| 1 | ->''"Now that brings me to the [[UsefulNotes/BritishPoliticalSystem Liberal Party.]] During the last few days, I gather that there have been some ill-natured jokes about [[AnimalMotifs their new symbol]], a bird... Politics is a SeriousBusiness, and one should not lower the tone unduly, so I will say only this of the Liberal Democrats' new symbol and the party it symbolizes: [[Creator/MontyPython This is an ex-parrot...]] And Now For Something Completely Different."'' |
| 2 | -->-- '''UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher''', Conservative Party Conference, 1990[[note]]She actually knew next to nothing about the sketch, didn't find it funny when it was shown to her and, before making that speech, asked "This Monty Python - is he one of us?" Also, the [[Creator/JohnCleese man who actually first uttered the line "This is an ex-parrot"]] has actually been one of the most prominent confirmed supporters of the Liberal Democrats more or less since their foundation, and on top of all that the allusion turned out to be completely inaccurate, as just days after the conference the Liberal Democrats unexpectedly took a seat from the Conservatives in a parliamentary by-election, which is credited with being part of the reason for the coup that resulted in Thatcher being ousted by her own party. But it is a nice quote.[[/note]] |
| 3 | ---- |
| 4 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | [[folder:Regular politicians and government officials]] |
| 7 | * US Democrat and former US Vice President UsefulNotes/AlGore is a member of the [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3k Information Club]]. He is also an avowed fan of Music/FrankZappa, stating so on the congressional record during the PMRC hearings, and a clip of the statement was used by Zappa himself in an audio collage on the hearings, available on ''Music/FrankZappaMeetsTheMothersOfPrevention''. Additionally, he and his ex-wife, Tipper Gore, are both [[Music/TheGratefulDead Deadheads]], with Gore inviting the band to his house in the 1990s. Gore also had a couple of guest appearances on ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''. Although how much of that is nerdity and how much is the fact that his daughter is one of the writers is uncertain. But he did include a clip of ''Futurama'' in his environmental and Academy Award winning documentary ''Film/AnInconvenientTruth'' and said that ''Futurama'' is his favorite show. |
| 8 | * US Democrat and former senator of UsefulNotes/{{Vermont}} Patrick Leahy is a huge ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' fan. In fact, at his own request, he lent his voice to an episode of ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheAnimatedSeries'', and had cameos in ''Film/BatmanReturns'', ''Film/BatmanAndRobin'', ''Film/TheDarkKnight, and Film/TheDarkKnightRises'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w96uPYrkAE#t=0m36s (here he is in TDK)]], and ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice''. He gets props for donating the money he earned from those gigs to the Montpellier public library. |
| 9 | * US Democratic politician, former Senator of UsefulNotes/{{Minnesota}} and former US Vice President UsefulNotes/WalterMondale was a fan of ''Creator/MontyPython''. |
| 10 | * US Democrat and UsefulNotes/{{Colorado}} Governor Jared Polis not only fought SOPA / Protect IP when he was serving in the US House of Representatives, but is an avid ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'' player who [[http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?p=19572246#post19572246 posts on the official forums]]. (He claims he's partial to Anivia and Maokai, for those who are curious.) |
| 11 | * Former US Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain has [[http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2011/08/did_herman_cain_know_he_was_qu.html quoted]] ''Anime/Pokemon2000'' in debates and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1jV_11_q6Hc and his announcement of dropping out of the campaign]] (where he did actually mention it was from ''Pokémon''), and his 9-9-9 plan [[http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/13/herman-cain-999-sim-city_n_1008952.html?ref=fb&src=sp&comm_ref=false may have been inspired by]] ''VideoGame/SimCity''. Whether he's a nerd or just has a nerd in the family he's soaked this stuff in from is uncertain, however, and an interview where he seemed to say that Superman used Kryptonite like Batman used gadgets would make the latter seem more probable. |
| 12 | * [[UsefulNotes/{{Canada}} Canadian]] social democratic politician Jack Layton, once the former leader of the Canadian Official Opposition, as well as his wife and fellow member of parliament Olivia Chow, were both Trekkies. [[http://thestar.blogs.com/politics/2009/05/where-no-ndp-leader-has-gone-before.html Yes, that is indeed him at a Trekkie convention. In a custom-tailored Starfleet uniform.]] |
| 13 | * Former First Minister of UsefulNotes/{{Scotland}} and leader of the Scottish National Party Alex Salmond, a self-described Star Trek "obsessive," was awarded an honourary membership of the Starfleet fan organisation in 2010. |
| 14 | * Former U.S. Speaker of the House Creator/NewtGingrich, arch-conservative Republican politician, activist, pundit, and Presidential candidate, spends much of his free time [[http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/004/232ydhpo.asp reading spy novels and reviewing them on Amazon]]. A somewhat tame example, but a lot more than you'd expect from a 67-year-old Southerner. And never let it be said that his reviews are half-assed; at one point, he was an Amazon Top 500 Reviewer. |
| 15 | ** In addition to reviewing books, he also writes them. Not just the typical political punditry books, either, but best-selling [[http://www.amazon.com/Gettysburg-Novel-Civil-Newt-Gingrich/dp/0312987250/ref=ntt_at_ep_dpt_4 Civil War]] AlternateHistory novels. It's about as close to FanFiction as can be without quite going over. |
| 16 | ** He is obsessed with dinosaurs. During his campaign for the Republican nomination for president in the 2012 election, he said that those who would benefit from his policies were "people who like dinosaurs." [[http://gawker.com/5770683/newt-gingrich-reminisces-about-his-fake-loaned-t+rex-skull There was a cast was made from a T-Rex skull from the Smithsonian mounted in his office during his time as Speaker of the House.]] |
| 17 | ** Newt is also known to be a huge Franchise/StarWars and sci-fi buff. So much so that when the History Channel did a documentary about the literary and mythical themes of Star Wars, Newt was one of the big-name fans who appeared throughout the documentary giving commentary about his favorite aspects of the saga. He also made the comment that ''"Star Wars proves that there is real evil in the world and that it can be defeated"'', which you can either consider to be funny, ironic, hypocritical or a tad disturbing. |
| 18 | ** Newt is also an avid Zoological aficionado. He grew up visiting the Philadelphia Zoo as a child and wanted to be a zookeeper growing up. When he was 12 he petitioned that his small town in UsefulNotes/{{Pennsylvania}} have a Zoo. It didn't succeed, but he never outgrew his passion for Zoos. |
| 19 | * In 2012, the German Pirate Party experienced a huge wave of popularity and won seats in several state parliaments. Started as a protest movement against outdated copyright laws and inadequate handling of information technology by politics, it consists of a great number of young academics and engineers, making it the quintessential Nerd Party. This is not helped at all by the fact that one of its most prominent members, Christopher Lauer, is a highly gifted physicist and historian of science and technology who is affected by [=ADD=]. But there's a good chance that he's invited to talk shows and interviews because of that fact. |
| 20 | ** Their Berlin faction also has [[http://www.equestriadaily.com/2011/12/berlin-parliaments-pirate-party-calls.html Ponytime]]. |
| 21 | * A 2012 candidate for the UsefulNotes/{{Maine}} state senate [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mHsdFijn3Bc was actually attacked]] [[NewMediaAreEvil by her opponent for playing]] VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft. When she won, she promptly linked to a [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHsdFijn3Bc familiar theme]] on her Facebook page. |
| 22 | * In Britain, Labour MP Tom Watson is a huge fan of video games, like Batman Arkham City and Halo, as well as adventure games such as ''Literature/FightingFantasy'' (he won a competition to have his name appear in the [=30th=] anniversary book, ''Literature/BloodOfTheZombies''). He's also a fan of Creator/MarkHamill. |
| 23 | * Former Speaker of the House and Vice Presidential candidate Paul Ryan is well known to be a huge nerd. He's an eager policy wonk who geeks out about policy details relating to the mathematics of the federal deficit and other issues, making him one of the best known math geeks in Congress. He is also on record calling ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail'' his favorite movie, and Music/{{Radiohead}} his favorite band. He is also a fan of Music/RageAgainstTheMachine, which is odd given the left-leaning nature of their songs. |
| 24 | * US Republican and former Governor of UsefulNotes/NewJersey Chris Christie (R) is an obsessive fan of Music/BruceSpringsteen. Like world's biggest fan level of obsessive. Since the two of them have opposite politics (Springsteen is a well-known liberal Democrat, and was a prominent supporter of UsefulNotes/BarackObama's 2008 run), all of Christie's attempts to reach out to the Boss have sunk like a lead balloon. At least until Hurricane Sandy, when Springsteen gave a few shoutouts to the Governor for his efforts to get assistance for the devastated Jersey Shore.[[note]]This did show a degree of political courage on Christie's part--the national Republican Party at that time wasn't too keen on providing that assistance, and Christie, who clearly had his eyes on the 2016 presidential nomination already (and hadn't been fatally undermined by "Bridgegate" yet), was putting himself at risk of validating right-wing accusations of being a RINO by asking for federal appropriations.[[/note]] Reports have it that the squeeing could be heard from New York to Baltimore. |
