When I say bad subject, I mean focusing on a theoretical repeat of January 6th insurrection. Americans may need to be burned before they learn not to grab the pan... but when they do, best be sure they'll overcompensate with the mittens.
That said, January 6th was a shocking moment that reverberated around the world and left me, a non US citizen, absolutely stunned. A lot of documentaries have been made about the day, what went wrong and why. Charges were brought up, courts did their thing and in the end... well, you know what happened.
What this exercise attempts to do is recreate the same event but with a bit more spicing to the mix, and therein lies the problem. Everyone who has participated in this exercise has been in politics in one way, shape or form. These people have, without a doubt, studied the events of that day and by default went in this exercise, albeit somewhat in the dark, still aware of possible consequences to their decisions. They're essentially fighting a battle that has already been won... despite the monkey wrenches the game master throws at them.
The documentary touches of militias, radicalized current and former members of armed forces, high ranking members of the armed forces taking political stances and the risk that comes with that, being able to order their troops to take a side in an event like the one on January 6th when a close election happened. It's all a bit too farfetched, but then again so was the attack on the Capitol... until it happened.
My gripe is that this concept has the potential to be brilliant, if for no other reason than to inform the public, to give them insight on how decision making takes place behind closed doors. A while ago a TV show named the West Wing did just that, with the exception of adding drama to spice things up, but it gave the audience an inside look into politics... and itch I don't think any other program has satisfied since.
War Game scenario has that potential. Picture a random group of politicians brought together having a random crisis thrown their way and watching them trying to navigate it. Picture two groups, unaware of each other, playing off each other by trying to achieve their respective goal. I mean, I know there would be some level of "censorship" of the process... but it would still be an incredible watch.
Either way, I initially gave this a 5, but I did so having only watched until the half way point. The second half of the documentary sees things pick up the pace and become quite tense... for an exercise.
It's a fascinating watch. And also, that was one hell of a presidential speech.
