Presidents in Parody: You're Welcome America
Probably no two presidents have been parodied more than Richard Nixon and George W. Bush. One of the final parodies of Bush which was broadcast at the end of his presidency came from the mind (and comedic acting) of Saturday Night Live alumni and Bush imitator Will Ferrell. It was a Broadway play (and later an HBO special) entitled You're Welcome America: A Final Night With George W. Bush.
You're Welcome America was broadcast live on the HBO channel on March 14, 2009, less than two months after Bush's second term as president ended. Ferrell not starred in the play as Bush, reprising the imitation of the president that he had performed on Saturday Night Live, but he also wrote the play. It was directed by his comedic collaborator Adam McKay. It was filmed at the Cort Theatre at 138 West 48th Street, in Manhattan.
The show as a play was quite successful. It broke the house record at the Cort Theater, taking in $846,507.05 for the week that ended on March 15, 2009. The HBO special was nominated for three prime-time Emmy Awards: (1) Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special (Marty Callner); (2) Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special and (3) Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special (Will Ferrell).
One reviewer (Richard Ouzounian) compared Ferrell's portrayal of Bush to a modern day Jonathan Swift. He said in his review:
"It's almost as though Ferrell looked back on Bush's eight years in office and tapped into something easily mockable, yet ultimately dark and frightening. Ferrell's performance as Bush is a masterful exercise in watching an actor never once slip into the easy wink, the gratuitous leer, the cheap laugh. No. For 90 minutes, those eyes stare at us with the glacial emptiness of someone who feels little and understands less."
Another critic, Jamie Rich, was less complementary of the performance. He wrote:
"Bush the mumble-mouthed dunderhead is the kind of character that works in the space of a five-minute skit, but it grows stale when you try to stretch it out to 18 skits in a row. At best, You're Welcome, America is another SNL-inspired movie that was best left in the post 12:45 a.m. slot, just after the second musical number."
Ferrell is on stage for the full 90 minutes doing his Bush impression, running through the President's personal history, from birth to the end, or as he puts it, "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out." The video is not for those easily offended by profanity, as there are a number of cuss words interspersed in Ferrell's monologue, including an incident where he describes Dick Cheney having sex with some kind of demon, or when Ferrell's George W. Bush talks about styles of hand jobs. Ferrell's satire addresses more serious subjects such as Hurricane Katrina. At one point, Ferrell's W. ponders the lives lost because he went into Iraq and asks for a moment of silence.
Whether one loves or loathes this show will depend on whether one has antipathy for the 43rd President or whether one sympathizes with the man and the incredible challenges he faced on his watch. It is probably impossible to give a completely objective review of this performance and to assess its value as satire.
Here is a video of an excerpt from this performance:
You're Welcome America was broadcast live on the HBO channel on March 14, 2009, less than two months after Bush's second term as president ended. Ferrell not starred in the play as Bush, reprising the imitation of the president that he had performed on Saturday Night Live, but he also wrote the play. It was directed by his comedic collaborator Adam McKay. It was filmed at the Cort Theatre at 138 West 48th Street, in Manhattan.
The show as a play was quite successful. It broke the house record at the Cort Theater, taking in $846,507.05 for the week that ended on March 15, 2009. The HBO special was nominated for three prime-time Emmy Awards: (1) Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special (Marty Callner); (2) Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special and (3) Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special (Will Ferrell).
One reviewer (Richard Ouzounian) compared Ferrell's portrayal of Bush to a modern day Jonathan Swift. He said in his review:
"It's almost as though Ferrell looked back on Bush's eight years in office and tapped into something easily mockable, yet ultimately dark and frightening. Ferrell's performance as Bush is a masterful exercise in watching an actor never once slip into the easy wink, the gratuitous leer, the cheap laugh. No. For 90 minutes, those eyes stare at us with the glacial emptiness of someone who feels little and understands less."
Another critic, Jamie Rich, was less complementary of the performance. He wrote:
"Bush the mumble-mouthed dunderhead is the kind of character that works in the space of a five-minute skit, but it grows stale when you try to stretch it out to 18 skits in a row. At best, You're Welcome, America is another SNL-inspired movie that was best left in the post 12:45 a.m. slot, just after the second musical number."
Ferrell is on stage for the full 90 minutes doing his Bush impression, running through the President's personal history, from birth to the end, or as he puts it, "don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out." The video is not for those easily offended by profanity, as there are a number of cuss words interspersed in Ferrell's monologue, including an incident where he describes Dick Cheney having sex with some kind of demon, or when Ferrell's George W. Bush talks about styles of hand jobs. Ferrell's satire addresses more serious subjects such as Hurricane Katrina. At one point, Ferrell's W. ponders the lives lost because he went into Iraq and asks for a moment of silence.
Whether one loves or loathes this show will depend on whether one has antipathy for the 43rd President or whether one sympathizes with the man and the incredible challenges he faced on his watch. It is probably impossible to give a completely objective review of this performance and to assess its value as satire.
Here is a video of an excerpt from this performance: