Thursday, March 12, 2015
Veep
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Shot
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Audio
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Various Headlines concerning
Selina Meyers: Time magazine cover Selina smiling “Is this Meyer’s Moment?”
Website (looks like the Guardian) Meyer in New Hampshire with Selina giving a thumbs up. A newspaper headline “Senator’s White House Run” Red Line graph going up. (Color Scheme: Red, White, and Blue.) |
One Track: Sounds like an
opening for a news broadcast. Also sounds very presidential.
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Meyer looking for
nomination. People Magazine Cover with Selina on the cover ‘Magic Meyer.’ In the Center Selina
Meyer Campaign poster like image ‘Vote
For Meyer.’ On the bottom, ‘Might
it Be President Meyer’ Selina with two thumbs up in front of an American
Flag and campaign poster.
Red
Line graph still going up.
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On the left Selina Meyer
with one thumb up (next to the peak of the line graph). Below has a headline
‘Selina crashes out.’ Right above
the peak of the line graph, ‘Selina’s
un-super Tuesday.’ On the right, a concerned looking Selina Meyer and
below has a headline, ‘Selina suspends
Campaign.’
The
red line graph peaks and then starts to drop down.
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On the left headshot of
Selina with Red, bold text ‘Selina the Survivor.’ In the middle, a breaking
news screen shot of Selina Meyer looking disappointed with lower third that
says, ‘Selina Meyer THE NEW no. 2’ Above the screen shot has a headline
that says, ‘Meyer’s Meltdown.’
Behind the screen shot has a headline, ‘Meyer
to be VEEP?’ The bottom headline says, ‘Selina ‘Proud’ to be Veep.’
The
red line graph continues down.
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The red line turns into a V
and ends with the title ‘Veep’ with Selina Meyer sitting at her (vice)
presidential chair with
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Having familiarity with Armando Iannucci’s
previous works, The Thick of It, Alan Partridge, and In the Loop, his fast-paced comedic style has carried on to his
first American television show, HBO’s Veep.
Veep is an American spin-off to The Thick of it, and stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus
as Selina Meyer the Vice President of the United States. The show features
similar aspects, such as copious amount of profanity, shouting, and governmental
elites making questionable statements. The opening is 15 seconds and mimics the
opening graphics for a news show with red, white, and blue squares floating
everywhere, giving it a ‘patriotic’ look. The audio is very orchestral with
trumpets, cymbals, and string instruments.
There is a thread that runs
throughout the opening: the red line graph. At the beginning, red line-graph
goes up with positive headlines about Selina Meyer. Although the graph does not
explicitly indicate what it is measuring, it can be assumed that it is
referring to the ratings/popularity of Meyer; the better the headlines, the
higher the line climbs. Exp.: ‘Might it Be President Meyer.’ The mood of the
headlines shifts in the second half, displaying negative news about Meyer, and
the graph line going down. Exp.: ‘Selina’s un-super Tuesday. What’s interesting is that there are no
headlines concerning controversial political or social issues. Issues such as
War on Terror/drugs, Gun Control, abortion, etc. The show rarely mentions those
topics, and Meyer seems to be more concerned with her public image than the
political decisions that affect the country. Are they wanting people of all
different political affiliates to watch it. Had they put a headline about
pro-life, would it have swayed people who are pro-choice? The decision to not
include the controversial issues seems purposeful in that it does not avert
particular groups of people. The opening sequence is emphasizing the
superficiality of news in politics today that favors public image over social
concern.
I thought it was amusing that a
cover of People magazine is included as
one of the images in the opening sequence. People is notoriously known for
scooping ‘dirt’ on celebrities—particularly female stars. Celebrity’s public
image is crucial to their career. Whether they manipulatively pitch negative
news about themselves to receive attention (Kim Kardashian?), or engage in
civic activities to better their image (George Clooney?). On the show, there is
a constant struggle against the news media. Meyer is constantly having to
battle the news, but also manipulating it for her personal gain in order to
reach her goal of becoming president—the media is both her enemy and an
important friend.
There is especially a higher critical
standard for women in the media landscape. For example, Sarah Palin has said
some ridiculous things, but she gets more chastisement from the news media than
her male counterparts who also make questionable statements: Rand Paul, Ted
Cruz, etc. Rand Paul has been accused of
plagiarism and supporting the right for businesses to discriminate based on
race (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/fact-checker/post/rand-pauls-rewriting-of-his-own-remarks-on-the-civil-rights-act/2013/04/10/5b8d91c4-a235-11e2-82bc-511538ae90a4_blog.html),
but there was barely any coverage of it on television. I could only assume that
if Palin were to pull the same stunt, that she would be berated much more
heavily from news outlets.
This is a political satire, but I start to wonder
if I see any intersection with American politics now? President Obama has
recently been praised for creating videos online (actually more than one), and
numerous television appearances, but there is very little attention from bigger
news media outlets about his bombings in the Middle East or about his lack of
concern for the environment. Which makes me question, has social media and the
speed of information changed the landscape of politics? Many people say that
Kennedy won over Nixon in part because of his handsome looks on TV. What kind
of change has social media brought to the political landscape? This show seems
to emphasize that public image and media manipulation is crucial to politics.
Has the current state of new in politics become so superficial now?
# posted by Naoki Izumo @ 1:19 PM 
