This McCain ad accusingly labels Obama a celebrity, as if fame is generally considered unfavorable in the US, as if celebrity were a pejorative term, as if McCain himself weren't recognizable around the globe. What the McCain PR team seems to have forgotten is that millions of Americans buy and buy into all the glamour, fashion, scandal and every minute detail of celebrities' lives. We encounter images and stories about the rich and famous everywhere: in the tabloids at supermarket checkout lines, on TV shows, including the evening news, and on websites and blogs devoted to spreading celeb gossip.
Celebrity is the driving force behind much of American mass culture, providing people in our society with both a commodity to desire and acquire, as well as an ideology to espouse. In this way, celebrities assume the characteristics and functions of the dominant class, which in turn subsumes the interests of the people who consume mass culture, thereby maintaining the power dynamic of the rich and elite over everyone else. Celebrities have high cultural status and hold the power to influence our choices; whether it's the shoes we wear or the beverages we drink, celebrities' opinions, image and lifestyles affect how and what we think. It should follow then, that celebrities can influence who we choose to vote for.
See more Ron Howard videos at Funny or Die
By the looks of this video, celebrities believe-- or at the very least hope-- that they have the ability to sway voters' decisions. Here, Ron Howard, Andy Griffith and Henry Winkler complement their celebrity with humor and nostalgia to appeal to viewers. In Marxist terms, what the pathos of this video may accomplish is false consciousness. By yoking entertainment with politics, this video subtly compels viewers to think favorably about the message and about the status of celebrities. Whether the viewer agrees with Howard & co. is beside the point; when someone watches the video, presumably enjoying the process, that person absorbs not only the overt message (vote Obama in this case), but also the idea that celebrities' opinions matter more than anyone else's and that celebrities are some of the most important people in the world-- they are ruling class. By asserting themselves as ideologically dominant in the US, celebrities continually establish their preponderant position in American society, which serves as a constant reminder that "we the people" are subordinate.
Two things are unclear with regard to the issue of celebrities dealing in politics: 1) whether people are genuinely persuaded to vote with the celebs, and 2) why the McCain campaign sought to equate Obama with celebrity in a negative fashion. Of the former, I cannot offer any conclusion. What I can see though is that celebrities don't hesitate to say whatever they're thinking regarding politics or "politicians", especially when they can share those thoughts with the whole nation.
Matt Damon wasn't the only celebrity to speak out against the high profile vice presidential candidate. Pam Anderson also expressed herself and though she was none too eloquent, she didn't mince words either.
This type of persona is probably closer to what the McCain campaign had in mind when it attempted to malign Obama with the celebrity epithet: someone who is famous for partying and being at the center of scandal, someone whose reputation is based on physical appearance, someone who deviates from down-home family values. The McCain ad uses the images of Brittney Spears and Paris Hilton to establish this conception of celebrity. What McCain's campaign did not anticipate was a direct response from the infamous heiress herself.
See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die
While this video portrays Hilton as the vacuous jet-setter she is reputed to be, it also convincingly shows her to possess intellect and a form of social consciousness. That she speaks intelligently on serious political issues undermines the apparent claim of the McCain ad that celebrities are ignorant of or indifferent to the quotidian struggles of middle class Americans. This video response to the McCain ad became so popular that it merited a sequel, featuring more celebrities.
See more Paris Hilton videos at Funny or Die
The argument from the McCain camp that Obama is unfit to be president because he is a celebrity is not only petty but also obtuse in that it fails to recognize the power and popularity of celebrities. Celebrities are in fact model capitalists:
- they control the means to produce and distribute their message/cultural product
- they have the platform to reach the populace
- they posses the allure necessary to grab the attention of society
- they set the standards for acceptable behavior, which people emulate
- they can create false consciousness by coercing people to enjoy doing and thinking things that are against their interests by means of entertainment
- ultimately, they have the power to maintain the status quo by situating themselves in a class above all the non-rich and non-famous citizens of the USA
So then, if Obama is a celebrity, then he is the perfect person to salvage American capitalism. Isn't that exactly what McCain wants?
Here's another look at the celeb ad, along with my spin on it.
Or check out my original piece on celebrity phenomena.
3 comments:
Hey Aurora, your post turned me on to some new thoughts, and that's really groovy.
Because of my age and only recent familiarity with politics on this side of the Atlantic, I can't speak for how much celebrities got involved with the political process in the past, but this election cycle the phenomenon was quite prominent. It leaves one thinking about how much style has trumped substance.
For instance, at first, the Happy Days nostalgia evoked by Ron Howard's video is very appealing but when you think deeper, he talks exclusively in the language of marketing. As you say, we are supposed to buy his message just because of who he is. But he says very little specifically about why Obama should be President. Nowhere is the talk of specific past policies or experience.
At the same time, McCain uses celebrity in reverse: to try to tarnish Obama. I can see why McCain does this, what with all of Obama's celebrity endorsers and the magnetism of the man himself. McCain lacked both those elements.
But it's just another sign of the commodifying effects of the media. The only constant is the drive to sell a product. Everything else, including allegiance to particular philosophies or messages, is subservient to the chief motive. It's sad to see the tool belittle the candidates and the authenticity of the political process.
Response to Assignment #3 (aka The Two Towers):
Looking at how the different characters, particularly Sarah Palin and Oprah Winfrey, in your VoiceThread piece speak reminds me of how even celeb-cynics like us still end up absorbing so much of the fabricated images projected by the media. We feel we know exactly how these different characters speak, even though we've never met them.
It's tough to completely not believe these messages, even if we are skeptical. The screen turns people into superhumans, making their words carry more weight than those of ordinary mortals. And all we the public get are these highly restricted messages. How can free thought emerge from such tight confines?
Response to Assignment #4, aka Return of the King:
I like this video. All these images of film stars who became politicians, mixed with celebs from music and it-ness, show how intertwined celebrity and power are. In fact, the former is just a breed of the latter.
Assuming that any given celebrity is famous for some talent (and that is certainly not always true), even that celebrity is 99% normal. However, the lens of fame imbues even the ordinariness of their lives with a strange glow that distorts and magnifies. I don't believe most of us ever entirely deconstruct such processing and fully see the ordinary person beneath. The celebrity exists only in our minds and the mind is a tough thing to change.
Nobody can pass through the media lens unchanged. Strong, weak, stupid, or clever - qualities are exaggerated and distorted. At the very same time that it purports to further the quest for truth, the media distorts at every step. It only offers a morsel, a poppy seed of reality.
This is why I believe the media has a valid use as a crutch, making us more aware about many things on a basic level. However, it's a crutch we have to one day cast aside if we are to ultimately avoid fiction. The end may be an admission that we truly know nothing but if you understood how you reached that point that admission may be liberating.
Ta ta,
Adam
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