Fictionalized portrayals of George W. Bush
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Fictionalized portrayals of George W. Bush, the 43rd and current President of the United States, have become popular since his inauguration on January 20, 2001. Many popular TV shows, magazines, books and comics have portrayed or satirized him.
Timothy Bottoms in particular has portrayed Bush fictionally multiple times -- in the Comedy Central sitcom That's My Bush!, as a cameo in the family film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course, and in a serious role in the telefilm DC 9/11.
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[edit] Film
[edit] The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course
The 2002 action comedy film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course featured a cameo by Timothy Bottoms as President Bush.
[edit] DC 9/11: Time of Crisis
In 2004, Showtime broadcast a made-for-television movie titled DC 9/11: Time of Crisis reenacting the September 11, 2001 attacks from the point of view of President Bush. The movie was a drama, and reviewers stated that its portrayal of George W. Bush (by Timothy Bottoms) was generally in a positive light.
[edit] Death of a President
British director Gabriel Range premiered the fictional documentary Death of a President in 2006. The film uses archive footage, actors, and computer effects to portray an assassination of President Bush.
[edit] Television
[edit] Saturday Night Live
During the campaign and first year of his presidency, Bush was portrayed on Saturday Night Live by Will Ferrell, who emphasized the innocent, child-like aspect of the character (in one skit Jeb Bush 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 2003. However, Hammond's portrayal was no hit either, so cast member Will Forte took over the role in 2004, choosing to portray Bush as less innocent and more nervous. Although Forte's portrayal was far more popular than either Parnell's or Hammond's, newer cast member Jason Sudeikis took over the role from Forte in 2006 for unexplained reasons.
[edit] South Park
South Park displayed the character of George W. Bush in multiple episodes. These include "Cartoon Wars Part I" and "Cartoon Wars Part II", in which Bush succumbs to popular pressure and attempts to censor an episode of Family Guy portraying Mohammed; Bush is also shown later in the episode as a character in a cartoon by Ayman al-Zawahiri, and is depicted defecating on Jesus and the American flag.
Bush is also seen in "Mystery of the Urinal Deuce", in which he is the mastermind of a conspiracy that is using conspiracy theories to convince the world that the American government is all-powerful.
[edit] That's My Bush!
That's My Bush! was a short-lived live-action political satire/sitcom from South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. It aired on Comedy Central in first run from April through June 2001. Instead of attacking George W. Bush, it instead satirized 70's, 80's, and workplace sitcoms. The show ended right before September 11th, although it is speculated that those events would have cancelled the show regardless.
[edit] Family Guy
On Family Guy, Bush has been shown showing up late for duty in the Vietnam War, hiding in his Texas treehouse to avoid news of Hurricane Katrina, and playing with a Slinky in the White House.
[edit] 2DTV
2DTV (a UK satire cartoon) regularly portrayed George W. Bush as a childish simpleton who would often make hazardous decisions while in the Oval Office. The character would not listen to advice from his advisor, unless the man put a sock on his hand and humoured Bush like a child. The segment was extremely popular in the United Kingdom and highlighted the President's unpopularity in the country.
In early 2003, an advertisement for video compilation The Best of 2DTV was prevented from airing in the UK. The advertisement involved President Bush taking the compilation cassette out of its case and putting it in a toaster (as seen at the top of this article). 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 George W. Bush sketch, in which the President writes a letter, resenting his portrayal in the media as a moron. He then places the letter in a toaster.
[edit] Comics
[edit] Doonesbury
In the political comic Doonesbury, President George W. Bush was symbolized by a Stetson hat atop a giant asterisk. The hat referred to his time spent as Governor of Texas; Doonesbury artist Garry Trudeau accused Bush of being "all hat and no cattle"[citation needed]. The asterisk was intended to represent the special circumstances surrounding Bush's election, it being the typical symbol to mark footnoted special circumstances in any standard record book.
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 giltwork 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.
[edit] See also
- List of Presidents of the United States
- Saturday Night Live
- Family Guy
- The Simpsons
- Will Ferrell
- Will Forte
