Pop Culture Pushes Female Prez

Some hope Hillary Clinton will be the first female president in American history. It’s a scenario Hollywood’s been pushing for a while now.

Film and television can help to normalize certain ideas in the eyes of viewers.

While many depictions of female presidents in film and television can be chalked up to simply wanting to go against the grain or paint a fictional world where a strong female holds office, there’s no doubt that some behind-the-scenes creators are doing it to beat the drum for their personal future pick for president.

Film and television can help to normalize certain ideas in the eyes of viewers. This is why art can have great power when it comes to our culture. Take “American Sniper.” With less than one percent of Americans serving in the armed forces, the blockbuster film used a great opportunity to expose the true struggles and heroism of veterans fighting the War on Terror.

However, as creators who propagandize art, some use this power to simply manipulate and push politics. This is why a handful of recent depictions of female presidents in media so closely resemble a heroic fantasy of Hillary Clinton.

The most recent example comes from director Roland Emmerich. In his latest outing, “Independence Day: Resurgence,” actress Sela Ward portrays the sitting president of the United States. Considering Emmerich’s past support of Clinton and his overtly political films like “White House Down,” it should come as no surprise Ward portrayed a version of Emmerich’s favorite politician.

“I watched a lot of Hillary Clinton on the campaign trail, just to see physically what she would do, how she would approach a podium, a crowd, etc … It’s really mostly watching Hillary, who is the only real female role model we have,” Ward told Variety.

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The similarities are even more obvious when watching the film, from Ward’s hairstyle to her speech pattern. The obvious nod to Clinton should come as little surprise with Emmerich behind the camera. The man took flak from many for throwing in a very obvious and fantasized version of President Obama in 2013’s “White House Down.”

CBS’ “Madam Secretary” was also a nod to Clinton.

“Madam Secretary” cast Tea Leoni in the title role. With only three actual female secretaries of state from history, many started seeing obvious connections to Clinton and theorized that producers were trying to push a fantasy and hip version of Clinton without name-dropping her. From the timing of the show’s debut to the main character’s hair and style, many saw the connections.

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The purpose of the show was “to condition the people of this country to Hillary Clinton, and do a television show making a star out of the female secretary of state,” said Rush Limbaugh on his radio show. “It’s there to actually propagandize very subtly the minds of people watching it … You know how people think what happens in movies means what happens in real life — same thing, television shows.”

Limbaugh wasn’t the only one to see the connection. Even left-leaning Stephen Colbert admitted the obvious push in the series. When interviewing Hillary Clinton, she revealed she watched “Madam Secretary.” “Do you ever call up and ask, ‘Where is my residual check?'” Colbert joked.

Those two examples are only the most recent and the most obvious. Female presidents are popping up in media everywhere. It was recently announced “Supergirl” would cast Lynda Carter as its president in its second season on The CW. It was also revealed a female president would appear in season six of Showtime’s “Homeland.”

The examples in media of females holding the highest office in the land are growing. While politics is a motivation for many, they haven’t always been the reason for casting a female as president. Or were they maybe laying the groundwork? 

The Geena Davis-starring “Commander in Chief” ran in 2005 for two seasons, long before Clinton was at the forefront of liberals’ minds for president. 

Similarly, Fox’s “24” cast a female as president in 2009, well before this heated election.

Of course, before Obama, the series portrayed five seasons worth of a fictional African-American president. While some said the series was trying to pave the way for Obama and Clinton, star Kiefer Sutherland didn’t see it that way. He said it was basic mathematics.

“You have a huge African-American population and it was just a matter of time before they were represented politically by a president. We have a female president in season seven. You have a 52 percent population of women and we can clearly see it is just a matter of time before we have a female president.”

While the motivation to put a female in a fictional Oval Office has for years mostly come from a genuine place of creativity and foresight, the recently politically heated years have also found creators and artists blatantly using their work to push for a very specific female candidate.

Fantasy versions of Clinton in television and film no doubt help to normalize the idea of her in office for potential voters. However, if you want to watch a film representing the real politics of the very real Hillary Clinton, tune out of “Madam Secretary” and pop in “13 Hours.”