MovieChat Forums > Homeland (2011) Discussion > Why even have a President character?

Why even have a President character?

posted 7 years ago by scottrmartin
7 replies | jump to latest

Homeland never had a fictional President before.

Why not just keep the President off screen with veiled references to "The President" to create the illusion the show is based in our real world.

[–] Funnibone31 7 years ago

Gansa mentioned in a recent interview that when him and his team met with the CIA to develop ideas for the season, they weren't hearing a lot about ISIS cells in the US or things if that nature. What they were hearing about was the period of transition with the upcoming election and how delicate that is. Gansa liked that idea so hence why he needed to create a presidential character.

[–] MyNamesParadise 7 years ago

From what I understood of the president before it was a Republican administration because when Brody was VP in season 2, it was as a Republican. In the world of Homeland no other presidential transition occurred so in Homeland it's going from a Republican to a Democratic presidency.

[–] suncloud03 7 years ago

Brody was only a Congressman.

Walden was the VP, and he was a Democrat.

[–] MyNamesParadise 7 years ago

was that ever explicitly stated? It's almost as if they never stated the party he was. Given how close he and Brody were I thought the VP was a republican. His attitudes certainly seemed that way. With quick google searches I wasn't able to find a confirmation. if you have a source you know of, that'd be appreciated!

[–] hypercube 7 years ago

because the President is involved in the story now.

[–] ehaas-3 7 years ago

A lot of shows and movies have fictional Presidents. There was a fictional Vice President in it a while back.

[–] CobblersAwls 7 years ago

That is right, hypercube.

It was made very clear in the opener when Dar and Saul met with her for their briefing that her son's death in battle was going to be a major impetus for this president's behaviors in office.

They didn't have to spell it out, but it seemed very clear she's harboring some major issues with her son's death, even though as Saul said, she never discussed it during the campaign.

Ergo, if someone as high as a president has major issues with a death of a son in battle and either wants to get to the bottom of it OR punish people she thinks caused his death, then having her as the president gives her major powers to do that and can be a big plot point.

It brings a major dynamic in for Saul and Dar to deal with.