Will & Grace’s new character is Donald Trump
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Will & Grace made its return to television after an 11-year hiatus, and with one new cast member: Donald Trump.
No, the President does not appear in the episode, but his presidency is the central plot point of the episode – not to mention, the source of most of its jokes.
*Please note there are spoilers ahead!*
Will is angry at — and attracted to — his Congressman, and writes him a flirtatious letter under the guise of opposing Environmental Protection Agency rollbacks. Grace doesn’t see the ulterior motive. She tells him, “you’re so woke. I used to be woke. Now I use my p—– hat to sneak candy into the movies.”
Cue Grace’s shock when boozy socialite (and friend of Melania) Karen lands her a gig redecorating the Oval Office. Even Karen, who supports Trump in the show, gets in some backhanded compliments. She tells Grace what Trump wants in the new Oval Office design: “He wants it to look like he’s there from time to time.” She sits in Kellyanne’s famous pose on the Oval Office couch, while butlers serve her martinis (though Donald Trump famously practices teetotalism). Grace, for her part, pulls out a Cheeto to view against a fabric swatch, “to see if [the fabric] works with his coloring.”
The show goes deeper than lighthearted anti-Trump jabs and into serious political allegations. Grace finds a Russian-English dictionary on the Resolute Desk, in reference to the rumors that Trump colluded with Putin. Will seems to think impeachment is on the way. He says, of the decorating job, “What desperate fool would take that job, it’s just gonna be redone in a year.” In the show’s left-of-reality fantasy world, Trump will commit some impeachable offense, the GOP Congress will vote him out of office, and Mike Pence will immediately redecorate.
Even the Trumps’ marriage is fodder for the show’s reboot. A White House aide implies that Donald and Melania fight in the Oval Office. When playing the game Heads Up, Will’s clue “rich hostage” leads Grace to guess “Melania.”
Other political jokes are reductive about people’s sexuality, which is odd for a show with two gay, major characters. In that same Heads Up game, Will describes Newt Gingrich as “he’s a man, but he’s aged into a lesbian.” When the gang travels to D.C. they find that the entire Secret Service is gay. One agent, in the middle of working a Rose Garden event, goes on a date with Jack. They later have a one-night stand in the White House. Will and Jack are both gay characters with rich and developed personalities. But in Trump’s White House, the only defining characteristic of the Secret Service is homosexuality, and Newt Gingrich is a lesbian, and both of those things are jokes instead of traits.
At the end of the episode, Grace confesses to leaving only one new piece of décor at the White House. Hail to the Chief plays in the background as the camera reveals a MAGA hat, reading “Make America Gay Again,” left on the president’s computer monitor. The “woke” gesture makes little sense; Trump is the first U.S. president to support marriage equality at the time he took office.
Will & Grace is still witty, funny, and relevant, even if it’s weirdly woke and counterfactual. Everything is politicized now, even our nation’s sitcom reboots.
The post Will & Grace’s new character is Donald Trump appeared first on Red Alert Politics.
Source: Red Alert Politics
