PP Proposal: Greg Stillson from The Dead Zone (Film)

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Another candidate from the Stephen King universe? Interesting. The Stephen King universe really does have many candidates.

Note: This proposal is from his version of the film, not the book.

What’s the Work?

Dead Zone is a film based on the book of the same name by Stephen King. The film is about John Smith, who suffers a car accident and remains in a coma for almost five years. When he wakes up, he discovers he has the ability to have precognitive visions by touching people. He uses this to stop a serial killer and a dangerous politician.

Who's the Candidate?

Greg Stilson is the film's main antagonist. He's a narcissistic scoundrel who will do anything to become President of the United States. He proves even more dangerous in Smith's vision of the future when he touches him.

What Makes Him Pathetic?

Initially he appears to be a man of the people, but he is nothing more than a narcissist with a messiah complex who believed it was his destiny to become President and makes it clear that he will not let anyone stop him.
He invades the office of a reporter who was about to publish a negative story about him, he blackmails him and forces him to drop the story. Soon after, he claims that if he defied him, he had Sonny beat him up.
In Smith's vision of the future, he initiates a nuclear war without Congressional approval, unnecessarily committing mass genocide. He ignores the General who states that this action will make them both go down in history as the greatest and worst mass murderers, and forces him to obey. Soon after, the Vice President appears, stating that they have found a diplomatic solution, but it is too late because the missiles have already been launched.
When Johnny Smith tries to shoot him, he cowardly uses a baby as a shield to protect himself, giving Sonny time to kill Smith. After Sonny refuses to go after the journalist who took the picture of the incident, he decides to go after the journalist himself.
His suicide scene is not interpreted sympathetically, since instead of trying to fix his mistakes and be a better person, he decides that if he can't be president then there's nothing left to live for.

What Makes Him a Pinhead?

He lacks charisma or manipulation, and if he does have any, it's superficial. He only deceives people because he's a politician who makes empty speeches and promises, only doing good deeds to win votes. Besides, he wasn't alone and had help from others like Sonny.
His launching the nuclear missiles was an idiotic and unnecessary move, since this action possibly caused a nuclear war that could have destroyed the earth or caused horrible consequences for the planet. Instead, he should have waited for the vice president to arrive to hear about a diplomatic solution. Furthermore, his action would obviously be associated with him, and he couldn't deny or disguise his destructive action.
He uses a baby as a shield to protect himself from Johnny Smith's gunfire in front of everyone, including the journalists, which causes his downfall since one of the journalists takes the photo that ruins his career. This could have been avoided if he had thought of another way to defend himself.

Preventions/Mitigating Factors/Freudian Excuse?

Unlike his book version, he doesn't possess redeeming qualities, sympathy, or any Freudian excuse. In the film, he's a disgusting sociopath who committed genocide because it was his "destiny," as explained before.

He's not charismatic or a master manipulator. He's practically a realistic politician; he only deceives people with empty promises, and anything good he does or says is just to win votes. This doesn't require much intelligence since, apparently, the people in this film are idiots for easily believing Greg's lies. He also hardly would have succeeded without the help of his right-hand man Sonny and relies on dirty tricks.

Stupid enough? I don't know about you, but I don't think it's sensible to start a possible nuclear war without considering other alternatives, since obviously a nuclear war has the potential to destroy our planet or something close to it. As explained before, his action would be easily brought to justice, since this idiot doesn't even deny what he did. Lastly, he thinks it's a good idea to use a baby as a shield in front of everyone, which makes everyone see what he's really like.

Final Verdict

Yes to that narcissistic imbecile. But what do you think?