Underneath the Drama and Laughter

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Underneath the Drama and Laughter

In 1960, the first televised Presidential debate took place and no one expected image to have such a dramatic impact on the voters. As the cameras focused on Nixon’s weak and ghost-like visage, the audience watching quickly transferred their preference to Kennedy, who spoke steadily and gracefully. Currently, the media does much more than just play with camera angles. It also writes controversial articles and captures photos of embarrassing moments. The purpose of this is not only to inform the viewers of America’s president, but also to further their profit and accumulate a larger audience, thus creating a Hollywood feel to the news. Therefore, media apathetically harps over those who reside in the White House in an attempt to entertain their audience and to survive in their industry. Although the media does focus on some unimportant aspects of political life, it still also incorporates important issues in the comical and dramatic materials they create. If people look more closely, the satire created by the media holds a deeper meaning than just a form of entertainment. Over the past few years, the media covered important political scandals and politicians’ embarrassing characteristics, treating them as entertainment, thus creating a feeling of satire that, though it entertains, also informs.

During this year’s election, the media attempted to uncover mistakes in Barack Obama’s campaign to present the Democratic party’s flaws to the public. Nevertheless, Obama, whose skin color kept many repudiated and fearful critics from cracking jokes at his expense, rarely received criticism by the media. Furthermore, his well oiled campaign machine ran smoothly, causing very little problems en route to the election. Only once did the media find material to embarrass Obama with, which was when Obama stated “it’s not surprising then that they [Pennsylvanians] get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations” (Denny). Almost overnight, the media turned this faux pas into a huge mistake. He was called elitist, and pictures like this

began to surface everywhere (Helsing). The controversy created by the media backfired, however, as many African Americans, including Dr. Robert Wilson, interpreted this as a breakthrough for their own race. Dr. Wilson even announced that “Dr. King’s dream is now a reality” (Paddy). Interview of Dr. Wilson Ironically, Obama placed second to Hillary in the Pennsylvanian primaries with 1,046,220 votes, thereby ending the controversy (Pennsylvania Primary Results). Furthermore, his running mate, Biden, hardly ever got in from under the media’s critical eye. As a matter of fact, news on Biden was so low that Jay Leno joked, “Actually, Joe Biden looked pretty good. In fact, Joe's popularity has gone from 1% to 2% last week to 3% today. At this rate, he could win the nomination by the year 2032” (Kurtzman Biden Jokes). Though the press tried to find major flaws in Obama’s campaign and only succeeded slightly, whereas McCain’s campaign received more than its fair share of taunting and bad press from the media.

The media exaggerated aspects of John McCain’s age and Sarah Palin’s experience and turned important issues into deciding factors for many voters. Contrary to the young and hopeful Barack Obama, John McCain appeared old and conservative. As McCain himself said, “I am older than dirt and have more scars than Frankenstein” (Simon). The initial concern of many American voters was that McCain would be unable to carry out his term, and the media quickly took charge of this fear. The media delved into this concern and discovered his medial history was over 1,500 pages long, including both medical and psychiatric records. On top of that, “he has had malignant melanoma, the most invasive and dangerous form of skin cancer” (Simon). As the topic of McCain’s health grew more popular each passing day, the media, including negative ad campaigning from the Democratic Party, began touching on the aspect of McCain’s health. Many, like Conan O’Brien, made fun of his lifespan with jokes such as, “Earlier today, John McCain released 1,200 pages of his medical records. Or, as his doctor calls it, Chapter One.” while others, such as Craig Ferguson, tease him about his age with, “John McCain has been accused of stealing policy ideas from Wikipedia, which is ridiculous. Everybody knows McCain doesn't know how to use the Internet, so how could you even accuse him of that?” (Kurtzman McCain Jokes). These claims about McCain describe him as outdated and ancient and purposefully remind the audience to question McCain’s ability to perform and excel as president of the United States. Furthermore, the media depicted McCain as a follower, or in this case, a pet of President Bush’s policies. (Kurtzman)

This is a highly exaggerated picture; however, the funny caricature proves slightly true. McCain has many similar stances with President Bush, for example,

“on big-ticket issues — the economy, support for continuing the Iraq war, health care — his stances are indeed similar to Mr. Bush’s brand of conservatism. Mr. McCain’s positions are nearly identical to the president’s on abortion and the types of judges he says he would appoint to the courts” (Bumiller).

Additionally, “acccording to Congressional Quarterly's Voting Studies, in 2007 McCain voted in line with the president's position 95 percent of the time, the highest percentage rate for McCain since Bush took office, and voted in line with his party 90 percent of the time” (Kolawole). There is very little doubt that McCain has many similarities with the current President of the United States. Through these comical portrayals of McCain, the media alerts the viewer to the truth behind McCain’s relationship with President Bush. This knowledge had the power to affect whether the audience wanted McCain in office and therefore creating a term similar to President Bush’s two terms. These satirical representations of McCain are skewed, but underneath their comedy and criticism lay important messages.

Although McCain’s conservative opinions serve as a form of entertainment for the masses, they also hint at the public’s concern about McCain’s increasing age and their other worry that Palin might need to substitute him as president. As Jay Leno once said, “Sarah Palin and McCain are a good pair. She's pro-life and he's clinging to life” (Kurtzman McCain Jokes). Although McCain was the original “maverick,” Palin soon took on that title to identify herself as part of the campaign. However, as Palin criticized the style of the Republican campaign and stated her differences in stances with McCain, the title backfired as she attempted to go ‘rogue’ and “to look out for her own future now that the Republican presidential nominee's prospects are in doubt” (Silva).

