Four quick points about McCain’s Britney Ad
| July 31st, 20081) I’m not convinced McCain’s campaign purposely played the “sexually available white women” card. Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t; it doesn’t seem like a slam-dunk case to me either way.
2) But it doesn’t matter much. Even if the racist connotations weren’t intentional, they still reflect the McCain staff’s gross insensitivity or indifference to racist connotations. (If McCain’s staff included lots of Black people who give a damn about racism, this ad would have died on the drawing board.)
3) It’s not coincidence that our two most famously vapid celebrities are women. Britney and Paris are so famous for vapidity and partying because the media is extremely eager to trumpet those traits in young female celebrities (making them even more famous — a vicious cycle), not because no male celebs are vapid partiers.
4) It’s ironic that McCain’s ad — which presents the least substantive argument (”Obama is like Britney and Paris! So vote McCain!”) of any political ad so far this election — suggests that Obama is the vapid one. Got that plank out of your eye yet, John?
UPDATE: Bean sent me this link, to a BBC column about a survey showing that the most-hated celebrities are women.
July 31st, 2008 at 8:14 am
When I read your first bullet point, I wondered if we were even talking about the same ad. I didn’t take the ad as racist or trying to instill fear re: black men and white women. The ad, though ludicrous and disgusting, was basically nonsense and I imagine most viewers will take it as such.
True of Point #3, but women are generally considered mindless sex objects anyway, especially in media, so is that really surprising? The only male actor that I can readily think of with a vapid label is Keanu Reeves, and he definitely doesn’t get the same media hype. ;)
Off to see what kind of dramatic discourse is swirling around this ad on YouTube, if any.
This comment was written by Vanessa.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 9:27 am
“If McCain’s staff included lots of Black people who give a damn about racism, this ad would have died on the drawing board.”
If you spend a lot of time on the progressive ant-racist blogesphere this may appear to be true, but I wonder if it really is.
We should not assume that most POC embrace progressive narratives, even in regards to racism. There’s a lot of diversity out here, and this diversity is often problematic to one of the ant-racist rules: for whites to shut up and listen. If you truly do this, you’ll be pretty confused, IMO.
This comment was written by Manju.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 10:05 am
I think it’s hilarious that McCain has been complaining about Obama being the media’s darling and a celebrity politician. All of which is true, but, um…hello, Mr. Pot, meet Mr. Kettle.
This comment was written by Kevin Moore.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 10:51 am
To be fair, Lieberman just added some credence to Jueff Fecke’s argument:
“To some extent the appearance of Paris Hilton and Britney Spears — people complain about it — they should just relax and enjoy it”
This comment was written by Manju.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 10:59 am
Check out this hopeful Obama video from Maria Muldaur’s “Yes We Can!” Tons of friends, too, like Amma, Joan Baez, Jane Fonda, Holly Near, Phoebe Snow, Marianne Williamson, and more.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=ZLVXxGMG3Fw
http://www.concordmusicgroup.com/albums/83672/
This comment was written by telarc.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 11:23 am
The only possible substantive message I can see in the ad is:
This comment was written by Raznor.“Obama is the most beloved political figure in the world. Therefore, vote McCain.”
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July 31st, 2008 at 11:48 am
I’m getting hits every day on my (mocking) “Is Barack Obama the antichrist?” post… particularly since he went to Berlin. And they are utterly serious. IMHO, the commercial is also playing to this under-the-radar, pseudo-fundamentalist social element: LOOK HOW IDOLIZED OBAMA IS, ISN’T IT WEIRD?–which is what the preacher said to me that inspired my first post on the subject. They think his explosive popularity is proof positive that he has Hitleresque, mob-hypnosis powers.
Really, I think this commercial was intended as a wink at the black helicopter faction of the GOP, which has been anti-McCain so far.
This comment was written by DaisyDeadhead.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 12:03 pm
The post features “McCain”, “Obama”, “Britney” and “Paris”. Interesting naming convention there. Yes I did spot the “John” at the end.
This comment was written by Daran.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Point well taken, Daran.
This comment was written by Ampersand.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Amp, can you name any white guys with reputations similar to theirs who are as easily recognized? Also, whatever they did to earn their infamy can’t reinforce any harmful stereotypes about black men; So violence, ignorance, sloth, and drug abuse are out.
This comment was written by Joe.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Do you suppose that might be part of the whole point? There are certainly white guys (many of whom seem to run with Hilton, Spears, et al.) who behave identically or worse; some of them make the news, some of them don’t - but for some reason they JUST DON’T SEEM to get as much attention. Please note Amp’s point #3.
This comment was written by Auguste.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Sure. But that’s an indictment of society’s sexism, not John McCain being racist against Obama.
This comment was written by Robert.Report this comment to the moderators
July 31st, 2008 at 7:07 pm
I’m wondering if this ad is McCain wanting to do something - anything - that will make the evening news since Obama came back from Europe. It would make more sense in that context. After all, he wanted to stage that trip to an offshore oilrig but was thwarted by Hurricane Dolly, Mother Earth apparently having an ironic sense of humour.
The alternative is that this is going to be McCain’s central line of attack against Obama. If it is, this is pretty weak hat. The reason being, if the past few election cycles have taught us anything, the modern election market has no tolerance for cleverness or subtlety. Sarcastically complimenting your opponent and hoping that the undertone gets across (”he can sure give one hell of a speech!” “he can certainly be captivating!”) is an uncertain proposition: it will actually go over the heads of some people, and will be taken as a sign of weakness by others.
This comment was written by sylphhead.Report this comment to the moderators
August 1st, 2008 at 7:31 am
Amp said:
4) It’s ironic that McCain’s ad — which presents the least substantive argument (”Obama is like Britney and Paris! So vote McCain!”) of any political ad so far this election — suggests that Obama is the vapid one. Got that plank out of your eye yet, John?
Raznor:
The only possible substantive message I can see in the ad is: “Obama is the most beloved political figure in the world. Therefore, vote McCain.”
What I take from Sen. McCain’s ad is that he thinks Sen. Obama has achieved fame without having any substantial actual accomplishments. He’s famous, but like Paris Hilton it’s based more on outward appearance and clever marketing than anything else. He’s acclaimed, recognized, and famous. But outside of his family is he really beloved? Why? What for? What’s he done? McCain is asking people to back off of their emotion, look past Obama’s surface and start thinking about what’s really there.
I think it’s a fair criticism, and I think that an analysis of Sen. Obama’s record as a community organizer, an Illinois State Senator and Federal Senator from Illinois supports the proposition that there’s really not much there.
This comment was written by RonF.Report this comment to the moderators
August 1st, 2008 at 6:33 pm
I’m rather uncomfortable with the way people are treating Britney/Paris as just victims of sexism. There’s a lot more at work there. The reason Paris is hated is primarily because she represents how somebody can become wealthy and famous off of nothing but their family name, when she has no real talent to speak of. Britney is a different story; I feel like people resent her because she shattered the sex fantasy. She was seen as the perfect teenage object, but when she started to crack she destroyed the illusion. The public didn’t want her to be a person, never mind a troubled one. They just wanted her to continue being sexually available. Really I feel somewhat sorry for Britney cause she was eaten alive by the cult of personality. Sorry if this sounds disjointed, I’m all over the place at the moment
This comment was written by Molly.Report this comment to the moderators