| 25 | * In 2003, San Jose publication The Wave administered the [[Film/BladeRunner Voight-Kampff test]] [[http://www.onlisareinsradar.com/archives/001698.php on San Francisco's current Mayoral candidates]]. Generally, the candidates were confused but willing to go along with it... Only US Democratic politician and gay rights activist Tom Ammiano actually recognized it as being from ''Film/BladeRunner''. |
| 26 | * Libertarian leaning Republican congressman Ron Paul has compared neo-conservatives to Orcs for their aggressive foreign policy. He has also made references to a ''Franchise/{{Batman}}'' comic book where Batman rescues the work of von Mises from the Nazis. |
| 27 | ** And according to ''Webcomic/{{xkcd}}'' he has a zeppelin that he uses to duel with Creator/CoryDoctorow and can [[Anime/PokemonTheSeries evolve]] into [[{{Franchise/Tron}} Tron Paul]] -- [[http://xkcd.com/497/ complete with light cycle.]] |
| 28 | * Rick Snyder, former Republican Governor of UsefulNotes/{{Michigan}}, is a huge fan of ''Franchise/StarWars'', ''Series/MythBusters'', ''Series/GoodEats'', and classic rock. He even calls himself a nerd in his own campaign tagline. With a resume like that, he naturally won the election. |
| 29 | * US Republican politician and Governor of UsefulNotes/{{Utah}} John Huntsman is a fan of Music/CaptainBeefheart. |
| 30 | * British Conservative MP Mike Weatherley is a ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' player, as best shown when [[http://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2014/jul/24/thieves-world-warcraft-real-prisons-tory-mike-weatherley?CMP=fb_gu he sparked a debate about whether the theft of in-game items, paid for with real money, counted as an actual crime]]. |
| 31 | * US Republican and Senator of UsefulNotes/{{Alaska}} Ted Stevens was known to be a huge comic book nerd and often wore an [[ComicBook/TheIncredibleHulk Hulk]] tie on the Senate floor. |
| 32 | * Chuck Grassley, Republican Senator from Iowa, is a Japonophile who used GratuitousJapanese to imply that the people responsible for the mortgage crisis should [[{{Seppuku}} take the honourable samurai way out.]] |
| 33 | * US Republican, Senator of UsefulNotes/{{Arizona}} and former presidential candidate John [=McCain=] was a fan of ''[[Series/TwentyFour 24]]'' and appeared in an uncredited split-second cameo as a CTU suit. He has also said on-record that his favorite superhero is Franchise/{{Batman}}. In a speech on the floor of the Senate, [=McCain=] used a rather stiff reference to ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' to criticize some fellow Republicans for, as he saw it, playing at being heroes. The kicker was when one that he named, former Senate candidate Sharon Angle, responded in kind and took being called a Hobbit as a badge of honor. His favorite movie was ''Film/VivaZapata'', because, as he told it: "It's a heroic tale of a person who sacrificed everything for what he believed in and there's some of the most moving scenes in that movie that I've ever seen." |
| 34 | ** Both [=McCain=] as well as former Secretary of State Colin Powell were proud fans of Music/{{Abba}}. |
| 35 | * US Democrat politician Alan Grayson, in reference to Dick Cheney, [[http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/12/grayson-to-cheney-stfu.php recently said]] "On the Internet there's an acronym that's used to apply to situations like this. It's called STFU." He recently [[http://www.bigshinyrobot.com/reviews/archives/29059 sent out a fundraising email]] based entirely around how the recent ''Film/GreenLantern2011'' film could have been better if it had included an iconic exchange from the Dennis O'Neil/Neal Adams run on the comic. |
| 36 | * US Senator Jon Ossoff of UsefulNotes/{{Georgia|USA}} is an [[https://twitter.com/ossoff/status/1238945697426268162 admitted nerd]] with a well-preserved history on Twitter [[https://mashable.com/article/jon-ossoff-old-tweets/ nerdy]] [[https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2021/01/10/jon-ossoff-old-tweet-twitter-imagine-dragons-456713 ramblings]] about everything from musical theater to speculating about the possibility of Thrawn being in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. |
| 37 | * It's probably not surprising that Edward Snowden (the man who leaked the NSA documents detailing American intelligence data collection) is a computer geek, given his profession. It's perhaps more notable that he is a serious fan of [[http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/16/us/for-snowden-a-life-of-ambition-despite-the-drifting.html?hp anime and role-playing video games]]. |
| 38 | ** Heck, he even had [[https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1200278415590535168 this reaction]] when he appeared as a cameo in ''Franchise/LupinIII: Goodbye Partner'' special and mentioned that Lupin III franchise [[https://twitter.com/Snowden/status/1200279985875046401 is one of his favorite anime works]]. |
| 39 | * [[UsefulNotes/{{Italy}} Italian]] politician and novelist Creator/NiccoloMachiavelli, best known for ''Literature/ThePrince'', used to [[{{Cosplay}} dress up in a toga]] and pretend to be a Roman, imagining himself in the Roman Senate and other surprisingly nerdy things for a man with a MagnificentBastard reputation. |
| 40 | * Nazi propagandist UsefulNotes/JosephGoebbels was a huge film fan and especially liked ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'' and Disney's ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs''. It has been said that Hitler himself also liked Disney cartoons and some supposedly hand drawn drawings of Disney characters by Hitler have surfaced, but their authenticity has not been confirmed. Also all American movies were banned in Nazi occupied Europe after the war started, so politics and ideology still came before everything else. Hitler and Goebbels' fondness for ''Literature/SnowWhite'' can be easily explained though: it was a fairy tale that the German Creator/TheBrothersGrimm had collected. |
| 41 | * Former ([[DirtyOldMan due to a very unfortunate incident]]) [=IMF=] Chairman Dominique Strauss Kahn is a [[SmartPeoplePlayChess champion chess player]] and he owns an iPad. [[RunningGag Which he uses mostly to play chess]]. |
| 42 | ** In a 1992 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' British Conservative Party politician Norman Tebbit choose music by Music/PyotrIlyichTchaikovsky, Music/GiuseppeVerdi, Music/GustavHolst, Creator/AndrewLloydWebber, Music/LudwigVanBeethoven and Music/FrankSinatra as his favorites. He was also, [[ActuallyPrettyFunny despite being mercilessly mocked on the show]], a fan of ''Series/SpittingImage''. |
| 43 | *** Two other British politicians who liked ''Series/SpittingImage'' despite being regular [[ButtMonkey targets in the program]] were Labour politician Roy Hattersley and British Conservative Party politician Edwina Currie, who was Minister of Health (1986-1988) under Thatcher. They both appeared in a lot of interviews and documentaries about the show. Hattersley grow very fond of his puppet, despite being portrayed of having a mouth like a birdbath. In Currie's case her love for the show is understandable. Her portrayal as an evil vampire actually made her more notable to the British public. Also bear in mind that many high profile celebrities, including the British Royal Family and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, absolutely despised the show, so Tebbit, Hattersley and Currie at least showed some sense of comedy. |
| 44 | * Curitiba City Hall often makes references to movies, video games and cartoons when posting news on its [[https://www.facebook.com/PrefsCuritiba Facebook page]]. |
| 45 | * Both former US Secretary of State UsefulNotes/HenryKissinger and former US President UsefulNotes/GeraldFord and his wife Betty once appeared as special guests in a 1983 episode of ''Series/{{Dynasty|1981}}''. |
| 46 | * British Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock appeared in a music video by comedienne Tracey Ullman: "My Guy's Mad At Me". During a 1998 broadcast of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' he named Music/GiuseppeVerdi, Georges Bizet, Music/JohannesBrahms, Music/SimonAndGarfunkel, Music/JohnLennon and Dory Previn among his favorite music. |
| 47 | * US Republican politician and former governor of UsefulNotes/{{Massachusetts}} Mitt Romney cited ''Film/RaidersOfTheLostArk'' and ''Film/OBrotherWhereArtThou'' as his two favorite movies of all time on his Facebook page. |
| 48 | * US Republican politician and former Vice President UsefulNotes/DanQuayle named ''Film/FerrisBuellersDayOff'' his favorite movie, because "it reminded me of my time in school." Which is a strange thing to say considering Ferris actually skips school for most of the story. UsefulNotes/DanQuayle later admitted to a journalist that "I myself never skipped school more than twice - but I often ran interference for those who often skipped school!" |
| 49 | * Former British Conservative Party leader William Hague guest starred on a 2001 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' where he choose music by Music/FryderykChopin, Music/EdwardElgar, Bryn Terfel, Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart, Scott Hamilton, Gene Harris, Walking Tim and Music/FrankSinatra as his favorite records. |
| 50 | * In a 1971 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' British politician Glenda Jackson choose music by Music/JohannSebastianBach, Music/LudwigVanBeethoven, Music/IgorStravinsky, Music/AntoninDvorak, Ralph Vaughan Williams, Music/EllaFitzgerald and Music/DmitriShostakovich, with her favorite book "Persuasion" by Creator/JaneAusten. She appeared again on the show in 1998 when she choose music by Music/IkeAndTinaTurner, Music/IgorStravinsky, Music/ElvisPresley, Music/JohnAdams, Music/DmitriShostakovich, Music/BenjaminBritten, Music/StevieWonder and Michael Tippett as her favorite records. |
| 51 | * In a 1989 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' controversial British Conservative Party politician Enoch Powell, known for his 1968 anti-immigrational "Rivers of Blood" speech choose music by Music/JosephHaydn, three pieces by Music/LudwigVanBeethoven and four pieces by Music/RichardWagner. |
