By Logan Barrett
With the new season of Netflix’s hit series “House of Cards” released, it’s important to think about why this show got so popular. We all know Frank Underwood is not a good guy and is in it only for himself so why do we find it so hard not to like him? He is a murderous lying crooked politician, yet we want him to win time and time again.
I think that it is because of our own personal thirst for power. Most people won’t run for political office, but we all want our candidate to win because it gives us more power through representation of what we personally want. Everyone who watches “Game of Thrones” has an opinion on who should sit on the Iron Throne. We look passed all the wrongdoings that our favorite character has done because we want our character to win. It’s like in “Breaking Bad”. Sure he killed multiple people and sold meth, but he was just trying to win in life.
We tend to do the same thing with our politicians because we want them to win. Hillary Clinton had her e-mail scandal, the Benghazi committee, and an FBI investigation. While Donald Trump had multiple fraud suits, allegations of sexual harassment, and the scandal involving Michael Flynn , but we all looked passed these things because we wanted our candidate to win.
It’s quite pathetic how obsessed with winning at all cost. I’m not saying that there is anything wrong with winning, but there is a line that shouldn’t be crossed when it comes to our politicians. We keep pushing that line further from our morals and making excuses for our candidates all for the sake of winning.
Frank started out in the series as the Democratic whip, which basically means he convinces congressmen to vote for legislation that the party wants passed. Frank represents the worst about partisan politics in that he is a crooked politician that cares more about his party and his power than his country. Which is exactly what Hillary Clinton was perceived as by many on the right.
Today, it’s hard to discern a difference between politics in “House of Cards” and in reality. Partisan politics have created a divide of Americans that the real issues never get dealt with just like in “House of Cards”. I am just a few episodes into the new season and there are many parallels to the 2016 presidential election. It’s quite frightening how similar they are and how easy it can be to agree that there is no difference between the fictitious and real Washington, Except that the people on house of cards are much better looking than actual politicians.
One thing to remember going forward is that reality is usually worse than fiction. Always pay attention to who your representatives meet with, who funds their campaigns, and how they vote so you can know who they are truly loyal toward. Be skeptical of what politicians say, but also hold them to their word. We can want Frank to win in the show, but we never want a Frank Underwood in office.
About the Author: Logan Barrett is an intern at Reid Law Firm. He is senior at Auburn University majoring in Public Relations and minoring in business and political science. Logan can be reached at logan.reidlawfirm@gmail.com.
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