ME NO LIKEE

If there wasn't enough dividing the Clinton and Trump supporters already, Facebook's recent analysis of their pop-culture "likes" makes it appear they're not only not on the same page politically, they're not even living in the same country. The only thing they share is their brain-melting predictability.

Take pop music. Of the five acts listed, Hillary has named four of them as her favorites, leading me to speculate that she took a poll first. Note the neighboring states voting for the Beatles, who cut their first record 54 years ago. Imagine LBJ fans in 1964 naming The Peerless Quartet as their favorite band, and you'll understand why millennials are sick of baby boomers.


The overwhelming majority of Trump fans, on the other hand, rock out to right-wing lunatic Ted Nugent, whose last hit single charted during the Carter presidency. Not surprisingly, most of the other performers are country singers, while rapper Eminem is the favorite of most of the Northeast. (Angry white guy -- who'd have thought?) What makes these two diagrams identical, however, is that they're so goddamn boring. Has no one heard of Steve Gunn, Lizz Wright, John Grant, Nicole Atkins, Elbow, Jessie Kilguss, Noisettes, Marissa Nadler, Richard Hawley, Nick Lowe... Get with it, people! There's life outside of Top Fucking 40! 

So it's kind of a relief to see that when it comes to actors, the Clinton crowd, instead of going for, say, George Clooney, are almost 100% for George Takei. Their love is not necessarily for his role as Sulu on Star Trek or voice-over work on Bubble Guppies, but instead his witty, elegant public persona. (He's the Noel Coward of gay Asian males.) Second place Jada Pinkett Smith is best known for throwing a hissy fit when her husband, Will Smith, didn't get an Oscar nomination last year for a performance nobody liked in a movie that flopped. 

Trump fans, however, love them some Adam Sandler, whose reception from critics and fans alike has gone from appreciated to abhorred. Coming in a close second is John Wayne, who hasn't twirled a gun since 1979. Don't these people have movie theatres or cable? Rounding up the list with a lowly two states is born-again evangelical Kirk Cameron, who, until Scott Baio's recent appearance at the GOP convention, was everyone's favorite washed-up child star punchline. 

When it comes to movies, there's something wonderfully ironic about Hillary supporters voting overwhelmingly for Harry Potter, whose lead character practices witchcraft and rides around on a broomstick. Don't tell me they don't have a sense of humor! 

To my surprise, only three states in Trump world went for American Sniper. I thought they were big on guns. However, if Hillary wins, their top choice, God's Not Dead, will suddenly ring woefully hollow. On the other hand, if Trump wins, the Dems will be shouting the third Repub choice, Jackass, while suffering from the second, The Hangover. One way or another, their respective aftereffects will be fun to watch.

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