Imagine if Selina Meyer actually became president.
The star of “Veep” (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfus) didn’t exactly inspire confidence in politicians through her role in the show, so it’s a good thing we don’t really pick our television presidents to hold the nation’s highest office. At least, not yet.
We might have elected a reality TV star in 2016, but when it comes to art really imitating life, Ukraine has beat us to it. Volodymyr Zelenskiy, a comedian and fictional TV president, was just elected to the very real and very serious office of president of Ukraine.
In “Servant of the People,” a popular Ukranian TV show, Zelenskiy plays Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko, a high school history teacher who becomes president after his rant against political corruption goes viral.
Like a certain other television star, Zelenskiy seems to have leveraged his fame to nab political power. He campaigned on the honest-to-goodness image he portrayed in the TV show, though we may soon see if the claims that he’s actually the puppet of a rich oligarch are true. For now, we can hope that he turns out to have the anti-corruption animus of President Holoborodko instead.
How does Holoborodko stack up to American TV presidents? From “Veep” to “The West Wing,” television has offered us dozens of presidents we’d like to see, or not see, in the Oval Office.
In “Servant of the People,” Holoborodko takes a disarmingly no-nonsense approach to politics. Instead of grandstanding, he admits to reporters at a press conference that he isn’t prepared. His portrayal seems to have resonated with some: 20 million people have watched the show, which, if you’re interested, is available on Netflix.
“Veep,” now in its seventh and final season, has earned Louis-Dreyfus six Emmys for her role as vice president, and later president. Like “Servant of the People” did in Ukraine, “Veep” has become a pop culture phenomenon for offering a cathartic journey through the political system many citizens suspect is broken. Meyer, however, is the opposite of Holoborodko. Every decision she makes is calculated to work toward her advantage. What makes the show a comedy is the way her machinations go wrong.
As an aide for former President Barack Obama said, people want to know if Washington is as inspiring as “The West Wing” or as chilling as “House of Cards.” The answer is that it’s actually most like “Veep.”
“Servant of the People” similarly nails the idiosyncrasies of Ukrainian politics, and Zelenskiy would have us think that his political career will follow his TV character’s. But he won’t be as ingenious as Holoborodko, as evil as Frank Underwood (“House of Cards”), or as majestic as Jed Bartlet (“The West Wing”).
If history is any indication, Zelenskiy will learn how to play the political game, if he hasn’t already. In that case, the Ukrainian government will never be “Servant of the People.” It’s about to look a lot like “Veep.”
