The Norma Desmond Presidency
Donald Trump is unlike any president we’ve seen. He’s a career businessman. He’s also a celebrity and an entertainer. He’s famous for being rich and famous.
Trump spent the 80’s going out on the town, partying, and getting his picture in the newspaper. He put his name on skyscrapers, casinos, golf clubs, hotels, steaks, wine, and a fraudulent online university.
He starred in a reality TV series, “The Apprentice.” He was a recurring character in the comic strip “Doonesbury” for many years. He’s been mentioned in countless rap songs. His name has come to symbolize ostentatious wealth and success.
When Donald Trump became president, the spotlight shone even brighter on him. For the past three years, his every move has been scrutinized.
It turns out, upon closer examination, he’s not just any celebrity. He’s Norma Desmond from the 1950 film “Sunset Boulevard.”
Like Norma Desmond, he’s obscenely wealthy. He’s an aging entertainer. He prefers to inhabit a hermetically-sealed environment where he receives regular doses of praise and affirmation, his every wish is granted without question, and very little is expected of him in return.
Four quotes from “Sunset Boulevard” serve to illustrate exactly how Donald Trump is our “Norma Desmond In Chief.”
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Joe Gillis: “You’re Norma Desmond. You used to be in silent pictures. You used to be big.”
Norma Desmond: “I am big. It’s the pictures that got small.”
Norma Desmond lives in constant denial of objective reality. She’s been out of show business for 20 years. During that time, she’s been holed up in her cavernous Hollywood mansion with her butler Max, rarely interacting with the outside world.
Still, she insists that she’s “big.” She insists she’s a star.
The constant denial of objective reality is also a Trump trademark. After his inauguration in 2017, the media published pictures of the crowd on the National Mall. It was clearly smaller than the crowd at Obama’s first inauguration. Trump still said that his crowd was bigger.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller found ten instances where Trump obstructed the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election. Mueller’s findings were backed up by witnesses and documents. Nevertheless, Trump said that it was all a “witch hunt.”
The U.S. House of Representatives impeached Trump for bribing Ukraine’s president in exchange for a personal, political favor. Trump says that the phone call in question with Ukraine’s president was “perfect.”
Starting in January this year, health experts warned of a possible pandemic. Trump decided that it was a hoax. A hoax invented by the Democrats, no less.
Later, when reminded that he had called the Coronavirus a hoax, Trump responded, “I’ve felt it was a pandemic long before it was called a pandemic.”
Experts are advising that social distancing is the best way to slow the spread of the Coronavirus. Trump argues that we can’t do that forever, though. He wants to open our country back up as soon as possible, regardless of expert advice.
Doctors and nurses have asked for more Coronavirus tests, more ventilators, more face masks and rubber gloves. Trump said they are stealing the supplies and that they don’t need as many as they say. Anyway, he claims that states should figure out how to get supplies on their own.
According to Trump, everything he does is great, perfect, strong, and decisive.
His self-concept is big. It’s objective reality that got small.
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Joe Gillis: “I didn’t argue with her. You don’t yell at a sleepwalker. He may fall and break his neck. That’s it. She was sleepwalking along the heights of a lost career. Plain crazy when it came to that one subject, her celluloid self. The great Norma Desmond.”
Norma Desmond is nothing if not delusional. She’s a 50 year old actress who thinks she can still play a 25 year old.
She thinks that with just a few beauty treatments, she will erase all her wrinkles and other signs of aging.
She thinks she can revive the style of acting that made her famous in the silent era.
She thinks she can buy Joe Gillis’ love by showering him with luxurious gifts, fine clothing, a writing job, and a place to live.
She thinks Cecil B. DeMille will turn the script she wrote into a hit movie and that she’ll become a star again.
Trump is equally delusional. He thought that if he scrapped the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, Iran’s leaders would come right back to the negotiating table and work out a new deal with him.
