The peculiarities of reality

Watching the Ten O'Clock News I just caught a glimpse of Bush being interviewed on Meet The Press today. Now, there's enough commentary out there on what happened in the interview itself, but I was struck by the setting of it. It was in the Oval Office of the White House, but it looked to me like it was on an Oval Office set, rather than the Oval Office itself. I'm quite sure it did take place in the real Oval Office and this isn't an attempt to create some conspiracy theory, but I just found it quite interesting that the real Oval Office looks less impressive than the fictional version seen in The West Wing or other films and TV. Maybe it was just because it was being filmed by TV news cameras which, especially on American TV using NTSC, tend to give things a much more artificial look to things.

So, in future, maybe all Presidential interviews should take place in Hollywood where decent cameras and lighting can make the Oval Office look how people expect it, not how it is. After all, who wants reality in politics?