The Body Politic was (the)(type)(set)*com's original column about the ways in which the news page, the gossip page, and culture intersect. A new article appeared every Monday for one year.
Anatomy of The Body Politic
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The Body Politic from TheTypeset.com
About one year ago, I began writing a column called “The Body Politic”, in which I looked at the way that politics and entertainment intersect. At the time, the project seemed like an ambitious one- every week, I’d have to come up with a way to link two seemingly disparate areas. Making a convincing case seemed like it would be a difficult, but possibly rewarding task. A year later, I feel as if I’ve learned a good deal about the ways in which politics and entertainment work. In light of my work over the past year, my initial caution about the task seems naive. Demonstrating where celebrities and politicians meet frequently seems like a redundant task- they’ve become the same thing. Continue reading this entry »
To Be Continued: Romney and Spears
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Romney Dials Down Expectations Hard from The Politico
Britney Spears from US Magazine
Over the past year, the “brand” of Britney Spears has undergone a massive recasting and, in recent months, an extension. Spears’s personal life has become the subject of countless gossip stories, all of which cast a critical eye upon her lifestyle and choices. Now her sister, Jamie Lynn, is also the subject of tabloid scrutiny due to rumors about her pregnancy. The narrative shows no signs of slowing down- a look at the hyperactive catalog of Spears stories demonstrates that. Each story fulfills that overarching narrative- as Britney Spears continues her downward spiral, the story itself builds up. Continue reading this entry »
Swaying the Critics
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Charlie Wilson’s War on Rotten Tomatoes
Huckabee Now a Candidate With Something to Lose from the New York Times
While it’s difficult to determine the reason behind Mike Huckabee’s rapid ascent, one point is inarguable: the media helped him along the way. Though reporters have recently tamed the lovefest (helped by opposition research from Huckabee’s opponents), the unpaid media attention Huckabee has received undoubtedly helped him to reach the upper echelon of Iowa candidates. The current wave of negative press isn’t hard to understand- it’s a newer story. What’s more difficult is understanding why it took so long. Continue reading this entry »
Merry Christmas
This week’s entry is postponed due to the holiday. The Typeset will return.
Enchanted by Huck
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In Chaotic Race, Huckabee Rising from the New York Times
Enchanted from IMDB.com
The recent ascent of Mike Huckabee is, perhaps, the most incredulously documented aspect of the 2008 presidential campaign. Every story seems to begin with a hint of indignation, as if a parenthetical “for real?” were lurking after every headline. Typically, articles focus on the appeal of his candidacy to evangelicals. But considering his rise in polls in Iowa and nationally, there has to be a broader appeal to Mike Huckabee. These political times demand more of their Cinderella stories. Continue reading this entry »
In Rainbows: Ron Paul’s Blimp
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Pay What You Want for This Article from the New York Times
Ron Paul Blimp Charts Unprecedented Course from The Politico
Every critical review of the band Radiohead’s album “In Rainbows” noted that the distribution scheme for the record had made headlines first. Radiohead maintained control of the production and distribution of “In Rainbows” independent of any record label. Even more novel, the group decided that they’d leave the album’s price up to the fans. If a user chose to download the album, they also had the right to choose the price they wanted to pay. Radiohead took pricing to the crowds. Continue reading this entry »
Wannabe: Romney and the Spice Girls
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Romney Plans to Address Concerns About His Faith from the New York Times
Spice Girls Pose, Strut, Pout at Start of World Tour from Bloomberg.com
Who knew that the world wanted the Spice Girls to come back? The 90s girl group recently began their “comeback tour” and, by all accounts, it’s been a smashing success. The quintet was a phenomenon in the 90s, but their stardom presaged supersaturation by boy bands and other market friendly confections. Despite the overload of cute (mashed up with age-appropriate sexuality), the Spice Girls have come back strong. Some journalists have readily compared the gang’s success with the comeback tours of the Police, Rolling Stones and the Eagles- and they’ve done it without a hint of irony. If being sincerely paired with the Rolling Stones isn’t a measure of success for a prefab gang of girls, then it’s hard to know what is. Continue reading this entry »
Endorser in Chief
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Oprah Set to Campaign for Obama from the New York Times
Oprah’s Favorite Things Holiday 2007 from Oprah.com
