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André Jolles speaks heavily on the concept of mockery in his essay “Joke”, emphasizing the difference between satire and irony, of which I think HBO’s Veep does a fantastic job at playing with. The show itself is a political satire, essentially disbarring the idea of congress and the American government as normal people like the civilians they intend to protect. In the show, Vice President – or the “veep” – Selina Meyer (played by Julia Louis-Dreyfuss) is placed in a number of ironic situations, however, as a manner of highlighting her inferiorities and the ineptitude of those around her.
Jolles describes that in parody as a form of mockery, repetition plays an important part, explaining how “repeating what is mocked (can) undo in its entirety” (210) the tension billowed up until the comedic release. In Veep, there are a variety of running jokes that express this idea of repetition as a way of undermining the seriousness of the concept of the show or members of the government in general. Regardless, one of my favorite running gags is one commonly referred to as: “Did the president call?”.
The majority of the show does not mention the president by name, rather choosing to focus on Selina’s own attempts at asserting her self-worth and hopefully becoming President herself. Selina is constantly trying to remain relevant and important for the President, and, as such, always asks her receptionist Sue whether the President had called.
General conceptions of government rely on the idea that there is plenty of communication between all the different figureheads and a very formal, or professional, environment. Veep completely undoes this perception. The joke resides in the fact that the President never wants to call Selina, or stay in contact with her at all. There is a faint glimmer of hope every time Selina asks Sue whether the president calls, and, every time, Sue answers with a straight-faced “No.”.
Selina is always seen running around in the hopes of being relevant to the governance of America, trying to figure out the President’s calendar (meetings, and such), so that she can join in and be visible to everyone else. However, the President does not afford her this opportunity.
At the end of the clip attached, however, Sue does eventually reply that yes, the President called. The one time in which the President does contact Selina, is only when he tells her that he is stepping down. Unknowingly to the viewer, this perceived undoing of the joke in turn provides a whole new set of tension, when Selina then begins her ventures of running for President.