Ever since Trump almost won the popular vote back in November, there’s been a flood of think pieces and hot takes fighting to be the decisive word on how exactly that happened. Was it sexism? (Yes.) Racism? (Yes.) Hillary’s campaign strategy? (Sure.) Russian influence? (Probably.) Comey’s interference? (Definitely.) There are innumerable elements that played into how everything ended up, but everyone seems to have their take on what one single thing handed Trump the White House.
But I don’t know if I’ve heard a stranger theory than the one Bill Maher gave on his show this week. According to him, the real reason Trump is now in office is because Hollywood won’t stop making superhero movies and TV shows.
After listing off every superhero show and movie out or coming out soon (which, to be fair, is a lot) and making a bunch of really terrible puns and other jokes, he dives into the theory with a sincerity that makes it hard to think he doesn’t actually believe it.
“Superhero movies imprint the mindset that we are not masters of our own destiny, and the best we can do is sit around and wait for Star-Lord and F*cking Raccoon to sweep in and save our sorry asses.” He continues on, “Forget hard work, government institutions, diplomacy, investment, we just need a hero to rise. And so, we put out the bat signal, for one man who could solve all of our problems, very quickly. And that’s how we got our latest superhero, Orange Sphincter.”
Cut to Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s weary reaction:
To buy into Maher’s theory, you have to disregard a lot. For starters, you can ignore, I suppose, the fact that comic books and super heroes have been part of the American ethos for about three-quarters of a century. Sure, they’ve entered the very center of mainstream entertainment in a new way over the last decade or two, but the impact of super ideals wasn’t exactly negligible before last year.
The more blatant issue, though, is that to anyone paying attention it seems clear that Trump, from his megalomania to his inability to care about humanity on any basic level, Trump isn’t a superhero. In this storyline happening now, he’s the super villain. Isn’t that obvious?
(via Uproxx, image: YouTube)
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