People in D.C. are so psyched when anyone dramatizes them in an exciting way. They're a lot more open to looking at the nastier side of themselves than the media is.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
You think about D.C. as a boring stuffy place. That's kind of its image. But if you grow up in that, you see all these energetic, fun people and crazy stuff that happens behind the scenes that no one knows about.
There's this perception of D.C. as a boring town run by old white men, but in reality, there are incredibly young people in charge of really important things.
It's the tabloids, with their intense commercial need to get scoops to bring in readers, that run a regime of fear, where reporters are bullied, shouted at. That's where things go wrong.
When something is dramatized, it provokes a much more emotive response than just hearing a story on the news.
I think the media is a fear-mongering operation. They love to rile their viewership up or to scare them.
So many people prefer to live in drama because it's comfortable. It's like someone staying in a bad marriage or relationship - it's actually easier to stay because they know what to expect every day, versus leaving and not knowing what to expect.
It is very true that D.C. often operates in the land of caricature.
The commercial broadcasters have tremendous influence in Washington, D.C., for a couple of reasons. First, they're extremely rich and they have lots of money and they have had for a long time, so they can give money to politicians, which gets their attention.
People tend not to dwell on drama.
D.C. is more corrupt than Hollywood. It really is.