Anyone looking to see an enthralled crowd doesn’t have to turn to archival footage of Nazi rallies. Instead, they can just turn on the TV. Every year, Oprah Winfrey has a surprise show called “Oprah’s Favorite Things”. During the show, she promotes and distributes gifts to every audience member. When the show topic is announced to the crowd, screams erupt for five or more minutes, and the entire audience stays in a frenzy throughout the show. It’s material lust at its most blatant and furious. Continue reading this entry »
Good Brands and Bad Products: 9/11 and Beowulf
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Angelina Jolie’s New Flick Beowulf a Box Office Winner from UsWeekly.com
McCain, Giuliani Vie for 9/11 Brand from the New York Times
If you ask any college student struggling through Middle English, they’ll tell you that Beowulf may be called an “epic poem”, but in practice it doesn’t seem all that epic or poetic. The original version of Beowulf is difficult to read and tough to associate with. Students, like critics, may pay lip service to the mythological grandeur of the poem, or laud the stark beauty of Seamus Heaney’s translation. They may be right. Most readers, however, don’t get into Beowulf deeply enough to recognize it as anything more than an assignment. It’s homework. Continue reading this entry »
Learning from Their Mistakes
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Democrats’ Provocative Iowa Dinner Conversation from the Washington Post
Picking Up the Pieces from People Magazine
Is there any doubt that for the rest of his life, every article about actor Owen Wilson will mention his suicide attempt? Sometimes it will be the focus, as it is in this week’s People Magazine. Eventually, it will fade into a mere parenthetical mention (ie, “in 2007, Wilson attempted…). But, to take his persecution to an extreme analogy, Wilson will always be a modern-day Pontius Pilate, never able to wash his own blood from his hands. Someone will always be there in the next room, ready to douse him with the memory. One mistake lasts a lifetime. Continue reading this entry »
The State of the Union
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New Media, New Value, Old Troubles from the New York Times
Union in Clinton’s Corner– and Ready for a Fight from WashingtonPost.com
This morning, the Writer’s Guild of America is hitting the picket lines. As the New York Times notes (with more than a dash of snark), it’s hard to imagine writers suffering under their labors. However, the issues are real for the guild. As the media industry decodes the advantages- and difficulties- of new channels like the internet and reality TV, writers’ compensation remains stuck in the traditional system. Despite the fact that big money is at stake, the public and media have been relatively indifferent to the efforts of the guild. That indifference, however, isn’t just a reflection of the reaction to a frivolous industry. It’s a reaction to the industry’s decline. Continue reading this entry »
The Horror of Negative Campaigns
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Saw IV Still Slays With 32.1 Million from the Associated Press
Obama Promises a Forceful Stand Against Clinton from the New York Times
This weekend, the fourth entry in the torture-fetishist franchise “Saw” came out. It made 32.1 Million, taking top dollar for the weekend. It was a surprise- industry insiders thought that horror films “didn’t work” anymore. Part of the reason they thought the scream machine was broken, was that in a “post-9/11″ world, analysts believed that the real world was scary enough. Horror- and torture (with its frightening presence in current events like Abu Ghraib)- had been outdone by real life. People had enough horror to face when they were watching the news. But this is the fourth movie in the hit franchise.
Two Reactionary Cultures - SCHIP and The Kite Runner
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‘The Kite Runner’ is Delayed to Protect Child Stars from the New York Times
Bush Vetoes Children’s Health Bill from the New York Times
Other than rallying against communists, few things are as politically expedient as “the children.” A sacred group in the United States, invocation of the rights of “the children” is a potent rallying cry for change (regardless of the intentions or efficacy of any legislation resulting from the uproar). Recently, “the children” have been utilized in a battle over the expansion of SCHIP, the health program that currently provides care for some uninsured children. President Bush’s veto of the expansion served, in effect, as a veto against “the children”- politically, it’s a disastrous stance. It’s as foolish as being gay in Afghanistan. Continue reading this entry »
Hot List: The Politics of Buzz
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Top 25 Celebrity Hot List from People.com
Candidates Spar Over Who is a Real Republican from the New York Times
If you visit People.com, the first thing you’ll see is an apparently democratic headline- a link to the 25 “most buzzed” about people. The link promises to show the celebrities that are getting people talking, that are embroiled in new and exciting scandals, and that are providing the most entertaining news. If you click, you’ll find out that the metric for determining “buzz” is the amount of traffic for a certain star’s articles on People.com. Excluding the obvious caveat- People.com does not carry a monopoly on celebrity “buzz”- there are other problems with the measurement. Continue reading this entry »
Steroids in the Campaign
