By: Grace Dietz
Copy Editor
Ben Platt once rose to the top of the acting business with his role in Pitch Perfect, but unfortunately fails to amaze viewers with his unrealistic acting in the new series “The Politician.”
The only purpose for “The Politician” is something to laugh at, and it doesn’t offer much to viewers. With underdeveloped characters and awful acting, the show is basic and unoriginal, and does not realistically display the life of a teenager in today’s society.
Released on Netflix on September 27, “The Politician” was created by Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk and Ryan Murphy. The show stars Ben Platt as Payton Hobart, Zoey Deutch as Infinity Jackson and Lucy Boynton as Astrid.
The series focuses on the life of teenager Payton Hobart, who has known since the age of seven that he wants to be the President of the United States. In order to work his way up to the Oval Office, Hobart needs to win the Student Body Presidential Election at his high school, Saint Sebastian High School, in Santa Barbara, California.
There is no doubt that politics today are far from perfect, which is what “The Politician” attempts to demonstrate. By showing a high schooler’s attempt to win a presidential election in school, the creators are able to illustrate the problems associated with shoddy politics today. It becomes clear to viewers that a politician’s campaign, such as Hobart’s, is usually all about popularity, and morality is often overlooked in these situations. The series also satirizes politicians by only showcasing the rise to power of overly-rich children, as many poorer politicians are commonly underdeveloped and not supported as much.
“The Politician” features unrealistic, boring acting that is sure to make viewers cringe. Although Platt has landed major roles in previous films and television series, the work he puts forth in this series is far too dramatic and basic. In many other series, the actors manage to give genuine, tear-jerking performances. In “The Politician,” however, the cast doesn’t seem to connect with their characters at all, which leads to surface-level acting and an uninspirational storyline. Additionally, the cast is far too old to portray the lives of teenagers today, which only makes it harder for them to connect to their high school characters. “The Politician” had potential to be an amazing, riveting series, but falls short in that the acting is basic, cheesy and terrible.
The show’s failure, however, is not only caused by the horrendous acting, but also the underdeveloped script and plotline. From the beginning, viewers have a sense that the show will probably be one of the worst ever produced. A show completely centered around a teenager’s impractical vision of one day becoming the President of the United States is one destined to fail. Additionally, when the story isn’t boring and slow, it’s progressing at an exceedingly fast pace, with new characters being introduced at random and events being brushed over like it’s nothing. It seems as if the creators knew the storyline was too basic, so they decided to add additional plotlines that are completely irrelevant to the main story.
Although the characters are underdeveloped, “The Politician” brilliantly manages to comment on the college application process in today’s society. Throughout the series, Hobart continuously states that his only chance to become President in the future is if he attends Harvard for college, and that everything he’s done over the years are efforts to get into college. Hobart’s situation strongly represents the college application process today, as many students will do anything to attend the most prestigious universities, even if that means destroying their innocence and the blissful years of being a teenager. Though the series is anything but perfect, it brilliantly displays how unfortunate it is for students to tear themselves apart to get into the same overrated universities.
The horrible soundtrack only adds to the overly-dramatic acting. In the series, there are less than a handful of scenes that are actually genuine or realistic in any way. The show also incorporates musical performances, such as “River,” originally sung by Joni Mitchell, which was performed by Platt. The songs are very dramatic and over-the-top, which only adds more fuel to the fire.
If viewers wish to watch something that will inspire them in any way, they should probably just put on a Hallmark movie instead of “The Politician.” The actors talk to each other with words and expressions that no one in their right mind would use today, and the unoriginal storyline does not seem to help with that problem. As of right now, the show is open to another season, although it’s probably best for everyone if it never airs.
Released on September 27, “The Politician” is available for streaming on Netflix.
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