It doesn't take much for it to whet my appetite. A dollop. A bite. I like a light or heavy serving. It can be plated as a sitcom or miniseries, dressed up as a comedy or drama. It can come with a side of reality or documentary. It can be junk, it can be sweet, it can be spicy. As long as it grabs my attention, I'll gobble it up. I consume it in gigabytes. It is the only time I can use the word "I" and "marathon" in the same sentence. I savour some like a fine meal. Sure the books, magazines, on my nightstand mock me. I just don't care. Television is one of the loves of my life. It tastes heavenly - when it gets it right.
Of course, I wouldn't be writing this if TV hadn't screwed up recently. You see, I was at a cocktail party a week ago when a stranger upon finding out that both my husband and I work(ed) in politics, asked me a really, really, silly question. She said, "Oh man, I just started watching House of Cards. Are you like Frank and Claire?" Pause. Rewind. "I just started watching House of Cards. Are YOU LIIKKEEE FRANNKKK AND CLAIREEE?" [Pan to face] Really? I was outraged. After a few G&Ts, I thought about it and the more I thought about the comment and the more I shot back the gin. I finally came to a realization... [end scene]
Television has completely sandbagged doctors, lawyers, cops, spies, terrorists, athletes, and now politicians. How? you say. Simple. I know that you know that TV is not reality. I know that majority of the population wants to believe that TV is not reality but we can't help it. Sometimes we fall victim to the way television grants us access to a world that we don't know anything about. I mean, tell me you haven't made the mistake of asking a doctor or lawyer friend if their life is anything like ER or Ally McBeal. Clearly, I've been guilty of that (a few times). So, I couldn't in good conscious chastise this woman for asking me a question about a world she has no idea about. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and educate you, dear reader, about what you see on TV and what actually takes place in reality. [Freeze Frame]
When TV Gods decide to pick your professional pursuit as the subject of a television show, something magical happens. It's like overnight, millions of people suddenly "get" you and "get" your world. In reality, it's really a relief that your mom can finally tell her girlfriends what you do. [Cue Mom] "Yeah, she is just like Jackie on that show, she runs after a politician. We are so proud of her." Of course, House of Cards is not the first show about politics. In fact, television has given plenty of air time to it. Usually, the shows fall into one of three categories. First, comedy, where all characters are portrayed as dimwits unable to tie their shoes let alone run government. VEEP, The Thick of It, Spin City. Second, aspirational drama, where all the characters are bordering on being anointed as saints with incredibly high moral standards and an unwavering commitment to doing good, just to do good. The West Wing, The Newsroom, Commander in Chief. Third, dark drama, where all characters are the polar opposites of above. They are usually morally bankrupt, easily corruptible mad-geniuses that enter politics perhaps to do good but once they taste power, they worship the devil. House of Cards (UK & US), Scandal, Boss. I'm not an expert [I just play one on TV], but I have spent significant amount of time in politics - as a volunteer, as a junior assistant, as an advance person, as a strategic adviser So, I am speaking with some knowledge and understanding of that world. I am giving you a "behind-the-scenes" look at what it's really like in there!
Politics is an Olympic sport. It attracts the ambitious, the engaged as well as the bright-eyed and bushy tailed. It requires drive, tenacity, focus and most of all, commitment - to an ideology, to a view of the world, to a set of values. It underpays, overworks. It opens eyes to what's possible. It gives you experiences you can't get anywhere else. It builds thick skin. It turns that bright-eyed and bushy tailed into a skilled negotiator, event planner, speechwriter, policy director, media doctor, or a wagon master. It introduces you to people that think like you, work like you, eat and drink like you. It creates bonds - sometimes unbreakable. Like an Olympic athlete, it expects a gold medal from you - every four years and if you don't bring home the gold, it kicks you to the curb. Sometimes with your reputation taking a few hits. It is a dynamic, ever-changing, complex environment that relies as much on smarts as wit, as much on street smarts as book smarts. It is a place where I met people with the biggest hearts and brains, working unthinkable hours to change their neighborhoods, communities and country. This is sounding like the aspirational drama right? Yes. There is definitely an element of that but it isn't all the people, all the time.
I'm sure you've heard that politics makes strange bedfellows among other things. It makes strange period. It requires a sense of humor unlike any other environment because if you can't laugh at the sheer insanity, you will go insane. It inevitably leads to a comedy of errors, misunderstandings, clarifications. It brings people together to eat, drink, drink, drink, drink and [immediately following the drinking, make hilariously terrible decisions that impact personal lives]. It takes you on the road where your suitcase becomes the only reminder of home - for weeks. Planes, trains and automobiles become your norm. It throws you to parts of the world you never anticipated and attend events that can only be talked about over drinks. It gives you some of the best lines you'll ever hear. It makes you laugh, cry, shake with fear (generally of F'ing up). This is sounding like a comedy right? Yes. There is definitely an element of the comedic but it isn't all the people, all the time.
It does attract (on occasion) the power-hungry. It chooses to give voice and profile to the egotistical and pamper the narcissist. It pits you against a dirty player and make you want to quit a million times only to say, "you can check out any time you like but you never leave." It can make you obsessive, sometimes narrow minded. It tests you. It outlasts you. It damages your reputation unexpectedly, unnecessarily. It isn't always fair and it isn't always nice. It yells, screams, torments you. And it reminds you that, you're replaceable. This is sounding like a dark drama right? Yes. There is definitely an element of the comedic but it isn't all the people, all the time.
You see, it isn't none of the above. It's all of the above. While television can never come close to capturing the energy that exists between the walls and halls of political offices, it can give you a sense of that world. Sometimes too mundane and at times too unrealistic for TV (when in fact, it is entirely realistic), it is a beast. In all my years there, I laughed more than I cried. I met people full of heart more so then people full of themselves. I never saw the kind of evil that Frank and Claire Underwood display in House of Cards but to be fair, found the Jed Bartlet-type rare. It's a world that has a splash of the dark and a dash of the aspirational but it best comes to life when it's a comedy... That's why I say, Selina Meyer for President.
Until next time,
Serda