Tuesday, September 27, 2005
mixed messages in abc's new "commander in chief"
I tuned in to Geena Davis' new drama tonight because I genuinely like her and I genuinely like political dramas.
While the idea of a woman Commander in Chief is certainly appealing, the feminist ethic of the show was consistently compromised by what was supposed to be a running gag but just came off as Hillary-bashing.
The pivotal moment of the episode was when Davis' character decides not to step aside from ascending from the Vice Presidency to the Presidency when the President suddenly dies. She is having an argument with Donald Sutherland's character. He's basically saying blah blah blah Islamic governments won't cotton to a woman as leader of the free world blah blah blah women are weak-cakes.
They get into an argument over a Nigerian woman who is about to be put to death for having a child out of wedlock in that country. The Vice President has been following the case, including involving the U.S. military brass (I found this a rather implausible plot point, as Vice Presidents don't have any Constitutional authority over the armed forces). She's almost persuaded to step aside by Sutherland's archaic arguments, until he grumbles something about how the Nigerian woman "couldn't keep her legs closed."
At this point, Davis' character stands up, hands him her notes for her resignation statement and tells him she's going to go take the oath of office. Right on! She's a strong, decisive woman about to become the leader of the free world. She's a role model.
Unfortunately, the rest of the episode was a major disappointment. The running gag was a series of scenes of the new first spouse getting used to his new place. He is being guided around the White House by an aide of some kind, who keeps telling him how things are usually done, then points out that Hillary Clinton did it differently (she had her office in the West Wing, she didn't set the daily menu with the executive chef). Each Hillary statement is followed with, "that didn't go over well" in a derisive tone in which it's clear that Hillary's actions didn't go over well with anyone less than with the aide.
The message? Only a moderate, Indepent woman can be a strong leader (and even that is in doubt given the resignations and general reactions of White House staff to her new position of power). A progressive, Democratic woman who exhibits originiality, initiative and ambition - in the view of this show's producers and writers - does not deserve respect or admiration.
I'll stick with "The West Wing" I think. It definitely seems more realistic - the production values alone put it head and shoulders above this new show. When Geena Davis was supposedly addressing Congress at the end of the episode, it looked and sounded like she was standing in a classroom, not in the House Chamber.
I was pretty turned off and turned the channel. It's a good thing "The Office" is starting to grow on me.
While the idea of a woman Commander in Chief is certainly appealing, the feminist ethic of the show was consistently compromised by what was supposed to be a running gag but just came off as Hillary-bashing.
The pivotal moment of the episode was when Davis' character decides not to step aside from ascending from the Vice Presidency to the Presidency when the President suddenly dies. She is having an argument with Donald Sutherland's character. He's basically saying blah blah blah Islamic governments won't cotton to a woman as leader of the free world blah blah blah women are weak-cakes.
They get into an argument over a Nigerian woman who is about to be put to death for having a child out of wedlock in that country. The Vice President has been following the case, including involving the U.S. military brass (I found this a rather implausible plot point, as Vice Presidents don't have any Constitutional authority over the armed forces). She's almost persuaded to step aside by Sutherland's archaic arguments, until he grumbles something about how the Nigerian woman "couldn't keep her legs closed."
At this point, Davis' character stands up, hands him her notes for her resignation statement and tells him she's going to go take the oath of office. Right on! She's a strong, decisive woman about to become the leader of the free world. She's a role model.
Unfortunately, the rest of the episode was a major disappointment. The running gag was a series of scenes of the new first spouse getting used to his new place. He is being guided around the White House by an aide of some kind, who keeps telling him how things are usually done, then points out that Hillary Clinton did it differently (she had her office in the West Wing, she didn't set the daily menu with the executive chef). Each Hillary statement is followed with, "that didn't go over well" in a derisive tone in which it's clear that Hillary's actions didn't go over well with anyone less than with the aide.
The message? Only a moderate, Indepent woman can be a strong leader (and even that is in doubt given the resignations and general reactions of White House staff to her new position of power). A progressive, Democratic woman who exhibits originiality, initiative and ambition - in the view of this show's producers and writers - does not deserve respect or admiration.
I'll stick with "The West Wing" I think. It definitely seems more realistic - the production values alone put it head and shoulders above this new show. When Geena Davis was supposedly addressing Congress at the end of the episode, it looked and sounded like she was standing in a classroom, not in the House Chamber.
I was pretty turned off and turned the channel. It's a good thing "The Office" is starting to grow on me.
