Today I read a hilarious but strangely eerie article about parallels between our current election and the last two seasons of the T.V series, "The West Wing". Four years ago, the writers of the show contacted David Axelrod, one of Obama's current chief strategists, and asked for information about Obama. Now, the similarities are astounding. The character, Jimmy Smits, is a Hispanic Congressional newcomer with two kids. He picks a Washington veteran as a running mate and refuses to advertise himself as a "brown candidate". Sounds familiar, no? It gets even crazier.
In "The West Wing", Mr. Smits' opponent is a old Senate dinosaur by the name of Vinick Alda who picks a side on an issue and sticks to it, refusing to pander to his constituents. His running mate is solidly conservative and Alda lacks in technological expertise. To further extend the coincidences, the writers wrote Mr. Smits as a Dylan fan, like Mr. Obama and the Phillies were even in the World Series.
I thought this article was really interesting because of the sheer number of coincidences that arose from this show. There was so much that the writers just happened to get right that it's just mindboggling.
In the end of the show, after a long election ordeal, Mr. Smits, the Democratic candidate emerges victorious. We can only hope that this is yet another parallel.
Stelter. Brian. "Following the Script - Obama, McCain and 'The West Wing'," New York Times 29 Oct 2008. 29 Oct 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/30/arts/television/30wing.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
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2 comments:
Maybe the writers can see in the future? I doubt it though. It is very interesting the parallels that they display. This makes me wonder about other sorts of media I consume that is semi-realistic, or almost prophetical. For example I really enjoy the TV show Boston Legal. It is a comedy that revolves around a law firm that fights cases about current events. Although most of the time it's supposed to be hilarious it does have a few moments where they bring up the issues and the facts and it mind boggles you. They also have outcomes for the case, and it makes me wonder if they have any affect on the USA.
The way I see things, there has to be parallels at some point. If you go back in history you can find an example of something being done before. As far as national television goes, West Wing had some great writers and I'm not surprised that they came up with something so similar to what is happening today.
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