Addicted to Cards

I was addicted to House of Cards, and I managed to finish all 13 episodes within 10 days. It had been so long since I felt attached to a drama series, and I must admit I felt lost the minute the last episode finished.

The show was recommended by an instructor, and as soon as I started watching I realized why it was addictive. It stars Kevin Spacey and it talks about politics and public relations (also known as the two loves of my life besides Alice and Andrew). How can it get any better?

One of my favourite episodes was when Frank Underwood, a Congressman, slipped false information to a reporter about the incoming Secretary of State. Frank was expecting the nomination himself, and he was pretty upset when he found out it was not going to be him. There are two lessons for politicians here: the first is you must always watch your tongue, and the second is you must always watch your tongue. With Youtube and other online platforms, your stupidity can be replayed 20 million times easily and viewed by people around the world.

Another episode talked about the power of lobbying. Where I come from, Hong Kong, lobbying is not necessary. Politics has been married to money for a very long time in my city, and under-the-table decisions are made every day blatantly. In this episode of House of Cards, lobbying drove Frank Underwood and his wife apart. Frank’s wife, Claire Underwood, ran a not-for-profit organization called Clean Water Institute (CWI). When CWI’s aids to Sudan were withheld by the Sudanese government, Claire asked Frank to speak to the Secretary of State of the US, as she thought it would resolve the issue easily. However, the US government was cutting off ties with the Sudanese government and no help could be deployed for Claire. Frank and Claire had a heated argument, and then Claire had to speak to a contact at Sancorp, an energy company. She knew Sancorp had its connection in Sudan, and in exchange of the favor, Claire had to make sure a bill that Frank was trying to push in Congress would not come through.

I do not want to spoil the show, but the key message here is that you cannot predict how people will behave when people have different interests. In this case, you can almost say a wife betrays her husband for a box of water filters. Some call it dirty politics, but to me it is the essence of democracy – you can make up your mind and do whatever you think is best, instead of following the ideology proposed by those in power – even if the person in power is your spouse.