House of Cards is without a doubt a phenomena in it’s own right. Fans of the show spent their entire Valentine’s Day weekend gathering together for viewing parties and binge watching the entire second season. The Netflix original program has been hailed as a dark and multifaceted look into Washington D.C.
Yes, House of Cards takes the drama over the top and Kevin Spacey’s character, Frank Underwood, is far from perfect but when the layers of drama and performance are stripped back, Cards is reflective of how America is viewing the political game and our current mindset towards the ongoing game that is politics.
House of Cards is not afraid to go after real life topics such as the recent government shut down, impeachment and trade wars. It reflects the landscape and the current political games that are taking place on the hill.
This show feels like it is rooted in elements of reality, such as parties refusing to come together in order to work together. Polls have shown that American's became increasingly frustrated when the Government shutdown and the debt celling discussions had been going on, we the people, wanted to see progress but it took days for that to take place. Fans can feel this plot line in Cards even though the writers never full come out and address the issue like these.
Fans will not know for sure how much of this show is based in reality and how much of it comes from the minds of the writers but it feels like it has many plot points that could be created out of real life issues.
If anything, Cards, is willing to put everything on the table and not hold anything back from the audience. Even in the style that it is released, it is a test of how much darkness and lies the viewing audience can take. Which is similar to how much real life political drama, Americans are willing to handle before they react negatively in the polls.
image: Wikimedia Commons
