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The west wing's prime‐time presidentiality: Mimesis and catharsis in a postmodern romance

2002; Routledge; Volume: 88; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00335630209384371

1479-5779

Trevor Parry‐Giles, Shawn J. Parry‐Giles,

Literature, Film, and Journalism Analysis

Abstract This essay reads the NBC drama The West Wing against the cultural anxieties and ambivalences about the contemporary presidency, arguing that the program presents a powerful and meaningful "presidentiality," a discursive construction of the presidency with ideological and rhetorical relevance. Specifically, The West Wing mimetically captures a view of the presidency, offering, in the process, a romantic vision of the institution that reflects the postmodernity of U.S. politics and the uncertainty that pervades questions of heroism and hierarchy at the turn of the twenty‐first century. In part, the political drama disrupts images of traditional power politics, presenting a more chaotic, inclusive, and communal portrayal of the presidency. Against this narrative backdrop, however, we contend that the program situates its postmodern rendition of presidentiality within a cathartic portrayal of the presidency, relying on conservative demarcations of presidential leadership ordered by commitments to intellectualism, militarism, masculinity, and whiteness. Key words: The West Wing presidentialityromancepostmodernismrhetorical presidencypopular culturemimesiscatharsis