No, but I play one on TV . . .

According to ancient theories of mimesis, art imitates life -- is the converse true? Specifically, I am thinking about two TV shows that depict American Presidents.

On The West Wing, Jimmy Smits plays Matt Santos, a Latino candidate for president.

On the new series, Commander in Chief, Geena Davis plays a female vice-president who assumes the presidency when the elected white guy dies. If you take a look at the Commander in Chief website, you will see plenty of evidence of art imitating life: the TV show website has a fake blog about a the first female president and everything! (At least I hope it is a fake blog, or these viewers are getting way too involved in a fictional plot!).

So, what of this? Is America getting ready to elect a president of color or a female president? Are these shows pushing middle-America to open up their minds to electing a president who would come to the job with a different lived experience from the average president?

Do the creators of these shows (and the writer, directors, actors) hope that they are subtly prepping the country to bust out of the uniform model for presidents (rich, white guys)? Or is this just entertainment -- just a stab at what sells?

I believe that artistic expression (and I'm even willing to put some TV shows in that category) does often and certainly should push us reconsider the patterns, events, and reigning theories in our lives. But do the creators of fictional presidents feel this way? And does it matter? If watching these shows is causing audiences to contemplate voting for an "Other" candidate, then art is pushing life regardless of the writer/director/creator's intent.

Blog on that!