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Invisible President: Difference between revisions
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* ''[[War Games]]'' features a photograph of the incumbent President on set.
** It's standard practice in US government offices to display pictures of the sitting president and the relevant cabinet secretary (the Defense secretary, in this case, since it's a military base). However, repeatedly zooming in on a picture of [[Ronald Reagan|the Gipper]] in a movie that deals with the threat of nuclear holocaust has been seen as a [[Take That]] by the director.
* [
* ''[[Wag the Dog]]'' almost always has the main characters talking to "the president" on the phone. The one time he's on camera, it's in shadows and from the back only. On the other hand, his opponent is frequently shown in TV ads and on talk shows.
* In the [[Rowan Atkinson]] comedy ''Johnny English'', the queen's hands are shown, and her voice is heard, but everything else is just outside the frame.
* The 2007 ''[[Transformers (Film)|Transformers]]'' movie featured a president whose face was blocked by a pair of feet wearing red socks, who asked an assistant to bring him a Ding-Dong [[George W. Bush|with a Texas accent]]. This is his only appearance in the film, though the Secretary of Defense later mentions that the current crisis could define his presidency, and after the climax, he {{spoiler|dissolves Sector 7 and orders the remains of the Decepticons be dumped in a very deep ocean trench}}.
** The 2009 sequel doesn't show the President at all, and in all scenes where an actor is talking about him he is referred to only as "the President"...except in one quick blurb that is delivered offscreen from a news bulletin, where he is specifically named as [[Barack Obama|President Obama]]. This makes sense when you realize that the film was being shot during the 2008 election race and they could only add a name in post-production. [[Word of God]] is that Bay added the name as a sort of tribute to him, [[Fridge Logic|which is odd]] considering the main government representative is an [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]] who spends the movie trying to kick the Autobots off the planet, and it's implied the administration is considering ''negotiating'' with the Decepticons. Also notable is that every time the Bureaucrat does [[Kick the Dog|something to annoy, obstruct or hinder the heroes]], he does it under the direct orders of the President. The only things he can truly take the blame for are his poor people skills and callous attitude towards the team.
** Then the [[Transformers Dark of the Moon|2011 sequel]] averts this, showing the president in name and face.
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* The opening chapter of ''[[Harry Potter (Franchise)/Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince|Harry Potter]]'' book has a scene with a new Prime Minister that visibly strains to avoid naming him or his party. Entertainingly, it still manages to be specific enough to cause a [[Continuity Snarl]] -- based on other indications about when the books were set, the PM during ''Half-Blood Prince'' should have be [[John Major]], but it refers to his predecessor (who would then be [[Margaret Thatcher]]) as "he".
** Apparently some of the PM's mannerisms were based on those of [[Tony Blair]], who was PM at the time the book was written (but not at the time in which the book is supposedly set).
* [[Stephen King]]'s novel ''Dreamcatcher'' was finished in mid-November 2000, at which time the outcome of the US presidential election was still in doubt; as such, when the President gives a national address regarding the events of the novel, the book strains to avoid mentioning whether the president was meant to be [[George W. Bush]] or Al Gore.
** In ''[[The Stand]]'', the President is also never named.
* In an unusual case, [[Tom Clancy]]'s novel ''Executive Orders'' does not refer to the President of Iraq by name when he is assassinated. What little characterization there is is entirely in line with Saddam Hussein (who was still in power when the book was published). Noteworthy in that Saddam Hussein was one of the few heads of state who would probably have been referred to by name in normal conversation, and that the book also uses invented leaders for Iran, India, and Russia.
* In ''[[Angels and Demons|Angels & Demons]]'', the deceased [[The Pope|Pope]]'s name and nationality are never stated, although it's pretty obvious that he was a highly-fictionalized John Paul II (Incumbent at the time of its writing).
** The film adaptation names him "Pius XIII", from a brief glimpse of his ring before it's destroyed.
* The President during the time period that ''[[The Adventures of Fox Tayle (Literature)|The Adventures of Fox Tayle]]'' takes place (late 2005 to early 2006, [[Series Hiatus|so far]]) is [[George W. Bush]]. Fox Tayle was created in a canceled government project and he escaped, and now the FBI is after him. His long-term goal is to talk to the president to try to get some personal rights and to stop being chased (so far, Bush has only been mentioned twice in the story).
* There's a double-whammy in the ''[[
* In book 21 of ''[[Animorphs (Literature)|Animorphs]]'', the main characters break up a summit of several world leaders, and go to great lengths to not refer to the president, or any of the other heads of state, by name. They even decline to mention what ''country'' one of the leaders represents, as he had had a little too much to drink and [[Too Dumb to Live|refuses to get out of the way of a rampaging elephant]]. Averted in the last book, which explicitly refers to President Clinton.
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** However, there was an episode with William Devane as President, in which the real Chief of Staff of the US Air Force, General John Jumper, is on set in uniform. Turns out he was a bit of a fan of the show.
** Several Air Force officers showed up on the show, part of its being [[Backed By the Pentagon]].
* [
* The President on ''[[The West Wing]]'' was originally intended to be almost entirely unseen -- Martin Sheen was originally only contracted for four episodes of the show's first season. In his one scene in the pilot episode, he was so amazingly impressive that they changed their minds and effectively made him the main character.
