Title: House of Cards, Season 1, Episode 9 (15:20-17:40)
Tags: power, media, Freedman, control,
relationships
Author: Julie G
Date: March 23, 2015
Summary:
House of Cards is an intriguing and
captivating political drama focused on the power wielded by a fictional U.S.
Congressman, Frank Underwood. Frank Underwood is the epitome of an old-school
realist politician; he believes in power for power’s sake and aims to always be
the one pulling the strings and moving the actors around on stage. By the ninth
episode of the first season, Frank has built up a significant relationship with
Zoe, a young journalist protégée, who has thus far played the game according to
Frank’s rules. However, in this video clip, Zoe tries to limit Frank’s power
over her by ending their sexual affair. Upon hearing this, Frank, who is always
used to having full control over all the actors in his life, is less than
pleased, despite his reassuring words to her. At the end of the clip, he
cynically says, “She wants to be an adult; let’s see how she can fly once she
leaves the nest.”
Analysis:
This
brief clip provides an excellent opportunity to examine Des Freedman’s view of
the power of the media as presented in his text The Contradictions of Media Power. As a high-ranking politician,
Frank is used to having the media at his constant beck-and-call. As Freedman
states, the media holds no great power by itself, but instead services power for others, allowing
certain voices and agendas to be disseminated through their pen. “Media power,
according to this view, is like a junior partner in a coalition dominated by
more established social forces like religion, armies, politicians or
corporations” (Freedman 8). Frank’s attitude and actions reflect his agreement
with Freedman; the media is a lesser power that should operate only by the
rules he, the politician and the superior, sets. When Frank realizes that Zoe
intends to overstep this power hierarchy by ending the physical part of their
relationship, he is entirely displeased. Despite his words to her, Frank decides
to punish her by “letting her see how she can fly.” Thus, in the rest of the
episode, he gives her the cold shoulder, not giving her any new information. As
Frank later says, “sex is about power,” and without direct power over Zoe, he
risks losing control over her. Without immediate control, there would be the
possibility that Zoe would no longer service his political needs in her
journalistic endeavors. Thus, she would become an unreliable and useless source
for promoting his political agenda. Throughout the rest of the episode, he
ignores her in order to reestablish the power hierarchy, in the end forcing her
to sleep with him to gain new information. Although his plan is risky, he
successfully manipulates Zoe back to her earlier state of “junior partner.” As
Freedman explains, media power is fundamentally based on relationships
cultivated by the media themselves (30). By ending a part of her relationship
with Frank, Zoe unknowingly sabotages her power over and access to Frank.
Additionally, Freedman talks about how access to the media is fundamentally
unequal throughout society (30). In relation to House of Cards, Frank is one of
the privileged few who does not suffer from access to media institutions. In
fact, Frank would argue that the media suffers from inadequate access to him,
and those lucky journalists that do gain access must service his agenda in
order to get their story.
