How Netflix's Designated Survivor tried to make us more human

human /ˈhjuːmən/

adjective

1. of or characteristic of people as opposed to God or animals or machines, especially in being susceptible to weaknesses.

2. showing the better qualities of humankind, such as kindness.

Let’s be honest—humanity is currently swirling around in a toilet bowl of metaphorical fecal matter. Almost every day we’re bombarded with stories of Muslims being targeted at airports, entire countries at war because the men in power had their egos knocked over breakfast and parents striving for a better future for their children by undertaking dangerous sea journeys to escape tumultuous countries.

And that’s just videos on Facebook—the earth-shattering power of which usually prompts us to over-exert ourselves into hitting “dislike” and then continuing with our daily woes of finding someone to clean our private pools.

But, how do we feel for people we don’t know?

This is where shows like Designated Survivor come in.

An element of almost every TV show in existence is relatability, we have to feel connected to the characters. This is cleverly snuck upon us by writers who create multi-dimensional characters, one of the most identifiable to ever grace the screen—Tom Kirkman.

A simple, humble man whose main goal is to provide for his family and be a “good” person is given a mammoth task which he, spoiler alert, rises to perfectly.

Along the way, Kirkman toys with his conscience but ultimately always tries to do the right thing and, better still, the human thing. Which, is a pretty stark contrast to the AI-infused, empathy-impaired politicians we see today.

Once we relate to the characters, we empathize with them and begin to see things through their eyes, something that we wouldn’t normally do with a stranger. It’s vital that we see ourselves in the people on screen or we’re not likely to “get” the situations they are in.

That’s when political statements truly work.

Over the latest season of Designated Survivor, the characters find themselves in the centre of some pretty hard-hitting topics such as assisted suicide, immigration, illness, racism – things that real people face, but not things that we all necessarily do. How do we know that these issues are real? Well, the show literally includes clips from real people talking about those real things.

When we see people we “know” going through it, we see what it’s truly like and we empathize. It’s only when we empathize that we’re able to truly acknowledge a crisis or see it from a position outside of ourselves.

Each episode’s title is aptly structured as a hashtag: “#whocares, #makehistory #nothingpersonal, which (i think) allude to the society we live in.

In that social media is a great way to talk about the sensitive topics but it’s also a pretty harrowing reminder that that’s all a lot of us do—talk.

The only way we will ever truly change the world and bring ourselves closer to the people around us is by understanding them.

Our faceless society of social media comments and likes might keep us connected, but it prevents us from connecting. That is why we need to be put in the shoes of others, and Designated Survivor was an able partner in helping us get there.