Generally speaking, American dramas that are an important part of popular culture tend to focus on plots that are popular among the public, such as love, crime, and science fiction. Come out of the complicated political narrative. So, why can this political TV series achieve such great results?
University of California political science professor Staci Beavers said in an article titled "The West Wing as a Pedagogical Tool" (The West Wing as a Pedagogical Tool) that for those who don’t even bother to vote during the presidential election For the audience, why let the presidential political dramas occupy their entertainment time? Generally speaking, even if it is well-produced, in the context of contemporary political cynicism, it is often difficult for political dramas to gain public recognition. However, "The White House" has received great acclaim while providing highly infectious political dialogue.
The success of "The White House" can be attributed to many reasons. The unique theme, huge investment, and allusions to real events can make the show attract a lot of people's attention. With the West Wing of the White House as the center of the plot, "The Storm in the White House" depicts the work and life of the American president and his staff. Although the background setting is not 100% consistent with the real West Wing of the White House, some details are different, but even The White House staff also admitted that the show “captures the feeling of the West Wing of the White House”; in addition, the budget for each episode of the show is as high as $6 million, which is comparable to a small movie, and sufficient funds also provide material for the quality of the TV show. Guarantee; and the response to real problems also provides a platform for audiences, especially political enthusiasts, to discuss political, economic, and cultural issues.
In fact, many critics believe that in addition to the above factors, the main point of "The White House" lies in its shooting skills and line design. The production staff developed a shooting mode called "Talk while walking". In this mode, the characters move through the rooms and corridors of the White House while talking at a high speed. At the same time, there are often new characters. Join in; this model not only fits the structure of the West Wing of the White House, but also allows the compact plot to be reflected in the photographic skills; most importantly, all these dialogues are based on the ingenious writing of the screenwriter. Some critics even directly pointed out that the main source of motivation for the development of the entire plot came from the screenwriter Aaron Sorkin. Sorkin is best at filling conversations with characters with a large amount of information, and the high-frequency, intelligent and even cunning conversations in a short period of time are impressive. This is evident in this year’s Oscar-nominated film "Social Network".
In the first season, President Butler has just taken office, and he has made great efforts in submitting bills, bipartisan relations, appointing judges, and handling internal and foreign affairs. As the beginning of the entire TV series, the first season presents as many phenomena as possible under the political ecology of the US president, trying to pave the way for future sequels.
This notebook only covers the 22 episodes of the first season. The seven seasons of "The White House" can be called an ingeniously conceived and logically thoughtful political TV series, covering economic, cultural, historical, religious and other aspects. Its complexity and complexity always exceed me in the process of watching the drama. Imagine that the occasional ignorance of an allusion in a line will cause difficulty in understanding the plot. Sometimes this ignorance still occurs in high-speed conversations, and I don’t even know that I “don’t know”. With such a depressed but unwilling mentality to just watch the series casually, I can only look back at a certain episode or episode of the plot, so that I have today's book watching notes.
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