* The Queen and Prime Minister both appeared as outstretched hands from behind doors in ''[[Are You Being Served? (TV)|Are You Being Served]]''.
* The ''[[
** More recently, ''[[
*** And during one of the Christmas specials in which the Queen and her staff (and corgis) first evacuate the palace and then wave to a passing spaceship, she is only seen from the back.
** In "Aliens of London", the Doctor asks Rose (after accidentally landing a year late to her home time) who the Prime Minister is. She stares at him cluelessly, and explains it ''has'' been a year. This was because the episode was to be broadcast very close to the General Election, and there was no way of guessing the outcome. The corpse of the Prime Minister himself is later found in the episode, though they make sure not to focus on his face.
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== Newspaper Comics ==
* ''[[Doonesbury]]'' carries this to its logical extreme by literally showing the president as invisible. This began with [[George HW Bush]], to poke fun of his weak stance on issues. Later presidents were shown with floating symbols -- [[Bill Clinton]] as a waffle (as in "waffling on the issues"); [[George W. Bush]] as an asterix, a cowboy hat, and (after 9/11) a Roman centurion helmet. This extended to other politicians, such as Dan Quayle (a feather) and House Speaker Newt Gingrich (a [[Cartoon Bomb]]).
** Prior to this, strips featuring the President simply showed [[Establishing Shot|establishing shots]] of [[The White House]]. Then there was the time [[Ronald Reagan]] appeared as "[[Max Headroom|Ron Headrest]]".
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== Film ==
* In a highly controversial exception, the film ''The Death of a President'' digitally superimposes the face of [[George W. Bush]] onto an actor as he is killed by a sniper.
* A clip of [[Ronald Reagan]] appeared in the film of ''[[Alien Nation (Film)|Alien Nation]]'', the producers using the "If not us, who? If not now, when?" quote from his second inaugural address to reference the legislation that recognized the aliens as refugees (and future citizens).
* ''[[National Lampoons Senior Trip]]'', which ostensibly takes place in the mid-1990s, depicts a fictional President who looks less like Bill Clinton and more like Franklin Roosevelt (minus the wheelchair).
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== Live-Action TV ==
* A recent [[Mockumentary]] in the UK featured footage of [[Tony Blair]] used to talk about a stock market crash.
* Footage of Blair and [[George W. Bush|Bush]] appeared in an episode of ''[[Spooks]]'' about a state visit of the latter.
* A Season 1 episode of ''[[Third Watch]]'' had [[Hillary Clinton]], then the first lady, walking past the main police officers en route to a debate with Republican Rudolph Giuliani during the 2000 Senate campaign.
* ''[[NCIS]]'' steamrolled this trope in their first episode. The president getting who enters Air Force One is, to all intents and purposes, [[George W. Bush]] in practically every respect. He's actually played by Steve Bridges who certainly isn't unfamiliar with [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDPAUi3VPSo playing the role]. Archive footage of GWB is also used in the series, such as one of him getting into a helicopter as the NCIS learn of an attempt to take down the helicopter.
* Real footage of Prince Charles was used and redubbed for the finale of ''[[Look Around You]]'', to make it look like Prince Charles was actually presenting the Look Around You Award. They even go so far as to make him express an interest in a sex-change device and later get attacked by a mad scientist with a skin spray.
* While the actual president never appeared in ''[[The X-Files]]'', a large photo of [[Bill Clinton]] was clearly visible in Skinner's office throughout several seasons. However, no pictures of [[George W. Bush]] ever appeared after his election.
** However, in the recent movie, both Mulder and Scully notice a picture of Bush in the hallway, walk over to it, and stare at it, as the theme music plays.
* Paul Martin appeared on ''[[Corner Gas (TV)|Corner Gas]]'' while he was Prime Minister. Many Canadian politicians have also been known to cameo in sketch comedy shows such as the Royal Canadian Air Farce.
* A first season episode of ''[[JAG]]'' used stock footage of [[Bill Clinton]] jogging through a park, edited to look like Harm, who was jogging the other way, passed him.
** The second season opener starts with [[Bill Clinton]] presenting Harm with the Distinguished Flying Cross. Again stock footage was edited into the show.
** In one episode, Bud Roberts carried the so-called "football" for [[George W. Bush]], and archived footage of the President was used in the episode.
* Averted in two ways in ''[[Lie to Me (TV)|Lie to Me]]''. The show has a habit of using still images of famous people to illustrate whatever emotion they're talking about, and a solid majority of these seem to be recent US Presidents (as well as Presidential candidates and Vice Presidents). In addition, President Obama has been referred by name to at least twice so far by the characters in the show.
* [[Margaret Thatcher]] famously appeared as herself in a sketch she wrote for ''[[Yes Minister]]''.
* In ''[[The Jeffersons]]'' (season 4, George and Jimmy) President [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]] was invited by George Jefferson to stay at his house.
* ''[[
* When the Prime Minister is the main character, you can't very well keep him invisible, and hence ''[[Yes Minister|Yes, Prime Minister]]'' averts this trope.
* Tony Blair appeared as himself in a Comic Relief sketch of ''[[The Catherine Tate Show]]''.
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[[Category:Invisibility Index]]
[[Category:Invisible President]]
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