He thinks Americans believe him when he says he’s protecting health insurance for people with pre-existing conditions, even though his administration is currently in court trying to get Obamacare struck down, along with its protections for people with pre-existing conditions.
He thinks that people can read the record of his phone call with President Zelensky of Ukraine and neglect to see his obvious attempt at bribery.
He thought the Coronavirus would disappear on its own, “like a miracle.”
He thinks that an unproven drug will reverse the pandemic. (It’s also a drug in which he holds a financial interest.)
He thinks that if he orders the country to open back up again, life will immediately go back to normal.
He thinks that if he publicly humiliates every Republican politician who steps out of line, he’ll be able to maintain near-unanimous control of the party. (On second thought, this is not one of Trump’s delusions. He has actually accomplished this.)
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Max von Mayerling: “Madame is the greatest star of them all.”
Max is Norma Desmond’s former husband, former film director, and the man who discovered her as an actress at age 17. He is currently her butler.
Max has managed to stick around for a long time. He always praises and never criticizes or contradicts. He walks on eggshells around Ms. Desmond. He anticipates her every wish. He absorbs every insult and outburst with stoicism.
Like Norma Desmond, Donald Trump has surrounded himself with enablers. His core group consists of Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner, Mike Pompeo, Bill Barr, and Kellyanne Conway. At every opportunity, each of them declares that Trump is doing an amazing job and he’s an outstanding leader. They thank him and praise him. They never criticize or contradict him.
Like Max, they have managed to stick around, unlike many others who have come and gone.
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Norma Desmond: “You see, this is my life. It always will be. There’s nothing else. Just us and the cameras. And those wonderful people out there in the dark. All right, Mr. DeMille. I’m ready for my closeup.”
These are the final lines of the movie. The closing sequence begins with Joe Gillis breaking her heart, packing his suitcase, and walking out the door. Norma grabs her revolver, shoots him in the back, and kills him. The police arrive and ask her several questions. They are met with silence while she sits in front of her bedroom mirror, brushing her hair and applying makeup.
Norma finally looks up and notices cameras. They are news cameras, but she thinks they’ve come to shoot her new film. She thinks her comeback is now beginning and that her audience is waiting for her.
With Norma Desmond, everything revolves around her. The dead man floating in her swimming pool and her upcoming trial for murder are utterly irrelevant.
It’s all about Norma Desmond and her adoring fans. Nothing else matters.
Donald Trump is the same way. His narcissism is pure and unadulterated.
More than 12,000 Americans have died from the Coronavirus, yet his primary mission is to shift the blame off of himself.
It’s China’s fault because the first cases of Coronavirus were found there. It’s the Democrats’ fault because they impeached him. It’s Obama’s fault. It’s the governors’ fault. It’s the media’s fault.
Trump thinks he’s done nothing wrong, even though he spent two months ignoring a looming pandemic. He gives himself a “10 out of 10.”
In fact, he thinks this is a great time to tweet about his TV ratings. The ratings for his daily press briefings are through the roof! He’s getting Monday Night Football ratings! He’s getting “Bachelor” finale ratings!
Hospitals are filling to the breaking point. Doctors and nurses are scrambling to find enough masks and rubber gloves to protect themselves. They’re pleading for more ventilators to save the lives of dying people. Hundreds of thousands of Americans are falling ill. Over 12,000 have died. Unemployment numbers are skyrocketing. The Coronavirus tests that Trump promised last month still haven’t materialized. Foreign countries are accusing us of pirating their medical supplies. The whole country is shutting down.
In the White House, we have our “Norma Desmond In Chief.” He’s holed up watching TV so he can find out what people think of him. He’s tweeting about what a great job he’s doing. He’s tweeting about his high TV ratings. He seems to think the entire meaning of existence is to be on TV and receive praise for his performance.
Like Norma Desmond, Trump believes his fame will live on forever. It probably will, but not in the way he imagines.
All right, Mr. DeMille. Donald Trump is ready for his closeup.
