To be continued

Seven series that help to understand American politics

The turns of the current election campaign in the United States are increasingly reminiscent of the political series: the party convinces Biden to leave, Trump barely experiences the assassination attempt (the bullet hurts his ear!), Bayden is removed in favor of Kamaly Harris, Trump chooses the vice presidents Jay Di Wans-the author of the book, filmed by non-fraud ... while passions are heated, authoritative publications like, authoritative publications like, authoritative publications like, authoritative publications The New York Times and CNNs do not turn to political experts for comments, but, for example, to Aaron Sormin, who offers solutions for the real world, based on the logic of the screenwriter, or to the “Vice President” showrander, whose plot was predicted by Harris's extension.

Popular shows not only reflect politics, how much its image is formed, create images in the eyes of both voters and actors, and thereby affect the political process. Novyevropa talks about seven important series, not only explaining, but also creating American politics (and we can do without a “card house”, you already know about it).

Likbez public administration:

The West Wing (The West Wing), 1999–2006

The classic series created by the Guru of the political drama - the screenwriter and producer Aaron Sormin. Democrat Sormin is a lover of “production dramas”, that is, stories about the daily work of a certain institution. After the success of the film “American President”, he had an idea to make a series about the everyday life of the presidential administration.

The Sormin method - in addition to energetic dialogues, acute narrative and dramatization of life, is the idealization of reality. Roughly speaking, the “Western wing” is a utopia where the United States leads competent, honest and complacent people. Of course, they make mistakes, but they are able to recognize them. The republicans who do not miss the opportunity to once again once again, as the plot develops, Sormin still creates positive characters “on the right”. In the final, the presidential election wins the Congressman Latinos, the prototype of which was (then) the little-known democrat Barack Obama became (then).

Journalism 101:

"News" (The Newsroom), 2012–2014

Ten years later, Sormin tried to repeat the experiment of the “western wing”, but this time - idealizing the everyday life of the editors of an influential political news program. Not to say that the new attempt was equally successful. Sorkin all the same attacks the Republicans, but criticism of them looks even more parody, and times have changed, the viewer has become more informed and sophisticated. The formal attribution of the protagonist to the Republicans of the "old guard" did not save from political one -sidedness. Nevertheless, the series manages to show the ethical dilemmas that journalists face: from confidence in the sources to the calls of “new media”. How to work professionally if professional news about politics, and not about show business, kill a rating?

In fundamentally refusing to invent the news, Sormin trusts his heroes to cover real events: in the third season, for example, they visit the Sheremetyevo Airport, where Snowden arrives.

Corruption and crime:

"Boss" (The Boss), 2011–2012

A couple of years earlier than the “card house”, this series is executed in a similar cynical way. American politics here is saturated with corruption and is associated with the mafia, the authorities are harshly opposed by the press, and voters are constantly led by the nose. Unlike Frank Anderwood, at the beginning of the “Card House” only a beginnings in the White House, the protagonist of the “boss” - the long -term and omnipotent mayor of Chicago Tom Kane - tries not to rise, but to stay in place. He learns that he suffers from dementia, and the weakness of the veteran of political battles instantly feel enemies. But the monsters, as you know, do not give up without a fight.

Unlike the “house”, where showdowns are of federal and international scale, here we are shown the dirt and intrigues of the lower - regional level of American politics. This is beneficial for both reliability and Saspensu.

Power is more important than money:

"Heirs" (Succession), 2018–2023

Critics usually compare the “heirs” with the “King Lear”: only unlike the hero of Shakespeare, the Media Magnate Logan Roy is not going to go to rest, dividing his kingdom. The heirs are fighting for power over the holding, the basis of which is “old format” TV and newspapers, hardly noticing how their era is a thing of the past. Closer to the final, we are shown how big money is to tightly soldered with political elites, and how the election night becomes fateful for both the country and the billionaire clan.

The main feature of the series is Logan Roy himself - a magnate, written off from Rupert Murdoka. The character turned out not just convincing. Watching how he acts, and how his children act - we literally see this real abyss that distinguishes the power giant from ordinary people.

How the media changed:

The Loudest Voice, 2019

Even people who are far from the American agenda know what Fox News is and how this television company is different from the rest of the media. Fox News is not just a “party” conservative media, but an attempt to make a new type media, at the junction of party interest, commerce and constant show. Will there be a place for journalistic standards? This is the question.

Russell Crowe plays Roger Ailsa, the creator of Fox News (in the holding of the same deadly) - and consultant Donald Trump. His television channel was not just the most rating channel of America, but changed the political environment, turning into a “loud voice in the room”. This is not the greatest series from an artistic point of view, but he tells one of the most important plots, without which it is difficult to understand why the debate in the election-2024 look like this .

Paranoia yesterday:

Homeland (Homeland), 2011

Another famous series, which is worth watching through the "political" lenses. On September 11, a war with terror, overseas interventions, a “patriotic act” - events that determined not only the American, but also the world political life of the early 21st century (and therefore it is about them in all the series mentioned in the selection).

Nicholas Brody, a former Marine, returns from captivity to his home. But there is reason to believe that he is over -up and is now planning a terrorist attack, so the CIA will have to expose it. And for this, agent Carrie Matison will have to violate a couple of laws (for the sake of the common good), and encounter Stockholm syndrome. Outside the first season, the series stretches incredibly, and from season to season it goes further into the genre incompatible with reality. But the first season, if we take it separately, perfectly conveys the paranoid state of a society living in fear of an unknown and therefore indestructible enemy - which may be the former most faithful friend.

Yes, Madame President:

Vice President (VEEP), 2012–2019

It is difficult to shoot about politics. On the one hand, you can slide into idealization and even propaganda (yes, Aaron Sormin! ..), on the other hand, to portray politics as an unprincipled kingdom of monsters (yes, “cards of a house”). But in reality, the echelons of power are neither one nor the other. There are people who are not so different from us. Both “idealism” and “denigration” are as two sides of the same idea: that the “political class” supposedly is allegedly very different, and therefore the decisions made by it must be judged by some other scale (and not by, for example, by the standards set by the Criminal Code).

One of those who manage to avoid both traps is the director and screenwriter Armando Iannucci (“in the thick of events”, “death of Stalin”). In his satires, politicians are not demiurges, but desperate adventurers. They do not create events, good or bad, but only react to them. The stream of life carries them, and they flounder in it, simultaneously finding out the relationship of everyone with everyone.

In the Vice President, Iannucci makes the main character a woman politician, breaking glass ceilings one after another (yes, she, of course, will become the president of the United States). Yes, but the very meaning of the political process, she can neither break through nor change. PR here is exclusively for the sake of PR, and the main secret of the authorities is to pretend that you are controlling the absurdity, and not he controls you. Kamale Harris should be familiar-even though the main role of Julia Louis Dreifus and asks her not to take advice from a fictional heroine.