Reading the blog posts, especially the one entitled “Celebrity News Obsessed” from Friday, I’m finding it hard to relate. I don’t really keep up with star gossip. I like reading news about movie productions, releases and reviews sometimes, but that’s about it. I have had to look up several of the names in blog posts in order to keep up (Britney Snow? Rachel Zoe??). Although I don’t read celebrity news, I am addicted to the Real Clear Politics blog and the New York Times opinion page. I am a huge nerd for politics. I am addicted to this election, I get up and after a quick breeze through my email I am looking for the latest on all the candidates and races. Right now I am writing a few sentences and then checking to see if more results have come in for the primary races. Its Super Tuesday, that’s like the Golden Globes for me (I suppose the general election would have to be the Oscars).
Thinking about the way that politicians and especially candidates in this election are treated it seems not that much different than celebrities. People care how much John Edward's haircut was, where Huckabee had dinner before the Iowa Caucus, and what color pantsuit Hillary was wearing during the State of the Union. And just like with celebs, photographers come flying when there’s a scandal (think Larry Craig right after the bathroom incident). Now I am not arguing that this is good or bad, just curious, did Eisenhower have this problem? Grover Cleveland? William Henry Harrison? We’ve learned in class that celebrity culture started not long after movies, but no one was hounding FDR for juicy gossip in the 30s, they didn’t even know he was in a wheelchair. The first president that seemed to get this kind of attention was Kennedy. Perhaps this polit-ebrity began with the first televised president, and we needed the visual culture and the expansion of media outlets that followed. Or perhaps, with JFK’s youth, good looks, stylish wife, and glamorous lifestyle, it began when people were first moved to care.
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I think your point on the celebrity of politics is very interesting. JFK, of course, is the most notable for that element of celebrity, but with him we also first saw the link between politics and stars, and the many forms that relationship can take. In the instance of JFK, there is still the gossipy speculation of his ties to Marilyn Monroe, who is in no way a political figure. And now, we see celebrities capitalizing on their sex appeal to call attention to politics in yet another way: Scarlett Johansson claiming she's "engaged" to Barack Obama. Other blogs have also touched on the power of star endorsement in this upcoming election; we've seen Oprah use her power for the good of Obama, and even a minor star like Hayden Panettiere has gone on the record stating that she has been talking to various candidates in order to decide who she'll endorse. Increasingly, (likely thanks to the internet), it seems that the line is blurred between stars and celebrities, as the two use each other for press and power, as well as for image promotion and reaching a wider demographic. I can't help but think about our first Dyer reading, and how calculated the system of stars is; I think this is exemplified with the political system as well, especially in its relationship to stars.
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