The West Wing: 10 Things About The Show That Didn’t Age Well

The West Wing was filled with powerful characters and meaningful storylines. But some aspects of the show don’t hold up.

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When The West Wing aired in 1999, it introduced the world to a whole new kind of television. Not only did the show create the famous “walk and talk”, it made the dramedy (comedy-drama) a popular genre and was one of the first dabble in the workplace television show. It was nominated for over 200 Emmys and is still considered one of the best television shows of all time.

However, with the show airing more than 20 years ago, some storylines did not age as well as others and do not hold up to modern standards and ethics.

John Hoynes’ affairs

Throughout the series, John Hoynes is known for his indiscretions. He resigns the vice presidency after an affair breaks in the news, he had an affair with CJ, and he is accused of sexual harassment in season 6. Most of these affairs occur in the workplace with women he employs.

Despite these public accusations, The West Wing characters are more concerned with the perception of the events instead of John’s repeated behavior. In the aftermath of the Me Too Movement, where power imbalance and harassment in workplace relationships are discussed more than ever, Hoynes’ behavior and how it was handled did not age well.

Lack of women in backstories

While The West Wing was one of the first of its kind to feature powerful women like CJ Cregg, the show is still very male-dominated. This even extends to the character’s backstories.

Nearly every main character has a storyline including their father. CJ deals with her father’s dementia, Toby reckons with his dad’s seedy past, Josh grieves his father’s death, and Sam struggles with his father’s infidelity. President Bartlet’s father is a large part of the show and is talked about often and shown in flashbacks. However, most of the characters barely mention their mothers, if their mother is even mentioned at all.

Treatment of mental health

Despite the immense trauma that all the characters experience during the series, only three characters ever attend therapy. After many of the main characters are involved in a shooting, only one, Josh Lyman, is encouraged to seek professional help and only after his behavior impacts his work. After he is diagnosed with PTSD, he is afraid he will lose his job.

The staff has to secretly sneak in a therapist to see the President out of fear the press will see. In season six, Ed Baker drops out of the Presidential Primary after he failed to reveal his wife was treated for depression, a common mental illness.

Helen’s underwear scandal

In season seven the press snaps a photo of Helen Santos’s underwear peeking over her pants as she bends to take care of her child, which leads her to be publicly teased and shamed. She is even partially blamed for the situation since she wasn’t active with the press, and is told that if the press knew what to make of her, they wouldn’t have taken a photo of her.

From the public shaming to the victim-blaming, to even publishing that intimate of a photo, the entire situation would not fly in 2021.

Ainsley Hayes

The lines of sexual harassment in the workplace are often blurred throughout the series between the main characters. However, the treatment of Ainsley Hayes is undeniably inappropriate.

Her looks are the central personality trait of her character. She’s called a Republican sex kitten and is frequently hit on and leered at. Later in the series, Josh says in order to be a Republican and work in the Bartlet Administration, they must look like Ainsley Hayes. While creators tried to brush over this behavior by saying Ainsley liked the harassment, it is still extremely unprofessional and wrong.

NASA

Space is a topic frequently tackled by The West Wing crew, from the Galileo space shuttle, to discussion of Mars exploration, to Toby’s astronaut brother. The final season is largely taken up by a leak about a failed space mission in the White House, which nearly sent Toby to prison. Sam even gives a heartfelt monologue about the human desire to explore and the need for space travel.

However, a decade after the show aired, NASA ended the Space Shuttle Program. In 2021, space exploration is largely privatized.

Hate crime conversation

In season one, the West Wing cast tackles hate crimes after a teenager was murdered for his sexuality. After his parents tell CJ that the President is ashamed of their son’s sexuality, CJ and the rest of the cast wrestle with the concept of hate crimes.

Many staff members don’t believe in the legislation. However, national hate crimes legislation was passed in 2009 and stands to this day, making many fans cringe at the storyline two decades later.

The Internet

The Internet was in its early stages throughout the series and not frequently used. In season one John Hoynes remarks that the Internet is here to stay to reporters, making fans roll their eyes 20 years later.

Blogs and digital news outlets are commonly made fun of in the series in favor of print. In the first few seasons, Josh doesn’t know how to type. One episode is dedicated to the cast sending an email to their parents. The staff could never have imagined that two decades later the Internet and social media would be a large part of politics.

Josh’s small pox monologue

In season 1, Josh is given an NSC card with instructions for an emergency scenario. After discovering none of his friends received one, he is reeling.

When he must brief the President on a smallpox situation, he delivers a heartfelt monologue to CJ about how the NSC card has made him feel. He says that since smallpox was eradicated, an outbreak would have a massive toll. In a post-COVID 19 world, the monologue sounds eerily familiar, with the virus spreading far and wide across the globe, causing hundreds of thousands of deaths.

Lack of female candidates

There is a huge lack of female political candidates throughout the series. While some appear in the background of meetings or are discussed between the main characters, the majority of the politicians on the show are men.

Toby’s ex-wife, Andrea, is the only female politician who gets significant screen time. At the end of season five, when Josh is wondering where to go next in his career, Leo encourages him to find his “guy” to run. There is a single woman in the Presidential Primary, Rikki Rafferty, who only appears in one episode and is used to drive a wedge between Josh and Toby.

Link Source : https://screenrant.com/things-in-west-wing-that-didnt-age-well/