Donald Trump is like Tinkerbell. Yep, I know you're rolling your eyes right now, because–let's face it, y'all–everyone's vision of Tinkerbell comes from the Disney film Peter Pan. We all remember how the sassy little pixie would flit around, sabotaging Wendy and vying for Pan's love. But that's just it: she's a total attention seeker, and so is Trump. After all, he is only where he is today thanks to the focus of the media. While staying with my grandmother, a fellow Liberal, in Washington this summer, we often spent our mornings researching what sort of remarks Trump had in store for the day. "Another day, another lie or publicity stunt," my grandma would sigh. It was later, in my conversation with my therapist, that I first compared Trump to Tinkerbell. The therapist, though trying not to expose political bias, guffawed upon hearing this and asked me to elaborate, which–being forever the "info-dumper," as my mom says–I totally did. Knowing that I'm a writer, the therapist encouraged me to write about Trump suffering from Tinkerbell Syndrome. So here we are! Grab your pixie dust and ironic "Make America Great Again" hats, because this is probably the funniest (and most disheartening) comparison you've ever heard.

First, it's important to realize that before there was the cartoon we all know and love with its cute tunes (well, maybe "What Makes the Red Man Red" isn't too cute) and frontier-justice-loving crocodile, there was the classic stage play that it was based on. Peter Pan; or, The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up was written by the Scotsman J.M. Barrie, and it debuted in London on December 27, 1904. It was a massive hit, so much so that Barrie published the story in novel format, since the story was quickly becoming a fairy tale classic. Peter and Wendy was published in 1911 and continues to rest upon bookshelves all over the world.

In the novel, Barrie writes, "Children know a lot now. Soon they don't believe. And every time a child says, 'I don't believe in fairies,' there's a fairy someplace that falls down dead." The life of a fairy depends entirely on whether it is in the active thoughts of people. That is, you have to be consistently giving the topic of whether fairies exist or not adequate amount of attention. To not believe in something would remove the person's obligation to pay attention. Fairies, it would seem, want to be looked upon and speculated, or else they perish. Tinkerbell, being a fairy, bears the burden of constantly seeking people who will give her the time of day.

In the play, as Tinkerbell finds herself in the throes of dying after drinking poison intended for Peter Pan, Peter actually addresses the audience, breaking the fourth wall, asking them to keep Tinkerbell alive by "believing in her," since only belief in fairies would work as an antidote for the poison. To express their belief, the audience is asked to applaud loudly and heartily. Naturally, the clapping causes Tinkerbell to rise from her sickly-looking position, and she is rejuvenated and radiant once again. This scene is very famous, because crowd participation during a staged drama allows one to feel like they are "a part of the show/story."

Donald Trump seems to have taken a note from the stage-version of Tinkerbell. He is quite the "ham," in love with being on TVs from coast to coast. He was, after all, a reality show host for years. The same bravado he possessed in Celebrity Apprentice is further channeled when he takes to the microphone to make his opinions crystal clear. Wearing those nice, high-end suits with his "Make America Great Again" hat, he goes from public event to public event, making himself a spectacle and making sure that no one can possibly steal his thunder. His energy, like Tinkerbell's, is bolstered by the raving masses who turn up at his big-stadium rallies. As you can see in the following video from the Alex Jones Channel, the events draw an alarming amount of supporters, enough to surprise the conservative Alex Jones, even. Not to mention, you hear enthusiastic quips from these supporters. "Hillary for Prison" is a very common one, and I've often seen it on t-shirts.

Trump's supporters no doubt hang on every word he says, viewing him as a savior for a broken nation. They respond positively to his claims that he will build a wall on the border, and such feedback from thousands upon thousands of adoring fans is like a drug for Trump. It keeps him going as he continues to jet from city to city in order to gather even more devotees. It's like a never-ending cycle, one where he gorges himself on the attention that Americans from all different walks of life are giving him. And he is only growing stronger, like Tinkerbell after she is saved by the audience.

It's not just the positive stuff that keeps the Donald running, though. Plenty of people are disgusted by his racist claims, particularly the one that affirms that the majority of Mexicans entering the country are "rapists" who are bringing crime to our streets (Huffington Post). Such generalizations of people are disgusting to anyone with a heart, and it makes sense that people are expressing their dislike of the source of these comments. But when we discuss Trump's outbursts, we are still giving him publicity. Every day, it seems, CNN hosts what I call a "Trump Blunder Corner," where they talk about what Trump did wrong, like saying that the people of Scotland were enthusiastic about Brexit when in truth they were not (New York Times). Trump is easily the most discussed figure on the news today, which boosts him even more. It matters not if the attention is good or bad, because "all publicity is good publicity" to him and puts him higher in the polls.

The most ridiculous thing about Trump, though, is that he has created truth out of falsities, simply because enough people are engaging with him and believing what he says. He famously said that he saw Muslims cheering on 9/11, but that has been debunked by several journalists (The Guardian). What's more is that he refuses to withdraw the statement, even though a quick jaunt over to Snopes.com will reveal it to be a lie. Most liberals I know are not fooled by such statements, but others are so fueled by fear and a need for a crisis and drama that they will wholeheartedly believe it. Like Tinkerbell, the belief instills vitality, and the lies become a living, breathing truth so long as they are believed.

So yes, Donald Trump is basically a human form of J.M. Barrie's attention-starved fairy. Like a vampire with blood, he latches on to attention and suckles at it in order that he may suckle so more. To ignore Donald would be to ruin him and to "kill" him, so to speak. He has become so much more than just a mere man because all of America's collective eyes are focused on his image upon the TV screen. If we are seeking to stop him from becoming the Leader of the Free World, we must first decide to not to feed his monstrous need for constant observation.