Trump A Likable Character By Screenplay Standards?

[Agnosticsherbet]

Trump A Likable Character By Screenplay Standards?
Scott Adam’s recent post suggesting Trump may be using screenwriting principles to engineer his campaign, got me thinking – can a Presidential candidates be evaluated like screenplay characters?
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What Makes a Character Likable?

In my first post on what makes a character likable, I laid out Eric Edson’s criteria from The Story Solution:
1.Courage
2.Unfair Injury
3.Skill
4.Funny
5.Just Plain Nice
6.In Danger
7.Loved By Friends And Family
8.Hard Working
9.Obsessed

To be likable, a character only needs a majority – 5 out of 9 traits.

A very interesting article on what may be going on under the hood of the Trump campaign.

[Kalidurga]

1. Good list

But I completely disagree with the assessment of T-Rump

1.Courage: It does not take a lot of courage to be mean to the press. Sure I get a kick out of T-Rump giving them hell at times, because I am not a fan of MSM. They are into tragedy porn and they really ignore anyone to the left of establishment Dems.

2. Unfair Injury: Puhleese, all his injuries are self-inflicted.

3. Skill: It must be so hard turning a million dollar loan into running a real estate business.

4.Funny: It's a mixed bag. I guess if you are okay with racist jokes, fat jokes, sexist jokes, etc... then yeah he's funny. Sometimes he gets a zing in on other Republicans, but that's a target rich environment so no points awarded.

5. Just Plain Nice: LOL

6. In Danger: I have to give T-Rump this one. His own ego might just up and smack him in the face.

7. Loved By Friends And Family: I really don't know what is going on in their heads or hearts, so sure maybe.

8. Hard Working: He is a Barnum Bailey so f' it I dunno how hard that is.

9. Obsessed: He likes money a lot.

I count about 4.5 of the items on that list. And one of those is just because his ego has a life of it's own.

[Agnosticsherbet]

2. I'm not saying I agree, but I can see evidence that he has crafted his campaign this way.

A lot of people do really like the guy.
This explains why, to me.

By the way this biography has been crafted, I give him 1, 3, 4, 7, and 8.

*On 8: I know he doesn't dig ditches, but campaigning is hard work with long hours. He has himself on the Networks damn near 24/7. That builds the appearance of hard work, and appearances is what he has crafted.

The real question is how much of his public persona is any more real than a fictional situation comedy on TV?

[Kalidurga]

7. I will give him 4, 6, 7, and 8.

He is still a point shy of being likable. And his negative traits far outshadow the few likable qualities he has.

[BuelahWitch]

6. He is the 21st century "Ugly American." Cast him in that.

Oops, sorry, meant to respond to the OP, not this post.

[FSogol]

3. Other than "unfair injury" (his hair), what else applies to Trump?

What makes Trump Trump?

1. Undeserving (inherits multi-millions without working for it)
2. Egotistical
3. Sexist
4. Racist
5. Foolish
6. Celebrity-obsessed
7. Pro-violence
8. Lazy
9. Heartless - increased his inheritance by evicted seniors from NY real estate holdings

[GreatGazoo]

4. It is not just the presence of some traits but also the absence of others that make a likeable chara

character.

The old rules of screenwriting include:

1) Start with the hero already in trouble
2) Introduce the bad guy early

In the opening of the first Star Wars film, those two points are made in the first 15 seconds -- a tiny ship pursued by a massive ship. Darth Vader is on screen within 60 seconds.

Trump doesn't get a new introduction -- most people know him as an arrogant, egotistical loud mouth. His self-selected anthem is "For the Love of Money" by the Ojays.

Do things, do bad things with it
...
People will steal from their mother
For the love of money
People will rob their own brother
For the love of money
People can't even walk the street
Because they never know
Who in the world they're gonna beat
For that lean, mean, mean green

Clearly Trump has introduced himself as the villain. He presides over a kind of ultra-materialistic Hunger Games like Lucifer staging a greedy human dog fight to be the #2 top decadent sadistic money hoarder.

In the movie, he has some humanizing traits like being the victim of his own ego but he is the villain nonetheless. Trump famous but more specifically he is infamous:

in·fa·my
ˈinfəmē/
noun
noun: infamy; plural noun: infamies

the state of being well known for some bad quality or deed.

[flamingdem]

5. I nominate him for the role of

Evil Clown.