I was going to watch the State of the Union speech the other week, honest I was, but I have this new policy of only screaming into my pillow once a day, so it didn’t pan out.

Instead, I figured I’d watch some cartoons, but even there I ran into the fundamental problem of our age: Everything reminds me of Himself. Pepe Le Pew: Donald Trump. Wile E. Coyote: Donald Trump. Foghorn Leghorn: Well, you get the idea.

So instead I streamed the new BBC/Amazon version of “King Lear.” Surely, I thought, Shakespeare’s tragedy would provide me with the escape I needed, although to be honest whenever I see Anthony Hopkins I start getting the traditional heebie-jeebies about fava beans and Chianti. “The Silence of the Lambs,” alas, is one of the most transphobic films ever made, but what the heck: I’d try to look past this, if only Sir Anthony would help me forget that a man who cannot spell “unprecedented” is the leader of the free world.

(And don’t @ me about how much you love “The Silence of the Lambs.” If you were a transgender person, you would feel different.)