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In news that shook the political world, according to The Hollywood Reporter Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson recently announced that he would not endorse Joe Biden for president in 2024, unlike in 2020. The Reporter goes on to state that all eyes are on the world’s biggest celebrity, Taylor Swift, to see if she will endorse Biden this year. Without the Swiftie endorsement, it may indeed be a Cruel Summer for Joe Biden.
OK, maybe I exaggerate slightly. Nonetheless the Rock/Taylor news story illustrates one of our many political pathologies, namely the dangerous conflation of politics and entertainment. In America 2024 we expect our entertainers to speak out on politics while our politicians are expected to act like entertainers.
It was historian Daniel Boorstin who famously warned of the power of “image” in politics. He described what he labeled the “pseudo-event,” an event designed to look natural and unscripted, but in fact is a highly planned and staged affair. To the extent that “image” is the key to political success, such fake events will gain in prevalence.
Boorstin also coined the definition of celebrity as someone who is “known for being known,” often amended to “famous for being famous.” What pseudo-events and celebrity have in common is that there is little substance behind them. The political celebrity engaged in a pseudo-event isn’t actually achieving anything. They aren’t passing legislation, working on policy, educating themselves on a constituent need. They are just playacting.
In different terminology we’d say that many politicians are interested in “position taking” rather than legislating. It’s more important for them to publicize their position on this or that issue rather than doing anything about it. If you want to know why our current Congress is so sclerotic, at least one reason is that many members are not interested in passing legislation.
When they have posted to Instagram, created a YouTube moment, done their three-minute bit on cable news, their work is done. These are politicians who don’t accomplish anything other than being known for being known and mastering the art of the pseudo-event. Indeed, many of the actions that are rightly government activities, such as legislative debate or congressional hearings, have themselves become pseudo-events, simply excuses for politicians to perform for the camera. The same is true for every White House press briefing and nearly any presidential speech—and certainly that annoying television show we call the State of the Union Address.
Celebrity politics is bad because it trivializes political activity. It rewards politicians whose skills are media manipulation rather than actual governance. It gives high incentive to demagoguery as the populace demands more and more spectacle. And it miseducates people regarding the purpose and practice of politics. The purpose is to make policy and protect our rights, which in practice is often mundane and workmanlike. Highly competent but unspectacular policy makers are pushed to the side and replaced with attention-grabbing political celebrities. It is not a surprise that a literal celebrity Donald Trump has prospered in these times.
That’s how entertainment culture distorts politics. But the pollution works the other direction as well. Think of how politics has infected sports, such as with the Colin Kaepernick’s “take a knee” controversy of a few years ago, or more recently the controversy following football player Harrison Butker’s commencement speech at Benedictine College. Sports teams regularly hold “Pride Day” and paste “End Racism” signs all over the stadiums. Pro-football players wear political slogans on the back of their helmets. Surely some of those slogans are basically non-controversial (put me down as opposed to racism), but it all injects politics into a place that is of its nature apolitical.
The same is true for actors or musicians who are overtly political. Think of when a bunch of celebrities took part in a video, led by the musician will.i.am (yes, that’s his name and that’s how he spells it), turning Barak Obama lines into an anthem. Another group of celebrities essentially pledged their allegiance to Obama. There was a time when the most influential news programs were the comedy shows hosted by John Stewart and Stephen Colbert. All these were the perfect meeting of entertainment and politics. Politics became entertainment, and the entertainers became politicians.
Why is this bad? First let me state that people have free speech. I don’t not say so half-heartedly; I do so without reservation. That entertainers have the right to say or do such things doesn’t mean it is wise for them to do so. People need spaces to meet simply as fellow citizens, not as Republicans or Democrats, liberals or conservatives.
If you’ll excuse the slightly hyperbolic language, one feature of totalitarianism is that every aspect of life becomes political. That’s part of what puts “total” in “totalitarianism.” Our political disagreements are pulled into every aspect of daily activity. This phenomenon harms us by making political antagonism part of every facet of our lives. Polarization is enhanced because everything we do represents an opportunity for political argumentation. We are divided not just by our positions on immigration, abortion, taxes, but by what sport we like, which musician we enjoy, what books we read, what movies we go to. Sometimes, though, we want to say, “Hey, did you see that game last night?” or “What did you think of the movie?” with those questions meaning nothing more than meets the eye. I would argue that for social comity we need such non-political experiences. We need to see each other simply as fellow citizens, not consistently as political opponents.
The politicization of entertainment also reduces our enjoyment of it. I want to watch a football game, not a political event. I want to see a comedy act, not hear a political speech. Sometimes I just want to read a silly detective novel, not political agitprop. Most of us want to enjoy these diversions as fans of sports, comedy, or reading, not as Republicans or Democrats.
We’d be much better off if our politicians stuck to politics and the entertainers to entertainment. Maybe with his mind on movies instead of politics, The Rock can produce something more enjoyable than Jungle Cruise.
Image: By IMP Awards / 2021 Movie Poster Gallery / Jungle Cruise Poster (#6 of 26), Fair use, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?curid=62034749