The basis of most fiction is conflict and drama. The depiction of government and politics in fiction lends itself well to this idea. God knows there's enough conflict to go around, whether it's a conflict of philosophies, ideas, or personalities. And most fictional political conflict is usually based in corruption and egocentrism. For these reasons, more often than not, government in fiction is a tool of the evil used to perpetrate evil for power and control. Either the very nature of government is portrayed as evil, or its shown to be secretly run by a cabal of evil people (or evil aliens disguised as people) that are stealing taxpayer funds to use on hookers and blow.
Last week, I wrote about a right-wing, media-driven conspiracy theory and the types of people who wanted to believe it. Whether it be something like DNC hitmen roaming the streets, people who want to believe we faked landing on the Moon, the idea the United States government has flying saucers at Area 51, or the theory that the streets of Washington, D.C. were designed to represent a Satanic pentagram, it buys into the above notion hook, line, and sinker. Never mind that these would require a massive undertaking by which hundreds, if not thousands, of people have kept a secret with such precision and efficiency that all proof for such operations do not exist.
It also obscures the fact the reality we know is more Veep-like, usually. Instead of competent and evil, we’re ruled by people who are stupid and evil. And, honestly, maybe it’s a saving grace.
The return of Netflix’s House of Cards for its fifth season brings us back to the world of fictional U.S. President Frank Underwood, who is most definitely more of the evil bastard variety. Based on the novel by Michael Dobbs and the Andrew Davies BBC series of the same name, the series presents a Washington, D.C., populated by easily manipulated self-serving individuals, with Kevin Spacey's Underwood being manipulator-in-chief. With season five, new showrunners Frank Pugliese and Melissa James Gibson have taken over from Beau Willimon and continue the quest of the Underwoods to claim control of the United States government.
But much of the buzz around the series, especially now in the shadow of the Trump Administration, has included questions of whether the series, which teeters between whacked-out political soap opera and attempt to be a grand Shakespearean tragedy in which the Machiavellian moves of a protagonist continually expand out to envelop the world, now seems even more distanced from reality since we’re living under an egomaniac in the White House.
from Daily Kos http://ift.tt/2rrd6Mi
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