The Real Washington: Where Idealism Goes to Die

Vanity Fair has published a number of articles over the last couple years about how the depiction of Washington on television has changed drastically since Aaron Sorkin’s Capra-esque series The West Wing went off the air in 2006. For seven years, The West Wing made loyal viewers feel good about politics, about the change and good a president like Jed Bartlet could make, even though it was nothing like the real Washington. Nope. The series spanned the two terms George W. Bush served, and Bush and his staff were far from Bartlet’s, least of all because they were Republicans.

 What Aaron Sorkin gave us was the President we deserved—religious but not blinded by faith, principled, could read Latin, won the Nobel Prize for economics—but for some reason couldn’t have. Much like the classic films of Frank Capra, Sorkin made the political corruption that engulfs Washington apparent by showing us people who really cared about democracy and “being good” as opposed to “looking good.” And people loved this, especially young people who tend to be more optimistic and believe they can work to build a country they believe in and are proud of.

 Jed Bartlet, Josh Lyman, Sam Seaborn et al. inspired people of my age group to go into politics (I, myself, wanted to be a speech writer like Sam Seaborn). The only problem was that it was a fictional Washington we were all looking to enter into. A few friends of mine began as Political Science majors in college only to become jaded by it, realizing that politics was all about numbers and twisting them to say whatever you want them to (“Damn Lies and Statistics!”). People I knew who interned in Washington did not describe anyone they worked with as being like the idealistic cast of characters on The West Wing, and I started reading articles and accounts by people who got jobs in the White House only to find that no one on the staff had the sense of humor the one in Sorkin’s script had, and that they couldn’t just have Chinese food delivered when they were working late.

The depiction of Washington on television today is obviously meant to appeal to a more jaded audience, to an audience that no longer wants to watch shows about a Washington that could never be. Instead, shows like Scandal and Homeland expose the seedy underbelly beneath the stately surface. Today we see a Washington that is more believable, which, as it turns out, makes for some great and addicting television.

HBO’s hit series Veep, which finished its second season this year, shows what it is like to be a woman in the White House, particularly one who is in a position of power. Of course the obvious joke made throughout the entire series is that the Vice President (VEEP) has no power, and almost all Vice Presidents in history have been barred from the office of the Presidency: the office of VEEP prevents one from rising to POTUS. And this is the perfect metaphor for Selina Meyer (Julia Louis-Dreyfus doing her best comedic work), for many women in Washington. A woman being elected President would symbolize equality between the sexes, but allowing women to rise no further than VP is trapping them in a position where they have a title, but the man above them holds all the power.

To me, it seems that it’s kind of like saying “let’s give her this so she doesn’t want that.” It’s a way of keeping a woman in her “place.” And we see a lot of this in Veep. Granted it’s hilarious watching her flip-outs and freak outs and PMS rages and listening to her say “fuck” every two seconds (it’s especially great when she calls Jonah names like “Jolly Green Jizz Face”), but the show attempts to depict the microscopic scrutiny Selina is under. Her appearance is vitally important. If she wears a hat she has to worry about hat hair, she has to smile the right way, and, above all, she has to always look pretty or risk the media dumping all over her. And in the age of Twitter, smart phones, and other social media, everything Selina does is easily taken out of context and goes viral on the internet (“You’re a meme, mam.”). In “The Vic Allen Dinner” episode where there is a dinner party that seems to be some sort of political roast/talent show, Selina has two staff members, Dan and Mike, write her a parody of “50 Ways to Lose a Lover” called “50 Ways to Win in Denver,” which is full of political truisms that are attributed to the senior strategist to the President (quite the douchebag). The song kills at the dinner, but Jonah, the White House liaison to the VP office, decides to put it on YouTube, and suddenly all of Europe is upset with Selina for certain remarks she makes about the continent in the song. This is an example not only of how dangerous social media is, but also of how sensitive people tend to be.

Selina’s fight is, mainly, to be taken seriously. POTUS (who we never see) and his staff seem to always be trying to keep her out of the loop or stick her with really shitty assignments, like heading a coalition to fight obesity. In one episode there is a mission to rescue American hostages from Uzbekistan, and the VEEP, unable to physically be in the situation room, takes part in the rescue mission via webcam. The rescue mission was successful, but unfortunately for Selina the photograph of the event selected (by the senior strategist) to release to the press featured Selina glancing down at her cell phone (it was a harmless, vain glance at a picture that was taken of her). Of course once in the hands of internet nerds and skilled photoshoppers, the image of Selina looking at her phone during a hostage rescue mission (it looked like she was tweeting) became a meme: there were images of Selina looking at her phone during a tsunami, Christ’s Crucifixion, and the moon landing.

 All Selina’s plans seem to backfire, and even the slightest mistakes she makes are picked up because people are looking for them. There are some feminist observations that need to be made, here. One of these is focusing on her role as a mother. In a “puff piece” interview, Selina’s daughter Catherine is asked questions about her childhood and the type of upbringing she had from her divorced parents. Sure, Selina has no idea that her daughter is a vegetarian, but the way she raised Catherine should not be a reflection of the way she runs a country, something that is not expected of a man. Another observation is that a man, most likely, doesn’t really have to worry about being felt up by the Finnish Prime Minister’s husband, which Selina was when she went to Helsinki to sign a software agreement. This is completely disrespecting a woman no matter what her title, but in this case the Prime Minister’s husband made the assumption that the title can be disregarded because she is a woman.

 Selina is fully aware that because she doesn’t have a dick she doesn’t have as much power in Washington. Following the groping incident with the Finn, her chief of staff Amy (Anna Chlumsky) decides it needs to be kept secret or else it would be all she was remembered for. Yep. It would probably become another internet meme. But Amy says this very matter-of-factly, and Selina is in full agreement. There is no paving the way for women. Working in Washington is all about accepting that it’s a man’s world and running with that. To work there means sacrificing your family, relationships, morals, principles.

 But there really is no feminist take on Veep. I can point out all the examples of scrutiny she receives because she’s a woman or the lack of power she has for the same reason, but the fact of the matter is that Selina Meyer and all her staff is as ruthless and shameless as someone has to be to work in Washington. They are all terrible people who have sacrificed their morals (if they ever had any) to get ahead. Because it’s all about getting ahead, about beating the other guy (or gal). There is no loyalty or putting the American people first.

 This season of Veep ended with Selina finding out that POTUS was not going to seek reelection and deciding that she is going to run on her own ticket. Season 3 will tell if in a more believable fictional Washington a woman can become President, but I’m not sure that it would mean anything, after all. Selina Meyer has proved that she lacks a conscience or any real moral fiber, which means she’s the same as anyone else in Washington.

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