Michelle's Contemp Blog

Episode 2 of The Politician ends with Payton and his friends discovering that Infinity does not have cancer. This moment is pivotal because it could mean a lot of damage to Payton's campaign but he is also conflicted about whether to handle the situation with compassion or like a politician. Payton discovers Infinity does not have cancer | Netflix River saw that Payton was a good person but Payton couldn't see it and now that the truth about Infinity is about to come out, Payton has to remember River and the person he thought and knew Payton was. Payton has an ongoing inner struggle about doing what is right and doing what is best for his campaign.  Episode 3 begins with a flashback to a conversation between Payton and River about one year ago. Payton expresses his nervousness about his upcoming debate and River teaches him a breathing exercise to help calm him down. River also tells Payton that he'll be in the front row, cheering him on. This moment between ...

Several political topics are addressed throughout the Politician. The specific topic of running mates arises in episode 2 of the show when Payton has to choose someone to join him on the ballot. Instead of choosing someone that is just as qualified as himself, Payton must choose a vice president that will make him look better and attract votes. In the larger scope of things, this episode suggests a lot about the actual world of politics. From what viewers can see, running mates are there to make the president look better but can be a huge liability to the president's image.  Payton states that Infinity can garner him the sympathy votes but James insists that she is a huge liability, especially if it is true that she does not have cancer. Infinity does not have any qualifications and is only useful to Payton because she can gain him more votes.  Truth is an in-depth perception of reality while illusion is a superficial perception of reality.  In  the P...

The characters in the show play-act versions of themselves on so many levels for different reasons. Two prime examples of characters play-acting versions of themselves are River and Payton.   For starters, in the pilot episode, the viewers discover that Payton and River have a thing for each other and seem to like each other but Payton and River both have girlfriends that they do not seem all too interested in. They seem to hide the fact that they were ever together romantically and River runs against Payton for student body president.   During the debate, River is asked a question about the diet of students at Saint Sebastian and he answers by saying "I mean ... yeah? no?" (10:27). Even though he is running to be student body president, River is still a charismatic jock and he has to act like one by seeming carefree about the entire debate. River play-acts the version of the cool guy who everybody likes. River plays a version of himself but he isn't really being h...

Colston Whitehead's The Nickel Boys aims to tell the story of the boys at Nickel Academy and the horrors that they endure while they are there. In the coming of age novel, Whitehead tells the story of the boys by explicitly stating what happens to them in detail and simultaneously leaving out large portions of other events that happen to them for the reader to fill in.   In Michael Schaub's review of The Nickel Boys, he states that Whitehead's descriptions of the brutalities the boys at Nickel Academy endure are "necessarily shocking" and that Whitehead writes about the abuse inflicted by the school's staff with a "calm matter-of-factness" that amplifies the horror. Whitehead writes in this calm way throughout the novel and this can be seen when Elwood describes the White House in which the boys are tortured discussing the "splatter on the walls where the fan had whipped up blood in its gusting" (85). The vivid imagery and calmness i...

Colston Whitehead's The Nickel Boys  bridges the gap between the era of slavery, Jim Crow laws, and the contemporary form of controlling black people present today, including mass incarceration.  In the novel, Elwood is forced to attend Nickel Academy after he gets pulled over in a car that was stolen. His only crime was being in the car at the wrong time because Elwood did not actually do anything wrong. Elwood is labeled a criminal before he has even done anything to warrant him being called a criminal.  During the time of Jim Crow laws, specific laws were put in place to prevent African Americans from escalating in society. In the novel, Elwood is forced to attend Nickel academy, a government-funded institution that is mandatory for the boys to attend even though they endure endless abuse. The education system in the novel is the power structure that allows for and perpetuates the abuse of African Americans. The evolving means of controlling black peop...