This story was reported for San Diego News Network on May 5, 2009.
While San Diego Mayor Jerry Sanders squabbles with unions, deals with the $60 million deficit and evaluates the city’s water usage – Mayor Joe Quimby of “The Simpsons” has his own set of issues.
As Mayor of Springfield, the cartoon character Quimby must deal with organized crime, vandalism, pollution and constant tire fires.
Of course, Quimby and his laundry list are pure fiction while Sanders and his list are very real.
Numerous shows in the history of television and movies feature portrayals of politicians – and in the case of Mayor Quimby, portrayals have gone as far as cartoons. But like all television shows and movies, questions are raised, such as: what is the validity of the depictions? And, how do the portrayals shape our outlook on politicians?
“In a television series or film, the goal is to imitate reality,” said Lee Marshall, a professor at San Diego State University’s School of Theatre, Television, and Film. “It’s heightened reality, but it’s reality.”
Ninety-nine percent of Americans have at least one television in their household with about six hours of television watched each day, totaling 250 billion hours each year, according to Nielsen Company.
Typically actors will do thorough research on their characters before committing to any role, Marshall said. For example, he said, Meryl Streep spent days wearing a nun costume prior to the filming of “Doubt,” in which she plays the sacred figure.
“Most actors will do their homework before filming,” Marshall said. “In the case of actors playing politicians, they will probably go to the Internet – read their bio, find footage and sound bites to really understand them.”
But, Coronado Councilmember Mike Woiwode isn’t 100 percent confident in the media’s portrayal of politicians – at least for some.
“I’m newly a politician so I have watched lots of actors portray politicians on TV without ever identifying with them in the past,” Woiwode said. “I still don’t look at those shows and see myself in any of those roles.”
Woiwode said often times politicians are depicted in very narrow views. For example, he said, we see fictional politicians as very serious or simply, foolish beings. Then again, he said, bringing humor to political offices can make politicians seem more sociable.
“I think having humorous situations set in a political environment helps humanize the [governmental] process,” Woiwode said. “It may be it makes politicians and politics more approachable. I hope that’s the case.”
He uses San Diego Councilmember Ben Hueso as an example. Prior to becoming a councilmember, he only saw Hueso in a very narrow light. Now being in office, he knows more about Hueso like that he’s a “great piano player” and has four sons.
But fiction isn’t the only time we see politicians being portrayed on television. Since the birth of “Saturday Night Live,” numerous comedians have impersonated our elected leaders. Perhaps, the most noteworthy recent impersonation would be that of Gov. Sarah Palin by comedian Tina Fey.
During the presidential campaign, Fey gained notoriety of her dead-on characterizations of the Alaska governor. Unlike TV sitcoms or most movies, such acts are a little different, according to Marshall.
“SNL is based on satirized reality,” Marshall said. “It’s based on reality but it’s twisted to be over-the-top.”
Then again, what Fey did for Palin, may have had some positive effects. Woiwode said because Fey’s portrayal was negative, it may have raised questions in voters’ minds about Palin’s capabilities. Voters will then probably seek those answers when hearing from the real Palin or any political figure SNL impersonates.
“I think she may have done more good for Sarah Palin,” Woiwode said. “A character like that can reach people that a politician would never be able to reach on his or her own. Whether the portrayal is a favorable one or an unfavorable one, probably results in people then being more sensitive to the real person and what that person is saying.”
Fey taking Palin’s remarks for a skit or actors studying politicians may not always be the case. During the 2008 presidential campaign, President Obama was often compared to Matthew Santos (Jimmy Smits), a “West Wing” character who was the fictional Democratic presidential nominee on the series in 2005.
Santos was noted as having lines such as “Hope is real,” similar to the president’s simple “Hope” slogan. The New York Times also noted similarities between John McCain and Santos’ Republican rival Arnold Vinick (Alan Alda), writing that Vinick like McCain, is able to “woo moderate voters.”
According to psychologist Craig Webb, most images of politicians offered to society shape our views of them. He added that viewers will always tie the fictional politician with the real thing – whether valid or not.
“We certainly do correlate actors portraying politicians with our image of the real life politician, otherwise there would be no point for the actor to play the role,” Webb said. “Note that I say ‘image of’ because the majority of people have little or no direct experience with most politicians, hence their image of the real-life politician mostly comes second hand as filtered by the media, or through other people discussing politics with them.”
Webb further explained that any opinions we have of politicians prior to watching a TV show or movies intertwine and the concluding opinion becomes a combination of theories.
“The actions of politicians that directly affect us create for us an objective experience of who they are. Anything that the media or anyone else says about them, including the way that any actors portray them publicly can and often does affect the subjective image we have of them,” he said. “It is a combination of both our objective experience of them and the image we have of them that will affect our actions in relation to them, such as our vote, campaign support, participating in rallies, discussions with others about them, et cetera.”
Although, there are theories as to the result of an actor playing a politician – and what viewers take away from the TV show or film – there isn’t a conclusive answer, Webb said.
But Woiwode does have an answer for Hollywood looking for actors.
“I’m available.”
Hoa Quach is the political editor for the San Diego News Network.