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 satirized 1970s, 1980s, and workplace sitcoms.
[edit] Family Guy
On Family Guy, Bush has been shown in multiple episodes, doing things like showing up late for duty in the Vietnam War in the episode "PTV" and hiding in his Texas treehouse to avoid news of Hurricane Katrina in "The Fat Guy Strangler". In "Saving Private Brian", Bush pushed a Slinky down a set of stairs in the White House. After failing the first attempt to make the toy go down all of the steps, he succeeded in his second try, exclaiming, "Laura... Laura!"
[edit] Time Squad
Bush made an appearance in an episode of Time Squad, trying to make the biggest ball of twine in the world to 'bring America together'.
[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] World Wrestling Entertainment
On the December 18th edition of WWE Raw, a George W. Bush impersonator entered the ring in aid of Cryme Tyme, an African American tag team. The impersonation sketch referenced multiple African American celebrities, including Kanye West as well as Bush Administration officials Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice. At the end of the sketch, Cryme Tyme stole Bush's wallet, and in return Bush apparently called the team "nigger", which was blanked out on the television feed. Todd Martin of Wrestling Observer reported, "You could hear a number of people gasping at the idea WWE would be doing some of this stuff, and people seemed pretty offended by the segment."[1]
[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 refers to Bush of being "all hat and no cattle".[2] 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] References
[edit] See also
- List of Presidents of the United States
- Saturday Night Live
- Family Guy
- The Simpsons
- Will Ferrell
- Will Forte
| George W. Bush | ||
|---|---|---|
| Life and politics | Early life · Professional life · Military service · First term as U.S. President (2001-2005) · Second term as U.S. President (2005-) · Administration |  |
| Terms and policies | Foreign policy · Domestic policy · Bush Doctrine · Economic policy · Compassionate conservatism | |
| Perceptions | Public perception · Bushisms · Criticism · Movement to impeach · Fictionalized portrayals · As the subject of books and films | |
