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For those of you uninitiated, the show tells the story of Birgitte Nyborg (played by Sidse Babett Knudsen) the first female Prime Minister of Denmark (which the country made happen in reality last year.) Season two picks up two years into Birgitte's term and the first episode focuses on the Danish presence in Afghanistan. She goes to the front and meets soldiers and then after an attack tries to figure out if she should keep the troops in the coalition or pull them out. What is so great is that there is not one second where you have any issue over the fact she is a woman, she is a leader has to make a decision about a long and unpopular war. She has to negotiate with all the other parties who make up her government and it really shows how difficult the business of leading and governing is.
The show also shows the personal toll of leadership. Birgitte's marriage has fallen apart. Her husband, who took a less demanding job when she was working her way into power in her party, wanted to take a job at a company and he couldn't because it had relations with the government. He got sick of her schedule and his level of responsibility and left her. There is no doubt that the show makes clear how difficult this is, but it also shows the different societal responsibilities placed on men and women. Many a woman takes the back seat because that is their role and it is interesting to watch a guy struggle, and fail, to play that role.
Here is a clip from season 1 right before Birgitte's election.
Put this on your summer schedule.
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While this scene is a gratuitous and that is something that the writers, producers and Direct have
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2 Comments
No | June 2, 2012 2:19 PM
I stumbled into this show by reading the above posting: Borgen is a very good political show. Unlike the American presidential system, which is non-parliamentary, it is really interesting watching how the show's Birgitte Nyborg as Prime Minister, and as the leader of the Moderate Party, has to deal with other parties in her cabinet, who can topple her government by denying her support. You also see the personal cost and how the Danish media isn't that any different from American media. A really good show. The one odd thing is that show's title Borgen means castle in Danish, but is translated as "government" in subtitles. Who would want to watch a show called "Government."