February 4, 2018

Alec Baldwin may be Donald Trump's "Picture of Dorian Gray."

Did you watch the cold open on "SNL" last night? Alec Baldwin was back, playing the part of Donald Trump, and it's just uncanny. Baldwin seems to be weathering into the Trump impersonation, even as Trump floats above the usual quick-aging that besets American Presidents. It's as if Baldwin is aging for Trump, like "The Picture of Dorian Gray."

I made a few screen shots of Baldwin to show you what I mean:



And here's a Time photo essay illustrating the proposition that Presidents age quickly. I'm not saying that President Trump looks young, only that he's staying the same, even as the Trump Presidency wears away poor Alec.

45 comments:

The Godfather said...

An advantage of looking like Trump is that you don't have to worry about not looking so good as time goes on. He's not Marilyn Monroe. Or Alec Baldwin.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

Has any lib ever explained how Baldwin is allowed in proper company with his vicious misogyny and homophobic comments.

Earnest Prole said...

I wasn't expecting to do a remedial tutorial on show business today, but fine: Have you heard of makeup? It's used extensively on SNL and other shows that involve impersonation. Insider tip: Meryl Streep doesn't really look like Margaret Thatcher.

Achilles said...

Who has time to watch TV?

I am being honest. I can't think of having an hour free each week where I say "lets watch TV."

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

'member when SNL was so vicious with Obama. yeah - nope.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

Achilles - indeed.
TV is boring. I use it as a sleep aid. Dropped cable years ago, do not watch most mainstream TV -it's garbage. Way too much violence. I do watch PBS and Create -- Gardening, cooking, travel and Nova. (yeah - when I have time.) I spend more free time on the web. Almost no time on crap TV.
An awards show - Hell no.
"Special victims Unit, Part 462908"? no thanks.

Season 3 of "detectorists" is out on streaming. woohoo.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

I watch baseball and sometimes Tucker Carlson's show and old movies on TCM. That's it. I'd rather read.

James K said...

Has any lib ever explained how Baldwin is allowed in proper company with his vicious misogyny and homophobic comments.

That's easy. He hates Trump. That's the ticket for any celebrity.

As to Trump not aging, geez, it's only been a year. The Time thing was four or eight years, except for Obama, which wasn't very convincing--mainly different lighting.

MikeD said...

It's well known hate & vitriol can quicken aging.

langford peel said...

The notion that television is a vast wasteland is a conciet of the elites who scorn the pursuits of deplorables.

There are plenty of great shows on TV on the various streaming channels of Hulu and Netflicks. I cut the cord so as not to give any money to ESPN or CNN. You can get the best of FOX news on Youtube live or at most an hour later on a stream.

TV is the playground for the groundlings not the effete elite arugula people. Spare us the condescension.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

TV is a vast wasteland and saying so doesn't make anyone elitist.
Sure, some TV is really great -- like 10% or less. The rest is crap.
Streaming is all good because you can pick what you want instead of being a slave to what the mainstream leftist writers push in their prime-time lineup.

Darkisland said...

Perhaps it's because real president trump is having fun, enjoying a challenging job. Fake president trump/baldwin gets stressed every time he hears real president trump's name.

Enjoying your life, including your job, goes a long way to keeping one young.

Livi g a life of stress will age anyone.

I think part of the fun of the trump presidency is watchi g him stress these people to the point where they literally get together to howl a the clouds or the sky or whatever they were howling at.

What makes it doubly fun is knowing that this is ALL they can do.

In their hearys they know that too, adding to the stress.

John Henry

stressing out over President trump will age anyone

langford peel said...

That is not to say that most of it is crap that parrots the social justice warrior playbook. But there are plenty of great shows.

For example:

Call the Midwife, Vera, Timeless, Poldark, Outlander, Black Sails, Reign, Stranger Things, This is Us, Kevin Can Wait, Superstore, Ice Road Truckers, American Pickers, Iron Chef, Beat Bobby Flay, Fast Food with Jacque Pepin to name just a view. There are tons of great shows on DIY, Hallmark and the Travel Channel that the whole family can enjoy together. I admit that most of the regular repast on the big networks is crap but you can usually find something interesting to watch.

Television is the great leveler. It is the one social construct that most of America shares. You should give it a chance. Just be judicious in your choices and you will really find some interesting and enlightening things to see.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

A lot of those examples are PBS. I like PBS and most of my TV viewing is PBS.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

If liking PBS makes one a snob I'm guilty!

Spaceman said...

How to Talk Trump. It's tremendous.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/03/how-to-talk-trump/550934/

Rob said...

Last night's SNL was bloated with fart jokes. Aiming for the nine-year old demographic.

Darkisland said...

Closest I come to watching tv is hbo series that I watch on Prime. Or fargo and some others on efx online.

I do occasionally work on my laptop in the living rom while my wife is watching. So enough exposure to know I am not missing anything but drug ads.

Progressives have always been against drug advertising, believing that it drives up costs. The us and new Zealand are the only two countries it is legal.

Next time president trump gets bored he can have the fda reinstitute the ban on drug advertising.

1 it will be something progressives can't complain about (though they will)

2 it will kneecap the media since they get about half their total revenue from this.

John Henry

Darkisland said...

Re my prime watching etc, pretty much all of it is either while riding my stationary bike or on airplanes.

As someone else said who hastime for tv?

Otoh, i do find time to read a couple books a week

John Henry

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

I like fart jokes.

Sebastian said...

All the other guys thought being prez was a hard job. Trump doesn't.