| 52 | * Labour politician Tony Benn choose music by Music/RalphVaughanWilliams, Music/JohannSebastianBach, Flanders & Swann, Music/FelixMendelssohn, Music/JoanBaez, Mahalia Jackson, Roy Bailey, Stephen Benn in a 1989 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' and "Das Kapital" by Creator/KarlMarx as his favorite book. |
| 53 | * US Republican politician Rudolph Giuliani, who famously was major of UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity during the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001, regularly appeared on ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' playing a cab driver complaining about New York and uttering the line "[[SelfDeprecation Friggin' Giuliani]]". He seems to like TV shows, as he played himself in episodes of ''Series/{{Seinfeld}}'', ''Series/MadAboutYou'', ''Dellaventura'', ''Eddie'', ''Cosby'', ''Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child'', ''Series/LawAndOrder'' and ''Hannity''. Together with UsefulNotes/TonyBlair he is thus far the only politician to ever accept a guest spot on ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', more specifically in the episode "Stop Or My Dog Will Shoot". He is also a big fan of {{Opera}} [[http://www.wqxr.org/#!/story/rudolph-giuliani-opera-lover/]]. Giuliani also played himself in comedy movies like ''Film/AngerManagement'' (2003). He also once performed in drag as Creator/MarilynMonroe at the Inner Circle dinner on March 8, 1997. Alongside actress Creator/JulieAndrews. We are NOT making this up: [[http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18108978/ns/politics-decision_08/t/rudy-giuliani-dress-will-voters-care/#.VXZdbEZ5WM8]] |
| 54 | * French far right politician Jean-Marie [=LePen=] reportedly loved the comic strip "Super Dupond" by Jacques Lob, Creator/{{Gotlib}}, Alexis and Jean Solé. The series is about a stereotypical chauvinist and xenophobic FrenchJerk fighting for everything French. [[MisaimedFandom [=LePen=] clearly didn't understand]] the comic strip was meant to be a {{Satire}} of such people. [[YourApprovalFillsMeWithShame Disgusted by his approval]], the creators eventually terminated the series. |
| 55 | * Senator Scott Ludlam, deputy leader of the UsefulNotes/{{Australia}} Australian]] Greens, plays role-playing games, board games, and video games, and participated in a live D&D session at PAX Australia 2015 (he brought his own dice). |
| 56 | * UsefulNotes/{{Texas}} Senator and 2016 Presidential candidate Ted Cruz is a movie buff whose favorite movie is ''Film/ThePrincessBride'', which he quotes a lot. In addition, he is a huge Star Wars fan and has admitted that he cried during an emotional scene in ''The Force Awakens''. He's also a fan of ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'', loves [[Film/TheGodfather the Godfather movies]] (all three!), and does [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_K0sRkvX4KE voice impressions]]. |
| 57 | ** In Neil Gorsuch's confirmation hearings for appointment to the Supreme Court, [[https://twitter.com/Yair_Rosenberg/status/844287946631065601 Senator Cruz asked Judge Gorsuch]] for "the answer to the ultimate question of life, the universe, and everything". [[Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy Gorsuch correctly answered, "42."]] |
| 58 | ** Surprisingly, in spite of his criticisms of violent video games and Activision-Blizzard's shady business practices, he himself is actually a gamer. And has admitted to sometimes spending a fair amount of money on loot boxes and microtransactions within the various games he plays. |
| 59 | * A photo surfaced of 2016 Presidential candidiate UsefulNotes/HillaryClinton [[http://www.vox.com/2015/4/20/8459219/hillary-clinton-gameboy playing a Game Boy in 1993]], which she said she'd become addicted to [[TearJerker when dealing with the death of her father]]. On the 2016 campaign trail, [[http://www.cbsnews.com/news/hillary-clinton-trump-headlines-make-me-want-to-watch-cat-videos/ she said she liked to watch cat videos]]. |
| 60 | * President Trump's Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, is a genuine anime ''otaku'', and even cosplayer, and regularly attended anime conventions. |
| 61 | ** While Trump was reportedly not impressed with Creator/MelissaMcCarthy and her SNL portrayal of "Spicey", Spicer gave ApprovalOfGod the next day and said his one complaint was his gum addiction was blown way out of proportion. [=McCarthy=] in turn, worked this into a follow up sketch. Spicer is also known for his Spartan office space and lack of personal mementos. Reportedly the only hints that someone occupies his White House office are the picture of his wife and a Super-Soaker of the exact same make and model as the one used in one Gag in the SNL sketch. It's even filled with a liquid which he (maybe) jokingly claims is Soapy Water. |
| 62 | ** Spicer [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MX8MMxTQSzI appeared on-stage at the 2017 Emmy Awards]] [[SelfDeprecation to lampoon himself,]] announcing, "This will be the largest audience to witness an Emmys—"period!" Both in person, and around the world." Creator/MelissaMcCarthy was in the audience herself, and appeared quizzical at the surprise guest. Host Creator/StephenColbert followed up by referring to Spicer as [=McCarthy=] in jest. |
| 63 | * Congresswoman and Representative [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexandria_Ocasio-Cortez Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez]]: In a high school video that was unearthed, she reenacted the dancing scene from ''Film/TheBreakfastClub''. She quoted ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}'' against an anti-Latina tweet ([[BadassBoast "I'm not locked in here with you. You're locked in here with me."]]) while also namedropping Creator/AlanMoore. Then she dropped by [[https://www.twitch.tv/hbomberguy/clip/ObedientFragileLadiesTriHard Hbomberguy's trans-rights charity Twitch stream]] simply because he half-jokingly tweeted at her to stop by, which in turn led to her reminiscing about childhood memories playing the Nintendo 64 in-between serious discussions about human rights. She's now streaming VideoGame/AmongUs on Twitch, as part of a get out the vote effort, as well. |
| 64 | * Former Texas congressman and 2020 presidential candidate Beto O'Rourke was a member of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cult_of_the_Dead_Cow Cult of the Dead Cow]], the oldest hacking group in American history. He went by the handle "Psychedelic Warrior." |
| 65 | * When Joe Simon and Creator/JackKirby first created and produced ComicBook/CaptainAmerica comics during World War 2, Nazi sympathizers in New York City actively picketed and threatened the two for daring to create stories based around a guy dressed in the American flag punching Hitler in the face. Luckily, Mayor [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiorello_H._La_Guardia Fiorello H. La Guardia]] was a huge fan of the good Captain and personally declared to Simon and Kirby that "[[BadassBoast the City of New York will see that no harm comes to you.]]" |
| 66 | * Eliezer "Modi" Zandberg, former member of the Israeli parliament, is a huge fan of Music/TheBeatles, and most definitely not a casual one. From 1996 to 2017 (for the first ten years of which he was in active public office, both as MP and later on as secretary of science and technology) he wrote, edited and presented - for no pay - a weekly, hour-long show on public radio, devoted entirely to the Beatles, during which he would play from his enormous personal collection of deep-cut album tracks, B-sides, bootlegs, live recordings, rehearsal recordings, solo material, collaborations and other rarities, peppered with various trivia and details about the history of the band and its members. |
| 67 | * [[https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/3855559 Lai Pin-yu]] surely used her talent as an [[Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion Asuka]] and [[Manga/SailorMoon Sailor Mars]] cosplayer to win a seat in the Taiwanese Legislative Yuan. |
| 68 | * Vice President Kamala Harris admitted during an [[https://youtu.be/kKpf_mNAK4s?t=109 interview]] that she was a huge ''Franchise/StarWars'' fan and was starstruck meeting Mark Hamill. |
| 69 | ** During a [[https://youtu.be/0NF0qv6lDM4?t=1633 fundraiser with the Avengers cast]], the Russo Brothers talked about the time then-Senator Harris tried to come on the set of ''Film/AvengersEndgame'' to meet the cast, but never could find the time. |
| 70 | * Congressman Josh Harder of UsefulNotes/{{California}} is a fan of ''Franchise/StarWars'', sci-fi novels and was the President of his high school chess club. He's also ranked platinum in ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends''. |
| 71 | * US politician Misty Snow, and one of the first two transgender candidates for Democratic nominee, is a fan of ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog''. She is familiar with the drama involving Creator/KenPenders and the characters he took with a lawsuit towards ''Creator/ArchieComics''. |
| 72 | * Upon becoming member-elect for California's 42nd District, Long Beach mayor Robert Garcia's reaction was to [[https://twitter.com/RobertGarcia/status/1591980342273273858 geek out]] at the prospect of having unfettered access to the Library of Congress' collection of comic books. |
| 73 | [[/folder]] |
| 74 | |
| 75 | [[folder:Prime Ministers]] |
| 76 | * UsefulNotes/WinstonChurchill's favorite movie was ''Film/ThatHamiltonWoman''. |
| 77 | * British Prime Minister UsefulNotes/HaroldMacmillan was a ComicBook/{{Tintin}} fan. |
| 78 | * In a 1988 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' British Prime Minister UsefulNotes/EdwardHeath choose music by Ralph Vaughan Williams, Music/FranzSchubert, Richard Strauss, "If I Were A Rich Man" from ''Film/FiddlerOnTheRoof'', Music/EdwardElgar, Music/LudwigVanBeethoven, Music/AntoninDvorak and Music/FelixMendelssohn and a book about impressionist painters to take with him to a deserted island. |
