What Would "Matilda" Be Up to Today? Staring Down Donald Trump, Apparently

Welcome to the #resistance, Matilda.

If Matilda were around in 2018—and, you know, real—would she stand-up to the American President?

Fans of Roald Dahl’s beloved book reckon she would. In fact, a public survey by the Roald Dahl Story Company asked readers what they thought Matilda would be doing in the present day, and 42 per cent said 'standing up to Donald Trump'.

LOOK: To celebrate 30 years since Welsh author Roald Dahl's book 'Matilda' was published, a statue of her staring down President @realDonaldTrump has been unveiled near where the author used to live in #Buckinghamshire #CapitalReports pic.twitter.com/YlqhUoplzG

— CapitalSWales News (@capitalswanews) October 1, 2018

Twenty-nine per cent say she would have also been knighted by now.

To commemorate the results, released on the 30th anniversary of the book’s publication on 1 October 1988, a statue of pint-sized Matilda facing off against a distended-looking Donald Trump has been erected in Buckinghamshire, where Dahl lived for 36 years before his death.

Meanwhile, the book’s illustrator, Sir Quentin Blake, has provided new pictures of a 30-year-old Matilda, showing her as a world traveller, academic, Hollywood special effects supervisor and literature-lover.

Mara Wilson, who played Matilda in the 1996 movie adaptation, also got in on the B’day fun, reflecting for Vanity Fair about being the real-world avatar for this iconic feminist creation.

"She was 'born' the year after I was—1988—but in many ways, she’s been like a big sister: someone I have admired, someone I have aspired to be like, and at times, someone I have resented," she writes.

"On some level, she’s an archetype, beloved and widely appreciated. On another, I feel as if we have a unique connection—that I am one of the privileged few who really understands her."

You can read the whole thing here.

So, many happy returns, Matilda. We hope someone baked her a big chocolate cake.

Header Image: Facebook (RoaldDahl) & iStock.com/Boogich