No, the thing that struck me was that science fiction film has now happily lost one of the genre’s tried and true visual shorthand methods for proclaiming instantly to an audience, “this is the near future!” And that’s casting an African-American actor in the role of U.S. President, not necessarily because it’s a point of the plot, but just because before January 20, 2009, it was a sure-fire way of saying this was not the present day.

The first instance of this that occurred to me was Deep Impact (1998), featuring one of the great cinema Presidents of all time, actor Morgan Freeman. As President Tom Beck, Freeman exuded exactly the kind of confidence and warmth that you would want from a leader during a time of great, and in this case, nearly global, crisis. He also seemed well suited to steward the country through the long and difficult period of rebuilding and renewal that lay ahead. 

A favorite of some sci-fi fans is The Fifth Element (1997), in which the towering Tommy “Tiny” Lister Jr. appeared as President. Granted he was the president of an entire star-faring Federation, but the small role filled the same basic authoritative need in the story. Some folks might remember him now for his brief but memorable appearance in The Dark Knight. 

In the dystopian science fiction/comedy Idiocracy (2006), the NFL’s Terry Alan Crews played President Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho surrounded by a sea of intellectually stunted countrymen. Another comedy, not really a science fiction excursion although marginally still a ‘near future’ story, Head of State (2003), featured Chris Rock as Mays Gilliam, a candidate that overcomes incredible obstacles on his way to the White House.

Perhaps the most politically and socially incisive use of the idea, however, was in The Man (1972). Adapted by The Twilight Zone’s Rod Serling from a novel by Irving Wallace, the movie starred James Earl Jones (that’s right, Darth Vader himself!) as President Douglass Dilman and offered a sobering study of a man trying to survive the trials and tribulations of his historic position.

Anyone who’s watched the television series 24 also knows that this idea isn’t limited to the big screen. Early seasons of the show featured Dennis Haysbert as President David Palmer, who was later assassinated after leaving office. His brother Wayne (D.B. Woodside) later became President in the series as well. Another cool footnote is that David Palmer was supposedly a Senator from Maryland, our home state here at GEM.

Although the real world has finally caught up to decades of pop culture Presidents, I may be too soon in sounding the death knell for this particular sci-fi motif, since Danny Glover is reportedly appearing as President Wilson in the upcoming apocalyptic epic, 2012.

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