| 79 | * In a 1987 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' British PM UsefulNotes/JamesCallaghan choose Fats Waller, Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart, Music/FryderykChopin, Creator/BobNewhart, Hubert Parry, Joseph Canteloube, Music/JohannSebastianBach as his favorite music and ''Literature/WarAndPeace'' by Creator/LeoTolstoy as his favorite novel to take with him to a deserted island. |
| 80 | * As the above quote already explained, UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher wasn't a fan of Creator/MontyPython. But she did enjoy ''Series/YesMinister'' and ''Series/YesPrimeMinister'' so much that she actually wrote a sketch for herself and the two main actors Paul Eddington (Jim Hacker) and Nigel Hawthorne (Sir Humphrey) to perform during a meeting. Also note that not everybody who worked on that show liked the association with Thatcher. One of the writers Jonathan Lynn said afterwards: "We would congratulate the prime minister on taking her rightful place in the field of situation comedy." In a 1978 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'', a year before she became PM, Thatcher choose music by Music/LudwigVanBeethoven, Music/AntoninDvorak, Music/GiuseppeVerdi, Bob Newhart, Irene Dunne, Music/FelixMendelssohn, Saint-Preux and Pietro Mascagni. |
| 81 | * When UsefulNotes/JohnMajor guest starred on ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' in 1992 he choose music by Music/GeorgeGershwin, June Bronhill, Music/TheSupremes, Gaetano Donizetti, a performance of Popper by cellist Mstislav Rostropovich, John Arlott, Music/EdwardElgar and Music/FrankSinatra in duet with Music/CountBasie as his favorite. |
| 82 | * UsefulNotes/TonyBlair was part of a student rock band, Ugly Rumors, during his youth making him thus far the only British Prime Minister with a rock 'n' roll background. He is also a fan of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' and managed to voice himself in the episode ''[[Recap/TheSimpsonsS15E4TheReginaMonologues The Regina Monologues]]'', making him also one of the few politicians along with Rudolph Giuliani, to land a guest spot on this show. He also described ''Series/CoronationStreet'' as "one of his favorite programmes", though his late mother-in-law Pat Phoenix played the character Elsie Tanner on the show so it's not that surprising. In a 1996 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' he choose music by Ezio, Music/ClaudeDebussy, Music/TheBeatles, Music/BruceSpringsteen, Music/SamuelBarber, Music/RobertJohnson, Music/FreeBand and Music/JohnWilliams as his favorites to bring with him to a deserted island. As his favorite novel he choose ''Literature/{{Ivanhoe}}'' and as his luxury item a guitar. |
| 83 | * When UsefulNotes/GordonBrown was a guest in ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' in 1996 he choose music by John Goss & Edward Caswall, Music/JohannSebastianBach, Music/TheBeatles, Kenna Campbell, Runrig, George Fenton & Jonas Gwangwa, Music/KirstyMacColl and a rendition of "Jerusalem" by Hubert Parry as his favorite music. |
| 84 | * British Prime Minister UsefulNotes/DavidCameron is a big fan of ''Series/{{Spooks}}''. In a 2006 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' he choose music by Creator/BennyHill, Music/BobDylan, Music/PinkFloyd, Music/{{Radiohead}}, Music/FelixMendelssohn, Music/TheSmiths, Music/{{REM}} and Music/TheKillers as his favorites to take with him to a deserted island. |
| 85 | * Former flamboyant mayor of London and current flamboyant British PM Boris Johnson was a guest in a 2006 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' where he choose music by Music/TheBeatles, Music/BookerTAndTheMGs, Music/JohannSebastianBach, Music/{{The Rolling Stones|Band}}, Music/JohannesBrahms, Music/VanMorrison, Music/TheClash and Music/LudwigVanBeethoven as his favorites to take with him to a deserted island. |
| 86 | * Jens Stoltenberg, former Prime minister of Norway and incumbent secretary general of NATO, is a gamer. He specifically likes games like ''VideoGame/AgeOfEmpires'' and ''VideoGame/TotalWar'' because it involves building a society. It also involves killing lots of people. Should the Finns and the Swedes be watching their borders? |
| 87 | * Former Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard is a fan of ''Series/GameOfThrones'' - due to the circumstances of her removal from office, there were jokes going around about her re-enacting it in the workplace. |
| 88 | * Taro Aso, former Prime Minister of Japan, is a fan of ''Manga/RozenMaiden''. Otaku have nicknamed him "Rozen Aso" and claim him as one of their own, and this is referenced in ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei''. |
| 89 | ** His opponent and successor at the post, Yukio Hatoyama, [[http://www.sankakucomplex.com/2009/09/25/pm-hatoyama-huge-fan-of-ecchi-manga/ reportedly is quite the fan of manga and anime]], mentioning ''Manga/{{Is}}'' as a personal favorite. |
| 90 | ** During Takaaki Mitsuhashi's 2010 campaign for the House of Councillors, he cosplayed as Gendo Ikari. |
| 91 | ** Junichiro Koizumi is a huge Music/ElvisPresley and Music/XJapan fanboy, to the degree of using "Forever Love" as background music for several political campaign ads for the Liberal Democratic Party during the 2001 elections. |
| 92 | *** And now [[Manga/TheLegendOfKoizumi he saves the world with MAHJONG!]] |
| 93 | *** He also voiced Ultraman King in the ''Franchise/UltraSeries'' movie ''Series/UltraGalaxyMegaMonsterBattle''. His son and successor of his position in the LDP, Shinjiro Koizumi also count, as he was the one who convinced his father to do the voicing. That is one awesome father-son combination. |
| 94 | ** The late Shinzo Abe invoked the trope in the promotional video for [[UsefulNotes/OlympicGames the Tokyo 2020 Olympics]] at the Rio 2016 Closing Ceremonies, which included a skit where he was stuck in traffic at the Shibuya scramble crossing and realized that he wouldn't be able to get to Rio in time... but solved it by [[spoiler:turning himself into [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Mario]] (complete with [[JustForFun/OneOfUs accurate sound effects]]), building a Warp Pipe in the middle of the crossing and using a [[VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2 Spin Drill]] to ''burrow through the earth's core'' so that he could get to Maracanã Stadium]]... and making his entrance [[spoiler:through the Warp Pipe exit installed in the middle of the stadium, [[TheComicallySerious still wearing Mario's hat]].]] It was both awesome and hilarious. |
| 95 | ** Current [[UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} Japanese]] prime minister Fumio Kishida is a fan of ''Manga/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaiba''. |
| 96 | ** Considering the Japanese as a whole, it's likely that most positions in the government are filled with otaku of one level or another. |
| 97 | * UsefulNotes/{{Canada}}'s former Prime Minister Stephen Harper has shown his side for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oCbVw03zEyU singing and playing the piano.]] He's also a Trekkie. |
| 98 | ** A fair bit of that public display of artistry was done in response to Mr. Harper's public defamatory statements about Canadian artists during the 2008 campaign. In other words, he's trying his best to look like JustForFun/OneOfUs. |
| 99 | * Canada's current Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is a Franchise/StarWars fan and [[http://www.dianatamblyn.com/2012/10/justin-trudeau-comic-geek-future.html even went to the Montreal Comic-Con once with his kids]]. |
| 100 | ** He has listed the Lord of the Rings as one of the books he reads frequently. And after being elected, [[http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/trick-trudeau-halloween-1.3298754 he went trick or treating on Halloween as Han Solo in his Hoth jacket (he is Canadian, it's the most accurate) while his wife went as Leia]] |
| 101 | * [[UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}} Belgian]] Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene collected political cartoons which depicted him. He even used them as illustrations in his memoirs. |
| 102 | * German Chancellor Angela Merkel was a research chemist before her career in politics. |
| 103 | [[/folder]] |
| 104 | |
| 105 | [[folder:Presidents]] |
| 106 | * UsefulNotes/CharlesDeGaulle: |
| 107 | ** ''My only international rival is ''Franchise/{{Tintin}}''''. |
| 108 | ** Albert Uderzo and Creator/ReneGoscinny of ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' once heard that De Gaulle had named all the members of his cabinet after Asterix characters during a meeting. They had heard this first hand from one of the politicians. Later however the minister in question denied the story in the strongest possible terms. |
| 109 | * Chinese President UsefulNotes/ChiangKaiShek became a ComicBook/{{Tintin}} fan after he read ''[[Recap/TintinTheBlueLotus The Blue Lotus]]'' and was inspired by Hergé's stance against the Japanese occupation of China in the 1930s in this story. He invited Creator/{{Herge}} to visit China, but the artist only managed to get there after Chiang Kai Shek had already passed away. |
| 110 | * UsefulNotes/AdolfHitler was obsessed with the music of Music/RichardWagner. He watched all his operas and enjoyed the German folkloric themes in the stories. That Wagner himself was an antisemite might have also contributed to this fandom. Tragically, playing Wagner now has [[MusicToInvadePolandTo unfortunate implications]], owing to Hitler's love for his work. |
| 111 | ** Hitler also enjoyed watching movies. His favourite films were ''Film/KingKong1933'' and ''Film/LivesOfABengalLancer'', which involves a handful of white people defeating hordes of Bengalis and upholding imperial rule. [[SarcasmMode Apparently he liked it for the soundtrack...]] |
| 112 | ** Hitler also read voraciously, both for his love of classical literature and to compensate for his lack of schooling, acquiring a personal library of about 16000 volumes. [[{{Irony}} Quite funnily]], knowing his racism, one of the novels [[http://andersentritte.blogspot.com/2016/07/a-few-words-about-adolf-hitlers-private.html he rated among the world's greatest]] was ''[[Literature/UncleTomsCabin Uncle Tom's Cabin]]''. |
