The Politician: If Wes Anderson Wrote and Directed an Episode of Glee
This is not Glee or Pose. Ryan Murphy has ditched focusing on the unheard and has shifted gears to examine the lives of the upper class in his new Netflix show. Ryan Murphy's Netflix show the Politician follows the life of an ambitious high school student Payton Hobart (Ben Platt) who is running for student body president at his California high school. Payton comes from an elite family and has the main goal in life to be President of the United States. Winning the election at his high school is the most important part of his plan to be POTUS. The character if Payton is nothing more than what is physically seen on him. He is the straight-A student with shelves of former POTUS's memoirs in his bedroom. He is the adopted son of billionaires. There is no real authenticity or humanizing features of the character.
The show feels exactly like Wes Anderson's Rushmore with its diligent aesthetic and eccentricity of the universe it takes place in. The characters feel like Wes Anderson characters with their stunted growth and inability to picture them in the real world. The pastel colors and whimsical tone support the similarity between the two. Murphy's show even includes Margot Tenebaum, Gwyneth Paltrow, as Payton's mother. Paltrow's performance is very reminiscent of Wes Anderson's characters. Paltrow's whole performance and character embody Wes Anderson's entire filmography and his distinct style of dialogue and character interactions. Murphy uses Anderson's style throughout the series which makes it enjoyable to watch but never goes below the surface as Anderson does.
Murphy's show is very surface level. There is no depth psychologically or emotionally of any of the characters. What is presented from their elite aesthetics is all we get from them. Serious themes like suicide, murder, toxic masculinity, and violence are all present but are never explored deeper. Platt's character is cold and at times it seems like he could be redeemed or have growth but he never has the chance to explore either option. The characters never change which causes the plot to feel like a repetition or unnecessary. After the first episode the concept of a high school election gets old and what is split between 8 episodes could have just been a 2-hour mini-series.
Jessica Lange and Zoey Deutch's performances as Dusty and Infinity Jackson feel ripped right from Hulu's The Act. The Hulu series wins this round with more convincing performances and originality of the relationship. The one in Murphy's show feels ripped off and tacky. This as a subplot felt lazy and sometimes boring to watch. It didn't add anything to Payton's journey in high school. At sometimes it was emphasized and other times diminished. It only served the purpose to give Payton a running partner and then turned out to be a liability for his campaign.
The Politician is absurd. The only real connection seen is between Platt and Paltrow in their mother-son moments. Payton's story feels superficial and maybe it is Murphy trying to get us to see how superficial the world has turned. It is also confusing why someone who centers most of their television shows on the unheard would want to give a platform and "explore" the life of a wealthy, white male teen who wants to win a high school election. The show features a lot of satire but its a hard watch due to the lack of substance in plot and characters. There is no message from the show and it is unclear of who the audience is. Murphy is off to a rough start in his 5 year deal with Netflix.