Delusion is en vogue. Anything and everything to distract ourselves from reality, Americans watch absurd television shows that make them feel safe in odd ways. With “Scandal”: I don’t even know where to start. That show represents a child’s version of Washington, D.C. after watching an 80’s action films.

Kerry Washington is the actress who portrays “Olivia Pope,” on that fictitious and absurd television show. She cited her fictitious character as credibility for identifying political “spin.” I haven’t seen the claim trending. Maybe no one blinked at the assertion. Enter: our societal ability to equivocate experience with pretending to have experience, professionally. It brings new light to the “no, but I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night” line of commercials. Because underneath, maybe that’s how our society thinks now. This is larger problem in society, that she even felt emboldened to make the statement and stand by it.

That’s the average millennial – pre-qualified but never bothered to check the pre-requisites. I’ve found myself guilty in some ways of that mentality. No one is immune from cultural trends that they grew up around.

In regards to her ability to identify political spin. That show is so far from reality and ‘off the reservation’ that citing her make believe role in it immediately disqualifies her from weighing in on any and all things regarding Washington, D.C. and politics.

I’ve touched on it before. People want to believe in the Avengers; they want to believe in fantastic stories, and they’ll suspend their disbelief. I mentioned before that someone I met in D.C. felt she had dated a ninja-warrior-assassin (part time) and that she broke his psyche and extracted the information. By this, she chooses to believe she is an exceptional person. It’s a fantasy in real life. Because no one is interested in things of substance and what is real. They want what sounds cool.

That undercurrent of American culture propels this actress to cite, to belabor the point, as a character on a stupid show. That show is the theater of the absurd. The show is part of the problem; a mass delusion about our government that idolizes treachery and shadowed actions that are above the law. The show is an enormous gap from any reality of Washington. But, you’re hard pressed to convince anyone of that. It’s convenient, fun, and absolves us to deal with big problems if we believe it’s entirely rigged.

It’s ironic that our technology, news, and jobs are experiencing a tectonic shift towards quantitative outcomes, objectivity, and analysis.

Featured image courtesy of bookriot.com.