| Madeline Hampton | |
|---|---|
| The West Wing character | |
Moira Kelly as Mandy Hampton |
|
| First appearance | Pilot |
| Last appearance | What Kind of Day Has It Been |
| Created by | Aaron Sorkin |
| Portrayed by | Moira Kelly |
| Information | |
| Nickname(s) | Mandy |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | White House Media Consultant (Season 1) |
| Nationality | American |
Dr. Madeline 'Mandy' Hampton is a fictional character played by Moira Kelly on the American serial drama television series The West Wing. She was White House media consultant during the first season of the show, and the former girlfriend of Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman, with whom she often clashed. A savvy political strategist and no-nonsense negotiator, the character was said to have been based on real-life political media advisor Mandy Grunwald.
One of the character's major subplots involved the public disclosure of a secret memo she wrote criticizing President Josiah Bartlet, which created a public embarrassment for the administration. Although Kelly was a primary cast member during the first season, Mandy was featured less frequently as the episodes progressed, and removed from the series altogether by the end of the first season. Series creator Aaron Sorkin said the character was not working out, and the departure was an amicable decision with Kelly.
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Mandy Hampton was a political consultant who left high-paying and prestigious public relations firm to work for top politicians in the public sphere.[1] Extremely ambitious,[2] Mandy had a reputation as a savvy political strategist and no-nonsense negotiator.[3] She has a bachelor's degree in art history, a master's degree in communications and a Ph.D. in political science.[4] Mandy starts out the show as an advisor to Democratic Senator Lloyd Russell, a political challenger to President Josiah Bartlet who opposes many of his policies.[5] She was also dating the senator, which angered Deputy White House Chief of Staff Josh Lyman, who used to date her himself.[6] In the second episode, "Post Hoc, Ergo Propter Hoc", Mandy ultimately leaves the senator, and stops dating him, when he defies her wishes and tables a bill in committee that she planned to fight vigorously for.[7] As a result, Mandy is hired as a media consultant for Bartlet, much to the chagrin of Josh. In her new capacity, she reports directly to Toby Ziegler, the White House Communications Director.[8]
Before leaving Russell's employment, she writes a memo to him deeply critical of Bartlet's administration. This memo eventually surfaces in the media and becomes a public embarrassment for the Bartlet administration in the episode "Let Bartlet Be Bartlet", leading to her being cut out of the policy-making loop for a while until President Bartlet ordered his senior staff to let her out of the doghouse.[5] In "The State Dinner", when the Federal Bureau of Investigation wants to use force to take down a militia involved a hostage situation, Mandy strongly urges the president to exhaust all peaceful solutions first, despite Josh's advice to the contrary. Mandy argues "the greatest threat to democracy" are not "the nuts" but rather "the unbridled power of the state over its citizens". However, the situation ends poorly when the hostage-takers shoot a mediator sent in to negotiate, causing the FBI to respond forcefully and release the hostages without harm, and Mandy to become physically sickened by the events. [1] Mandy Hampton loved to drive fast cars.[3]
It has been said Mandy Hampton was partially inspired by Mandy Grunwald, the Democratic political consultant and media advisor who worked on the presidential campaigns for both Bill Clinton and Hillary Rodham Clinton.[9] Moira Kelly said of her character, "She's a fighter in a difficult business and has a lot of strength."[3]
The character appeared only in the first season, and her appearances became less and less frequent as the episodes progressed. She departed from the show without plot explanation after the first season ended.[3][10] Series creator Aaron Sorkin said that the character was not working out,[10][11] and the decision for Moira Kelly's departure from the show was amicable:[11]
"Moira is a terrific actress, but we just weren't the right thing for her. She expressed that she felt the same way, and as a result, story lines hadn't been invested in that character, because we knew that at the end of the year, we'd be shaking hands and parting company."
The ensemble-nature of the cast made it further difficult to focus adequately on the character. When the first season finale, "What Kind of Day Has It Been", featured a cliffhanger ending with an unknown character getting shot, many fans speculated it would be Mandy Hampton due to the character's ongoing departure.[11][12] The St. Petersburg Times quoted an unnamed West Wing writer as suggesting that actors with two-year contracts are the most likely to have been shot, which the newspaper said suggests it could be Mandy due to her pending departure. However, the newspaper also suggested that could be a red herring since it was not at all clear that Mandy was even present in the scene when the shots were fired.[12] It ultimately turned out to be Josh Lyman who was shot.[11]
Sorkin originally planned to reintroduce Mandy in the second-season episode "The War at Home", as the campaign operator of junior senator and environmentalist Seth Gilette, played by Ed Begley, Jr..[13] However, the appearance never happened. Fans of The West Wing have since adopted the phrase "Mandyland" to represent the fate of other recurring characters who appeared in fairly integral roles for several episodes but then suddenly disappeared.
Mandy Hampton has been cited in arguments that, particularly in the first season, the series placed its female characters in largely marginalized roles while the male characters occupied most of the powerful positions. They pointed out that even Mandy, who holds a relatively important position as political consultant, departs from the show quickly and is not predominantly featured in major storylines.[9][14] However, authors Peter C. Rollins and John E. O'Connor, who published a book about the series, wrote, "This televised representation may not be so much the result of a conscious or even unconscious bias on the part of the scriptwriters but a reflection of Washington reality."[9] In an article for The Straits Times, writer Richard Feinberg acknowledged most of the important characters in the show are white males, but pointed to "very smart women" characters like Mandy as evidence that the show included a fair mix.[1]
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