As a long-time observer of political satire, I must say that Armando Iannucci’s work on Veep is nothing short of masterful. His ability to create complex characters and weave them into a narrative that mirrors the absurdity of modern American politics is truly remarkable.
Kamala Harris officially received the Democratic Party’s nomination for president during this week’s Democratic National Convention, an event filled with a diverse lineup of personalities from before the Trump administration era: actors from Scandal, Lil Jon, and Golden State Warriors coach. Joe Biden has stepped aside, allowing the Harris campaign to draw inspiration from the Obamacare period. As expected, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, who portrayed Selina Meyer, a fictional vice president from the HBO political satire Veep, is set to make an appearance today. In 2013, her character had a “POTUS is not running” moment similar to the current situation.
To begin with, Kamala Harris and the fictional character Selina Meyer from ‘Veep’ share few similarities. From her campaign onwards, Harris has consistently demonstrated competence, a stark contrast to Selina who didn’t quite manage that. Armando Iannucci, the creator of ‘Veep’, points out that Selina was not modeled after any specific politician. Instead, she was intentionally crafted as a female character because until Harris assumed office, there had never been a female vice-president. This was done to avoid questions about who the character was meant to represent. If it were a male vice-president, people would speculate whether it was Dick Cheney or Dan Quayle. Iannucci prefers that the character be seen as entirely original and contemporary rather than being a replica of someone from the past.
The most significant link between Harris and Selina thus far appears to be their unexpected rise into the presidential limelight. Iannucci delves into the pivotal instances leading to Selina’s presidency, from her initial campaign launch through her DNC nomination and ultimately the election results. When I suggested, “What if the president declines to run?”, Julia seemed excited: “That will be entertaining. She’ll have to start campaigning now“.
Selina Claims the Candidacy (“D.C.,” season-two finale)
As a dedicated cinephile engrossed in the world of “Veep,” I found myself at the edge of my seat during the season-two finale. Selina, my beloved character, discovers that President Stuart Hughes is stepping down from his reelection bid, paving the way for her to throw her hat into the ring. This twist didn’t strike Armando Iannucci until midway through filming season two. In his own words, he prefers to save the finales for closer to production time because it allows him to gauge the direction of the story as shooting commences.
In the start of season two, Selina has been gaining support as she campaigns for Senate and House colleagues during a generally unsuccessful midterm election for her party. At a rally, she declares, somewhat confusingly, “Freedom is not me-dom,” drawing applause. “It’s we-dom.” She also takes on more significant tasks, such as participating in a hostage rescue and budget negotiations to prevent a government shutdown (which ultimately fail). Despite her ongoing struggles, Selina is moving forward, stumbling but progressing. Iannucci explains that this plot development felt organic: “Selina is starting to find her footing in the White House now, understanding where power lies and getting a better grip on it.” Instead of a gradual build-up, they decided to create chaos by having Hughes not run, making season three about Selina’s bid for nomination while already in office.
Selina Defaults to the Presidency (“Crate,” season three, episode ten)
In the second-to-last episode of season three, Selina learns that the president intends to step down right away to devote his attention to the First Lady’s recovery after an attempted suicide. This unexpectedly places Selina in the role of world leader, a position she feels both thrilled about and underprepared for.
Throughout the series, hints about the First Lady’s struggles are subtly dropped – for instance, in episode seven, Gary (Tony Hale) queries Selina, “Have you seen her lately?” to which she replies, “She’s lost a lot of weight. Her neck looks like stretched cheese.” This gradual revelation ensures that when the President decides to step down at the end, it doesn’t seem unexpected or unrealistic. As Iannucci explains, “The reason for him stepping down needs to be grounded in reality and should be subtly woven into the season’s narrative, even though we make use of dark humor about it. It’s only later that you realize, oh no, this is a serious matter.”
As a devotee, I express my desire for Selina’s reaction to the revelation to be completely unexpected and absurdly unpredictable. Upon learning about it from Kent Davison during her visit with homeless Syrian refugees, Selina reacts so strangely that she ducks into the restroom, leaving everyone taken aback. It’s there that Gary discovers her, setting the stage for a side-splitting scene where Selina declares her intention to become president, only for Gary to suffer an embarrassing nosebleed. The ensuing chaos is a mix of tears and laughter as they both struggle to maintain their composure.
Just as many hilarious instances in the series ‘Veep’ were birthed from brainstorming sessions among the actors and impromptu improvisation, so was the character trait of Gary getting nosebleeds when excited or anxious. During discussions about Gary’s future at the end of season two, Hale proposed this idea to Iannucci, who later recalled it during the writing of the season-three finale. They decided to reserve the nosebleed incident for the most dramatic and impactful moment possible.
