As an historic number of women are running for US president, and spooky rumor has it that Hillary Clinton may join the race , I was reminded that America already has a female president on HBO's Veep. In fact, in the show, Selina Meyer (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus from Seinfeld) would head the third female presidential administration in a role in 2020. Although during the show's 8-year run, Meyer gradually becomes a soulless opportunistic career politician, she remains fascinating, and one finds oneself rooting for this amoral cynic to win the presidency.
Here is a Vulture article about the show analyzing her role as a female politician. She (perhaps like Thatcher) broke many glass ceilings but did not actively fight for "women's agenda." Nonetheless, it was still satisfying to see Meyer bullying predominantly male advisors and politicians, and calling them insulting names usually reserved only for women. Veep is a great show - you should watch it!
My favorite quotes from the show: "if men got pregnant, you could get an abortion at an ATM."
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ReplyDeleteWhile I have heard really good things about Veep, I haven’t seen it myself. However, your description of Julia Louis-Dreyfus’s character who becomes President of the United States reminded me of a similar, yet distinct depiction of the means by which a woman would approach and eventually fill the role of President from the film Long Shot (2019). The plot is a rom-com about a jaded journalist (Seth Rogen) who reconnects with his former babysitter (Charlize Theron), now the United States Secretary of State. Theron’s character––Charlotte Field––experiences both failures and successes trying on vastly different approaches on opposite ends of a spectrum of gendered behaviors (thus employing a heteronormoative, black and white “masculine” vs. “feminine” framework). Ultimately, however, the film’s most interesting tactic is how they depict Rogen’s character Fred Flarsky as a sweet, yet sheepish, cliche “beta male,” even going as far as to include a scene in which he is unable to perform with a woman in bed (which in my *humble* opinion, wasn’t necessary, but the point was made…)
ReplyDeleteHere’s a Forbes article offering a male perspective for more about the film as well as further insight into this evolving depiction of the female presidential figure and how portrayal like those in Long Shot and Veep hinder or help the possibility of a woman becoming president:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/travisbean/2019/05/09/how-long-shot-advances-the-conversation-about-women-in-executive-positions/#30d9f988b468
Julia, thank you for your comment! I will definitely check out Long Shot! There's also a emasculated man in Veep called Gary, who carries is Pres. Meyer's bagman. He is one of the only characters who truly cares about Meyer and develops a co-dependent relationship with her, but it was clear that Meyer is always the boss.
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