| 113 | ** As most Germans of his age he was also a huge fan of Creator/KarlMay. He enjoyed his CowboysAndIndians stories and read them whenever he felt despair. He even recommended the books to his military staff and praised May's "tactical finesse and circumspection". Ironically enough, most of May's stories feature pacifist messages and preach racial tolerance, something that Hitler obviously ignored in his policies. |
| 114 | ** Hitler was a huge fan of Creator/WaltDisney and was said to have viewed ''WesternAnimation/SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs'' multiple times. He even doodled a few of the characters (in full color too) during particularly boring war meetings. He was especially fond of drawling the Dwarves and Dopey in particular. |
| 115 | * Kim Jong Il, dictator of North Korea, was a huge film fan and had a collection of thousands and thousands of movies. He loved films starring Creator/ElizabethTaylor and enjoyed the ''Film/JamesBond'' and ''WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck'' franchise. The only Bond film he didn't like was (surprise, surprise) ''Film/DieAnotherDay'' (where North Korean terrorists are the villains). |
| 116 | ** The tyrant was also a huge fan of Franchise/{{Godzilla}}. So much even that he ordered the kidnapping of a South Korean director to direct a ripoff of these films named Film/{{Pulgasari}}. |
| 117 | ** Kim Jong Il is also said to have been a huge fan of Music/MichaelJackson, Music/BarbraStreisand and Music/ElvisPresley. |
| 118 | ** His son and successor, Kim Jong Un, [[http://www.nesn.com/2011/12/kim-jong-ils-son-and-likely-successor-kim-jong-un-loves-michael-jordan-and-basketball.html is a huge fan of basketball, Michael Jordan, and a video gamer]]. [[FlatWhat What?]]. Basketball player Dennis Rodman was even a personal guest of the dictator in 2013. |
| 119 | *** He's also an [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2018-01-02/swiss-expert-outs-n-korea-kim-jong-un-as-avid-manga-reader-poor-student/.125993 avid manga reader]], which is ironic, considering North Korean propaganda sees Japan as their top enemy. |
| 120 | * Iraqi dictator UsefulNotes/SaddamHussein was a huge fan of ''Film/TheGodfather''. He enjoyed the message that "family comes before everything else." [[http://www.monitor.net/monitor/0304a/copyright/godfathersaddam.html]] |
| 121 | ** Uday and Qusay Hussein were apparently such huge ''Franchise/StarWars'' fans that they based some of the helmets on Imperial helmets. |
| 122 | ** Saddam and his sons were also reputedly fans of ''Film/Scarface1983'', as evidenced by them naming their trust fund as "Montana Management". |
| 123 | * Yugoslavian president UsefulNotes/JosipBrozTito was a Creator/LaurelAndHardy fan and owned a 35mm copy of one of their films: ''"Busy Bodies"''. |
| 124 | ** Italian dictator UsefulNotes/BenitoMussolini was also a Creator/LaurelAndHardy fan. He particularly liked ''"The Devil's Brother"'' (also known as ''"Fra Diavolo"''), as it was set in Italy. Mussolini even met their producer Hal Roach in Hollywood . |
| 125 | ** Mussolini also had been a good amateur musician, who played violin since his impoverished youth (and after his accession to power, he acquired [[https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/10758780/Mussolini-the-musicians-violin-to-be-sold.html some extraordinary valuable violins from the 17th century]]) and [[https://www.georgetown.edu/news/mussolinis-favorite-jazz-singers-were-jewish-new-book-reveals/ promoted]] {{jazz}} music throughout Italy. |
| 126 | * Lee Teng-Hui, the first native Taiwanese to become president of said country and later its first democratically-elected leader, is quite the "Japanophile", along with ''many'' men and women of his generation, having graduated with honors from Kyoto University and volunteered for the Japanese Army in 1944. Geekier, he's a known otaku and after his retirement, cosplayed as the hawkish principal (with a similar military background to his own) from ''Sakigake!! Otokojuku'' to promote Japanese cinema and the show. |
| 127 | ** By the way, this was [[UsefulNotes/WorldWarII one of many reasons]] why the Chinese and Taiwan mainlanders hated him. |
| 128 | * In a fan mail letter by [[Creator/LaurelAndHardy Stan Laurel]] from August 1962 Laurel mentions that Tito, French president Vincent Auriol and Prince Harold of Denmark liked to watch Laurel & Hardy films, but expressed doubt if Hitler or Stalin ever saw them? (Note: Both [[https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/jun/29/historian-says-hollywood-collaborated-with-nazis Hitler]] and Stalin did and both were fans.) |
| 129 | * Soviet leader UsefulNotes/JosefStalin was a fan of Creator/JamesCagney, Creator/CharlieChaplin, Literature/{{Tarzan}} movies and Creator/LaurelAndHardy. Despite seeing westerns as American propaganda he also enjoyed watching them. Yet, when he heard Creator/JohnWayne was a staunch anti-communist he planned to have him murdered. UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev personally made sure that Stalin's daft order wasn't carried out. Khrushchev also told Creator/JohnWayne this when the politician visited the U.S.A. in 1959. Stalin's favorite movie of all time was the 1938 comedy "Volga-Volga". Khrushchev wrote in his memories that Stalin mockingly compared him to one of the characters in this picture. |
| 130 | * During his 1959 US visit Soviet leader UsefulNotes/NikitaKhrushchev wanted to visit Disneyland, but his request was refused because US security advisors could not guarantee his safety. This made him so angry that it almost caused a diplomatic crisis! |
| 131 | * Soviet leader UsefulNotes/LeonidBrezhnev was a huge fan of American Westerns. In particular, he loved ''Series/TheRifleman'' and met its star Chuck Connors on several occasions. During Brezhnev's 1973 visit to the US, Connors even presented the Premier with two Colt .45s he'd used on his show ''Series/Branded1965''. There are a few surviving photos of Brezhnev hunting with said Colts in a quasi-cowboy attire. He also loved ''Film/DirtyHarry'', repeatedly screening the movie for the Politburo and KGB leaders. |
| 132 | * Soviet leader UsefulNotes/MikhailGorbachev named his policy of letting Eastern European countries decide for themselves whether they wanted communism or democracy the "[[Music/FrankSinatra Sinatra]] Doctrine," after Sinatra's song "My Way". [[http://io9.com/gorbachev-tried-to-get-george-bush-to-spoil-who-killed-1659756725 He also tried to get]] UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush to reveal [[Series/TwinPeaks who killed Laura Palmer]]. When Reagan and Gorbachev first met in Reykyavik in 1987 they apparently took the time to talk about Reagan's past in Hollywood and movies in general, besides political issues alone. |
| 133 | * Russian president UsefulNotes/VladimirPutin is a Music/TheBeatles fan. This has given Music/PaulMcCartney the advantage to put pressure on Putin by writing him a personal letter in 2013 for the release of 28 Greenpeace activists and two freelance journalists to be released from prison. This are Macca's actual lines: “Forty-five years ago I wrote a song about Russia for Music/TheWhiteAlbum, back when it wasn’t fashionable for English people to say nice things about your country. That song had one of my favourite Beatles lines in it: “Been away so long I hardly knew the place, gee it’s good to be back home.” Could you make that come true for the Greenpeace prisoners?” Since June 2014 the prisoners have been released, though it's not clear whether this was the result of Paul's letter sent in November 2013. |
| 134 | * The former President and Prime Minister of Russia Dmitri Medvedev is a fan of classical HardRock (Music/DeepPurple, Music/BlackSabbath, and Music/LedZeppelin, among others), which is geeky nowadays... especially in [[MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong Mother Russia, where even geeks are badass]]. |
| 135 | * Czech President Václav Havel was a huge Music/FrankZappa and Music/VelvetUnderground fan. During the Cold War, when Havel was still a poet and playwright, all subversive music was banned, which may also explain his admiration for their music. After Havel's inauguration he made Zappa his Cultural Ambassador of Czechoslovakia and invited him to visit his country! He also said that ''Music/BongoFury'' was his favorite Zappa album. |
| 136 | * Hungarian President Árpád Göncz translated ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Farmer Giles'' of Ham into Hungarian. He also submitted a statement of appreciation of Tolkien to The Centenary Conference 1992 and said "Lord of the Rings" "serves as a positive role model in our dehumanized world as well as an exciting lecture […] it helped transform our world into one smiling global village”. |
| 137 | * UsefulNotes/JohnAdams was a huge bibliophile. He owned over 3.5000 volumes of books, full with scribbling thoughts, reactions and counter-arguments to lines he read. |
| 138 | * UsefulNotes/ThomasJefferson owned so much books that his personal library was the largest personal collection in the country at the time! He even sold it to the US government to help replace the Library of Congress when the British burned Washington down during the War of 1812. Jefferson’s constant purchasing of books also seems to have been a detriment to his finances and probably played some part in his bankruptcy at the time of his death. |
| 139 | * UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln was such a fan of Creator/WilliamShakespeare that he carried copies of his collected works around. He once stated during a White House dinner: “Some of Shakespeare’s plays I have never read; while others I have gone over perhaps as frequently as any unprofessional reader. Among the latter are Lear, Richard the Third, Henry the Eighth, Hamlet, and especially Macbeth. I think nothing equals Macbeth.” |
| 140 | * UsefulNotes/JamesGarfield adored Literature/RobinsonCrusoe and reread it countless times, even comparing all other novels he read to it. |
| 141 | * UsefulNotes/ChesterAArthur enjoyed Creator/CharlesDickens and Creator/WilliamMakepeaceThackeray. |
| 142 | * UsefulNotes/BenjaminHarrison loved the works of Creator/WalterScott. |
| 143 | * UsefulNotes/WilliamMcKinley brought a book with poems by Creator/LordByron with him on his way to fight in the war. |
