We often think of politics and pop culture as two very different subjects. After all, it doesn't appear as though politicians like John McCain or Barrack Obama have very much in common with celebrities like Brad Pitt or Jessica Alba. In truth it's likely that the latter two people named probably live very different lifestyles then McCain and Obama. But they all do share one thing in common: they are all huge pop culture icons. Some ad's released by the McCain campaign even feature pictures of Obama stating "He's the biggest celebrity in the world" and other such claims before slandering him.
So in a way politicians are just celebrities with jobs that actually matter to peoples lives. After all,not all older people know many current celebrities if they even follow any. Whereas younger people tend to be more aware of both politicians as well as celebrities. So the audience for politicians is much larger then audiences for celebrities. Take my grandma for example, there's no doubt that she knows who Obama and McCain are, but I'm pretty sure she would have o idea what i was talking about if i asked her who Jessica Alba was.
2 comments:
This is an interesting blog! I never thought of politicians asbeing celebrities, but I guess they are! If you think about it, they are all over the news, on gossip shows like E!, and even in magazines AND newspapers. They seem to be bigger than any other celebrity that I can think of at this time. I can walk around campus or drive down a street without seeing something to remind me of Paris Hilton, but cannot say the same for McCain or Obama.
It is true that politicians like Obama and McCain have become just as popular as celebrities. Especially now that the big election is right around the corner, you can't turn on the TV without seeing a commercial about their campaigns. Another thing that I find interesting about the similarity of the presidential candidates and celebrities is the amount of gossip that goes on about their personal lives. You always hear the dirt on celebs, but I'm sure you have also heard negative ads about how Obama is connected to terrorists or Palin is involved with this or that. The media even had something to say about Palin's daughter's pregnancy. In this aspect politicians are just like celebrities. They are well known, they get gossiped about, and they are the basis for almost every newspaper, magazine, and news cast these days.
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