Hillary Clinton's 'Westworld' moment
Amid all the bombastic conflict on display at the second presidential debate Sunday night, there was this instance of pop culture crossover: A fly landed on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton’s face.
It might have passed unnoticed if not for it perfectly echoing the heavily advertised opening scene HBO’s Westworld, a drama which also airs on Sunday nights.
Like the show’s abused robotic “host” protagonist Dolores, Clinton did not flinch or react in any way to the insect — prompting a swarm of Hillary Clinton-is-a-robot jokes on Twitter:
That fly didn't help the #Hillary Robot conspiracy theory. #debate #westworld
— Manny Hagopian (@MannyHagopian) October 10, 2016
Anyone notice how Clinton didn't flinch when the fly landed on her? Anyone watch Westworld? They don't flinch either. THE ROBOTS ARE HERE
— William F. Aicher ✍️ (@BillAicher) October 10, 2016
Etc. Hillary is not an android host, of course — hosts don’t get pneumonia, after all — but she did stick to her programmed talking points in the face of Trump’s accusations and taunts during Sunday’s event. HBO, meanwhile, released its second episode of Westworld early last week to avoid getting swatted in the ratings by the heavily anticipated second debate (though early Nielsen numbers suggest it won’t be another record setter).
RELATED: Your Burning Westworld Questions Answered
For our Westworld episode 2 coverage: Here’s our deep-dive recap and our interview with the showrunners.
