Why We Need A Show About The 2016 Election

In case you missed it, 2016 was pretty much the worst. No matter what side of the political spectrum you fall on, the election was divisive and stressful. The political climate hasn't exactly gotten any better (understatement of the century), but the one tiny consolation prize of 2017 is that we're no longer biting our nails over who will be our next president. Now, a new TV show plans to dredge up all the election drama in the name of entertainment. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the team behind Zero Dark Thirty is working on a television event series based on the election. While it's nice to know that the writer and producer behind the Oscar-nominated film are tackling the project (it could certainly be in worse hands, after all) I can't help but wonder if now is really the best time to do so. The drama from the election hasn't gone away: It's just morphed into dissent for the current administration. People are still adjusting to the current status quo, and even those happy about Donald Trump's win aren't without their own political stress. Then again, there is a counter argument. Could a show about the election be cathartic in some way? Perhaps — though it's hard to imagine how it would be for all Americans. Maybe, instead, the series can reflect some truths about the United States that are hard to pick out from inside our own bubble. Much like how American Crime Story pulled apart the O.J. Simpson trial, a series about the election could really dig deep into why the 2016 election felt like such a nightmare in the first place. Why did Trump and Hillary Clinton's battle for the White House bring out such an ugly side of America? I'm hopeful that the series will have something smart to say about our society...even if it's hard to stomach returning to November of 2016.