Fictionalized portrayals of George W. Bush
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these template messages)
|
Fictionalized portrayals of George W. Bush, the 43rd President of the United States, have become common since his inauguration on January 20, 2001. Many popular TV shows, magazines, books, and comics have portrayed or satirized him.
Several comedians and comic actors were known for impressions of Bush during his presidency, including
Bush was the target of satire for most of his presidency. Most fictional depictions of the President in popular media tend to emphasize his drawl and tendency to use incorrect grammar and malapropisms in speeches, as well as his sometimes awkward hand and facial gestures. Bush is often depicted in caricatures with a large nose and ears, and small eyes, giving him a somewhat chimpanzee-like appearance. He is also sometimes drawn in political cartoons as being short in stature.
Most fictionalized portrayals of George W. Bush have been perceived as negative.
Film
W.
Bush was portrayed by Josh Brolin in W., a biographical film by Oliver Stone.[1] The film is similar in format to Nixon, another film by Stone, covering Bush's life from his early childhood and college years, to his early political career and struggles with alcoholism, to his 2003 invasion of Iraq. W. was released on October 17, 2008, and is the first time a major motion picture has been made about a U.S. President while he was still in office.
Dasavathaaram
Dasavathaaram (2008) is an Indian film that stars popular Indian actor Kamal Haasan. He dons ten different roles in this film and one of those is the portrayal of George W. Bush.
My Name Is Khan
In the 2010 Indian film My Name Is Khan, Bush is an unseen character who refuses to meet with Khan and accept that the protagonist is not a terrorist.
Death of a President
Bush is the target of assassination in Chicago, Illinois in this fictional tale during his presidency. Death of a President mirrors similar details surrounding the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan during the early 1980s. Facing broad unpopular support for the 2003 invasion of Iraq, he becomes the target of an assassin with a political agenda.
Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
In
The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course
The 2002 action-comedy film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course featured a cameo by Timothy Bottoms as President Bush.
DC 9/11: Time of Crisis
In 2004,
The Master of Disguise
In the film The Master of Disguise, the main character (played by Dana Carvey) dresses up as Bush and comments "Folks around here call me W."
Scary Movie 4
In
Transformers
In the 2007 Transformers film, the president is not stated to be Bush but heavily implied to be him. However, in the direct sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the reference to the actual President, Barack Obama, as well as brief glimpses of Bush in a news broadcast suggests that the president shown in the original is in fact, President Bush.[citation needed] He is shown lying in bed (with his face obscured by his feet from the camera's point of view) saying to one of the flight attendants (with a Bush-like voice, a heavy southern accent and Bush-style laughter), "Hey, could you wrangle me up some Ding Dongs?" The Secretary of Defense, played by Jon Voight, has him guarded in a bunker for his protection during the rest of the film.
Postal
In the comedy movie Postal, Bush is portrayed by Brent Mendenhall.
Lange Flate Ballær II
In the 2008 Norwegian comedy sequel Lange Flate Ballær 2, after the main characters (Petter, Øyvind, Edgar, Karsten, Kai and Freddy) have prevented an American nuclear submarine from exploding and thus save the world, Bush (played by Steve Bridges) pays them a visit at their garage in Fredrikstad, Norway.
Megumi
George W. Bush appears briefly in a still animated frame of the anime version of Megumi.
American Made
Connor Trinneer plays a young George Bush in the 2017 film American Made.
Vice
Sam Rockwell plays George W. Bush in the 2018 film Vice, for which he received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.
Malesh Ehna Benetbahdel
Bush was portrayed by Brent Mendenhall in Malesh Ehna Benetbahdel, a 2005 Egyptian film.
Animated television
2DTV
In early 2003, an advertisement for the video compilation The Best of 2DTV was prevented from airing in the UK. The advertisement involved Bush taking the compilation cassette out of its case and putting it in a toaster. It was banned because the British advertising watchdog stated that advertisements for products cannot appear to be endorsed by someone without their permission – in this case George W. Bush. This decision was later overturned (due to it being legitimate satire) and the commercial was shown unedited. The makers later said that this generated more publicity than the actual advertisement could ever have produced.
