'Gotham' mayoral race is basically a riff on the Trump campaign
"Make Gotham great again."
An approving crowd cheered for Gotham star Robin Lord Taylor as he remixed The Donald's campaign slogan at the show's New York Comic Con panel. Taylor's Penguin is running for mayor, and his candidacy, entailing a villain running for office, feels like a reflection of the real world.
"At this rate, Penguin looks pretty freaking good," Taylor joked. "Wouldn't you say?
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"I think the Gotham writers are writing our actual reality right now, and that's probably the scariest thing you could possibly imagine."
Penguin's mayoral run is shaping up to be a major plotline in the show's third season. From the little we've seen so far, Penguin is capitalizing on the public's emotional distress to turn it against his more experienced opponent.
Sound familiar?
"He tries to present himself as he thinks a candidate should look," Taylor said. "There is a certain homage to a certain candidate who is out there which is entirely intentional."
Taylor then pointed out that the show's flirtation with commentary is nothing new for comics. From the early days of Batman and Superman pushing back against fears over the rise of organized crime to Marvel's more recent metaphoric forays into intolerance and social justice, Gotham is just a new voice in the mix.
"Our show is like any comic book in that the stories are written to reflect the times in which we live," Taylor said. "Comic books are written with that idea in mind, the social climate. So our show is reflecting that."
The panel moved on to other topics at that point, but Trump came up again after actress Erin Richards, who arrived late and missed Taylor's earlier Trump talk, laid into the GOP candidate on her own.
"Did everybody hear what he said on Friday about women?" she asked. "It's embarrassing."
Taylor then mulled over what would happen if Penguin found himself speaking privately while a hot mic a la Trump.
Taylor laughed. "If Penguin was caught on a hot mic, he wouldn't say anything nearly as vulgar or disgusting."
Richards nodded her head in agreement, adding, "Nothing could be as bad as what that man has said."
She then launched into a full-on anti-Trump stump speech for Hillary.
"Please, please, please vote Hillary. Please. Please vote Hillary. For the world. Please. For me. I can't vote. I wish I could vote. I can't vote. Britain is behind you if you vote Hillary. Though I don't know what we're doing at the moment, I apologize for Brexit."
Trump came up one final time, late in the panel, when a fan asked the Gotham stars what they would write if they had control of the GOP candidate's Twitter feed.
For Taylor, it was: "I'm sorry for making a mockery of the United States. I'm sorry for being embarrassing. I'm sorry. I'm ashamed. That's what I would say."
And for Richards: "I am removing myself from the presidential race. And from all races. I'm removing myself from the Earth."
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
