Devotees of the West Wing have been talking about it for weeks: the uncanny similarity between the fictional presidential contest that dominated the final seasons of the acclaimed TV show and the real-life drama of this year's election.
Both the real and imagined campaigns have centred on a young, charismatic candidate from an ethnic minority, daring to take on an establishment workhorse with a promise to transcend race and heal America's partisan divide.
But there's a twist.
For what those West Wing fans stunned by the similarity between the fictitious Matthew Santos and the real-life Barack Obama have not known is that the resemblance is no coincidence. When the West Wing scriptwriters first devised their fictitious presidential candidate in the late summer of 2004, they modelled him in part on a young Illinois politician - not yet even a US senator - by the name of Barack Obama.
"I drew inspiration from him in drawing this character," West Wing writer and producer Eli Attie told the Guardian. "When I had to write, Obama was just appearing on the national scene. He had done a great speech at the convention [which nominated John Kerry] and people were beginning to talk about him."
[Update: spoilers in the comments.]
4 comments:
I ended up quite liking the Republican candidate (in 'The West Wing'), in fact part of me wanted him to win rather than Santos.
Hopefully the real election will be just as pleasant.
Yeah - after that Vinick/Santos debate episode (broadcast live) I found myself thinking I could vote for either of them, and wishing that real politics was that good...
Given that Santos wins because of a massive nuclear accident in California I'm hoping life doesn't imitate art too much.
Very true! And don't foget the massive troop deployments to stop China and Russia going to war in Kazakhstan...
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