This is political. Mode of operation. This is how politics works in our imagination. No permanent friends, only permanent interests.
Of course, this is only an irrelevant detail in the drama, and it is also the lowest level of expression in political choice, and has nothing to do with the main theme of the drama. The screenwriter handled this plot calmly, without any comments or accusations, This's just the way it is. Trying to portray subtle and objective descriptions, this is one of the reasons why this drama appeals to us.
Since it is a Democratic government (it is said that the main creator is a group of Hollywood Democrats), it is conceivable that the White House's policy focuses on improving medical services and public education development. The drama is interspersed with endless debates between the Democratic and Republican parties on healthcare, education, and tax cuts at any time. There is a plot in the play in which Sam is refuted by a blonde Republican in a TV debate and is speechless. The topic is the different operations of education funding between the two parties.
In fact, the ambition of the screenwriter is far more than that. The West Wing is not only a grand narrative of American politics, but also specific to every policy and action, every representation and reference. In the context of the Democratic Party government, we can see the operation of the separation of powers, the game between the political parties and systems before each policy and law is formulated, the diplomatic dictation of the world police, and the power. The cruelty of the competition, we can see that the benefits must be compared. It can even be said that this drama completes our entire imagination of American politics and guides our complete impression of Western values.
In addition to universal values such as freedom and democracy, the series also discussed various individual and group rights. Among them, I am most interested in the following two.
The right to privacy. The White House nominated a new list of justices. At the last moment, it was discovered that the preferred candidate expressed doubts about the right to privacy, believing that the right to privacy is not guaranteed by the Constitution, and that the government has the right to infringe the right of personal privacy. Sam had a heated debate with the candidate for justice, and his words were earnest, which finally made the president decide to nominate a new candidate. Sam moved the president's remarks as follows: "It's about the next 20 years. Twenties and thirties, it was the role of government. Fifties and sixties, it was civil rights. The next two decades, it's gonna be privacy. I'm talking about the Internet. I'm talking about cellphones. I'm talking about health records, and who's gay and who's not. And moreover,in a country born on a will to be free, what could be more fundamental than this?" In a country born on the basis of free will, what is more important than the right to privacy. On the contrary, in a country where the right to privacy has been arbitrarily trampled on, it is conceivable that there is no hope for universal values.
Gay rights. A seventeen-year-old gay boy was beaten to death by a group of students. Stimulated by this incident, the president plans to legislate on hate crimes and invite the parents of the boy to help propaganda. Press Secretary CJ worried that the victim’s father was ashamed because his son was gay, but he got an unexpected answer from the father: Gays in the military, same-sex marriage, gay adoption, boards of education- where the hell is he? I want to know what qualities necessary to being a parent this President feels my son lacked? I want to know from this President, who has served not one day in Vietnam-I had two tours in Vietnam. I want to know what qualities necessary to being a soldier this President feels my son lacked? Lady, I'm not embarrassed my son was gay. My government is. The
Republican Party intends to implement a bill that prohibits same-sex marriage. It is a great irony that the Republicans who came to lobby the White House staff are comrades themselves. Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman is in his throat, unable to understand why the other party is a comrade but joins the Republican Party that denies gay rights. He is ridiculed by the other party: Personality has nothing to do with political ideals, and sexuality is not the whole of life. Josh was speechless, no matter how reluctant the aides and the president were, there was nothing he could do about the bill.
This drama continues to use the president’s words to support gay rights, whether it is the president’s debate with anti-female anchors, or the anger over the bill, all of this cannot conceal the fact that no matter how strong the slogan is, in order to avoid Infuriating a large number of conservatives, the Democrats will still do nothing on the issue of gay rights. This makes people think of Brian Kinney's words in Queer as folk: You know, whether it's the democrat who pretends he likes you, or the republicans who hates you and let you know it. Either way, once they're in office, they're not going to do a goddamn thing.So I say, may the best self-serving son of bitch win.
In addition to politics, there is no shortage of moments of tenderness and reflection in the series. For example, the White House Public Relations Director (Director of Communications) Toby Ziegler, under the guise of the president, held a military funeral for the frozen Vietnamese veterans. For example, the White House Chief of Staff Leo McGarry's magnanimity on alcohol and drug addiction: I drank and took drugs because I'm a drug addict and an alcoholic. I'm not cured. You don't get cured. I haven't had a drink or a pill in six and a half years, which isn't to say I won't have one tomorrow. The problem is, I don't want a drink, I want ten drinks.
In addition, the attraction of this series lies in the various straightforward or hidden humor, which contains information about all aspects of American society and culture, which will have a special flavor after repeated chewing. Just give two conversations as examples:
LEO: How the hell did they find him in Nova Scotia?
JOSH: They have telephones in Nova Scotia, Leo. It's not Amish country.
JOSH: No, we're gonna do good cop, bad cop.
TOBY: No...we're really not.
JOSH: Why not?
TOBY: Cause this isn't an episode of Hawaii 5-0. How about you be the good cop,I'll be the cop who didn 't go to the meeting.
Of course, there are all kinds of ridicule. The Chinese dynasty bears the brunt and bears most of the firepower. For example: I think it would be a good idea, as a symbol... to signal that China is serious about their relationship with us, if they stopped running over their citizens with tanks.
It can be said that this drama is a grand imagination about politics, a perfect liberal fairy tale, and a wonderful democratic political bubble. No matter how realistically it is, it is still nothing more than a political fantasy and a pale bluff of the TV people. We all know that reality is not hypocritical, politics is dirty, and politicians are ugly. But at least, the American people can write such illusions with the help of media tools like television. And we in the celestial dynasty can only be in the electro-optical phantom concocted by others, imagining the water and moon mirror of others.
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