The Art of the Deal Johnny Depp Full Movie
Ii writers discuss why satirizing Donald Trump is exceedingly difficult.
Volition Isle of mann: At the height of the 2016 presidential principal, right as in that location was the commonage bafflement that hey, the host of The Apprentice could actually win the Republican nomination, comedy website Funny or Die released Donald Trump'southward The Art of the Deal: The Movie, a 50-minute presentation where Johnny Depp, under heavy prosthetics, played the then time to come-president. The flick was released exclusively to the Funny or Die website on Feb 26, 2016.
I remember watching it and loving it at the time. Information technology felt destructive, unapologetically in-your-confront, and very much deliberately mocking its central target for ridicule. Moreover, at the finish of it, Depp'due south Trump comes from the future of 2017 to tell his 1980s counterpart that he will indeed become president i twenty-four hours. It seemed like a ludicrous joke at the time only instead became an eerie, all-too-prescient prediction, making the motion picture stand out even as comedy sought to capitalize on the Trump administration for the 4 years of its existence.
The motion picture claims to be a Television movie-of-the-calendar week written, directed, and starring Trump himself, and was considered long lost ("it was preempted past Monday Dark Football game in 1988…Trump was furious") until manager Ron Howard, in a cameo, explains how he came across the original movie reels. "It turned upwardly at a yard auction outside Phoenix, Arizona," Howard explains, claiming he had to "physically wrestle it from a overnice woman named Jenny, [who was] much stronger than she looked [and] very persistent." Once the presentation is over, Howard in one case again speaks to the camera and says: "Wow. That was…awful. I mean hauntingly bad, it kind of wants to brand me rethink my passion for filmmaking. You know, we should probably pretend that this film, and in fact Donald Trump, never fifty-fifty existed."
The film features an all-star cast that includes Patton Oswalt as Merv Griffin; 30 Rock'south Jack McBrayer as Trump Tower architect Der Scutt; Kristen Schaal as the vox of Trump's receptionist Gloria (whom Trump refers to solely every bit "Deborah"); Jacob Tremblay as the typical 80s child Trump recounts his life story to; The Fonz himself, Harry Winkler, equally former-New York City mayor Ed Koch; Christopher Lloyd equally Dorsum to the Time to come's Md Brown; and even two of the hosts of my favorite podcast, How Did This Get Made? : Paul Scheer and Jason Mantzoukas. Depp every bit Trump walks a rotating cast of curious immature boys through his life story and career, as the flick recounts many of Trump'south pre-presidential controversies, including the destruction of priceless Art Deco sculptures at the future site of Trump Tower and Trump'south feud with quondam NFL commission Pete Rozelle (Andy Richter).
Information technology all but felt like a minor coup at the fourth dimension, more than merely a gimmick. Information technology leaned into its ain inherent ridiculousness, such as when ALF was depicted as existence the best homo at Trump'southward wedding ceremony to kickoff wife Ivana (Michaela Watkins). Funny or Dice was sticking it to Trump through the power of satire. We simply thought the movie would be a chance to capitalize for what seemed to be a brief time in U.South. history where we were captivated past the prospect of Donald Trump actually running for president. They even got Kenny Loggins, known for archetype 80s movie theme staples like "Footloose," "I'thou Alright" from Caddyshack, and "Danger Zone" from Top Gun, to contribute a typically corny 1980s-sounding theme vocal. The song itself is surprisingly tricky and very evocative of the era, besides as the type of self-promotion Trump himself would indulge in.
Now, re-watching the motion picture five years after the fact feels like you're seeing a template for how many in the one-act field would accost Trump in the four years of his administration that followed. I remember information technology'due south fair to say that you agree with that assessment?
