Sunday, September 22, 2002
An informed electorate
It's a bit old, and it's been passed around a couple other blogs, but I wanted to chime in a bit.
It looks like the folks at the FOX network want to make the important trivial by creating a candidate to run in a 2004 TV-presidential election. That's right: As part of the whole "reality television" sideshow circus that is the death of our culture, FOX wants to bitchslap the already fragile state of American politics by sending in some random joker to make whole election process, I dunno, more entertaining.
Tom Tomorrow speculated that maybe Ralph Nader could be the candidate. Hell, it'll probably be the only way we'll get a third party with any sort of voice in the 2004 election.
For now, I'm content to marvel that television networks will do anything for ratings or co-opt any part of American culture in order to feed the beast of reality TV. Although, I guess it's not as desperate as TV producers in Argentina who have a reality TV game show where the winner gets a job.
Speaking of prizes, and backtracking to the FOX candidate again, what would happen if, say, the candidate won and went on to higher office? Honestly...were guys like Reagan and Sonny Bono and Fred Thompson, all former actors, a shadow of things to come? What about Clinton and his constant use of the polls to decide his course of action? When are we going to have our first wholly created and groomed and marketed presidential candidate? Okay, I meant real ones, not ones from movies.
But, to be honest, FOX isn't alone. The premium cable network HBO is planning a reality show based on a person chosen to be a theoretical 2012 candidate.
It's kinda depressing that the candidate backed by the network built on "MASH" reruns and "Toughman" competitions won't face off against the candidate backed by "Sex and the City" and "The Sopranos."
I suppose though I should be asking the real questions about the upcoming 2004 TV election:
- Will the "American Idol" winner moderate the debates?
- Will past "Survivor" winners be the campaign managers or spin doctors?
- Will the kids from "Real World" or "Big Brother" be the traveling press corps?
- Will the election be held via a nationwide call-in vote via "American Idol"? Answer: Actually, there’s a good chance! Get those speed-dialers ready
- Who will investigate the inevitable vote tampering in Florida: The hunks from "Temptation Island" or the women from "The Bachelorettes in Alaska"? (Note: Both were FOX network shows)
- If the FOX candidate wins, and the presidential ratings go south, will the winner be impeached or cancelled next season?
- Will the TV vote percentage be higher than the average voting rate?
(Side note: I found this neat little site which has lots of results from the 2000 U.S. election.)
There was a program on National Public Radio Friday afternoon that went into the changing landscape of network TV, especially how the networks eat their own, playing out an idea and finding something else to fill the void. One of the commentators likened the change in television to MTV's concept of "disposable TV," the idea that goes like this: If something works, play it to death ("Real World"). If it doesn't, it never happened and you never go there again ("Aeon Flux"). Some other networks are on to this as well, like NBC with its countless "Law and Order" clones filling the airwaves and giving viewers a numb sense of comfort. Yes, you have seen this before, but you like it so we'll surround you with a low-grade, you-don't-really-have-to-pay-attention, familiar-face comfort zone.
One of the dirty little secrets for reality TV, especially shows that are serialized (like "Real World" or the bland, overhyped, quasi-real, desperate, pale imitation of David Lynch's "Twin Peaks" "Push, Nevada") is that those shows don't repackage well. In the end, it's the capsule programs that don’t need an overarching thread that survive because they can go into syndication. Let's face it: "MASH" will be on the air for years while "Push, Nevada" will fade right after the season ends and the viewer who solves the show's mystery and wins the purported $1 million is announced. "MASH," "Law and Order," "I Love Lucy" and their ilk will survive you, me and our children. It'll be a cultural avatar, droning on and on and telling the future all about us, drowning out history books, blogs and private diaries.
Maybe…hopefully…the mysterious reality presidential candidate brought to you by FOX will join us, the audience who propped up the boob tube, in the graveyard of anonymity.
French Word of the Day
monster sacre (mo struh sah kray) “scared monster”; a performer whose celebrity is enhanced by his or her eccentricities.
posted by skobJohn |
8:06 PM
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