Obama, Britney and Paris are all just doing their jobs

Posted on August 3, 2008
Filed Under politics, postmodern condition |

An ad from the McCain campaign mixing Obama with Britney and Paris (Hilton, of course) called the presumptive democratic nominee “the biggest celebrity in the world.”  I’d say this is quite an exaggeration, isn’t it? As far as celebrity stock goes, Obama may not fetch as much interest as many others do.  But he is quite high up there in the pantheon, though. 

Even the spammers have taken notice. I have received more Viagra and Rolex offers with “Obama” in the subject line than with the name of any other celebrity–and that’s only for the ones not caught by the filter. Note in all fairness: McCain also showed up this week in the highly creative work of a spammer who claimed that Rapper 50 Cent will be in the GOP ticket.

Playing the role is just of the political job in this age of simulation, where any media event is more important than a reality it may relate to.  Take the State of the Union Address, for instance.  Even as the media gets advance copies the President’s speech and its content hardly surprises the audience, the ritual of the ceremony is what matters after all. It is the same situation for the campaigning politicians acting their roles publicly, just as the Parises and the Britneys. That’s the way it is and–funny thing–we all play along. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.

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