In Ryan Murphy’s Netflix debut, a Politician is born
THERE’S SOMETHING DISTINCTLY WES ANDERSON–ESQUE about The Politician, a semisatirical take on student government that may be the most hyped new Netflix show of 2019. Debuting Sept. 27, it features lush production design, stylized performances and teens talking like they’re in an Oscar Wilde play. Anderson alums Gwyneth Paltrow and Bob Balaban play the parents of title character Payton Hobart (Broadway and Pitch Perfect star Ben Platt). Though the series unfolds amid the Spanish colonial mansions of Santa Barbara, the credits are set to twee icon Sufjan Stevens’ orchestral anthem “Chicago.”
In fact, is the creation of Ryan Murphy (with collaborators Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan) and the first product of his record it tackles contemporary anxieties in overwrought yet imaginative ways. Like it’s about young people figuring out who they are; queerness abounds, though in a post- world, casual fluidity is the rule. Authentic emotion coexists with camp. There’s singing, dancing, violence, stunt casting, side plots ripped from the headlines. The show is a lot. And it seems destined to be both popular and polarizing.