The makers of 2DTV also made another short Bush sketch, in which he writes a letter, resenting his portrayal in the media as a moron. He then places the letter in a toaster.
Family Guy and American Dad!
On
The most recent appearance of Bush on Family Guy was on the episode "Excellence in Broadcasting," in which Bush runs into the room childishly and jumps into Rush Limbaugh's arms while saying many childish things. Limbaugh then proceeds to give him a lollipop and he runs off. Bush has been cited as the inspiration for the
King of the Hill
In the
Lil' Bush
Lil' Bush is an animated political satire/sitcom from creator Donick Cary. It debuted on Comedy Central on June 13, 2007. Instead of portraying George W. Bush as the current president, Lil' Bush is shown as the son of President George H. W. Bush, portrayed as the current president. Lil' Bush and his friends (Lil' Cheney, Lil' Condi, etc.) all attend an elementary school with other current political figures.
Robot Chicken
George W. Bush was portrayed on the
In another episode, "
Bush is voiced by Seth Green.
The Simpsons
During his term as governor of
South Park
Bush is later shown with an updated look in the two-part episode "
Bush is also seen in "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", which deals with 9/11 conspiracy theories. In this episode, he reveals to Stan and Kyle Broflovski that all the theories are true, and that he and his administration carried out the 9/11 attacks to invade Iraq. By the end of the episode, however, it is revealed that this was a lie and that all the conspiracy theories were actually made up by his administration so that the government would seem all-powerful. He also had a final, brief cameo in "The Snuke," which deals with an attempted terrorist attack by a bomb planted in Hillary Clinton's vagina.
He was at one point set to appear in "
Time Squad
Bush made an appearance in an episode of the 2001–2003 animated series Time Squad, trying to make the biggest ball of twine in the world to "bring America together". Bush's father George H. W. Bush made an appearance as well.
Sons of Butcher
In the Canadian animated series
Live action television
Kopspijkers
In
Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
Comedian James Adomian has appeared frequently as George W. Bush on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson since Ferguson began hosting the program in 2005. Sketches often include Bush (Adomian) being interviewed by Craig Ferguson or appearing next to Ferguson at a mock press conference.
Dead Ringers
On the
MADtv
For several seasons, Bush was portrayed by
Saturday Night Live
During the 2000 campaign and first year of his presidency, Bush was portrayed on Saturday Night Live by Will Ferrell, who emphasized the innocent, childlike aspect of the character (in one skit Jeb Bush (played by Val Kilmer) gives George a toy to play with so he can talk with Al Gore). Ferrell played Bush from 1999 to 2002 until he departed from the show. Cast member Chris Parnell took over the portrayal of Bush when Ferrell left. Since Parnell's impression was not as popular as Ferrell's, cast member Darrell Hammond was selected to replace him as Bush in late 2003. Hammond made only two appearances as Bush and was replaced by cast member Will Forte in 2004. Forte chose to portray Bush as less innocent and more nervous. Although Forte's portrayal was far more popular than Parnell's or Hammond's, it was never as well-received as Ferrell's. A newer cast member Jason Sudeikis took over the role from Forte in 2006 for unexplained reasons. Will Ferrell reprised the role when he hosted.
That's My Bush!
That's My Bush! was a live-action political satire/sitcom from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It aired on Comedy Central in its first run from April through June 2001. Despite being about the fictional exploits of the president, it instead mostly satirized the 1970s, 1980s, and workplace sitcoms; indeed, it was originally pitched as being about Al Gore, implying that jokes about George Bush were never really meant to be the show's main feature. The show often portrayed Bush dealing with both a sitcom-type situation and a political one at the same time, such as having a romantic dinner with Laura the same night as a major dinner with both sides of the abortion debate. George W. Bush was generally portrayed as being foolish (as were most of the characters) yet essentially honest in his efforts. The show was eventually canceled due to high production costs and insufficient ratings.
