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March 1, 2002
The West Wing’s Workaholics
The show has been something of a phenomenon in this age of niche marketing
and defections to cable channels: a network program not about teenagers routinely
ranked in the top 10, right behind Friends and E.R. Winner of multiple Emmy
and Golden Globe awards, The West Wing is one of those shows that prompts appointment
viewing: Fans carve out time for it every week and are loath to miss it. Why
is this show—which is, after all, about politics and public policy and
not mud wrestling or eating live scorpions—such a hit? Quick answers include great writing, great acting and the desire to pretend,
if for only one hour a week, that the White House is not filled with ignorant,
mean-spirited, moronic, war-mongering lackeys of corporate America. And this
might, in and of itself, probably be enough. Yes, there were those awful moments
at the end of the show, especially in the first and second seasons, when the
patriotic music soared and someone—usually President Bartlet—rhapsodized
about the beauty of the Bill of Rights and the vast wisdom of the American political
process. But even this we were willing to swallow in exchange for the conceit
that the president was an expert in 17th-century cartography. It didn’t
hurt that the show routinely attacked the religious right, the NRA, Dr. Laura
and the tobacco industry. But I think the show also speaks powerfully to people whose leisure time continues
to shrink, people who live, day-in and day-out, with speed-up at work. The West
Wing absolutely celebrates, fetishizes, if you will, workaholism. Overwork is
made to seem exciting and glamorous. Watch the way the camera moves. People
in the West Wing—because they’re so important—are always walking
at a brisk pace up and down the halls, in and out of offices, in groups of at
least two, and the tracking cameras virtually jog to keep up with them. Doors
swing open and shut. Phones ring constantly in the background, just above the
general din of important-sounding work. Unlike the multi-tasking we grunts are stuck with—chained to our desks,
often alone, reading e-mail while listening to voice mail and on hold with automated
phone information centers—this West Wing work happens in motion, on the
fly: It’s almost breathless. The pace and editing alone confirm that working
constantly is enviable and thrilling. The show’s dialogue gives new meaning to the term snappy patter. These
people don’t just talk a mile a minute, peppering each other with policy
positions, quotations and statistics. They’re witty, too, as if Letterman’s
writing staff was feeding them one-liners through an earphone. This too glamorizes
the work of political insiders. Their unflagging agility at verbal jousting
and affectionate, rapid-fire insults implies intellectual quickness and a deep
camaraderie with their colleagues (two things that may be lacking in your own
place of employment). When Josh can’t answer a series of questions Mandy puts to him, she asks
with mock condescension, “What is it you do here, exactly?” “It’s never been made clear to me,” he retorts. “There’s a fire in Yellowstone Park,” Sam tells Josh as they
rush down a hall. “So put it out,” Josh deadpans. Josh walks into work early one morning to discover his assistant Donna working.
“Were you here all night?” he asks. “Is it daytime?” she shoots back. “Usually when I’m up
all night, I’m able to pass a 19th-century English literature midterm.” During the commercial breaks, we see ads for companies like Pacific Life. They
are silent and repeatedly show the word “performance” while we see
athletes jumping or diving, intercut with whales surfacing and diving. Individual
drive, determination, discipline, that’s what leads to success. And that’s
the message being sold to us by The West Wing and its sponsors. Now, given the right-wing takeover of almost all public-affairs programming
on the tube, I am indeed grateful for a show in which liberal (occasionally
even progressive) politics seem utterly reasonable, and usually superior to
conservatism. It’s also refreshing, given the rampant anti-intellectualism
of our media environment, to see a show in which being well-read, knowledgeable
and smart are all advantages at work and in life. But what the media giveth with one hand, they taketh away with the other, and
I’ve come to recognize that media fare I enjoy usually has retrograde ideological
sludge lurking someplace deep within. The West Wing is no exception. Millions of us have, over the past 15 years, been asked to do a lot more at
work in exactly the same amount of time, often with fewer resources. This speed-up
has often been accompanied, and made possible, by downsizing and layoffs. It
also imposes enormous stress on family and personal life. But we’re supposed
to feel that the busier we are, the more important we are, and tough shit for
those out there without a job. The West Wing celebrates liberal politics and even, at times, social justice.
Yet it also canonizes the expectation that staying late at work is more important
than going to your kid’s science fair—or even seeing an old friend. |
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In These Times is committed to remaining fiercely independent, but we need your help. Donate now to make sure we can continue providing the original reporting, deep investigation, and strategic analysis needed in this moment. We're proud to be in this together.
n Wednesday nights, like millions of Americans swimming upstream to a vision
of a presidency marked by intelligence, I tune into The West Wing.