| 144 | * UsefulNotes/CalvinCoolidge was hugely influenced by Creator/{{Cicero}} and read his classic works so often that he became fluent in Latin. |
| 145 | * UsefulNotes/HerbertHoover identified with Literature/DavidCopperfield by Creator/CharlesDickens, because he himself was an orphan who went through a troubled childhood. |
| 146 | * US President UsefulNotes/FranklinDRoosevelt loved Creator/LaurelAndHardy and his favorite movie was ''"I'm No Angel"'' with Creator/MaeWest. Roosevelt was also known to enjoy WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse cartoons and once praised Creator/ShirleyTemple keeping America's spirits high during the Great Depression with the following words: "As long as our country has Shirley Temple, we will be all right". He also loved Creator/RudyardKipling, especially the poem "If..." |
| 147 | * UsefulNotes/HarrySTruman named ''Film/MyDarlingClementine" his favorite movie. He was also a big fan of classical music, Broadway musicals, and Creator/GilbertAndSullivan. He had [[https://www.nps.gov/hstr/learn/historyculture/upload/Truman-Record-Albums-by-Artist.pdf an extensive record collection]], and was a pretty good pianist. |
| 148 | * US President UsefulNotes/JohnFKennedy was a huge fan of the ''Literature/JamesBond'' books. ''Film/FromRussiaWithLove'' was selected as the second Bond film because Kennedy listed it in his top 10 favorite books. [[TearJerker It was the last film he'd ever see]]. In a similar vein, Kennedy enjoyed John Buchan's spy novels ''Literature/TheThirtyNineSteps'' and ''Literature/{{Greenmantle}}'', and once cited T.E. Lawrence's ''Seven Pillars of Wisdom'' as his favorite nonfiction work. Surprisingly enough, his favorite movie was reportedly ''Film/RomanHoliday''. |
| 149 | * US President UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson listened a lot to Music/SimonAndGarfunkel's ''Music/BridgeOverTroubledWater'' during the final post-presidential years of his life. It cheered him up whenever he felt down. Johnson's favorite film was ''Film/TheSearchers''. In the wake of Kennedy's murder, LBJ, in an effort to introduce himself to the American people, commissioned the U.S. Information Agency to produce a movie about himself. The ten-minute short, narrated by Gregory Peck, was a yawner — except in the White House theater, where Johnson was known to watch it over and over. |
| 150 | * US President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon repeatedly watched ''Film/{{Patton}}'' and urged his staff and associates to do so. It's reported that watching the film steeled his resolve to invade Cambodia during the Vietnam War, and that Zhou Enlai screened the movie for his staff before Nixon's visit to China. His favorite movie, however, was ''Film/AroundTheWorldInEightyDays1956'', which he watched repeatedly, much to his family's consternation. He also owned a copy of Music/ArloGuthrie's ''Music/AlicesRestaurant''. Nixon was such an avid moviegoer that [[http://www.amazon.com/Nixon-Movies-Book-about-Belief/dp/0226239683 a whole book's been written analyzing his taste in films]]. He also appeared in a few episodes of ''Series/RowanAndMartinsLaughIn'' delivering the memorable line "Sock it to ''me''?" Nixon also enjoyed playing piano (in his youth, he even composed a few songs himself) and read anything by Creator/LeoTolstoy. |
| 151 | * UsefulNotes/GeraldFord took delight in reading Horatio Alger novels. He hosted a White House screening of ''Film/TheWindAndTheLion'', and regaled director John Milius with stories of his time working in Yellowstone National Park. Milius didn't have the heart to tell Ford that the movie's Yellowstone scenes were actually [[CaliforniaDoubling filmed in Spain]]. |
| 152 | * US President UsefulNotes/JimmyCarter is such a fan of poet Creator/DylanThomas that he even recorded a special audio message for tourists who visit the poet's birthplace. Carter also holds the record of having watched more movies during his term than any other US President: 480 (!) His favorite book was "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" by James Agee and Walker Evans, a document of the plight of sharecroppers in the South during the Dust Bowl. |
| 153 | * US President UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan was a huge movie fan, which shouldn't surprise anyone, given the fact that he was a former Hollywood actor. He frequently referenced movies in his speeches (''Film/DirtyHarry, Film/BackToTheFuture1, Franchise/{{Rambo}}'',...) and even based his Star Wars defense program on the movie series ''Franchise/StarWars''. One morning, at an economic summit in Williamsburg, Va., White House Chief of Staff James Baker learned that Reagan hadn't studied his briefing books the night before. He asked the president why. "Well, Jim, The Sound of Music was on TV," Reagan replied. Reagan also loved Creator/TomClancy and mentioned the book Literature/TheHuntForRedOctober in one of his speeches. Reagan also enjoyed Series/FamilyTies so much that he volunteered to have a cameo on the show, but the producers ignored this plea. |
| 154 | ** For those interested: here is a long list of all the films he and his wife Nancy watched in the White House (though what they thought of them isn't mentioned) [[http://www.reagan.utexas.edu/archives/reference/filmsviewed.html]] |
| 155 | ** When he saw ''Film/BackToTheFuture1'', [[ActuallyPrettyFunny he was so amused]] by the scene where [[ItWillNeverCatchOn the 1955 Doc Brown scoffs at the idea of Reagan being president by 1985]] that he told the projectionist to replay the scene. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen He got approached to play the mayor of 1885 Hill Valley]] in ''[[Film/BackToTheFuturePartIII Part III]]'', and ''was'' interested before his aides declined for him. |
| 156 | * US President UsefulNotes/GeorgeHWBush is a huge fan of ''Series/FawltyTowers''. During the Gulf War (1991) he used to watch episodes to relax from ongoing stress. Bush's two favorite films were Film/VivaZapata and Film/TheLongestDay. |
| 157 | * US president UsefulNotes/BillClinton loved ''Film/HighNoon''. He screened it a record 17 times in the White House. Interestingly enough, other US Presidents like UsefulNotes/DwightEisenhower and UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan were also big fans. |
| 158 | ** Clinton is an avid reader, as according to friends and family, he is working on at least two books at one time. He named ''Literature/OneHundredYearsOfSolitude'' by Creator/GabrielGarciaMarquez his favorite novel of all time. During his presidency he made sure that Marquez, who was denied a visa to the USA for more than 30 years, was allowed to be a guest in the country again. |
| 159 | ** Reportedly, after watching ''Film/AirForceOne'', [[TheRedStapler Clinton wanted an escape pod]] like the one [[spoiler:seemingly]] used in the film for the actual Air Force One. |
| 160 | * According to Karl Rove, UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush grew fond of ''Series/Babylon5'', as well as A&E's "Biography" series and watching baseball games on TV. W's favorite movie is ''Film/FieldOfDreams.'' |
| 161 | * UsefulNotes/BarackObama: |
| 162 | ** Obama has demonstrated a deep familiarity with ''Franchise/StarTrek'', joked [[http://www.boston.com/news/politics/politicalintelligence/2008/10/candidates_get.html at the Alfred E. Smith memorial dinner]] about [[Franchise/{{Superman}} being sent by his father Jor-El to save the planet Earth]], apparently dressed as a wizard to take his daughters to a midnight release of a ''Literature/HarryPotter'' book, and according to [[http://www.tor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=blog=8269#8273 a possibly apocryphal report on tor.com]] is familiar enough with Internet memes to make ''VideoGame/ZeroWing'' jokes. You just '''know''' if he ever gets in a war, something '''will''' be called "Operation All Your Base Are Belong To US." He also collects ''Comicbook/SpiderMan'' and ''Franchise/ConanTheBarbarian'' comics; in fact, he is reputedly a collector of the mylar-bag-and-backboard, never read'em stripe. This has been escalated and expanded on [[http://community.livejournal.com/metaquotes/6928399.html here]]. He even wrote a personal note to Yann Martel, the author of ''Life of Pi'', to let the writer know how much he and his daughter enjoyed reading the novel. Whenever President Obama is asked about his all-time favorite books, he often lists quite a few titles and usually a different group of titles each time, but two books that have consistently been listed by the president are ''Self-Reliance'' by Creator/RalphWaldoEmerson and ''Literature/SongOfSolomon'' by Creator/ToniMorrison. Obama also loves ''[[Series/{{Mash}} M*A*S*H]]'' and ''Series/TheWire''. |
| 163 | ** [[http://blog.wired.com/geekdad/2008/11/5-signs-preside.html Wired has several more examples.]] |
| 164 | ** During Obama's visit to Poland at the end of May 2011, Prime Minister Donald Tusk gave him the collector's edition of ''VideoGame/TheWitcher2AssassinsOfKings'' as a gift. |
| 165 | ** When he met Creator/LeonardNimoy, he greeted him with the [[Franchise/StarTrek Vulcan hand salute]]. |
| 166 | ** He seems to also be a fan of ''Franchise/StarWars'', given his statement of intent to watch ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' after a speech given in 2015. |
| 167 | ** In a National News Conference about Health Care, Obama argued one of his points by talking about comparing costs for "[[Film/TheMatrix A red pill and a blue pill]]." |
| 168 | ** John Hodgman had a whole [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yW7OPByRGDY speech]] on this. |
| 169 | ** There's also that [[http://www.newsweek.com/id/167755/page/6 Newsweek behind-the-scenes special]] (misquoted at the bottom of the first paragraph) where he was observed by one of their reporters making his wife roll her eyes at a joke about her belt having [[Franchise/StarTrek dilithium crystals]] on it. |
| 170 | ** And then there's him [[http://www.windycitizen.com/files/3926925767_76a554dc62.jpg wielding a frigging LIGHTSABER]] on the White House lawn in a photo-op for the Olympics. |
| 171 | ** And he appeared in a ''Series/MythBusters'' episode where they try to make the solar powered death ray work for the third time. The stated goal of the appearance is to encourage science and technology education. |
