Waldo for the People

While watching the Waldo Moment in class on Wednesday, I was thinking of the correlation that the film had to the presidential election of 2016 between Hilary Clinton and Donald Trump. Some people would say that Waldo is just like Donald Trump, inexperienced in the political world, a jokester, not qualified to run a country, etc. (all just opinions). But someone with these qualities would not even be considered to be able to run for president. In order to do these things, you need to be a smart, intellectual, human being who knows how to take charge and both Hillary and Donald Trump had these qualities. I like to look at Waldo as, yes, someone who is inexperienced in the political world but no, that does not make him incapable of running a country successfully. In the film, we see that Waldo loses the election and because he was the underdog that was expected. But towards the end of the film, we see that even though he did not win the election, he played a huge role in the future society. 

Also, Waldo is not only an image for the public to see and be entertained by, but he is also a representative of the public. Being an ordinary man behind the screen working Waldo, it really could be done by anyone. Without the screen, the person would mean nothing. And that is what is so crazy. People loved the idea of having an electronic device instead of a real person. Technology and the way it is used during an election plays a huge role in the likeliness of the candidates from the people. 

Waldo is always saying the same thing, nothing changes. Just like all of the elections prior to this one, every single president has come from a political background of some kind, either a secretary or a mayor or any political position. People are ready for change in a good way. They are tired of only the voices behind the screen changing and they want a whole new face. A face of Waldo. They want someone who is out of the ordinary to run their country. Not just someone who they are used to having or close to what they are used to having.

With the most recent election taking place just about a week ago, this film is very symbolic to what America has been going through. Some people in America are saying that Donald Trump was not “cut out” for the job. Even though people may be thinking that now, America as a whole needs to supports our country and see how far he can take us. Waldo was a strong character that seemed to make the country more advanced which is what people look for. Just like Waldo, Donald Trump is a strong character who has, in the past, created a multi-billion dollar business that has flourished extremely successfully throughout his life.

I think the correlation between the Waldo Moment and the 2016 Election between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump is somewhat accurate as to what happened and how it happened. Donald Trump was different than all of the past presidents and Hillary was the “look” of a politician. Their political stances are completely different and people wanted change. They were tired of seeing the same thing year after year. In the end, it came to who fought harder and who stood out to the people more. Waldo grabbed their attention… just as Trump did.