Something tells me that I’m not going to like President Geena Davis any better than I liked President Martin Sheen. John Fund of the Wall Street Journal on “Commander in Chief,” starring Davis as a feminist president:
“The series pits 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. The creator of ‘Commander in Chief,’ Rod Lurie, is apparently trying to broaden the show’s appeal by promising that he won’t be using it as a soapbox for his admittedly liberal views. He is quick to note that Ms. Davis isn’t playing a Democrat. Instead she is an independent who landed on a Republican ticket in order to offset a conservative candidate’s low approval rating among women.
“Mr. Lurie insists that red-state viewers need not shun the show. He admits that he ‘can’t write to a belief system that I can’t swallow myself,’ but he says that he has hired some conservative writers to make up for his deficit. Not that a balanced approach was evident at last week’s series-celebrating parties, in Washington and New York, hosted by the feminist White House Project. …
…Eleanor Clift of Newsweek agreed that ‘Commander in Chief’ would help Sen. Clinton. ‘It’s so idealistic, calling us to a higher purpose,’ she told the audience.
“Idealistic to some, stereotypical to others. We’ll let the critics decide. Suffice it to say, for now, that the first episode involved an effort by the dying (Republican) president to shunt aside the vice president (Ms. Davis) so that a malevolently conservative House speaker can take over. (Right, that would happen.) A member of the vice president’s staff says that the speaker stands for “the return of book burning, creationism in the classroom and invading every Third World country.” The statement is not meant as a compliment. For balance, the new President Allen will supposedly have a few views that Mr. Lurie says are conservative, like abstinence education–although even Hillary has endorsed that one.”