| 172 | ** Obama's favorite films are ''Film/TheGodfather I and II'': ''"Three not that much. That saga -- I love that movie. ...I think my favorite has to be, the opening scene of the first Godfather... It sets the tone for the whole movie."'' |
| 173 | ** Michelle herself; she was the salutatorian of her high school. Although she pales in comparison to Barack's nerdiness, that's still pretty nerdy. |
| 174 | ** He's also familiar with the WebVideo/{{Vlogbrothers}} and Nerdfighteria. |
| 175 | ** During a press conference on military technology he jokingly admitted they were [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=77pnVFLkUjM building Iron Man]] |
| 176 | ** And Obama is a fan of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' and ''Literature/TheHobbit'' too since he was 10 years old. |
| 177 | ** He's a big fan of ''[[Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem The Three Body Problem Trilogy]]'': |
| 178 | --->'''Barack Obama''': The scope of it was immense. So that was fun to read, partly because my day-to-day problems with Congress seem fairly petty — not something to worry about. Aliens are about to invade! |
| 179 | ** He also follows [[VideoGame/{{Portal}} Aperture Science]] on Twitter. |
| 180 | * UsefulNotes/DonaldTrump is (somewhat ironically) a big fan of musical theater and his favorite musical is Music/{{Evita}}, which has supposedly seen ''6 times.'' |
| 181 | * UsefulNotes/JoeBiden has a tendency to quote Irish poetry in his speeches, and sometimes entirely off the cuff. |
| 182 | ** He's also known to play ''VideoGame/MarioKart'' (or at least ''Mario Kart GP'') with his family, [[https://www.newsweek.com/joe-biden-playing-luigi-wins-mario-kart-race-against-granddaughter-camp-david-1569439 according to his granddaughter Naomi's Instagram page]]. He apparently likes playing as Luigi. |
| 183 | * Chinese President Xi Jinping revealed he's fan of ''Series/HouseOfCardsUS'' and ''Film/SleeplessInSeattle'' during a Sept. 2015 state visit to the United States. |
| 184 | * Dictator UsefulNotes/IdiAmin of Uganda was fond of Creator/WaltDisney cartoons, though he liked other animation just as much. After he was driven out of his country in 1979 several reels of ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' cartoons were found in his palace. |
| 185 | * PLO leader Yasser Arafat also enjoyed watching ''WesternAnimation/TomAndJerry'' because he [[DavidVersusGoliath felt sympathy towards the mouse defeating an aggressor ten times his size]]. |
| 186 | * Spanish dictator UsefulNotes/FranciscoFranco's favorite movie was "Nobleza Baturra", a 1935 Spanish musical drama film noted for [[CallToAgriculture its folkloric setting and rural atmosphere.]] |
| 187 | * Irish President Mary Robinson was once a guest on ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' where she choose music by Music/GiacomoPuccini, Music/JosephHaydn, Music/BobDylan, Music/JoanBaez, Music/EdithPiaf and Luke Kelly as her favorite musical artists. |
| 188 | * Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov is a huge wrestling and boxing fan, collects sports cars and owns several racehorses. He's also a really avid user of social media, most notably Instagram (until his account was banned for personal sanctions.) |
| 189 | * French president Emmanuel Macron is a huge fan of ''Manga/OnePiece''. He was delighted after being gifted an [[https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/interest/2021-07-27/one-piece-eiichiro-oda-draws-original-illustration-for-french-president/.175567 illustration]] by ''One Piece'' Creator/EiichiroOda himself. |
| 190 | * Chilean President Gabriel Boric is a ''TabletopGame/MagicTheGathering'' fan, and knows quite a bit about the game and its lore, although he is not currently an active player. Amusingly, when he ''was'' active, he usually played Rakdos decks... |
| 191 | [[/folder]] |
| 192 | |
| 193 | [[folder:Royals]] |
| 194 | * UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar wrote fan fiction about Hercules (the ComicBook/{{Superman}} of his day) in his youth. |
| 195 | * English medieval king UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat was a prince from a semi-civilized country where almost every noble was a JerkJock by inclination. He studied classical literature, wrote about theology, and sent many a savage plundering Northman to his doom. He was a [[BadassBookworm nerd with a sword]]. |
| 196 | * Philippe II of Spain collected paintings by Creator/HieronymusBosch and even had one near his bedside. |
| 197 | * Isabella II of Spain was so fond of Luis de Eguílaz's serialized novels such as ''Literature/TheSwordOfSaintFerdinand'' that after reading one chapter published in the ''La Correspondencia de España'' newspaper, she often pulled strings to get a printed copy of the next one. |
| 198 | * Former King Juan Carlos of UsefulNotes/{{Spain}} is a radio amateur and [[BadassBiker motorcyclist]]. |
| 199 | * King Abdullah II of Jordan is an acknowledged fan of ''Franchise/StarTrek'', and guest-starred on ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' when he was still a prince.[[note]]Though since he is not a SAG-AFRA member, he only appeared in a bit role without any speaking lines.[[/note]] Later, when Creator/MichaelBay was going to film ''Film/TransformersRevengeOfTheFallen'' in Jordan, he ordered 38 military helicopters to transport the equipment to Petra, allowing the film crew those overhead shots of the same ruins that appeared in ''Film/IndianaJonesAndTheLastCrusade''. Turns out His Majesty is a big fan of ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' and loves the franchise. |
| 200 | ** King Abdullah announced the creation of a [[http://www.royaltyinthenews.com/2011/08/06/king-abdullah-ii-invests-in-star-trek-theme-park/ Star Trek theme park]] to be built in his country under licence from CBS, which he funded. The $1.5 billion project was planned to open in 2014, however, construction stopped in early 2015, and the park was never completed or opened. |
| 201 | ** Abdullah follows his father Hussein in this regard. Hussein heavily encouraged Hollywood films to shoot in Jordan, including ''Film/LawrenceOfArabia'' and ''Film/MohammadMessengerOfGod'', providing considerable logistical support and military extras. He actually met his second wife (Abdullah's mother) while she worked on the ''Lawrence'' film crew. |
| 202 | ** The late King Hussein was also an enthusiastic aviator, and personally had a hand in the founding of the nation's first aerobatic display team. |
| 203 | ** King Hussein was also an avid ham radio operator, callsign JY1. |
| 204 | * Queen UsefulNotes/ElizabethII was reportedly a big fan of ''Series/DoctorWho''. She was also a WrenchWench (at least during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII). |
| 205 | ** Michael Grade was the only BBC controller to have never been knighted. Grade is also the man most people consider to be responsible of the cancellation of the classic series. Take from that what you will. |
| 206 | ** She was also a techie; at an age (born in ''1926'') where many people have long since stopped keeping pace with new technology, she was an avid [=BlackBerry=] user. It was ''her'' idea to televise her coronation (television then having only one channel that went off the air by the evening and still not as popular as radio), which gained popularity by the coronation. In the 1970s she sent the first email in the UK. She also enjoyed [[http://www.wired.com/gamelife/2008/01/queen-elizabeth/ playing ''Wii Bowling'']]. When Obama first met with her, he considered an iPod to be an appropriate gift for her -- and she already had one. It's not just that: the iPod was ''her'' idea, as she had mentioned that hers was a generation or two out of date. Let the speculation as to whether she and Obama exchanged private numbers begin! |
| 207 | ** She also owned an iPad [[http://nypost.com/2011/05/09/queen-elizabeth-ii-buys-ipad/ since 2011]]. |
| 208 | ** She was also a Music/TheBeatles fan from the first hour. In 1965 the band were also the first music artists to receive a MBE medal. |
| 209 | ** She was also into helicopters as well: a video preceding her arrival in the Olympic Stadium in the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 UsefulNotes/OlympicGames featured a helicopter flying through Tower Bridge. She discovered the helicopter they planned to use would be incapable of doing the stunt and personally recommended the one they did use. |
| 210 | ** Reportedly, on one occasion a special gig by Music/PaulMcCartney was arranged for her birthday, only for the Queen to explain that she couldn't stay for it, as it was time for ''Series/TwinPeaks''. |
| 211 | * Her son King UsefulNotes/CharlesIII is, if anything, an even bigger nerd than his mother. Since his youth he has been a major fan of ''Radio/TheGoonShow'' to the point of making [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfhC587Wiik fan film]] (and doing a very creditable Bluebottle impersonation). Apart from that he is also the highest ranking noble Creator/MontyPython fan. He also went to visit Creator/PeterJackson in New Zealand and got to see the first Film/TheHobbit movie before the rest of the world did. He's also a known RailEnthusiast, and has spent time on the footplate of various steam locomotives, as well as the Royal Train, driving his mum. |
| 212 | * According to Creator/StephenFry's 2014 memoires Princess Diana was a huge fan of ''Series/SpittingImage''. When Prince Charles and Princess Diana were leaving Fry's house after tea one day, the Princess stayed behind for a second and whispered in Fry's ear: "Sorry to leave early, but secretly I'm quite glad. "Spitting Image" is on tonight – I want to watch it in my room. They hate it of course, but I absolutely love it." [[note]] "Spitting Image" was a satirical puppet show lampooning celebrities, among which the British Royal Family. Fun fact: even Di herself wasn't spared, showing that she at least had a sense of self deprecating humour. [[/note]] |
| 213 | * Prince William is also a fan of ''Literature/TheHobbit''. According to Martin Freeman (Bilbo Baggins in the film adaptation), who met the prince, his knowledge about the novel is amazing. |
