Imagined Presidencies: The Representation of Political Power in Television Fiction

In the satirical world of The Gilmore Girls, a fictional leader is characterized as more effective than a real-life president. The joke works because viewers know that Martin Sheen's character on the popular television series The West Wing was more successful in his fictional administration than Jimmy Carter was in his actual presidency. In the past decade, Hollywood writers have conjured up numerous compelling characters to serve as representations of fictional and real US presidents. Here, Phallen, Kim and Osellame talk about how pop culture representations can affect the notion of presidentiality in public opinion.