Rigel Kaufman: Anyone who is naïve enough to recollect that the era of Donald Trump parody is finally over is mistaken. The horse was beaten to gum long before Saturday Night Live sunk its anti-Midas clutches into it, yet the beating will continue long into the future. In The Art of the Deal: The Movie, that prophecy is spun, and the left-leaning politic of almost every creative outlet in the Us is showcased. As Donald Trump still lives and breathes, and his presence in a headline notwithstanding gathers eyes, he will be a leading topic. Dissidents and the politically disillusioned are looking for a fashion to upset things, the easiest way existence supporting things that establishments tell them to hate. Most Trump coverage is not positive. In other words, Hollywood probably helped to get Donald Trump elected.
Parody operates on a bell curve of exaggeration vs payoff. On the far left side of the curve, we take Johnny Depp as Donald Trump offering a child a steak that he pulled from his desk. On the far right side of the curve, him defending Hitler from criticism—hard-hitting stuff, I know. And somewhere in the middle are the three or 4 actually funny moments in The Art of the Deal: The Movie, far too few to justify its 50-minute runtime, just enough to examine the framework that every attempt at Trump satirization has obeyed, and why fundamentally these have all been failures, both comically and as political rhetoric:
Impression: Donald Trump talks and looks a certain way, let'south copy him.
Yuge, appending 'Ok?' to the end of sentences, talking in exaggeration, gesticulating drawing a wire tight with both forefingers and thumbs, and your standard-fare haircut, accommodate, and tan gags. At once an unproblematic form of comedy and the only sphere in which the jokes ever state, considering they at least mandate timing.
Current Events: Donald Trump did or said an outlandish matter recently, let's bring that in somehow. There are endless, endless lists of forced and genuine controversy, including simply non limited to: dumping his container of koi food during the Shinzo Abe visit; being a Russian spy; saying vii/11 instead of 9/11; releasing his revenue enhancement returns; golfing too much; enough people complaining virtually one of the businesses he owns; beingness impeached; refusing to condemn certain groups; condemning certain groups; saying something provocative to the press, etc. Strictly referential humour and every reference has had all novelty tapped. Nobody on either side of the aisle laughs at these jokes, they simply nod or shake their head with the same solemn pout.
Political Browbeating: Donald Trump is divers by a shortlist of politically wrong stances, some of which are more or less topical right now; we must contest ane or all of these. Near every bit funny as government programming, these are the face-the-camera moments where the Trump fiction commits suicide advertising nauseam. Whereas current events at least have the boon of the few days between when they happen and when they're exhausted, these public service announcements are harped into the aforementioned pit of oblivion as words repeated out loud too many times: meaningless combinations of syllables that convey an idea contained from the words they form. If there were ever a panacea to clever humor, this would be it.
Tagline History: Quotable tidbits that still persist in the public retentivity: "small-scale loan of one million dollars." Sloganeering that tries and fails to be weaponized, instead coming off as inexpensive disparagement or catch-phrasing. Filler.
Proper name-calling: Self-explanatory.
Isle of mann: I retrieve that how you lot tie this in to how Trump has been depicted these past 4 years is very interesting. I think part of what fabricated The Fine art of the Bargain: The Film stand out when it was initially released was that you lot had someone who was already a very well-known celebrity running for president. We already knew who he was, the type of person he was, and nigh, but not all, of the controversies that would be generated on the campaign trail. A media narrative didn't have to suit or invent a character (call up near what The Onion did in terms of depicting Joe Biden, whose jokes and label still follow him fifty-fifty at present during his actual presidency), or ridicule a candidate one time we started to understand who they were, a la Tina Fey's delineation of Sarah Palin on Saturday Night Live.
But what I appreciated about the movie at the time was that it acknowledged that Donald Trump was this bigger-than-life character who comes off, in both the motion picture and in real life, as a sleaze-ball and a doofus. He likewise feels intrinsically tied to the 1980s in detail, this sort of Gordon Gekko come to life, the embodiment of "the decade of excess" itself. The corny Kenny Loggins song, the 80s movie-of-the-calendar week vibe, the constant appearances of celebrities and characters from pop culture, it all resonated because information technology felt like the movie was making fun of the way that Donald Trump saw himself.
