A Tale of Two Shows: What The West Wing and House of Cards Tell Us About the Modern Political Climate By Aryan Deorah Staff Writer Oftentimes, what makes a TV show exceptional is its ability to draw similarities between the fictional characters, plot, and atmosphere to the viewer’s personal reality. These qualities are what made both Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing and Beau Willimon’s House of Cards award-winning shows with massive fan bases and references ingrained into pop-culture. The two shows address many of the same hot subjects in American politics: White supremacy, terrorism, gridlock, greed, abortion, war, and more. However, they address these subjects in vastly different ways. The West Wing spun things in a positive light: when one of these issues appeared, the main characters followed the principle of good governance and acted in the best interest of the American people. House of Cards took an opposite view: it depicted people acting solely in their best interests and doing whatever it takes to win, scraping the bottom of the barrel in regards to morals and corruption. For many, the separation is distinct between what people binge on Netflix and the nightly news; however, these shows are a reflection of the world they were made in and continue to shape attitudes towards the American political system. They influence our desires about the world we want to live in as well as our fears about the ones we live in now. Jed Bartlett and Frank Underwood may not be real, but the personas they evoke certainly are. Right off the bat, The West Wing starts on an uplifting note. The opening theme manages to convey the importance of the decision making that takes place in the White House while making viewers patriotic. Much of the show focuses on the cheerful relationships between the White House staff as they deal with the daily buzz of American politics. All the characters crack light humor and enjoy their jobs, viewing the embetterment of the American people as their sacred duty. When they have disagreements, they tend to
work them out in a civil manner through maintaining an open dialogue. The West Wing ran from 1999 to 2006 and directly commented on the major events and wissues of the era, from increasing partisanship to terror threats in a post Cold War America. In the show, despite setbacks and challenges, logical reasoning and progressive values reign supreme. One of the best examples of the show working to diffuse social tensions and unite Americans was the first episode of season three--the first one to air after 9/11. In the episode, during a lockdown in the White House, Deputy Chief of Staff Josh Lyman instructed a group of school children on religious extremism, emphasizing the point that Al-Queda is not representative of Islam as a whole. The show directly comments on how AQ is to Islam what the KKK is to Christianity and acknowledges that white nationalism is a far greater threat to Americans than Islamic terrorist groups. The show was a product of a different era in American politics, one in which polarization was not great enough to prevent social and political progress. Politicians could work together across the aisle and reach compromises for the betterment of the American people. The show featured multiple examples of bipartisanship, from a Democrat choosing a Republican as Secretary of State, to a Republican Speaker of the House service as acting President when the President’s daughter is kidnapped, to both parties working together to save Social Security from its eventual failure. In each of these scenarios, politicians put their country over their party, and when they did, they were able to effectively deal with challenging situations. As we live in a time where partisanship grows worse and politicians seem to care only about one thing, themselves, many liberals look to the West Wing as a source of comfort. When people are fed up with their reality, it is often nice to take a step back and pretend that Jed Bartlett is out there, fighting for what is best for us. His collective presence in our minds encourages us to believe that we can have a better future and a
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