What Veep Says About Politics
What makes a good politician? Is there even such a thing? Exploring the concept of politics through HBO's Veep.
Politics is a dirty business.
Very few people would disagree with that statement. Regardless of the country or the system in place, most people don't like politicians and for all kinds of reasons. They're generally considered to be untrustworthy, self-serving and a whole host of other negative traits. Yet somewhat ironically when you see them depicted in film and television it's often only the good side that's highlighted. If you see a politician in a movie, they're usually giving some upbeat, inspirational speech about the love of country and the honour of whatever heroism is about to occur.
Occasionally, there's a villain politician like The Mayor in Buffy or others. But many of them are fairly simplistic and have a straight forward motivation like destroying the world or making money. It's rare to see a complex, nuanced political character. What makes Veep so great is that's exactly what you get from them.
So many of the characters are multifaceted and thoughtful. None of them are all good or all bad. They may do and say bad things, but they're fundamentally good people... or at least they try to be. They got into politics to make a difference. To make the lives of the people they represent better. Actually doing that however is not as simple as it seems. Different people have different needs and it's hard to balance these things and ultimately get what they want.
This is not to say that the main characters of Veep are altruistic beneficent people who are doing it for the right reasons. Most of them have needs too, a lot of it about getting credit for the work that they're doing while avoiding blame for any negativity which might result. More often than not, this desire to take credit and need to be praised for their work is what ultimately dooms the work itself, and their careers.
Nowhere is this more evident than in Selina Meyer, the Veep herself. She will take credit for anything that helps her get ahead, even if she had nothing to do with it. And she's not shy about when she's going to do that. Except when it's looking like there might be a negative backlash against it. Then she's more than happy to let others take the credit, or the blame. Even if she's the reason things went wrong.
What's great about this is how completely honest it is. Whether it's a big international scandal like peace in the Middle East or a hyper local event like the naming of a new ice cream after her. There isn't anything about the interactions that don't feel honest. Selina and the other characters in the show act and sound like how the ordinary person would in the same situation. They aren't inspirational icons to be emulated or one dimensional super villains who need to be destroyed.
They're just people.
And that's what politicians are at their core, just people. We idolize them because they get flashy advertisements on television and online. They give powerful speeches which claims to care about what we want. All we have to do is vote for them and then we'll get it. But the reality is much more mundane. Much more simple.
Making the world better, or even just a single person's life better is an incredibly complicated thing. No matter how powerful the speech or what deal you're trying to make, someone always ends up on the short end of the stick. Which isn't going to make them happy. So why would the process of getting there be any different?
Veep is the show that gets that right. It gets the politics of the world right. If you're looking for an honest look at the inner workings of the world beyond the headlines and the campaigning, Veep is the show for you.
The entire show is available on Amazon, as well as Hulu and obviously HBO which produced it.
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