But unfortunately, now information technology feels like the moving picture was playing into Trump's own narrative ever so slightly in lodge to upend it, make fun of it, and betoken out its inherent ridiculousness. For example, it'southward odd to take scenes featuring Depp-equally-Trump dancing and rapping with actors portraying the iconic 1980s rap group the Fat Boys. Then again, the man himself danced to a spoof of Drake's hitting vocal "Hotline Bling" while hosting Saturday Night Alive during his actual presidential run. Go figure.
But, as y'all previously noted, the movie also displays some of the difficulty in depicting a character likewise-known and, to put it mildly, flawed as Trump. The meta-joke of the movie is that it's a vanity projection for him, and that notion is committed to fully. But that formula also prevents any sort of self-reflection or nuance. The Trump as depicted in The Fine art of the Deal: The Movie, is, for all intents and purposes, a caricature. That proves to exist hard to reconcile when, in a few short months, he becomes the new reality we are all collectively forced to bargain with. His inherent ridiculousness was already pointed out even before this movie came out, and people, literally tens of millions of voters, nonetheless fell for it. What exactly does that say about the betoken the movie was trying to drive dwelling house?
In re-watching the flick for the first fourth dimension since its initial release recently, it definitely did not hold up likewise every bit I was expecting, becoming a victim of diminishing returns. Moreover, the whole thing feels rather passé at this point. For example, it feels weird that ALF shows up, simply Rudy Giuliani doesn't. Sure, at that place are moments that yet band true, such every bit when Trump keeps replacing the boys who ask him nigh his life story until he gets a white one. But, if anything, the movie feels like information technology'due south the final capstone on who Trump used to be, pre-presidency. Trump-equally-president was a different animal birthday, which makes this satire feel more toothless in hindsight. Your thoughts?
Kaufman: The problem which most people take already realized subconsciously, is twofold:
All of the political tropes are taken verbatim. Because the creators of this and every other Donald Trump parody have decided that political signaling is the virtually important part of their satire, modifying his positions too much for the sake of comedy muddies the waters. So instead, these are played as straight every bit possible. No minds are being changed, instead, positions are beingness fortified on both sides. And naturally, these aren't funny. At that place is no subversion exterior of occasional wordplay.
All of the not-political tropes are played up. The trouble is Donald Trump is already an exaggerated person, and too much exaggeration is counterproductive to both humor and rhetoric. Trump's linguistic quirks are funny, having him shout them over a megaphone is abrasive. Trump'due south appearance is funny, turning him into an orange clown with an afro is unneeded. Trump already throws out lots of childish insults, yous don't need to have him call people stinky doo-doo heads.
Humour, similar nigh good things, is a hard balancing act where things from the extremes of the bong curve must be pulled towards the middle to be made clever instead of hackneyed or bombastic. Parody and satire live or die by the subtle jabs that sneak up on you. Occupying a dissonant perspective that attempts to both persuade via ridicule and entertain via ridicule is not only impossible but volition actively hamper your ability to practise either. Perchance the entire industry has past hazard forgotten how to be funny and fallen prey to the same traps and tired frameworks all at once for v continuous years. It seems unlikely.
The individual problem is Donald Trump'southward humor potential is maximized when you agree upward a mirror, and even and so, the comedy was never a thousand trove. The larger problem is sense of humour demands novelty, subversion, and timing, which the Trump satires actively dispose of. The grand problem is that political humor has been circling the toilet for over a decade because all opinions both formal and farcical are coming almost exclusively from ane quadrant of the political compass, in which the list of topics that are verboten is always-growing, yielding content hegemony and the simultaneous politicization and sanitation of fiction—at the peril of, at best, consumability, at worst, artistic freedom to be fifty-fifty slightly provocative.
Source: https://intpolicydigest.org/revisiting-2016-s-donald-trump-s-the-art-of-the-deal-the-movie-and-the-comedy-of-the-trump-era/