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Romney Spends to Win GOP Funds Race from the LA Times
Feeling Betrayed by Marion Jones from Time
Another quarter, another list of fundraising totals. The most telling sign that spending is out of control is the size of the disappointments. The GOP candidates, who are falling far behind their Democratic counterparts, still pulled in millions of dollars across a wide field. Rudy Giuliani led the pack with 11 million, and Mitt Romney eked out 10. Even outsider candidate libertarian Ron Paul netted a 5 million dollar total. For disappointing turnouts, that’s a lot of cash. And voters continue to give it. Continue reading this entry »
Hiding Behind the Smoke
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Democratic Presidential Debate Transcript from MSNBC/New York Times
More Hollywood Studios Say ‘No Smoking’ from the New York Times
The Democratic candidates are ambitious. The group can’t manage to remove troops from Iraq, or even promise to (something most of them want the power to do). Instead, they recently revealed a newer, more ambitious plan: a national ban on public smoking. Every candidate except Hillary said that they’d support, to some degree, a national ban on smoking in public places. While few stopped to ponder the legal, logistical, and practical ramifications of creating and enforcing such a ban, that didn’t stop them from wholeheartedly supporting one. “Three thousand kids start smoking every day in this country,” Chris Dodd mourned. Of course, his implication was that, without a doubt, a ban on smoking in public places would help keep those three thousand kids alive. Continue reading this entry »
An Old Fashioned Rap Battle (or a Debate, If You Like)
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Profiting from the Pummeling from the New York Times
Kanye West’s “Graduation” bests 50 Cent’s “Curtis” from the LA Times
MoveOn.org must be satisfied. The group rippled across headlines this week for a number of reasons. The most prominent related to the ad they recently purchased in the New York Times, in which the group called General David Petraeus “General Betray-us.” In its quest to raise democratic discourse through name calling worthy of a second grader, the group courted a fair amount of controversy. The New York Times went under fire for the vagaries of their advertising policies for special interest groups, and Move On itself faced scorn for its outrageous ad. But most importantly, Move On achieved its real goal: it raised a lot of money. The group pulled in half a million dollars. Continue reading this entry »
Schadenfreude (Even When the Reporters Can’t Pronounce It)
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Vocal on Iraq, McCain Keeps Quiet on Bush from The New York Times
Britney: That’s All She Rote from The New York Times
Britney Spears’ recent performance at the MTV Video Music Awards set off a flurry of speculation concerning her sanity, sobriety, and of course, her weight. Critics from vastly different quarters weighed in on why they thought her appearance- generally deemed as sluggish and artificial- happened the way it did. It wasn’t just low-brow sites like TMZ.com that had an opinion, either- the New York Times issued a “think piece” about how Britney’s subpar lip syncing represented the cultural decline of memory (as if the author would know anything about the cognitive demands required by a performance in front of millions of people). Britney’s been a great source for derision. However, it would be a mistake to think that her reputation has suffered because of her personal failings. John McCain makes that clear. Continue reading this entry »
Playing Parts: Fred Goes on The Tonight Show
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Thompson Enters Race from ‘Tonight Show’ Couch from the New York Times
A political announcement is always a flashy event- anyone expecting a serious discussion of issues at what is, at best, the intellectual equivalent of a Bar Mitzvah has a lot to learn about political theater. However, Fred Thompson’s announcement, made on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, was ambitiously vacuous. The hopeful leader of the free world shared jokes with Jay about how hard it is to spell Rudy Giuliani’s name while he split the hour with Jerome Bettis and Travis Tritt (if he’d gone on a night later, he might have had to suffer comparisons with Harry Potter). The obvious takeaway is that Thompson, an actor, is taking a Hollywood mentality to the campaign. But the obvious point isn’t always the right one. Continue reading this entry »
Perez Does Politiks
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Perez Hilton: Politik Category from PerezHilton.com
Who is Perez Hilton? The obviously pseudonymous name begs the question, but the answer is hard to find because, in context, it’s almost irrelevant. Who cares who Perez Hilton is when there’s fresh revelations about Brad, Angelina and Lindsay? Since Perez Hilton is always outshone by his subjects, the question of his own identity seems less urgent. And, for someone so obsessed with what could be kindly called “social transparency”, his appearances in the media don’t reveal much about his psyche- they usually just show his url. Occasionally, however, he leaves a clue that there might be a real person behind the sparkling lights.