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May 24, 2006
A lament for The West Wing: If only work life imitated art
by JUDITH TIMSON
Globe and Mail
My favourite television show ended recently after seven years and, with it, went one of the great alternate realities of my working life.
The West Wing was, of course, about the major crises, everyday dramas and emotional goings-on in a Democratic White House during the administration of President Josiah (Jed) Bartlet, played to paternal perfection by Martin Sheen.
Political junkies, including me, couldn't get enough of the passionately liberal administration, which effectively offered a utopian vision during the years of George W. Bush, presenting taut and witty episodes on everything from foreign-policy imbroglios to domestic scandals.
But there was another reason I stayed glued to The West Wing: It presented the idea of near-perfect collegiality, depicting a small group of pathologically articulate, blazingly intelligent people (Josh Lyman, the deputy chief of staff, was a Fulbright scholar, and the president, a former economist, was a Rhodes scholar) working together.
They knew each other's strengths and foibles, and they exchanged delicious rapid-fire repartee, often while walking hurriedly down the corridors of power.
Never has the word "yeah" uttered at breakneck speed seemed more resonant. Their conversation one minute centred on the merits of gun control and then swerved to who had stayed out partying all night or slept at his desk and was, therefore, in the same rumpled suit the next morning.
And never has there been such wisecracking in an office, and yet no real cynicism toward each other. From Toby Ziegler to Josh Lyman, C.J. Craig to Leo McGarry (played with full-out heart and intellect by actor John Spencer, who died of a heart attack before the final episode could be filmed), these characters harangued each other, inspired each other and protected each other, all in the service of a common goal: keeping their administration afloat.
Well, I said it was a utopia. In fact, The Globe's Jeffrey Simpson, who has been around his share of politicos, wrote that the one great unreality about the series was that there was not enough backbiting among the senior staff.
That's probably true, but millions of viewers, fresh from the foibles of their own working weeks, obviously didn't care.
From the very first episode, these colleagues were tight. Way back, Josh was about to lose his job after he had glibly insulted a right-wing Christian leader on television. His senior colleague, Toby, desperately trying to find a way to save him, offered advice about apologizing, and then said bitingly: "I don't want this gesture to be mistaken for an indication that I like you." But it was clear he adored him.
Through blunders of global magnitude, assassination attempts, boatloads of Cubans arriving, inept campaigning, firings, resignations, tears, love affairs and more policy wonking than is healthy, The West Wing team got to the soul of what it was like to blend your ideals and your career. It embodied the notion of how satisfying it is to work with like-minded people in the cause of something worthwhile. This shouldn't be a utopia -- but these days, it more likely than not seems to be.
Recently, I have heard very successful people, while reflecting about themselves and their careers, say that the decision of who you choose to work with is almost more important than what project or work you actually choose to do.
Imagine working with people who know you so well they finish your phrases (and not just to claim glory for your ideas).
They laugh at your jokes even when you aren't funny, protect your back in public and then pound you out verbally in private when you've screwed up.
"You look like hell," Toby says to Josh in that very first episode. By the last episode, they all pretty much looked like hell, which was a poignant mirroring of aging in real life, and a dramatic portrayal of how much wear and tear those high-level jobs -- or even just acting them out -- puts on people.
In the final episode, there was a newly elected president -- to really complete the fantasy, another Democrat -- taking office, there were new romantic liaisons, one staffer got pardoned for an idealistic crime he'd committed and our favourite assistant, Donna, finally got the plum job she deserved, plus a love relationship with her former boss. President Bartlet departed from our lives on a plane, looking out the window, his expression at once nostalgic and relieved as he no doubt reflected on what they'd all shared.
The West Wing, to me, was a ridiculously glamorous working life ideal. It was, in all its hokey idealism, the exact opposite of the hilarious but ultimately cynical show The Office, depicting all managers as useless boobs and everybody out for themselves.
So here's a question: Is anyone out there working in what they consider an ideal collegial environment? Is anyone utterly enamoured, not to mention proud, of the teamwork at their workplace?
If so, I'd love to hear your real-life descriptions of an office team that really works, a group of colleagues who evoke the kind of loyalty and passion seen on The West Wing. Consider it a public service -- methadone for me as I withdraw from the utopia of working life depicted on The West Wing.
Posted by Jo at May 24, 2006 08:07 AM