The Philosophy of House of Cards – Wisecrack Edition

This is how you put a philosophy major to good use

I blame house of cards for making me lose half of my emotional capacity

I dated a politician. ill never forget the day his party betrayed him last minute during cabinet reshuffle. effectively a demotion, based on power and contacts which he had begun to lack because of an incident a couple months prior. he came home to get his suit for press, screaming & literally smashed up our house. he was crying in anger & saying he wanted to kill them. he left half an hour later to address the press who had witnessed this backstabbing first hand & had lots of questions. I was at home watching him on the news. he was smiling & said "it doesn't feel good but I support my party" he really was lying to the media and to tax payers and he wasn't even one of the bad guys in there.

"We dont succumb to terror... we make terror."

"Politics is no longer just theater, it's show business." - F. Underwood

The system isn't broken. This is the system.

I think that the purpose behind Frank's soliloquies is not so much a lazy attempt to provide exposition (the monologues really don't add any plot points we don't already know), but rather to give viewers an insight into Frank's self-perception. Frank Underwood, in my opinion, isn't a sociopath at all. He just wants to be one. He wants to be Machiavelli. He's not just trying to convince us that he's a sociopath, he's trying to convince himself as well. Kevin Spacey pulls this off brilliantly. After killing Zoe Barnes, he demonstrates, in his face and body language a lingering form of regret and shock at his own actions, which he then covers up by convincing us that he feels no remorse. Frank's soliloquies are his defense mechanism to protect him from a deep-seeded fear he has of not being in control.

The reason why it's hard to hate Frank Underwood is because he isn't exactly an evil person. In Frank's mind, nobody is entitled to anything not even compassion or love. If he wants something well then he has to fuckin earn it. That's what makes Frank Underwood such a despicably appealing character. He always knows the price for his goals and does whatever it takes to achieve them even if it means losing the most valuable thing to him, his marriage. The problem here isn't Frank Underwood being all ruthless and deceptive, the problem here is how our injustice world rewards man. You certainly can't be the most powerful man in the world by being a nice honest guy. A rabbit will always be hunted by a wolf, that's just how the world works.

I took Claire putting on makeup as another reference to Shakespeare, covering up perceived blood as opposed to washing it away

8:48 Frank is NOT deeply annoyed by the buddhist monks, and is in fact simply astounded that they would dedicate a whole month to painstakingly create the sand mandala. Frank's reaction to the monk's presence and work is neutral at first, then later supportive. this is evident when he finds out that the monks completed the mandala and destroyed it way before he could see it together with Claire.

This was so well done it hurts

In reference to Frank's quest for a lasting legacy, I think we should look at it psychologically... To Frank his father was nothing, a nobody. Something frank despises and, to some degree I think is afraid of. I think he is afraid of being like his father (daddy issues, ikr) but yes. Frank is so afraid of being buried and forgotten that he's been reduced to half assed attempts at creating a lasting legacy. I think he realizes that these attempts aren't enough, so he keeps striving for more power. Or rather he's striving to run away from demise.. from being forgotten. He can't run away from inner issues... he's going to want more power, try more things, but even if he successfully concretes a legacy.. he'd still be empty.

When Claire gave the homeless man money, it was a $100 bill, the origami was a $20 bill, the man was just giving a part of it back as a gesture of good will..

Are we doomed to love Frank Underwood? Tell us what you think Wisecrack!

When i was a child i wanted that sort of immortality, but then it occured to me that leaving a legacy doesn't require goodness and as a matter of fact i'd wager that more people remember Hitler than Churchill (although i'm sure it's close). I enjoy Frank underwood because he's intelligent and driven but you know what i enjoy most? The fact that he manages to be so condescending towards people who don't understand that money is nothing more than a means to an end, yet he himself completely misses the point that the same exact logic can be applied to power, and earning money for the sake of money is roughly as valuable as earning power for the sake of power. Power without direction is useless for anything more than the inflation of pride. I think the reason the viewer likes Frank is because of those little asides, being let in on a part of a world that nobody else gets to see. Maybe that's just me, but if all i ever saw was the frank underwood of the news and the media, as he presents himself i'd be bored to tears if not repulsed.

I just noticed that WiseCrack videos have great rewatch values!

Frank Underwood IS the best politician, ever. Ruthless, efficient, willing to play the game to its fullest, bending the rules as far as he can. Break them if he must. Never losing focus of the goal: POWER. I kind of like him. I would shoot him in real life but on film I like him.

We don't hate Frank Underwood because we love Kevin Spacey too much.

Don't forget! What makes Frank appeal to the audience is that he seems to be honest, as opposed to theatrical. The "theatrical" asides emphasize the idea that he's letting us peek behind the curtain at what's really going on. It's that sense of feeling like we're seeing the unvarnished truth that we like, even if the truth is horrible. If the theory were true that there's "no truth behind the masks," Frank's appeal would totally evaporate. It isn't the mask we like, it's the stripping away of the mask.

I don't have to agree with anything Frank believes, says or does, I love Frank as a character because he fascinates me. If he was a politician in real life, and all I ever got to see of him was that suspiciously wholesome, outward image politicians tend to favour, I would most likely be bored and/or repulsed by him. In the show, however, Frank confides in the viewer, he's honest with us, and we get a front row seat to what he actually gets up to. Some of my favourite moments in the series is when he turns around and tells us to our faces what he's actually thinking, I suppose because of the raw honesty, but in a way also because of how exclusive this feels. His honest, unfiltered thoughts is obviously something he guards extremely well. In a way, I think having Frank confide in the audience compels us to feel as if we're on his side on some level, like we're part of his inner circle. I guess it's hard to resist feeling at least a little bit flattered when someone interesting, charismatic and powerful wants to include you. The real question is perhaps, if you do end up fond of him for whatever reason, whether you will let his views rub off on you or not. Then again, I have a huge thing for really well fleshed out villains, anti-heroes, characters with ambiguous moral codes, etc., so of course Frank would be right up my alley.