Lupo Fiasco Tuning into the future

Author: Kate Lupo

A few years back there was a TV show on ABC called "Commander in Chief." The premise of the show was such: Geena Davis played the part of Vice President MacKenzie Allen who, following the death of President Teddy Bridge, ascends to the job and becomes the first female president of the United States. This show, though long forgotten, portrayed a radical premise at the time of its conception. It portrayed a woman as president?! "Not in our lifetime," we all thought, but we watched the show anyway because it was entertaining, perhaps even titillating to see what it could be like to have a woman in the White House.

Three years later, we are on the cusp of an historic presidential election, and we can all agree that the premise of "Commander in Chief" no longer seems so far-fetched. In fact, this long forgotten ABC show conceived an almost prophetic plot line. Governor Sarah Palin is the vice presidential running mate of John McCain, a man of 72. Should anything happen to President McCain, Palin would ascend to the presidency, just as Geena Davis' character did on our television screens.

Similarly, MSNBC.com released an article in October of 2005 that analyzed the impact and message of "Commander in Chief." The article speculated that the show was conceived as a "weekly infomercial" for the "notion of a Hillary Clinton presidency."

"Commander in Chief" is not the only TV show that has provided a preview for our current political climate. The immensely popular show "24" on FOX featured Dennis Haysbert as David Palmer, an African American President of the United States. Dare I say it, but perhaps it was Haysbert's strong, wise portrayal of a black president on "24" that helped encourage Barack Obama's nomination for the Democratic ticket.

According to an article published on Web site CNN.com in July 2008, Haysbert himself believes that his role on "24" painted a picture of just how America would be if a black man were in charge, and viewers liked what they saw. The article quotes Haysbert as saying, "If anything, my portrayal of David Palmer, I think, may have helped open the eyes of the American people… And I mean the American people from across the board - from the poorest to the richest, every color and creed, every religious base - to prove the possibility there could be an African-American president, a female president, any type of president that puts the people first."

Reading these articles, I began to realize just how important the act of watching TV has become in our American culture. Although it may seem like a relatively passive experience, watching TV provides viewers with a daily dose of our society's most advanced form of propaganda.

Recently, much of the "propaganda" we see on TV has advertised superficial, harmful messages to the American public. In the case of "Commander in Chief" and "24", I believe that television helped to promote a very important cause. By watching Geena Davis and Dennis Haysbert as presidents and by getting to know their noble yet fictional TV personalities, we were able to become accustomed to the idea of both a female and a black man in the White House. With Sarah Palin as McCain's running mate and Barack Obama as the Democratic presidential hopeful, it is really amazing that in November one of these TV fictions may become a reality.