This post is an attempt at understanding the inability that is woven in to us which doesn't allow keeping things together - i.e. when you get things in order but somehow manage to lose it again - specifically in context of relationships.
I finished third season of House Of Cards and it got me thinking about this topic (Pranav - One post on HOC per season - you have to give me this concession at least, buddy boy!). Lets see how this attempt turns out:
Note: This post contains some spoilers for House Of Cards Season-3 so here is your chance to back off. In case you are in process of watching Season-3 or plan to watch it, you may want to stop reading this post and I mean STOP NOW!
Major Spoiler: Claire has left Frank and the White House at the end of Season-3.
There, I said it!
Lets take a step back and look at how the story has developed:
Season-1 and Season-2 were all about Frank and Claire working towards getting into the White House. They devoted themselves completely towards that endeavor - they complemented each other. It seemed as if their being together was the most powerful union in the whole of universe - a bond that was unshakable and something that already withstood the test of time. They worked relentlessly together towards their plan and executed it meticulously and with ruthless pragmatism. Hell, Frank even committed two murders in the process. During their journey they did have some differences but they always sorted it to achieve the 'greater good', as Frank puts it.
Season-3 focused on Frank's life as POTUS (President Of The United States) and Claire's as FLOTUS (First Lady Of The United States). The season gave insight into how life is for both - now that they have climbed the mountain and there is no where higher to ascend - and how they deal with the stresses of White House. Frank's incompetence as President is shown by his low approval ratings. Frank has his hands tied by the Congress - it won't allow him the latitude he desires. Republicans and Democrats unite against him and he is shown to withdraw some key legislation that he had intended to pass through the house. Whether he was right in pushing those forward is not the topic of this post.
Season-3 also focused heavily on Claire's ambitions - she makes it clear at the onset that she wanted a meatier role in the affairs. Even in Season-2, she mentions to her former lover that she wants to be significant. Frank acknowledges this and ensures that Claire be given a free hand to pursue whatever she wants. Claire opts for taking up being ambassador to UN and working alongside the Secretary of State. While Frank advises her against taking up the position - he ultimately yields to her desire.
The dynamics of Claire's working environment keep changing and it quickly exposes her inadequacy and incompetence in dealing with foreign affairs. Furthermore, adding to Frank's frustration is the moment when Claire ends up being the cause of failed negotiation with the President of Russia - wasting of months of effort by Frank's administration. Frank faces challenges at home and abroad - Claire works to the best of her capacity in finding resolution to challenges from abroad but clearly that was not enough.
Towards the end of season, Frank is forced to ask Claire to resign from ambassadorship and instead help him in campaigning for next presidential election. This is the key moment when Claire feels that she is just being used by Frank. She begins to believe and that she never really had much power even though she is married to the most powerful man in the world. She starts questioning on what is in it for her. She starts focusing on herself and in the process, loses sight of their potential to leave behind a legacy. She ultimately self-destructs and much to Frank's disappointment, ends up leaving him and the White House.
Frank and Claire achieved what they had set out for. The chase was over at the end of Season-2. It then required a different mindset and approach to keep things together and build a legacy - which is what Frank wanted for them. Claire, on the other hand, had her own ambitions. She wanted to capitalize on Frank's presidency but lacked the vision and faith to just hang in there when things were not going her way.
The way Season-3 ended was very shocking. It posed some questions for me: what the hell just happened? How could this bond break? Everything was perfect - they achieved what they wanted but still how could this happen?
As I started thinking more - it occurred to me that probably most of us do not realize that once we have achieved what we were striving for, we tend to become complacent. We tend to get relaxed and often tell to ourselves 'ok buddy... we need some rest now'. And in the process we just sit back and marvel at our accomplishment.
