‘Veep’ Offers Relief from Washington Dysfunction

By ROB PATTERSON

It used to be, not all that long ago, that I would wake up some mornings and as I worked my way through my start-of-day news reads, sometimes I could pull a laugh out of the latest horrors from Trump and the nation’s capital. But things have gotten got so bad it has become nearly impossible to be amused by the man I sometimes call the “presidunce” and his Grisly Old Party.

I just get outraged, which isn’t healthy. This rubs up against one of my secrets for happiness in life: Finding some humor most every day in what can sometimes be depressing, alarming or sometimes downright horrible. Washington these days yields a bumper crop of such misery.

The place I’ve gone to in recent years to help get my regular nutritional fix of chuckles, laughs and howls from the D.C. follies and governmental and political dysfunction is the HBO series “Veep,” which recently wrapped up its seventh and final season. Hence if one hasn’t seen it and has an HBO account, it’s ripe for bingeing.

It stars Julia Louis-Dreyfus as Selina Meyer the first female vice president and later (at least for a while) first woman president. She became a star during her nine-season turn as Elaine Benes on “Seinfeld” following three years on “Saturday Night Live.” As Meyer, Louis-Dreyfus truly shines as a woman who is cynical, self centered, lusty and quite profane, yet able to switch on the public charm in the snap of a finger. To wit, the comedic actress has won six consecutive Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her work on “Veep.”

Meyer epitomizes the hypocrisy, hunger for stature and self-serving ways of too many politicians, yet you can’t help but love her. Louis-Dreyfus’s performance throughout is a comedic tour de force.

She leads an ensemble cast of characters who are characters indeed and quite clever caricatures of mostly typical political types. Outside that mode and atop the food chain of Meyer staffers is her undyingly loyal and slightly fey aide de camp, Gary Walsh, who is almost always right behind her hefting a large shoulder bag that contains virtually any and every imaginable item to meet her needs. He’s also always quick with complements and reassurance to address her emotional needs, wonderfully played by Tony Hale, best previously known for portraying the bumbling Buster Bluth in “Arrested Development.”

The rest of the staffers surrounding her capture well, while also effectively mocking, D.C. human cliches. Of note is onetime and yet again Meyer staffer and administration liaison turned insider Washington blogger and later Congressman Jonah Ryan. He is roundly disliked, continuously bumbles and creates conflict throughout, epitomizing the least appealing qualities that are all too common in politics and the capital. Yet it’s hard to not feel he’s one of the show’s favorite characters.

“Veep” manages to exemplify farce at its very best: Finding humor in people and situations that capture and amplify reality. It takes how horrid political people and situations can too often be and suffuses it all with the spoonful of sugar that comedy provides.

As such, “Veep” has at least been an effective ameliorative for what’s become an almost intolerable political atmosphere these days to anyone with progressive leanings, compassion for the common folks and those less fortunate, and respect for truth and genuine justice. And as funny as a barrel of monkeys running the nation.

Populist Picks

TV Series: “The Thick of It” – This BBC series available on streaming services here was created by Armando Iannucci, who was later a prime player in the creation of “Veep.” It’s different enough to offer its own distinctive mockery of the wiles and ways of British government with just as much humor that reflects and refracts reality.

Music Album: “October in the Railroad Earth” by Tom Russell – Veteran singer-songwriter Russell creates his music from the place where folk and country meet with authority, poeticism and the reverberant chime of real life. His latest release is a strong collection that feels like it was artfully carved from old oak.

Rob Patterson is a music and entertainment writer in Austin, Texas. Email orca@prismnet.com.

From The Progressive Populist, September 15, 2019

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