A Couple of Red Houses...
and the beauty of Wide Angles...
We live in an area with lots of vegetation. Big and small trees, bushes, tall grasses, that sort of thing. It makes for a couple of interesting transitions each year. In the fall, as the leaves disappear and the greenery goes into hibernation, we’re reminded that we actually live in a neighborhood, as houses become visible around us. When late spring rolls around they, once again, disappear behind the green curtain. I like late spring for a variety of reasons, and that’s one. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not that I actually mind having neighbors, much, I just don’t need a constant reminder that they’re there. That didn’t sound very neighborly, did it?
Over this past summer, one of the houses behind us was re-painted. As the new color was being applied we could just see glints of what appeared to be a brilliant red through the thick leaves of the trees. It actually made for an attractive and vibrant contrast. And then…as summer turned to fall, a different picture emerged. Those interesting accents of color turned into a huge blob of reddish, orange, ugly. Look out any window in the back of the house and the assault on the eyes is unavoidable. Context. Sometimes it’s a bitch, always enlightening, and more often than not, a total game changer.
Proof in Real-Time…
We saw another example of context in action this week as the U.S. House of Representatives tried (15th time was the charm!) to elect its Speaker. Viewers of the proceedings, which transformed C-SPAN into Must See TV - no small feat - were treated to something rarely seen on the floor of the historic chamber, in the form of wide pans of the gallery and roving cameras capturing some pretty interesting and candid moments. It’s important to understand that there are long-standing, simple but definitive, rules about shooting in the House. They boil down to requiring only tight shots on speakers at podiums and a static wide shot of the floor during votes or periods of inactivity. That’s about it. For this proceeding, however, C-SPAN, the operators of those cameras, was given permission to loosen things up, in essence, to work the room. The result? Nothing short of amazing.
So many scenes and story lines that would normally have been outside the camera’s scope were revealed. There was drama, yes DRAMA! On C-SPAN for god’s sake! Mortal enemies Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Paul Gosar were seen huddled in animated, and seemingly, friendly conversation instead of dueling with pistols, or engaging in a wild slap fight, as their more public personas might have suggested. There were lively strategy huddles in the aisles, with much gesticulation, contrasted by shots of George Santos (of phony CV fame) seated very much alone and unacknowledged by those in proximity, as if radioactive. Katie Porter obliviously engrossed in the book “The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck,” as haranguing, negotiations, and endless voting was going on all around her. There was Margorie Taylor Greene trying to pass her iPhone connected to FPOTUS Donald Trump (see “DT” on the phone screen) to anti-McCarthy holdout Matt Rosendale. And then, late Saturday night, there was near violence - on C-SPAN! - as Mike Rogers lunged towards an obstinate Rep. Matt Gaetz, who had just refused, once again, to vote for Kevin McCarthy for Speaker. It was House of Cards, Succession, and Veep all rolled into one delicious reality show. A little slow in spots - as all shows can be - but so worth it. Can’t wait to see who will be cast in the dramatic series that will inevitably follow on Netflix, cause you know that’s coming. It must! Once is not enough.
Special Order Indeed…
The House has only allowed changes in its shooting policy twice before since C-SPAN began recording and televising the goings on in 1979, and both times it was for the same reason. According to the customs of the House, all members have a couple of opportunities each day to speak about anything they’d like. They’re called “one-minute speeches” and “special order speeches,” and in 1984, a hard-charging Newt Gingrich realized both represented golden opportunities to get his and his fellow Republicans message out to the public via C-SPAN. Kind of like using social media today to side step the mainstream media, which was showing little interest in playing along.
The “special order speeches” were his favorite because they could be up to an hour long, and always took place after the work of the daily session was done. Night after night Newt and his co-horts would step up to the podium and lambaste their Democratic counterpart’s position on the issues of the day. Being after hours, this usually took place in a completely empty House chamber. Based on the rules governing C-SPAN’s coverage, however, the camera never moved from a tight shot of the speaker at the podium so, in the minds of those watching, these passionate diatribes were taking place in front of a full assembly of the House, creating the perception of much greater weight. And often times, fooled by the passion being displayed by the speaker, news networks and local stations would air a clip of a speech never mentioning the circumstances by which it was delivered.
After witnessing this over the course of several nights, then Speaker of the House, Tip O’Neill, had had enough and ordered the C-SPAN cameras to include frequent wide shots to show nobody was there. Context. By the way, the second time such a change was ordered was in 1995 when, same story just reversed, now Speaker Newt Gingrich, fed up with the Dems using those same open mic opportunities to criticize the new Republican majority’s platform, once again, demanded wide shots of the empty chamber for context sake.
A Mausoleum Come Alive!
Suffice to say, after this past week, I have a new perspective on the House of Representatives. It seems much more real, tangible, and even more credible and honest. Context. As we watched our new favorite drama, however, I couldn’t help but wonder how many other stories of great consequence would change if, metaphorically speaking, the camera’s view was widened just a little. I’m betting the world would look very different, but perspectives and opinions, overall, would be a little broader or, at least, better informed. When our view is limited our minds compensate by either filling in the blanks with thoughts and emotions that mirror past experiences, fears and existing bias, or by telling us that the ugly blob of horrible color in the distance is just a pretty, harmless accent to the lush world of green we see all around us. Isolated facts alone are not truth. They’re just a part of the equation, like strips of a photograph that’s been cut into pieces. Context is the necessary X-Factor, the glue, that creates the full picture.
Unfortunately, I suspect C-SPAN’s coverage of the House will return to normal come next week. Too bad. Now that we have some context - now that we know the truth - we know we’ll be missing a lot. I’m already experiencing a sense of loss, of withdrawl. UK Parliament anyone? The YouTube channel is Dope!
Thank you so much for reading. Have a great weekend!