ANALYSING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CELEBRITIES AND POLITICS
...often claim that it is their legal right to ‘report the facts’ under the ideal of freedom of speech. On the other hand there is the equally persistent assumption that the majority of celebrities are more than happy to promote themselves to the media to gain financial and other advantages. The line between these two paradoxes is unclear but what is comprehensible is the communications model that outlines how the media operates in regard to applied sections of society. Since the introduction of political television in the 1960’s, statistics show that the public have more faith from what they see on television compared to what they read in newspapers and this has therefore had enormous ramifications for celebrities and the political process. In a period so greatly influenced by television, celebrities are at an advantage and consistently receive high media attention. So as our culture today has such adoration for celebrities they make for great copy and receive a great deal more coverage when they enter into political territory therefore creating a sustainable relationship for the media, celebrities and politicians. Celebrity Politicians Although we empower politicians to govern on our behalf (through a representative political system), they are in the same pool as celebrities/the rest of the public when it comes to how they are treated within the media. If anything, they are probably treated worse than the rest of us BECAUSE they are empowered, with the tabloids positioning themselves as the voice of the people, representing the working class. Should they try to influence political news stories they would be demonstrating how we do not operate within a pluralist media principle. It would instead fall under the dominant values model of the communication theory model, with elitist groups manipulating the press coverage of a story. A long with the fact that celebrities receive so much media attention and therefore give themselves an avenue for self-publicity, politicians are also aided by their vast amount of financial backing and fundraising excursions. A political campaign can cost millions so they therefore have a major advantage in becoming a recognised political figure. Arnold Schwarzenegger is the most famous celebrity to date to run for political office in the US. He follows in the footsteps of other entertainers such as George Murphy who became the US Senator and Ronald Regan who became President. ‘The Terminators’ iconic status brought with him a huge pop-culture fan base to his political campaign; he is a supreme fundraiser, a great communicator and generated a lot of media interest. [www.insidepolitics.org] In relation to Moore’s speech (I mentioned in part 1), which took place over 18 months ago, we can see how the media’s model of communication has changed. During the time of Moore’s speech America’s press were still very pro- Bush and supporting the war the media therefore reflected the dominant model, reporting that Moore’s speech was ill received when this was in fact untrue. The Fox news network being an example- were the largest network in America and allegedly very pro- republican even to the extent of helping Bush and his administration present themselves in a better light. As the feelings toward the war changed, some news networks have even challenged the modern day market model situation we find ourselves in, reverting back to a more ideal and realistic way of reporting news this has been embraced by many and therefore created an avenue for celebrities such as Eminem, to enhance their publicity instead of damaging it. About Eminem Eminem has dominated the music scene since he exploded into the world spotlight in 1999, with his critically acclaimed and highly controversial debut album, ‘the slim shady LP’. The Slim Shady LP was an aggressive statement about a misspent youth, growing up in the slums of Detroit. It’s a blend of violent, bitter lyrics, with a “moral outlook partially redeemed by Eminem's claim to be only "voicing" the thoughts of the Slim Shady character”. Lyrics featured in his songs have discussed warped issues such as killing the mother of his child and other songs have verbally and viscously attacked his mother. Despite an assault charge and a heavily troubled personal life, the rapper still managed to pick up 3 Grammy awards by the end of the year thus proving his popularity and public adulation. Five years into his career, he’s now one of the leading male recording artists in the world, releasing on average an album a year. However, being in the public eye for such a sustained period has meant some people are beginning to question if he had lost his edge. His lyrics had definitely mellowed, becoming more clichéd with the typical hip-hop ‘gangster’ themes. With the up coming release of his fourth album, he knew a statement had to be made to suggest that he was as cutting edge as ever. He decided to take his fight to the American President Mosh On the 25th October 2004 Eminem’s politically charged video ‘Mosh’ was controversially leaked onto the Internet. The lyrics, video content and message coming from the video were exceptionally anti- bush and anti Iraq war. The video coincided with the US elections, which were due to take place on the 2nd November. This was also all taking place a couple of weeks before his latest album was scheduled to be released to the public. This story received phenomenal media attention, days after the debut of ‘Mosh’ the GNN (guerrilla news network) website was receiving up to 190,000 visitors per day this was in comparison to the usual average which was between just 15,000- 30,000. [www.gnn.tv] About the Video The ‘Mosh’ video begins with Eminem reading a book to schoolchildren a mockery of Bush’s reaction to the attacks on the morning of 9/11. Other scenes include a young soldier returning home from Iraq only to find he has been called back for duty and also a single young mother being evicted from her home while Bush is on T.V promising tax cuts. The video tracks Eminem as he raps and rouses an angry group of Americans of all colour, age and gender to break into the government building, the main message of the video is to encourage people to vote against Bush. The lyrical content consistently targets Bush and his administration with venomous oppressed anger and frustration. …Or a true political Statement? On the other hand a completely different view could be taken, it is not rational to think that ‘Mosh’ did not inspire people to vote when they would have other wise stayed home. The lyrics opposite are taken from Eminem’s ‘Mosh’. It would be profoundly inaccurate to say that this song is based on record sales alone. Eminem is trying to unite America in the fight against Bush and make people realise that they do have the power to dislodge him from Presidency. It is evident from past elections that to win or lose can be by a margin vote, so it is possible that the reason for ‘Mosh’ was to change history, after all in relation to who will be the next p...