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The Greatest Fake President Of All Time
America loves movies about make-believe commanders-in-chief. Maybe we should elect one of those?
The best fictional President of the United States in a movie is Tom Beck from 1998’s disaster movie Deep Impact. There were two giant killer space rock movies that year, the second one being Armaggedon, a testosterone-soaked guitar lick of a flick about a gang of swaggering salt-of-the-earth oilmen who selflessly volunteer to save the world from a massive asteroid. Deep Impact, which came first, is the thinking man’s Armaggedon.
President Beck is played by Morgan Freeman, at the height of his charismatic powers. As President Beck, Freeman is all grace and strength, with a twinkle in his eye. He wears his considerable authority casually. But he’s trustworthy. In the movie, a planet-destroying comet is hurtling towards Earth. Everyone freaks out. President Beck, however, doesn’t even sweat.
Our fictional movie presidents, except for the occasional evil or dimwitted one, all exemplify the positive traits we want a president to have. I think that’s why the president appears as a character in so many movies. Americans like choices, even if they’re wishes.
That’s not to say there aren’t plenty of historical dramas about actual presidents. Critics…
