Hopefully, this idea of bringing the West Wing cast back to HBO Max for a special hour-long show this fall won’t be what some might already be thinking it is, another way for Hollywood to pander to the people on the importance of voting, and hopefully voting the way they would like to see people vote. The addition of a segment with Michelle Obama that appears to be a part of the show makes it clear just who the show will be promoting, which isn’t too surprising seeing as how the West Wing had a Democratic president. The only thing that could possibly detract from the show is if the message ‘orange man bad’ becomes the overriding narrative that has been so prevalent since talks of this year’s election started up. Don’t get me wrong, the need to vote is absolutely important, but allowing people to vote as they will and not be influenced in any major way by parading actors that lean in a very distinct way when it comes to politics. But this is the way things are done more often than not, especially during election time, and many people are going to understand and see it this way. The hope is that the one-hour special will focus as much on the show as it does the message that voting is important and less on swaying voters a certain way.
Hollywood, or at least a good portion of it, has already tried this through the years and has made it clear who a good number of people support now and then. There’s nothing wrong with people voicing their opinions and throwing their support behind certain candidates since, like all other citizens, Hollywood’s many celebrities are allowed to lean whichever way they want when it comes to politics. But the idea that many of them will attempt to sway the minds of their viewers is pretty easy to see and it’s fully expected. It’s also par for the course in an election year since as many people know this year a lot of people have their eyes set on big change while some have their minds set on big change while others have theirs set on not rocking the boat. As one of the more popular shows to come along in the last couple of decades, the West Wing was another program that people were eager to get home to see and possibly even recorded just in case they weren’t there in time. And as one of the several shows that continued to interest people in politics, it was lauded as fairly accurate and very entertaining. It did have an impressive cast of characters and was seen as something that many people willingly embraced as a favorite program.
The idea of bringing celebrities out to pander to the audience and speak their views isn’t exactly a bad idea for any political party since people do listen to actors and they do pay attention to what they’re saying, but anyone with two functioning brain cells to rub together can hopefully see that following the words of another person, which many people do on a regular basis, isn’t always the best idea. One reason for this is that they’re actors, and while they are very passionate about many things in their lives, the fact is that their influence is what’s being used on the people in this manner, which is a bit abhorrent to some since it stands out as a cheap attempt to gain more votes for their chosen candidate. One reason why some folks disapprove of this is that it feels less than honest to use a celebrity platform to plead or demand or in any way influence the minds of others when it comes to the voting process. A counterargument would be that it didn’t work all that well in 2016 since despite the large number of celebrities that spoke up for the Democrat party it wasn’t enough to sway the people to elect Hilary Clinton into office. So stating that it’s dishonest in any way isn’t entirely accurate, even if it feels close to the mark.
One big hope is that the show will focus more on the show and the fictional story that has been created and somehow leave the current politics out of it as much as possible. Some folks might think that there’s no way that this can happen and they do have a good point, but with the right writer at the helm, there are plenty of possibilities to allow viewers to simply enjoy what they’re watching and not get drawn into the politics that drive the show. After all, the West Wing is supposed to be a fictional tale that is there to entertain people, and injecting too much reality into it at this juncture is bound to upset some folks and build a political fervor in others.
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