| 214 | * Elisabeth Bowes-Lyon, aka ''The Queen Mum'', watched ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' a lot. During the ''Who shot J.R.?'' mystery she even met actor Creator/LarryHagman (J.R.) and told him: 'I am not going to ask you who shot you'. Hagman replied: 'I wouldn't say, not even to you, your majesty'." In 2011 her record collection was made public. Among the music she listened to were Montana Slim, {{Ska}}, Creator/NoelCoward, the soundtracks of ''Theatre/{{Oklahoma}}'' and ''Theatre/TheKingAndI'' and comedy records by [[Radio/HancocksHalfHour Tony Hancock]] and Radio/TheGoonShow. [[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/theroyalfamily/8379979/The-Queen-Mothers-regal-taste-in-music.html]] |
| 215 | * Queen Margaretha II of Denmark is a major ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' fan, and has illustrated several editions of the Danish translation. She also studied archaeology when she went to uni, and remains an avid amateur archaeologist. |
| 216 | * King Baudouin and his brother, the later king Albert II of Belgium, learned Dutch by reading ''ComicStrip/{{Nero}}''. Interestingly enough the comic strip's creator Marc Sleen is one of the few Belgian comic strip artists to ever have been knighted. |
| 217 | * Belgian queen Fabiola was a huge fan of Music/{{Abba}}. Which would make her, if the old woman actually danced to their music, a literal "Dancing Queen"! According to count Paul Buysse, who knew her personally, she once seriously wanted to see the band live in London, but palace protocol prevented this. |
| 218 | * The Japanese Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Hirohito}} loved Disney cartoons. He visited Disneyland during his official visit to the United States and received a copy of his personal favorite Disney cartoon ''WesternAnimation/LambertTheSheepishLion'' as a gift. After his death Hirohito was buried wearing a WesternAnimation/MickeyMouse watch. |
| 219 | ** Hirohito's grandson, Naruhito (the emperor of Japan in Reiwa Era), is a fan of ''Series/{{Ultraseven}}'', having grew up watching the show itself. Back in September 2008, he was seen taking photos with the [[https://ameblo.jp/gara999/entry-12484715915.html titular hero himself]]. |
| 220 | * [[TheEmperor Emperor]] Wilhelm II of [[{{Kaiserreich}} Imperial Germany]] had a penchant for war games and dashing uniforms, essentially being both a tabletop nerd and cosplayer before both subcultures even existed. He was also a bit of a tech geek: Wilhelm liked drawing conceptual sketches of warships and buildings and was particularly enthusiastic about the latest technology of the day, such as airships[[note]]He had been technically trained, as the tradition of the House of Hohenzollern dictated every Prince had to learn a manual craft. Wilhelm trained as a machinist.[[/note]] |
| 221 | * Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad in Salman al-Saud said in an interview that he loves playing ''Franchise/Call of Duty'' games to take a break on reality. |
| 222 | [[/folder]] |
| 223 | |
| 224 | [[folder:Religious leaders]] |
| 225 | * A copy of ''[[Recap/TintinTintinInTibet Tintin in Tibet]]'' was once given to the Dalai Lama. He was also photographed reading it. He in return awarded ComicBook/{{Tintin}} with the Truth of Light Award, for making a significant contribution to the public's understanding of Tibet. |
| 226 | * [[UsefulNotes/ThePope Pope John Paul II]] was a soccer player during his youth. His enthusiasm for the sport never waned. In 2004 he met members of the Polish National Football Team and told goal keeper Jerzy Dudek that he was fan of them. He is also the only Pope to ever been made a Honorary Harlem Globetrotter, which happened when the sports team visited the Vatican in 2000. John Paul II is also the first pope to officially release a music album. In 1999 a CD was made, ''Abbà Pater'' (1999), which samples quotes from his speeches over liturgic music. The man was also a huge fan of the German TV detective series ''Series/{{Derrick}}'' and is said to have greatly enjoyed ''Film/TheBluesBrothers''. |
| 227 | * Pope Benedict XVI is a known classical music fan, with his favourite composer being Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart. The irony is not lost with Pope Benedict's affinity for Mozart considering the latter's membership into the Freemasonry, however.[[note]]Though Mozart saw no conflict between the Masonic order and his religious beliefs; Pope Benedict on the other hand issued a letter entitled [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Declaration_on_Masonic_Associations "Declaration on Masonic Associations"]] which sternly warned Catholics who join Masonic organisations are in a state of "grave sin".[[/note]] Pope Benedict himself is also an accomplished pianist, having recorded an album of contemporary classical music in which he sings and recites prayers to the Blessed Virgin Mary. |
| 228 | * Pope Francis is a huge fan of Creator/JRRTolkien (himself a devout Catholic). He has even used ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' in his theology writings. Pope Francis is also a HUGE soccer fan, and his favorite Argentinian team is San Lorenzo de Almagro -- they attributed their 2014 win in the UsefulNotes/CopaLibertadores to him, and later met up with them in the Vatican itself. In 2015 he also became the first Pope to release a ProgressiveRock album, called ''Wake Up!'' It's actually an album made by rock artist Tony Pagliuca which combines audio clips from speeches by Francisus with Gregorian chants and pop rock, but the record was officially approved by the Vatican. |
| 229 | ** He's also hinted at being a fan of the video game ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}''. In 2016, a copy of the game was given to him as a gift by Catholic gaming [=YouTuber=] Creator/MatPat, though as to whether he actually played the game is rather questionable to say the least, and the copy of ''Undertale'' was more of a symbolic gesture of goodwill than anything. Nevertheless, in early 2022, he actually used music from the game in a presentation. |
| 230 | ** He's also a big fan of Music/ElvisPresley. |
| 231 | * Radicial Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr, best known for being a pain in the ass to the US in Iraq, received the derisive nickname "Mullah Atari" in seminary because he was gaming when he should have been studying. |
| 232 | * Reverend and Afro-American civil rights activist UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr. was a fan of ''Series/{{Star Trek|The Original Series}}'', and [[http://scifiwire.com/2010/01/the-true-story-of-how-dr.php even convinced Nichelle "Uhura" Nichols not to quit the show.]], since she was cast in a role that had her as an equal among her crew in a job that wasn't a stereotype. |
| 233 | * Northern Irish reverend and activist Ian Paisley was guest in a 1988 episode of ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' where most of the music he choose was religious choir music, except for a rendition of "Danny Boy" by Robert White and "Bound for Texas Land" by the Killycoogan Accordion Band. |
| 234 | [[/folder]] |
| 235 | |
| 236 | [[folder:Other]] |
| 237 | * The American military regularly makes ''Franchise/StarWars'' allusions. There are projects codenamed "X-wing" and "Death Star." Many soldiers are [[VideoGame/StarWarsRepublicCommando Fandalorians]], to the point of units getting tattoos that say "''vode an''". |
| 238 | *** Common in many western militaries. During the late 80s-early 90s, the one show guaranteed to fill a television lounge on a Canadian base? The newest episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. |
| 239 | * [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZi4JxbTwPo The state legislature of Oregon once rick-rolled their state.]] |
| 240 | * Field Marshal [[{{UsefulNotes/ErwinRommel}} Erwin Rommel]] was an amateur mechanic during his teenage years, dismantled and repaired motorcycles and even built a (hardly) flyable glider. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen He hoped to become an engineer when he grew up]]. |
| 241 | * Field Marshal Erich von Manstein was a passionate [[SmartPeoplePlayChess chess player]] (quite appropriate for [[TheStrategist a strategist]]) and this was his favorite way to relax between battles on the front line. |
| 242 | * During her 2012 appearance on ''Radio/DesertIslandDiscs'' Burmese activist Aung San Suu Kyi choose music by Music/WolfgangAmadeusMozart, Johann Pachelbel, Music/AntoninDvorak, Music/TheBeatles, Music/JohnLennon, Bilat Pyan Than, Mya Gyi and Music/TomJones as her favorites to take with her to a deserted island. |
| 243 | * Field Marshal Sir Alan Brooke - Chief of Staff of the [[{{UsefulNotes/TheBritishEmpire}} British Empire]] in UsefulNotes/WorldWarII - was a renowned ornithologist who even became president of the Zoological Society of London in his post-war years. |
| 244 | * U.S. conservative pundit Glenn Beck has preserved many TV & movie props at his Mercury Studios facility in Las Colinas, Texas (Mercury Studios was once known as The Studios at Las Colinas, and was home to everything from ''Film/{{RoboCop|1987}}'' to ''Series/WalkerTexasRanger'' to ''Series/BarneyAndFriends''). |
| 245 | * Tipper Gore is a huge fan of rock and pop music (ironic, given that she and the Parents Music Resource Center (PMRC) were accused of music censorship for advocating for the placement of ContentWarnings on the covers of albums featuring profane language). She played drums in an all-female band called the Wildcats in high school, and has been a guest performer with The Dead, Music/WillieNelson and Music/HerbieHancock. |
| 246 | * Education advocate and Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai enjoyed the first episode of ''Series/MsMarvel2022'' enough to [[https://www.zoomtventertainment.com/hollywood/malala-yousafzai-thanks-ms-marvel-for-a-young-superhero-whose-powers-connect-to-her-heritage-in-a-heartfelt-letter-article-92074578 send a handwritten letter]] to Creator/DisneyPlus praising the show, especially in its portrayal of a Pakistani Muslim heroine whose life reflects that heritage. |
| 247 | [[/folder]] |
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