Dystopia and Utopia in the Work of David Simon: a Reading of The Plot Against America

Abstract

The main objective of this article is to discuss the dystopian and utopian elements present in multiple television series written or produced by David Simon, such as The Wire and Show me a Hero, with special attention to the analysis of The Plot Against America, a recent adaptation by David Simon and Ed Burns from Philip Roth's eponymous novel, which tells an “alternative story” where the United States elects Charles Lindbergh as president and ally with Axis forces in World War II. First, we establish the centrality of the concept of dystopia in the contemporary political debate since the election of Donald Trump in 2016. We identify that the term emerges subliminally in the victory speech of elected vice president, Kamala Harris, representing the trend pointed out by Jill Lepore to reinforce political polarization. Then, we examine the discussion around the concept of dystopia, which will help us to specify in David Simon's other series the utopian elements, whose thematic and formal boundaries prove to be exemplars of a political class aligned with the Democratic Party. We argue that Simon relies on a utopia of work, social democracy and family, and that each of these elements is linked both to the conventions of the format of the contemporary dramatic television series and to the political transformations of the post-Fordist and neoliberal period from the latter 1970s.