Morgan Freeman playing Congressman Martin Trumbul give the impression of an experienced and qualified man taking charge and control of the worst possible situation. As the authoritative speaker of the House in Olympus Has Fallen, the speaker is an excellent type of a representative character (Ying and Kuo, 127). This paper aims at exposing the elements of Martin Trumbul's character that support his representative role.
Representative character
According to Ying and Kuo, a representative character embodies traits that represent a specified group. Martin Trumbul's action to take over command in time of crisis portrays him as the last final alternative that the nation relies on rather than the next in command. Without military experience, the speaker relies on his instincts rather than skills in commanding and securing battles. With a long career as a congressman, Trumbul is a popular politician who defends the rights and privileges of the public. His ideas of saving the day with a bloodless solution is a more acceptable alternative to the public than for instance, the general (who opts for firing at the terrorist to secure the situation). In the crisis room, Trumbul is a symbol of the people who have no idea about secret government armory and operations. His decisions are not theoretical (by the book) but emotional and considerate.
replacing the president and vice president
The position of speaker guarantees Trumbul the acquisition of ultimate power with death of the vice president (and the president in captivity). As the third most powerful man and within a heart-beat to the presidency, Trumbul takes control and makes wise yet difficult and costly decisions to save the president and secure the governments operation in Asia. Acting president Trumbul assumes power according to the constitution and does not expose any weakness in his character or waiver in his strict decisions on behalf of the nation and national security.
With only one efficient man, the stand-in president has a one-man-army to rely on delivering the desirable results from an almost impossible situation. However, the general insists on contradicting tactics such as to employ military action without considering negotiating with the terrorists. The enemy is headed by an intelligent master-mind who beats the general (Robin Foster) in every move he attempts causing more harm and making the decision more delicate. Mr. Trumbul finds himself responsible for shouldering the consequences of his decisions and takes full control of the chiefs of intelligence.
Ordinary person
As a seasoned Congressman, Martin Trumbul is a veteran politician with many years of experience and leadership skills. However, with the risky decisions that determine the future of the Country on his shoulders, he needs to protect his country from the most dangerous threat imaginable but cannot rely on his political experience. Instead, he requires intelligence, wisdom, instinct and prompt reaction to control the situation (that is out of hands by the time he is in charge).
Average character
He is not an extremist (Ying and Kuo, 127). The desperate situation does not drive him to make the most desperate decisions. He is not the best man in the room (in terms of experience and intelligence in handling such matters) but considers their suggestions and makes the appropriate of decisions. Even with the delicate matter requiring desperate decisions, the speaker manages to compose himself and address the nation to calm their nerves and assure them of the security's upper hand in the matter. He does not react with emotion and rage towards the ruthless Koreans. He is, therefore, not the worst nor is he the best character in the Olympus has fallen. He does not carry the day nor does he let down the efforts to secure the White house. It easy to forget about all about him once everything comes back to normal.
“Get me some coffee. Half and half. Three sweet'n lows. In a real cup. Not one of those paper or Styrofoam things”
Once composed and ready to take matters in his own hands (coming to terms with his role) and with full knowledge of their consequences, Trumbul says;
“I want to speak with the premier of North Korea on a secure line. After that I want to speak with the Russians, the Chinese, the British, and the French. And set up a press conference. In that order.”
These instructions and the tone of his voice give all the stake-holders confidence and trust in him. As a viewer, I felt relieved hoping some good will come of it. At some point, however, accepting the general's advice causes more harm in an ugly and upsetting loss of soldiers in the mission. This leads to Trumbul opting to rely on his one-man-army in the inside of the White House (who had qualified to earn the speaker's trust from his exploits and leads).
Work cited
Li, Ying, and C.-C J. Kuo. Video Content Analysis Using Multimodal Information: For Movie Content Extraction, Indexing and Representation. Boston [u.a.: Kluwer, 2003. Print.
