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Kevin Spacey defends how “House of Cards” portrays Washington, to Washington crowd

Wed, 08 May 2013 12:56:00 +0000

Kevin Spacey’s fictional Democratic Whip Francis Underwood in the Netflix series "House of Cards" isn’t much like real Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer. But the two have become chummy -- and engaged in an honest exchange about the show's portrayal of politics at a Motion Picture Association of America event in Washington on Tuesday night.

Despite their relationship, the actual whip critiqued Spacey’s show when the event's host, NBC's Chris Matthews, gave him the opportunity to ask Hoyer if he had any questions for “the man who’s pillorying your career.” “One of the phrases that I hate the most is when people say ‘well, that’s politics,’” Hoyer said, “and your show is a lot about, ‘well, that’s politics.’” People already have an unfairly negative view of politics, Hoyer explained, and “House of Cards” plays into a nihilistic and venal portrait of politics that goes further than reality.

Spacey acknowledged the point, but chalked it up to the medium, noting that Hollywood makes plenty of movies about the film business that are grimmer than Hollywood really is. That’s drama.

Why was Francis Underwood a Democrat?

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 14:49:00 +0000

If you have Netflix and are even vaguely interested in American politics, it is a good bet your nightmares already are, or soon will be, haunted by Francis Underwood. The fictional Democratic congressman from South Carolina is the central antihero in the American version of the British hit "House of Cards" -- and he makes quite an impression.

Underwood gets his initials from the British show's central character Francis Urquhart, and the two share many traits. They are both brilliant, conniving, mercurial and wholly without ideology -- that is, as long as you don't count raw personal ambition as ideology.

There is, however, one huge difference between the two kindred spirits: While Urquhart leads the right-leaning Conservative Party, Underwood directs the ostensibly left-of-center Democratic Party. While this change may seem minor, it is a key linchpin of the show; indeed, the American production probably would not be able to so powerfully deliver its transpartisan political commentary if Underwood were a Republican. That's because by casting him as a Democrat, "House of Cards" is avoiding the standard cartoonish portrayal of Washington as a place of Evil-And-Powerful Conservatives and Idealistic-But-Powerless Liberals. Instead, it is more honestly admitting that in many cases, both parties' leaders are equally vicious, powerful and corrupt.

How Netflix is turning viewers into puppets

Fri, 01 Feb 2013 12:45:00 +0000

I hit the pause button roughly one-third of the way through the first episode of "House of Cards," the political drama premiering on Netflix Feb. 1. By doing so, I created what is known in the world of Big Data as an "event" -- a discrete action that could be logged, recorded and analyzed. Every single day, Netflix, by far the largest provider of commercial streaming video programming in the United States, registers hundreds of millions of such events. As a consequence, the company knows more about our viewing habits than many of us realize. Netflix doesn't know merely what we're watching, but when, where and with what kind of device we're watching. It keeps a record of every time we pause the action -- or rewind, or fast-forward -- and how many of us abandon a show entirely after watching for a few minutes.

Netflix might not know exactly why I personally hit the pause button -- I was checking on my sick son, home from school with the flu -- but if enough people pause or rewind or fast-forward at the same place during the same show, the data crunchers can start to make some inferences. Perhaps the action slowed down too much to hold viewer interest -- bored now! -- or maybe the plot became too convoluted. Or maybe that sex scene was just so hot it had to be watched again. If enough of us never end up restarting the show after taking a break, the inference could be even stronger: maybe the show just sucked.

“House of Cards” is the ultimate partisan TV show

Tue, 29 Jan 2013 14:00:00 +0000

On Friday, Netflix debuts the first season of its new series "House of Cards" -- releasing all 13 episodes at once. (A second season is guaranteed.) The show, built for binge-watching, stars Kevin Spacey as Francis Underwood, the scheming House majority whip bent on consolidating his own power -- possibly at the expense of the newly elected president.

In the show's first few minutes, Spacey's Underwood strangles a dog to death as an act of mercy; it may be the kindest thing he does in the first two episodes. He's the ultimate political creature, and on the warpath after getting passed over for the secretary of state nomination. Robin Wright plays his equally duplicitous wife, while Kate Mara plays Zoe Barnes, a young, eager journalist willing to take anything Underwood says as gospel.

The showrunner of "House of Cards" is well-acquainted with the corridors of power; Beau Willimon co-wrote the film "The Ides of March" and was a campaign worker for various Democratic Party campaigns in the 1990s and 2000s. We spoke to Willimon about the unorthodox distribution deal with Netflix and why the will to power may not be such a bad thing.

Watch a new “House of Cards” trailer

Mon, 28 Jan 2013 21:22:00 +0000

There are many reasons to order a Netflix subscription in 2013 -- one of the biggest being "House of Cards," the original series with Kevin Spacey that lands on the video and TV service this Friday. Netflix yesterday released a new trailer that gives audiences a taste of what the political drama will be about (hint: a mix of political scandal and Kevin Spacey being awesome).

The show is an adaptation from the eponymous novel by former British Conservative Party Chief of Staff Michael Dobbs. Spacey plays a “wily, murderous politician worming his way to the White House.”

Watch below: