Talk About:
THE WEST WING (1999 – 2006)
1 Referent: Marc-Oliver Frisch (Universität des Saarlandes). Vortrag in englischer Sprache!
The West Wing revolves around the administration of fictional President Josiah Bartlet, a Democrat from New Hampshire portrayed by Martin Sheen. Along with a staff of former political advisers, speech writers, and pollsters to rival Bartlet’s own, Aaron Sorkin and director Thomas Schlamme popularized the so-called »walk-and-talk« approach to television drama. They told stories about the day-to-day of governing the United States: the business of managing a census, nominating Supreme Court Justices, arranging Middle East peace talks, mounting re-election campaigns, dealing with undisclosed illnesses, ordering political assassinations, and pardoning turkeys. The show proved to be a hit with viewers. But despite being nominated for 98 Primetime Emmy Awards and winning 27 of them during its seven-season run, The West Wing had its share of detractors on both sides of the aisle. Early on, conservatives disparagingly referred to it as »The Left Wing«, and more progressive critics didn’t necessarily disagree about it being an at times maddening exercise in liberal wish-fulfilment. The show’s legacy continues to be controversial, with some going so far as to blame the high-minded and often downright heroic depiction of its characters and their work for the shortcomings of subsequent Democratic administrations and campaigns. In this talk, we will reconsider The West Wing in light of recent U.S. politics.
Unsere Kooperationspartner:
Nordamerikanische Literatur und Kulturwissenschaften, Universität des Saarlandes,
Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Saarbrücken e. V.,
VHS des Regionalverbandes
