Popular Culture Review Vol. 19, No. 2, Summer 2008 | Page 28

24 Popular Culture Review several White House staffers and some members of a conservative Christian coalition. As Bartlet enters the room, Toby Ziegler, his communications director, and one of the Christian coalition members are arguing about the First Commandment. The coalition member, John Van Dyke, has said it is “Honor thy father.” Ziegler says it’s not. VAN DYKE: Then what’s the First Commandment? BARTLET {speaking loudly as he walks through the door into the room): “I am the Lord your God. Thou shalt worship no other God before me.” Boy, those were the days, huh? Bartlet is a president who takes over a room, not simply because of his title, but because he commands attention. Allen, on the other hand, is a quieter presence who, even when she does take charge, does so without the force or passion that Bartlet seems to bring to the job. This study, which focuses on the first season of The West Wing and the first and only season of Commander in Chief, examines the differences in the portrayals of these two fictional presidents and at the role that gender plays in the way the characters were written. A Woman in the White House When ABC announced that the United States would have a woman president—albeit a fictional one—critics flocked to the show. New York Times writer Alessandra Stanley called Commander in Chief “a. feminist twist on ‘The West Wing,’” (Bl) and then said the show was well written with a playful premise. John Fund, writing for The Wall Street Journal, said that the new series would pit “Academy Award-winner Geena Davis against the patriarchal world of national politics until her ‘You Go, Girl!’ attitude puts to rest the doubts of her many detractors” (1). The idea of a woman president became fodder for reviews, tabloids, and countless columns, and even landed Davis a spot— alongside President George W. Bush—as one of Time magazine’s “People Who Mattered” in 2005 (148). What is especially notable in the media coverage of the show, though, is that Davis’s physical appearance often got top play. Kristen Lombardi, writing for the Village Voice, noted Davis’s “power-flip hairdo and ruby lips” in her story on the program (1). And Tom Shales, a Washington Post writer, used his lead to focus on her appearance above all else. He wrote: Geena Davis can veto my legislation anytime. Starring as the first woman to hold the highest office in the land, Davis reminds us what we have missed in most of our past, real-life presidents: cuteness. She’s got a twinkle in her eye, a twinkle in her smile, a twinkle everywhere. She’s President Twinkle— just what we need to tame the extreme, charm the militant, inspire the troops (C1). James Poniewozik, writing for Time magazine, noted that the first female president was, well, “very tall” (90):