The high-performers distinguish themselves in this area - they know that the real work has started now - especially after having gotten their goal. They do not lose the momentum and instead focusing on next goal. One of my favorite quotes from Harvey Specter (Suits):
The lesser mortals (so to speak) do the exact opposite of the high-performers and tend to relax and in the process they lose the momentum they once built. The tendency to get relaxed is a curse that most of us suffer from - its something that is so fundamental to our Deoxyribonucleic Acid a.k.a DNA that we cannot do anything about it unless we exercise our will to fight it off.
It is certainly not easy and many people fall prey to the complacency and end up losing their way, underachieving than what they are capable of and more importantly fail to keep things together - that they have achieved.
Is this behavior also applicable to the way we approach relationships?
I think the answer is "YES". In relationships as well, especially the ones that fall out of the set of 'blood relations', it requires a conscious working (and may be a correction in course from time to time) to ensure that we do not lose sight of the end-goal. Many of us indeed work towards it subconsciously but every once in a while, it surely helps to take a step back and see where things are headed. Every once in a while, it will help to ask this question to ourselves 'Are we taking the other person for granted?", "Are we at a place where we want to be, for time immortal?", "Is there a scope to improve?", "Are we still aligned to one another?".
With my limited understanding about human behavior, I certainly don't have the exhaustive set of questions that need to be asked to oneself. However an awareness about the complacency, a realization of this fact, will at least be a starting point.
In my prior posts, I have sung praises about the Underwoods and how I find them really special, how much I am in awe of the chemistry between Frank and Claire. The eternal optimist in me sees the end of Season-3 as a temporary misalignment that can be fixed. I am sure there are many more who want to see Frank and Claire get back together!
2 comments:
Nice summary of all Seasons, Gaurav! Seeing fans like you, the director producer of HoC can no way stop themselves from not sowing seeds for next Season, and as you see, the name is so apt - House of Cards, one which was built in first 2 seasons, had to fall. And it did, perhaps in a much sordid way, to our disbelief. hmmm.... no, I shouldn't say disbelief. Because the pace at which that partnership was going, which on the outset seemed very complementary to each other, but in reality was like a jockey and horse in derby - One beating the other to bring the best out of the other partner. It was also at times like the one between F1 car race driver and pit-stop workers. The racer I agree puts most efforts, but so do the tyre changers, and bolt tighteners, to the best they can in their field of endeavor. Still its the racer who gets to stand on the podium and spray the champagne. Everything has been going right for this duo, the thing which was missing was harmony, and peace.
And why I say harmony and peace, because it contradicts with the parallel you drew in later half of your blog. While I agree with you that one should never loose momentum, one should never become complacent, but I still feel life is not a Autobahn where you can keep running at same pace, and keep breaking records one after another. It needs to pause, as there is a need to reflect. Reflect upon the mistakes on their journey, Cherish the wonderful moments spent along the way. Yes, I agree that during this pause, one may miss a monumental opportunity of success, but so what! There can still be content. And mind you, this content may not be same as complacency, till you keep energy to either restart from where you paused or be energetic to walk a new path.
Coming back to Claire, she will be back, as she is a strong lady. And I hope in season 4, we will see a change in this duo. A more inspirational one. They will unite again, but not like ruthless competitors (even though not against each other), but more like a true sportsman. And will again conquer, to end this HoC series. One can argue, that it was the ruthlessness in them which made them unique, which again I agree, but everyone will applaud them more for their transformation in the next one.
Pranav - Interesting view-point. HOC moves at a phenomenal pace and obviously the director didnt have luxury to show them relaxed. My whole point hinged on the fact that both are highly ambitious and accomplished individual. They both complemented each other so well in Season-1 and Season-2 and they had the world at their feet when Frank became POTUS.
Claire chose to focus only on herself and in process lost sight of what they could have done together. This complemented with her inadequacy at her job caused her to look at things in different way and she drew her own conclusion (which was flawed).
In Season-4 I want to see Claire coming back to Frank and Frank winning second term. However, I think they will show further downfall of Frank Underwood.
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