Forget the last hilariously bad GOP debate. Forget Donald Trump and the scary state of the looming 2016 presidential election. Instead, let’s focus on the dirty politics of a man we know and love, Frank Underwood. The new season of House of Cards hits Netflix today — all the episodes, all at once, for your binge-watching pleasure. Say goodbye to your weekend (it was supposed to be cold anyway).
Season three ended with Frank shakily holding on to a Presidency and facing the end of his marriage. Season four begins on the campaign trail, and instead of turning to soap opera dramatics, the show progresses with finesse and intelligence. The plot twists are timed perfectly within the narrative and don’t suffer at the expense of character development. It’s thirteen hours well spent avoiding the political future of the actual United States government.
While we were all waiting for House of Cards to return, some of you may have been getting your political drama fix from Aaron Sorkin’s The West Wing, that incredibly self-important, yet loveable show that follows idealistic and hard-working Democrats in The White House. The two shows make quite an interesting comparison. The West Wing, which started in 1999 and ended in 2006, makes the case for moral superiority while House of Cards opts for the reality of a direct camera address and openly dirty politics. That thrill of insider status, of knowing what really goes on in Washington remains the same, but the trust and the optimistic attitude in these fictional elected officials has been extinguished.
It’s safe to say The West Wing is the pretty much the opposite of House of Cards, so how did we get from there to here in the last 10 years? It would appear that the viewing public longs to be told the truth, even if it’s mostly despicable. This attitude is also showing in the presidential primaries. Hilary Clinton and Marco Rubio are towing the party line, staying safely behind their public faces and adjusting opinions to achieve the majority of voters. Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have opted for the direct camera address, speaking their versions of the truth without reservation or hesitation (for better or for worse). The question is whether or not candor and personality actually translate to authenticity or it’s merely empty promises presented in a different package.
