We're about to have a new President, and one who will likely be among the most unconventional politicians to ever lead our country. Depending on one's point of view (And potential vulnerability), that's either refreshing, or completely terrifying. Donald Trump is a larger than life character who spent decades in the public eye as a strange sort of celebrity; a man who seemed artificially created in a laboratory to be the perfect reality television star. Because of the man's larger than life persona, and his sometimes seemingly erratic behavior, I got to thinking of fictional characters he reminds me of in some way. Here are seven of them:
7. Mr. Burns. (The Simpsons)
The Simpsons' resident evil rich guy has been tormenting the residents of Springfield for years, his comical malevolence and greed make him one of the funnier characters on the show. Mr. Burns reminds me of Donald Trump because both seem to have a lack of concern for many other people, and it's just not much of a stretch for me to visualize Trump saying "Release the hounds" to deal with someone whose irritated him.
6. Greg Stillson (The Dead Zone)
In Stephen King's novel, Greg Stillson is a grifter and violent creep who eventually begins a rise to power as a politician. Johnny Smith, the book's protagonist, is a psychic who's extrasensory powers reveal that Stillson will eventually become President of the United States, and will start a nuclear holocaust.
The violence at Stillson's political rallies, and several other plot developments mirror a lot of the things we've seen from Donald Trump's campaign. Martin Sheen played the character perfectly in a 1983 film adaptation, and it's eerie how much he reminds me of Trump. Apparently, a lot of people see some Greg Stillson in our next President.
5. Two-Face (Batman)
Donald Trump is more of an agent of chaos than a politician, and is erratic, and prone to randomly changing his position on important issues, seemingly with little concern for his earlier campaign promises. In the Batman universe, Harvey Dent is a disfigured super villain who makes important decisions and decides the fate of his victims by flipping his former lucky charm - a coin marred on one side. I'm beginning to wonder if Trump also employs such a method to determine if he's going to flip-flop on a campaign promise.
4. Chester Cheetah (Cheetos Mascot)
"It ain't easy being cheesy", according to the early incarnation of Cheetos advertising mascot "Chester Cheetah". The sunglass wearing, orange cat went through a lot of different stages, just like Trump, but he was always a weird orange color (like our soon-to-be Commander in Chief), and in the late '80s, appeared in a commercial sneaking up on a woman in a park... Probably something else Donald Trump has done a time or two in his life.
3. Jimmy Wichard (King Of The Hill)
In the beloved documentary series... Er... "cartoon" about Texans living in the suburbs, Jimmy Wichard was an occasionally appearing character who acted erratically, often bullying people around him. In one early episode, Jimmy runs a concession stand at a racetrack, and hires Bobby Hill to work for him. He acts paranoid and mean, bullying Bobby the entire time. When Hank's son tells him about Wichard's behavior, he doesn't believe Bobby at first, but ends up literally kicking Jimmy's ass after discovering Bobby was telling the truth. Something about the way the character looks and talks even reminds me of Donald Trump.
2. Caligula (1979 Malcolm McDowell portrayal)
I've always had a guilty love of the 1979 film "Caligula". It's such a gloriously awful train wreck - A movie with great actors like Malcolm McDowell, Helen Mirren, and Peter O'Toole that was on track to being a serious "I Claudius" style historical drama, until money woes forced the production to team up with Bob Guccione of Penthouse. That resulted in one of the most insane production derails ever, with the pornographer padding out the film with real hardcore sex scenes interspersed. The bizarre look and tone of the movie is barely held together by McDowell's portrayal of the debauched Roman Emperor, as it goes from one hyper violent, hyper sexual, set piece after another. The film is infamous for a reason. But there's something about McDowell's Caligula that reminds me of our soon to be President... Perhaps it's his enormous ego, or clear disregard for even the societal rules of Ancient Rome, but Caligula doesn't care what anyone thinks of his behavior, and I get the impression that Trump doesn't either. In the film, Caligula's childhood nickname is "Little Boots". Perhaps, Trumps can be "Little Hands".
1. Tommy DeVito (Goodfellas)
"Goodfellas" is one of American cinema's best films about organized crime, and probably the movie that actor Joe Pesci is still most known for. His role as psychopathic mobster Tommy DeVito, is one of film history's most chilling characters. One thing that's clear about DeVito: he doesn't have a sense of humor when it comes to himself. Being the butt of a joke enrages him, and Donald Trump seems to have a similarly thin skin when it comes to being laughed at - waging war against Saturday Night Live for its parodies of him. Let's hope he's less murderous than Pesci's character was.