The general outline of the scene was written down – Gary would have a nosebleed and Selina would rummage through Gary’s bag for tissues on her own – but the specific items were improvised. As Chris Addison, the director, instructed the costume department to fill the bag with whatever they thought suitable, the results were unpredictable. Watching Louis-Dreyfus laugh at each odd item she pulled out – a magnifying glass, a book about bicycles – shows that she’s genuinely amused by them. This is a very unpresidential response to becoming president, which perfectly embodies the spirit of “Veep”.
Selina Finds a New Running Mate (“Convention,” season four, episode five)
Selina is about to officially receive her party’s nomination on the convention floor when she learns that her opponent has selected Senator Laura Montez, a well-liked figure from New Mexico, as his vice presidential pick. Upon hearing this news, Selina exclaims with disbelief, “She’s intelligent, she’s likable, she’s attractive…she’s female! She’s ethnically diverse!”
Initially introducing Laura as a persistent antagonist for Selina in the series, Iannucci explains that they aimed to craft a situation especially aggravating for Selina. This predicament left Selina contemplating discarding her running mate, Andrew Doyle, whom she casually dubbed “Steve Martin’s less exciting older brother.” (It’s worth noting that Steve Martin declined the chance to portray Tim Walz, Kamala Harris’s VP choice, on Saturday Night Live.) Iannucci adds that he wanted Selina to think, “Gosh, maybe there is someone better out there.”
As a film enthusiast, I stumbled upon an unexpected turn of events when I learned about Selina’s campaign exploiting a privacy breach to target grieving parents. Immediately, she began reaching out to her party peers, many of whom were rivals from the primaries. “We found it intriguing to run through our preferred characters and ask them to serve as vice-president,” Armando Iannucci shared. Several declined Selina’s invitation, but eventually, she chose Tom James, a respected Vermont senator, played by Hugh Laurie in a role tailored just for him. “We had always wanted to collaborate,” Iannucci continued, “and I heard he was a big fan of the show. In season four, we knew we’d want fresh faces, and this seemed like the ideal opportunity.”
Tom James seems perfect on paper: He’s known for accomplishing tasks effectively in Washington, his son served in the military and was injured during combat, and he has the ability to resonate with individuals from all political spectrums. As Ben, Selina’s chief of staff, puts it, “Everyone admires Tom James, even if they don’t particularly like him.” However, Iannucci wanted to add a degree of ambiguity to his character. He explains, “I found the idea intriguing that he appears as the ideal politician, but you can never quite tell if he truly is or if he’s secretly playing some sort of game – one that leaves you feeling uneasy.”
In the episode, all the negotiations surrounding the vice presidential candidate occur during the convention, yet they’re entirely separate from the event itself. This was intentional, as Iannucci explains about Selina: “I liked the idea of her feeling enclosed.” Previously, winning candidates wouldn’t appear until the end of such conventions. Now that has changed, but I recall old footage of figures like Nixon, Carter, and Clinton watching the convention coverage from their hotel rooms while in a hotel not far away. It’s almost the antithesis of ceremonial, isn’t it?
Selina’s Election Results in a Tie (“Election Night,” season-four finale)
Iannucci opted to depart from Veep following season four, passing the reins to David Mandel for the subsequent three seasons. Once Iannucci made that choice, he had a clear vision of how his tenure would end: on Election Night 2016 with Selina and her rival, Bill O’Brien, locked in an Electoral College deadlock, leaving Selina’s team frantically trying to decipher the outcome. It was later discovered that the rules dictate that if the House of Representatives cannot agree on a president, they select one; meanwhile, the Senate chooses the vice-president, unless the House is equally divided, in which case Tom James could become the next leader. “Does this mean I might lose this election to my own goddamn vice-president?” Selina sobbed, on the brink of tears.
Iannucci remarks, “That pretty much encapsulated the situation,” referring to the absurdity of a system that could lead to such an outcome and the state of American democracy it revealed. He decided to end his work with the tight Electoral College because, in reality, the spirit of compromise had disintegrated. Primarily from the Republican side, there was a strong refusal to negotiate, instead opting to return to their base and claim they didn’t vote for this, they rejected that, and they successfully blocked progress. The U.S. Constitution is founded on compromise, but when one side refuses, nothing can be accomplished.
As Iannucci departed the show, he delegated the task of resolving the tie to Mandel, who devised a situation where neither Selina nor Bill secured sufficient House votes for presidency, leaving Laura Montez as president instead. Incidentally, this also gave Mandel the responsibility of creating political satire in the Trump era, a task Iannucci admitted he didn’t envy. “It wasn’t easy for David and his team,” Iannucci stated, “because it’s a new playing field with different rules. In fact, it’s no rules at all. The challenge was that many episodes in seasons one through four revolved around whether they had broken the rules or if people knew about it. But when politicians start making their own rules, there isn’t much left to do.”
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2024-08-22 00:54