Dem
47
GOP
53
Here is the question we put before readers last week:
(V) & (Z), et al., ask: We got several suggestions along these lines, including from readers B.C. in Walpole, ME; A.G. in Scranton, PA; and S.L. in Glendora, CA, which we will unify into two questions, one for this week, one for next week. For this week: The scuttlebutt is that Donald Trump got the idea for re-opening Alcatraz due to having seen Escape from Alcatraz on TV. What movie do you REALLY hope does not get broadcast in South Florida while Trump is in residence at Mar-a-Lago, and why?
And here some of the answers we got in response (you will see that some of the same films kept coming up, over and over):
J.L. in Los Angeles, CA: The Purge because... well... it's only a half-step away from where we are now.
C.S. in Newport, Wales, UK: Godzilla, followed by Jurassic Park.
Trump wants to stick it to those Asian trade enemies that rip off America. Godzilla may give him an idea of devastating their cities with a monster. Jurassic Park may make him believe it is possible.
Having said that, Trump probably hasn't got the energy to watch two movies in one night, or if they are shown on consecutive days, to remember yesterday's movie.
Also, if you point out to Trump that a movie was actually made in Hollywood, I wonder if that would stop him from watching it, just to own the libs...
J.B. in Bozeman, MT: Judge Dredd would please both the budget hawks (think of the savings by eliminating courthouses and those pesky judges and defense attorneys) as well as the fascists.
TCF would also love to say "I am the Law!" and may even adopt the Dredd uniform. Heck he may even start selling Dredd themed merch to the rubes.
U.C. in Durham, NC: Oh, my gosh. As soon as I read the question, Gabriel Over the White House flashed through my mind.
It is a curious movie, set in 1930 or so. The President of the United States is a real rascal, doing awfully dangerous stuff (e.g., he is to appear in Baltimore, and he manages to get into the presidential limousine by himself, and he races across Maryland at well over 100 miles per hour, with his staff and entourage trying desperately to catch up with him to slow him down). And he doesn't give a Pizza Rat for all the starving people in the Great Depression.
Then that car chase ends in a crash, and it looks like the POTUS is going to die. But the Angel Gabriel intervenes, and the President wakes up a totally changed man. He puts in place jobs programs and other stuff for the country, and everyone is amazed. Also, he suspends Congress and puts the country under martial law. He decides to save the world, by trading off the huge debts other countries owe the USA, in return for them destroying their weapons. That is, he brings about world peace.
Not only does this seem like a movie about two different presidents (although it wasn't), but it was released around 1932, and the movie executives were afraid that: (1) the "bad guy" president would be seen as a criticism of Herbert Hoover, and (2) the "good guy" president would be seen in support of Franklin Roosevelt. They decided to bury it in the archives, perhaps forever. (A good thing, because the Congress suspension and martial law were shown as good things, while all that Adolf Hitler stuff was still a couple of years in the future.) I got to see it 50 years later, in the 1980s.
Holy cow, I hope that Trump NEVER sees this thing. He already tried to grab the steering wheel of his car from the driver; can you imagine him seeing the car chase? "Gee, I always knew presidents could get away with stuff like that. But I wouldn't crash the car. Gee, that looks like fun." Seeing the "bad guy" president playing with his grandson while ignoring a radio broadcast description of the country's economic troubles wouldn't faze him.
But the "savior of the world" president would immediately hit him hard. "That's all I'm trying to do. I'm trying to make things better. Why don't people see that?"
I hope he never sees it.
L.C. in Boston, MA: Anything like Birth of a Nation or Triumph of the Will which would whet his appetite for what these movies stand for.
S.T. in Worcestershire, England, UK: Triumph of the Will (OK, it's not Hollywood, and he probably has seen it already—numerous times).
S.K. in Sunnyvale, CA: Triumph of the Will. The last thing we need is for Trump to get a dose of overt celebration of fascism.
Not that it would ever be broadcast commercially, but couldn't you just see Stephen Miller staging a private screening for his führer?
J.S. in Germantown, OH: I certainly hope he doesn't see Will Smith's Enemy of the State (although it's pretty clear that Pam Bondi and Kash Patel already have, and see it as a blueprint for running the Justice Department, and not the cautionary tale it is intended to be).
R.A.G. in Seattle, WA: Dr. Strangelove (Or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb). It is not a documentary. We will know when it airs, as the very next day, TCF would promulgate an executive order of the selection criteria (including names) for the mineshaft population.
D.H. in Boston, MA: I really hope they don't show Dr. Strangelove at any time when Trump is in Mar-a-Lago. I'm not sure his brain can process satire.
I originally thought of Dr. Strangelove because of nuclear war, but then I realized there are other relevant parallels in that movie. One character is a nutjob who is afraid of fluoridated water. Another is a foreign-born special advisor to the president who speaks oddly, occasionally gives Sieg Heil salutes, and suggests using polygamy to help elite government officials repopulate the world after a nuclear war. I worry all that will make Trump think it's a realistic movie.
L.S. in Greensboro, NC: Dr. Strangelove. Our nitwit President would likely come out with the conviction that dropping a BOMB on something is a good idea! Although the positive is that he might be able to convince Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) to ride it.
T.S. in Maple Heights, OH: I going to exercise the nuclear options and hope that neither Dr. Strangelove nor "Fail Safe" get shown at the Southern White House. With the apparent lack of self-awareness or compassion required for grappling with satire as social commentary, I fear that too many Mar-a-Lago viewers would begin to ponder, "Would it really be all that bad?"
D.E. in Lancaster, PA: That's easy, Soylent Green! For those not in the know, Soylent Green is a dystopian 1973 film where the world in 2022 is wracked by overpopulation, food shortages and climate change. In the film, U.S. citizens eat a highly processed wafer called Soylent Green. Spoiler alert: The famous last line, spoken by Charlton Heston, reveals the plot: "Soylent Green is people! We have to stop them somehow!" If Trump watches that one, the next thing you'll know is that he's hawking a new energy bar called Soylent Trump!
J.E.S. in Sedona, AZ: Woe betide us should Soylent Green air at Mar-A-Lago, as it would offer our Maniac-in-Chief a streamlined solution to: (1) where deportees go, and (2) grocery prices. Though, of course, given the proclivities of his core team, his version would actually need to be named "Soylent Brown."
M.M. in San Diego, CA: Planet of the Apes, because I fear Trump would order Stephen Miller and Kristi Noem to exterminate all the Great Ape species as a preventative measure.
A.G. in Plano, TX: God help us all if Trump is sitting on the throne at Mar-A-Lago one early morning and sees Moonraker. He's absolutely dumb enough to believe that we can build a space station to house a couple of hundred "perfect specimens" (like Laura Loomer and Stephen Miller, no doubt) while they exterminate the rest of Earth's population, only to come back and repopulate humanity in the mold of Trump. Of course, that would require finding someone other than Laura Loomer willing to sleep with him...
P.S. I realize there are some tasteless statements here, but considering the entire Trump existence is tastelessness in its purest form, I stand by it.
Here is the question for next week:
(V) & (Z), et al., ask: Ok, now that we have covered movies that Donald Trump should NOT see, what movie do you hope he sees, and why?
Submit your answers to comments@electoral-vote.com, preferably with subject line "Hooray for Hollywood?, Part II"!