World Wrestling Entertainment
On the December 18 edition of
Mr. Deity
In the episode "Mr. Deity and the Intel" of Mr. Deity George W. Bush is portrayed by Louie Sadd, where Mr. Deity (God) is discussing the 2003 War On Terror with Bush, but Deity doesn't understand him that well and does not know what would happen with the war.
Off-the-cuff impersonations
Often, when a story involving George W. Bush is shown on
Comics
Doonesbury
In the political comic
Later, President Bush's symbol was changed to a Roman military helmet (again, atop an asterisk) representing imperialism. Towards the end of his first term, the helmet became battered, with the gilt work starting to come off and with clumps of bristles missing from the top, but on September 2, 2006, he fantasized about himself wearing a crown. [citation needed]
Starting on November 2, 2010,
If...
In his political comic strip If..., English cartoonist Steve Bell depicts President Bush as a chimpanzee.[6] Bell first drew Bush as a chimpanzee in a cartoon on his inauguration, as a reference to the 1951 film Bedtime for Bonzo starring Ronald Reagan. Bell later explained that he originally did not intend to continue depicting Bush as a chimpanzee, but eventually come to find the portrayal very fitting after studying Bush's body language.[7]
Marvel Comics
The Ultimates
Bush appears in a cameo during the first volume of Marvel's The Ultimates, a satirical take on the Avengers which reimagines its heroes in a post-9/11 context.[citation needed] While no commentary was made on his policies, the President did seem flustered as he spoke to the then-recently awoken Captain America. He appears again in The Ultimates 2 in which he is captured by an anti-American supervillain group. Seeing how having the Ultimates working with the United States government "policing" the world would produce similar results to their battle against the Liberators, the team decided to leave the government behind and continue to work as an independent team instead.
Ultimate X-Men
Bush was also portrayed in Ultimate X-Men.[8] He becomes an ally to the X-Men after they rescue his daughter from Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants. After Magneto attacked America, he was stripped naked by him and forced to lick his boots clean while on live TV. Afterward, Magneto attempted to drop a car on him but was stopped when the X-Men intervened. The car's license plate read "DUBYA".
Twisted Kaiju Theater
In the popular webcomic Twisted Kaiju Theater, Bush is a recurring villain.[citation needed] Here is depicted is a childish simpleton who cries when he loses. He is also obsessed with oil, attempting to obtain Neo Monster Islands oil at literally any cost. He also says that non-Christians have no souls, believes that same-sex marriage is a threat to America, and his motto is, "Fuck the poor" (a parody of his alleged hostility to working-class citizens).[citation needed]
Video games
ESPN NFL Football
If the player creates a player with the name "George Bush" in the video game ESPN NFL 2K5, his full name will be announced during gameplay.
See also
- List of presidents of the United States
- Will Ferrell
- James Adomian
- Will Forte
- Frank Caliendo
- Steve Bridges
- Strategery
References
- ^ "W. Movie Review & Film Summary (2008)". Chicago Sun-Times. October 15, 2008. Archived from the original on September 30, 2012. Retrieved December 17, 2009.
- ^ "Malesh Ehna Benetbahdel (2005)". IMDb. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
- ^ Sean Doorly. "Seth MacFarlane Interview". Doorly.com. Retrieved May 13, 2013.
- ^ Sandra L. Dahlberg, "'All hat and no cattle: separate and unequal funding for higher education in Texas", Radical Teacher, summer 2005
- ^ Doonesbury archive at Slate.com November 2, 2010.
- ^ Job done; If... May 26, 2004.
- ^ Steve Bell on George Bush January 16, 2009.
- ^ Ultimate X-Men (Issue 6). Marvel Comics. 2001.
