In a perfect world, politics wouldn’t need to be “dumbed” down so that a majority of Americans could understand. In a perfect world, people would be interested in politics and not be apathetic. Everyone would not have to be politically savvy, but know enough to understand what is happening with our government.
Recently, with the coming elections, we have been seeing politics distorted and made seemingly unimportant by the merging of politics with popular culture. In a John McCain presidential campaign commercial, Sen. Barack Obama is compared to Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. Putting the fact that there is no connection between the ladies and Obama aside, the commercial is forcefully merging pop culture and politics in a way that doesn’t even make sense.
The commercial is trying to appeal to the people who know who the ladies are but do not know who Obama is. The commercial says that Obama should be compared to the ladies because he is just like them, a celebrity. I would imagine that a person not knowing who Obama is but does know who the ladies are, and sees them in a positive light, would vote for him because he is associated with the ladies. If a person knows who the ladies are but also knows there history and the controversy surrounding them, I would imagine that the person is smart enough to know the McCain commercial is a bunch of BS. In either case, by “approving this message”, McCain is saying that he thinks America is too ignorant to understand politics without it being compared to pop culture.
I personally don’t think that America is ignorant; I think America doesn’t care as much as it should. The apathy is unavoidable and can be seen around every corner. By merging pop culture and politics, pride and a sense of dignity is lost. I wonder, “Has it really gotten that bad?” “Is America really that ignorant when it comes to politics?” “Is it really up to that small percentage of the population to keep America running?”
When politics are merged with pop culture, not only does it feel like the pride of democracy shrivels up and dies, but also democracy is undermined. This country was built to be a democracy and I have heard America and democracy being used interchangeably. The merging of politics and pop culture is crushing the democratic spirit. Political equality is being questioned when politicians are compared to celebrities…by other politicians. We as a country, current politicians included, forget that we the people put those politicians into place. We voted, we decided.
I feel severely disrespected by a politician, or anyone for that matter, that thinks I’m not smart enough to understand politics without it being put in “pop culture” language. If politicians feel it necessary to “dumb” down politics for the common person, then maybe they should take the initiative to educate the people. It would be so much easier for a speaker if they could use the technical terms and not have to find a way to get the point across using different language. The pride and spirit of the country would be much better off because the people would feel like they really have a voice and can speak the lingo. That would be a real democracy, where everyone has a voice.
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2 comments:
To begin, while the connection that McCain made of Obama to Spears and Hilton was undeniably distorted and very misleading for those who do not have adequate information about Obama, I would say that it is no worse than what either candidate does on a regular basis. Whether it be in commercials, speeches, debates or other media, both candidates point out weaknesses of the other opponent; however, many of the times these “weaknesses” are taken completely out of context and if one further investigates, she may find that they really are not weaknesses at all. Undeniably an ethically questionable attack by McCain, the Obama celebrity ad is just another one of the many debatable campaign techniques used throughout this election.
Furthermore, as to the seemingly rhetorical question of “Is it really up to that small percentage of the population to keep America running?” I think that is a bit drastic. Although not everyone votes, it is not as though a handful of people alone vote. Undoubtedly, the involvedness of many stops right there when the ballot is filled. These people have made an impact on how our country is run because they have chosen the leaders who will make all the future decisions. Therefore, a smaller population votes in comparison to the potential donors, but it is not as though everyone leaves there future up to 50 people alone.
Moreover, it may not all be bad that there is such a conversion between politics and pop culture. While some of the content may be being “‘dumbed’ down” for lack of better terms, the fact that certain people are getting any information at all is definitely a step from having no information what so ever. As one knows, certain people have no interest in politics and elections. If the integration of pop culture and politics involves a few more people, these are a few more opinions that can weigh-in on the decisions of political leaders. People must understand the basics first before they can learn the details. For instance, an elementary student must be taught addition and multiplication before they grow up and are expected to learn how to do calculus. Starting people off with the briefer, less-detailed, perhaps a little less precise version of politics will teach potential voters the beginning steps. Because of this introduction, they may decide that voting is a necessity for them and eventually become even more involved in the political scene. Questionable ethics comes into play in much of the integration of politics and pop culture, but the impact it could have on a previous non-voter could be profound.
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