THE DONALD vs. BATMAN
15 ways they are similar
Recently in Iowa, a “Batman” became a Bat-meme. The scene unfolded above the state fair, where the Des Moines airspace met the churn of The Donald’s hair space.
U.S. Republican hopeful Donald Trump, as if channelling the wily senior politician opposite Robert Redford in The Candidate, as well as Burt Lancaster’s eccentric oilman mogul in Local Hero, arrived from the skies as if from Olympus descending. He landed among the fair and good people of Iowa in a Trump copter that, as The Washington Post reported, kicked up an apt metaphor of a dust storm. Then, in canny (and canned) fashion, the leading GOP contender offered rides to some of the cheering children. And one of these kids, 9-year-old William, was savvy enough (though we hope not staged enough) to be toting a GoPro camera.
“Mr. Trump?” inquired the lenswielding William. “Yes?” said The Helicopter Don. “Are you Batman?” “I am Batman.” And with those words, and William’s subsequent Facebook clip, the Internet responded to that Batsignal like japing crusaders, meme art and #BatTrump hashtags at the ready.
Now sure, it’s tough to picture Trump trading his navy blazer for a purple-black cape, and so the Internet spasmed with laughter, giddy over this political theatre of the absurd. And yet — yes, and yet — is Donald Trump really so different from fellow money man Bruce Wayne?
To peer beneath their masks for a moment, here are 15 ways in which Trump and Wayne/Batman aren’t so different:
1. Both men were born in Gotham during the Second World War era. (Wayne debuted in 1939, Trump in 1946.)
2. They both have been fond of the distinguishing article in their singular nickname (be it “The BatMan” or “The Donald”).
3. One is a 6-foot-2 U.S. billionaire who likes to emblazon a civic phallic symbol with his name. The other is, well, a 6-foot-2 U.S. billionaire who likes to emblazon pretty much anything big with his name.
4. They both have self-named structures in midtown ( be it Wayne Tower or Trump Tower) more than 50 storeys high, from which they can survey their city.
5. Each is forever on the lookout for a large spotlight.
6. Their highly intelligent fathers profoundly influenced what career each son chose.
7. Each man has Scottish ties. (Trump on his mother’s side. Batman co-creator Bill Finger has said Bruce Wayne was partly named for Scotland’s Robert Bruce.)
8. Each man is rather fond of having an apprentice or young sidekick to mould and scold, to banter with and correct.
9. Each man has appeared in a narrative alongside a younger female born Holly Robinson (with Trump in Celebrity Apprentice. With Batman in The Dark Knight Rises comic series).
10. Each has an uneasy relationship with what he views as an “alien” presence, whether the immigrant is from Mexico or Krypton.
11. Each is eminently fond of private, sometimes custom helicopters, boats and planes.
12. Forbes has valued the fortune of each man at more than $4 billion. (In the case of Bruce Wayne, roughly $7 billion).
13. Both men have ties to people whose residence has been positively filled with cats (be it Selina Kyle or Chuck Blazer).
14. Batman and Trump have both had network series, for which they have received Emmy nominations. And each has also appeared as an animated character.
15. And contrary to the perception of some, neither man actually possesses a single superpower.