"Christ. Could you get any more obvious?" |
To state it plainly, Shakespeare's original Richard III character wasn’t naughty by nature; he was naughty by choice. Dick3 was bad because he liked it.
In Shakespeare’s time, that was a radical, new, original idea (which scared the hell out of Shakespeare). In the years that followed, the bad-by-choice-heartless-chessmaster bad guy became a cliché. (As-in all Bond villains.) But real bad guys aren’t so honest with themselves. Real bad guys rationalize. They kill for the greater good or history or justice or God or Allah or yattayatta. But not Frank. As House of Cards reveals.
If Verizon actually lets us watch the damn thing.
Assuming it does, this crowd-pleasing, high-production-value, Netflix loss-leader gets us up-close and personal to a smart, heartless, sociopathic politician (a shameless Richard III rip-off) who
wants power for its own sake because he wants it and will commit any atrocity
(in heartless chessmaster style) to get it. In 1592, this would’ve been
radical. In 2014, it’s a cliché.
The real bastards aren’t like that.
A real Frank Underwood wouldn’t see his own motives without
delusion. He’d be killing people for democracy, the American way, or some other
jive. To his own mind, he’d disguise his heartlessness with a layer of
righteous bullshit.
Kevin Spacey’s character doesn’t. Frank never lies to
himself (or the Netflix audience eavesdropping on his monologues). Lurching
along in Richard III’s footsteps, Frank is absolutely clear about his own
motives.
In 1592, that’s a slap in the face.
In 2014, it’s a gimmick.
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