Of course, O just faked it. As he did with everything else --his "autobiography," being black, being a basketball player, being a White Sox fan, you name it: phony all the way down.

Jupiter said...

langford peel said...

"Television is the great leveler. It is the one social construct that most of America shares. You should give it a chance. Just be judicious in your choices and you will really find some interesting and enlightening things to see."

I killed my last TV in 1978 or so, haven't had one since. Whenever I am around people watching television, which is not often, I feel slightly surreal. I find it extremely annoying that I can't make it stop and repeat what it just said, and I tend to get in arguments with it. Other people seem to find this odd. I don't understand how you can sit in a room and listen to a babbling idiot without wanting to argue.

Narayanan said...

Alec's misogyny and homo whatever is his way of staying in character off SNL - he doesn't mean it, mean it, really really.

Sarah from VA said...

I've enjoyed Alec Baldwin's work. Jack Donaghy on 30 Rock is extremely funny and very quotable. ("It's after six. What am I, a farmer?") Boy, though, when I saw him on Comedians in Cars getting Coffee did he seem personally very unpleasant. I mean, I've heard bad things about him for years, but I didn't expect him to line up with them so neatly.

traditionalguy said...

And then there is a spiritual analysis of aging, which is exactly what Dorian Gray postulates.

The falling too early into an old age look comes either 1)from sinning against one's own body by adultery and fornication, or 2)by years of practicing Shamanism/Witchraft which is intentional cooperation with, and the use of, evil spirits.

But if that was true, Bill and Hillary would look like total wrecks.

Bleach Drinkers Curing Coronavirus Together said...

It's a testament to how unseriously Trump takes the job.

Narayanan said...

Professora: you should put up Trump doing his smug face - Alec can never bring it off and that's Why he won't be cast in movie about this presidency.

Joe Biden, America's Putin said...

The Deep State is real.

Narayanan said...

http://knowyourmeme.com/photos/1077815-200-mad

Here you go

etbass said...

My only TV except some sporting events, is Netflix and Amazon prime. I can watch old TV series that are still good (e.g., Andy Griffith), British TV which generally is superior to U.S. TV. (British detective shows don't have car chases, orange fireballs and a lot of shooting, all of which I hate).

Never, ever watch mainstream TV anymore. Don't miss it.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

You know who looks suddenly a lot older? Bill Kristol. I saw him on "This Week" today and barely recognized him.

grimson said...

Earnest Prole said: Have you ever heard of makeup? It's used extensively on SNL. . .

Not for Kate McKinnon's Hillary. They don't even try to make her appear Clinton's age.

The Godfather said...

I'm not even the President. In fact, I'm retired, and for 6 of the last 8 years I was semi-retired. But you know, I still look older. You know why? Because I AM older.

That said, Baldwin is not quite 60 and Trump is not quite 72. Guess which one you could cast to play the younger version of the other.

Sam L. said...

Poor, POOR, Alec. Mah heart buhleeds for him! It do! Would I lie to you?

Night Owl said...

I guess Alec's mother never told him, "if you keep making that face, it will stay that way."

MaxedOutMama said...

Trad Guy - both Bill & Hillary do look like total wrecks.

wildswan said...

When I travel I watch actual TV on the road. The best shows ever have been the ones about people caught in tornadoes. Stormchaser is so-so. And I watch the regular shows - this how I know about The Big Bang and Everybody Loves Raymond which are simply awful. And I watch CNN News - really I am in a different country from the one they report on. Jimmy Kimmel, Saturday Night Live - just not funny or interesting. Then the trip ends and that's it for TV for six months. No habit has ever been established. The only product I ever found interesting - and the continuous advertising is unbelievable when you aren't used to it - was a kind of hose that was very light and folded up into a tiny package - no more huge weighty loops over your shoulder as you moved the hose, said the ad people. But real people said that it got pinhole leaks almost at once, so that was a "no" like all the rest.

I wonder, too, why Alec Baldwin looks so old and doesn't use makeup. The contrast just makes Trump look more vital when you see him.

exiledonmainstreet, green-eyed devil said...

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

You know who looks suddenly a lot older? Bill Kristol. I saw him on "This Week" today and barely recognized him."

Trump broke him.

Gahrie said...

The worst thing about Trump being president for the next seven years is having to watch Baldwin impersonate him.

Gahrie said...

People still watch SNL? SNL stopped being funny about 20-25 years ago.

I stopped when they hired Michael Anthony Hall. That was in 85 I think.....

Quaestor said...

Last night's SNL was bloated with fart jokes. Aiming for the nine-year old demographic.

So, they've raised their sights a bit — that's encouraging. How nice of Lorne Michaels to offer his soporific to insomniac nine-year-olds desperately in need of sleep.

Drago said...

Sketch comedy shows are literally white supremacy.

How could they not be?

Michael Fitzgerald said...

That Trump imitation is so damn lame. DJT is extraordinarily expressive with his face, nothing like bitter Baldwin's monomaniacal caricature.

southcentralpa said...

I think Trump may have been one of the few people who ever kept POTUS-type hours before he even took the job, so it's not that much different for him.

(Perhaps our hostess, now that she's retired, has the time to put together a picture timeline of DJT going from 'orange' to normal flesh-tones during the 2015-6 period. (I have the sneaking suspicion he used to go for the unnatural colors to get people to underestimate him, but realized that it wasn't presidential so he changed very slowly during the course of campaigning))

veni vidi vici said...

Looked at the photos in this post and nope, pretty much just looks like Alec Baldwin, talc'd up and acting like a douche.

Besides, Jimmy Kimmel has the corner on being "Dorian Bray" for this administration.