(Kurtzman)

The cartoon shows Palin trying to separate herself from McCain by decorating her year while leaving McCain’s drab. Although this is just a silly distinction in the cartoon, it represents real life worries and gives valuable insights into Palin as a politician. If McCain could not continue his term and she were to replace him, the government’s stances would most likely change due to the two politicians’ differences on issues such as gay marriage and the style of the 2008 campaign. The thought of the responsibilities that Palin would have faced in the White House echo important questions: is she ready to take on the White House with such a large family and can she articulate what is happening in the world when she becomes vice president and even possibly president? Jimmy Kimmel jokingly asks, “How [is she] going to be the vice president of the United States with five kids to take care of? She's got a four-month-old of her own, she's about to become a grandmother, and she's partnered with John McCain. How many diapers can one woman possibly change?” (Kurtzman McCain Jokes). The joke sounds chauvinistic and exaggerated, yet its extremism acts as a reminder of the dramatic changes that might have ensued if Palin had the chance to replace McCain as president.

Apart from questioning her ability to handle the responsibility of the Presidency, the media made fun of Palin’s inexperience. Many television shows and articles ridiculed her through her lack of finesse and knowledge in interviews. On Saturday Night Live, the satirical television series’ regular, Tina Fey, exaggerated Sarah Palin’s faults, and the comparison between the genuine and fictional politican began to blur when the real Sarah Palin went on SNL. The similarities in appearances were shocking, and after comparing the real and fake Sarah Palin through interviews and finally through SNL, the resemblance was all too real. The stuttering, stumbling and repeating of Republican catchphrases from both versions of Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric was almost identical and maliciously depicted a potential vice president. The media’s depictions of Sarah Palin showed the public how the satire was not far from the truth.

President George W. Bush, in all his eight years of office, also bore the brunt of massive amounts of issue-based satire and criticism from the media. For two terms the media criticized George Bush endlessly for the way he handled Iraq, the disaster of Katrina, and for his difficulty in speaking to the public. Also, as President Bush became the most unpopular president of all time where “seventy-six percent of those questioned in the poll disapprove of how he is handling his job.” the amount of material disapproving of Bush increased multifold (Steinhauser). In 2008, there was even a movie called “W”, the sole purpose of which was to expand the criticism of President Bush’s leadership onto film. The movie attacks his contribution towards the Bush legacy as well as his ineffective policies on the Iraq war. Although these descriptions may seem ruthless and are not all well deserved, they indicate the poor state of affairs in which Bush will leave America. Currently, many consider Bush wrong for the job as President, which is evident from the wide popularity of the movie “W,” which “came in fourth place with an estimated $10.5 million” after its release (Mallas). In the movie, Oliver Stone portrays George W. Bush as someone who never wanted to become president; also in “W,” Bush’s failure to account for his claim of weapons of mass destruction in Iraq frustrates the world as well as himself. Furthermore, parodies of the Iraq war such as iRack, Mad TV’s interpretation of Bush’s policies in Iraq, gained wide popularity soon after they came out. These are only a few of billions of satirical skits that run throughout the media.

The spoofs deeply criticize Bush’s actions while in office and represent the disappointment and anger felt by most of Americans in regard to the policies of the last few years. The criticism in iRack targets Bush’s decision to initiate the Iraq war. In the skit, the creator of Apple computers imitates George Bush, highlighting his disregard for the Americans arguing that. “the iRack looks unstable…the iRack looks like something we shouldn’t be involved in” clearly parallels American concerns in the real world (Ra1ntje). Political jokes and renditions of George Bush may induce laughter, yet they capture the opinion and voices of the American people.

The media’s political scrutiny of Bill Clinton was harsh, but focused on one main issue: all might have gone smoothly for former President Bill Clinton had the media not discovered his affair with Monica Lewinsky. The scandal became a huge topic for the press and lasted quite some time; longer, even than his term. The fact that Hillary Clinton campaigned in the 2008 elections, ensured that the jokes about her husband still survive, as demonstrated by this jibe made by Jay Leno: “There's a lot of pressure on Barack Obama to put Hillary on the ticket. Even his advisers are telling him that Hillary can deliver the woman vote. And, of course, Bill can deliver the other woman vote. So between the two of them, that's, you know, that's a lot of women.” (Kurtzman Clinton Jokes). When news of the affair reached the media, Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky jokes began to surface immediately. The media’s constant berating of and comments on Bill Clinton’s affair became an important ethical appeal. The idea was that the president should be a person to respect and emulate. The realization that such a role model purposefully deceived his country was saddening and worrisome. Constant jokes about Bill Clinton, like the one below (McKee)

shook the people’s belief in everything else the President had to say. Bill Clinton’s relationship with Monica Lewinsky and possible sexual assault of Paula Jones are both moral injustices that the media rightfully portrayed as inappropriate. The media’s extensive coverage of the scandal eventually lead to an attempt by the government on December 11 and 12, the Committee attempted to impeach Bill Clinton using the evidence pertaining to the Paula Jones case and to his relationship with Monica Lewinsky (Clinton Impeachment). This attempt at impeachment showed just how seriously Clinton’s mistake was taken, since there has only been one other presidential impeachment. In this case, the media’s humiliation of the President was not only entertaining, but an important form of ethical appeal to the values of the American public.

Overall, the media’s information on past politicians is like a reverse blade: two different sides, each holds a different purpose. On the sharp side, the information hones in on crucial events that relate to the White House and fulfills its ideological purpose to inform its viewers of what is currently important in the political world. On the dull side, the information bluntly exhibits hilarious and embarrassing moments that serve as a major source of entertainment. However, both sides act as a single weapon and performs its duty as it cuts into the heart of controversy and issues in politics. Armed correctly, the media can inform the public about important issues while simultaneously entertaining them as well. One might feel empathetic towards politicians whom the media attacked and humiliated, yet the dramatic events that the media point out will always make those politicians more memorable in the present and also in history.