A few tweets linked from it compared the situation to something which might happen if a child was president. I got to wondering, what movies/TV/other media feature an unconventional person in the Whitehouse?
I'm familiar with the movie Dave, in which the Presidential body double takes over after his principal is, erm, indisposed. My Dad also wrote a script along similar lines. I'm wondering what else might be out there? Tonally, I'm curious about everything from comedy to tragedy, if such a thing exists. I'd love info on unusual or cult classics. I guess it doesn't have to be limited to the US, if it strikes similar themes.
I'm familiar with the movie Dave, in which the Presidential body double takes over after his principal is, erm, indisposed. My Dad also wrote a script along similar lines. I'm wondering what else might be out there? Tonally, I'm curious about everything from comedy to tragedy, if such a thing exists. I'd love info on unusual or cult classics. I guess it doesn't have to be limited to the US, if it strikes similar themes.
Starring Terry Crews as President Camacho.
posted by phunniemee at 10:04 AM on January 15, 2019 [16 favorites]
posted by phunniemee at 10:04 AM on January 15, 2019 [16 favorites]
I remember The Kid Who Ran for President being a relatively popular book when I was a kid.
posted by mosst at 10:10 AM on January 15, 2019
posted by mosst at 10:10 AM on January 15, 2019
List of actors who played the President of the United States (scroll down for fictional examples)
posted by veery at 10:14 AM on January 15, 2019
posted by veery at 10:14 AM on January 15, 2019
Not the White House, but King Ralph comes to mind.
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:15 AM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by Wild_Eep at 10:15 AM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Saints Row 4 has you playing as a gang leader who becomes president.
posted by postel's law at 10:24 AM on January 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by postel's law at 10:24 AM on January 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
Zod and friends take over the White House in Superman II. KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:27 AM on January 15, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by RobotVoodooPower at 10:27 AM on January 15, 2019 [4 favorites]
President Bill, ca. 1990, in which a hippie becomes President via randomocracy.
posted by ottereroticist at 10:34 AM on January 15, 2019
posted by ottereroticist at 10:34 AM on January 15, 2019
Ain't no rules says a dog can't become President.
posted by tobascodagama at 10:45 AM on January 15, 2019
posted by tobascodagama at 10:45 AM on January 15, 2019
Escape from L.A.
Head of State.
Machete Kills
Mars Attacks
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
Pixels.
TV: Veep.
posted by General Malaise at 10:46 AM on January 15, 2019
Head of State.
Machete Kills
Mars Attacks
Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!
Pixels.
TV: Veep.
posted by General Malaise at 10:46 AM on January 15, 2019
Over 10 answers in and no Kid President? Sorry, Kid.
posted by solotoro at 10:48 AM on January 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
posted by solotoro at 10:48 AM on January 15, 2019 [3 favorites]
I guess Transmetropolitan's The Beast and The Smiler are pretty conventional presidents by today's standards.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 10:49 AM on January 15, 2019 [4 favorites]
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 10:49 AM on January 15, 2019 [4 favorites]
Idiocracy
posted by jonathanhughes at 11:42 AM on January 15, 2019
posted by jonathanhughes at 11:42 AM on January 15, 2019
Trey Parker and Matt Stone had a very short-lived sitcom called That's My Bush!. It was both a send-up of then-current President George W. Bush, and a satire of bad daytime sitcoms (complete with wacky neighbor and predictable farce).
So, you know...a highly fictionalized and surreal version of a real President (and his family/staff).
(The show hewed so closely to bad-sitcom tropes that it was basically just a bad sitcom, rather than a satire thereof. I haven't watched it since then, but...I'm preeetty sure it doesn't hold up.)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 12:09 PM on January 15, 2019
So, you know...a highly fictionalized and surreal version of a real President (and his family/staff).
(The show hewed so closely to bad-sitcom tropes that it was basically just a bad sitcom, rather than a satire thereof. I haven't watched it since then, but...I'm preeetty sure it doesn't hold up.)
posted by escape from the potato planet at 12:09 PM on January 15, 2019
I would imagine James Coburn in The President's Analyst would count. Here's Roger Ebert's review.
posted by Morpeth at 12:49 PM on January 15, 2019
posted by Morpeth at 12:49 PM on January 15, 2019
Billy Bob Thornton is president of the USA in Love Actually.
posted by mochapickle at 1:10 PM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by mochapickle at 1:10 PM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
The novella A Political Fable by Robert Coover features the Cat in the Hat as the president.
The novel Philip K. Dick is Dead, Alas by Michael Bishop (alternate title: The Secret Ascension) is about the "fourth term of the imperial presidency" of Richard Nixon. Imagine: Nixon. Four terms. Everything has gotten REAL WEIRD.
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth depicts the terrifying presidency of Charles Lindbergh (yeah, the guy who flew some planes) and America's quick slide into fascism.
posted by 2or3things at 1:59 PM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
The novel Philip K. Dick is Dead, Alas by Michael Bishop (alternate title: The Secret Ascension) is about the "fourth term of the imperial presidency" of Richard Nixon. Imagine: Nixon. Four terms. Everything has gotten REAL WEIRD.
The Plot Against America by Philip Roth depicts the terrifying presidency of Charles Lindbergh (yeah, the guy who flew some planes) and America's quick slide into fascism.
posted by 2or3things at 1:59 PM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
Demolition Man with Wesley Snipes, Sandra Bullock and Sylvester Stallone features a future world in which Arnold Schwarzenegger is president. Not a character played by Arnold, the man himself.
posted by fancyoats at 2:09 PM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by fancyoats at 2:09 PM on January 15, 2019 [1 favorite]
In Putney Swope (1969), the President is a loud-mouthed runt with tiny hands who hangs out with Nazis.
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 3:12 PM on January 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Harvey Kilobit at 3:12 PM on January 15, 2019 [2 favorites]
I remember a book I read to my toddler daughter a few years ago called Duck for President where a duck ran for (and won) the presidency.
posted by elmer benson at 4:47 PM on January 15, 2019
posted by elmer benson at 4:47 PM on January 15, 2019
Patricia Anthony's Brother Termite has a US president who's been in office for 50 years thanks to alien life-extension technology, and his vice-president is a medium channelling the ghost of Jack Kennedy. Also, the White House chief of staff (the viewpoint character) is a Grey alien.
posted by McCoy Pauley at 2:49 PM on January 16, 2019
posted by McCoy Pauley at 2:49 PM on January 16, 2019
Lloyd Bridges as President Benson in Hot Shots Part Deux.
posted by D.Billy at 3:20 PM on January 17, 2019
posted by D.Billy at 3:20 PM on January 17, 2019
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posted by gauche at 10:02 AM on January 15, 2019 [6 favorites]