Politics and Popular Culture

Overview

Historically, "popular culture" has been used to describe entertainment with mass appeal. Consequently, scholars have been inclined to see politics and popular culture as two separate fields, with popular culture courses more likely to be taught by communications scholars or sociologists. Nevertheless, there are intersections. In the late eighteenth century, political tracts helped to win popular support for the American Revolution. Political leaders were deeply affected by the books they read, and works written by classical liberal writers such as John Locke (1632–1704) exerted a strong influence on the formation of American democracy. Election days were considered so important that they were turned into social events.

Widespread interest in popular culture first surfaced during the Industrial Revolution. In 1936, Walter Benjamin of Germany's Frankfurt School published The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction, identifying the political nature of mass culture. Subsequently, theorists Max Horkheimer and Theodor Adorno bemoaned the conformity of early twentieth century culture. Popular culture resonates with the public as a result of shared experiences that influence both public opinion and political decision-making. Astute politicians have well understood the significance of understanding and using popular culture. Governments in Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia manipulated popular culture in support of repressive policies. After Pearl Harbor, celebrities played a major role in winning popular support for World War II. Since Franklin Roosevelt held his first fireside chat in 1933, many presidents have become "superstars," closely linking the worlds of politics and popular culture.

After World War II, the lines between high and popular culture became less defined. Popular culture rose in importance because Americans had more leisure time and more money to spend, and they spent it watching television, attending movies, participating in/watching sports, listening to music, traveling, and reading. Teachers at all levels discovered that using examples from popular culture made subjects more relevant to students. Television comedies and dramas proved to be ideal avenues for launching discussions on politics, liberalism, conservatism, religion, race, gender, bigotry, sexual identity, and family disfunction. Beginning in 1952 with the election that pitted Republican military hero Dwight Eisenhower against Democratic intellectual Adlai Stevenson, television crews have covered presidential campaigns and national party conventions. Figures from popular culture have regularly shown up at conventions and fundraisers.

One of the earliest examples of a popular culture medium serving a political role was in 1902–1903 when McClure's published Ida Tarbell's exposé of the Standard Oil Company. Nineteen people were ultimately indicted, and Tarbell's work was instrumental in the filing of anti-trust lawsuits. In 1904, Theodore Roosevelt made trust-busting a major issue of his presidential campaign, subsequently steering antitrust legislation through Congress. Over the course of the latter half of the twentieth century, American popular culture was defined in large part by television and film, which helped to establish norms acceptable to the population as a whole. That politics was a popular topic in television newscasts and in television shows contributed significantly to the blurring of the division between politics and popular culture.

Scholars do not agree about the impact of popular culture on political actions. John Street (2013) maintains that popular culture neither reflects nor causes political actions. Nor does he believe that political actions are manipulated by popular culture. Street suggests that one of the first figures from popular culture to enter the political world was Elvis Presley, who he sees as the embodiment of democracy. Presley, "the King" of Rock 'n' Roll, asked to meet with President Richard Nixon, and the two met at the White House on December 21, 1970. The National Archive reports that the photograph taken of the two of them is the most frequently requested photograph or document, with more requests than either the Bill of Rights or the Constitution.

Popular culture has used various forms of entertainment, including drama, humor, and sarcasm to call attention to significant political issues. In the 1974 film, Blazing Saddles, Mel Brooks spoofed American westerns while addressing issues such as racial prejudice and hypocrisy. Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird (1960) and the 1962 film adaptation shone a spotlight on America's racism. In 1988, The Accused gave audiences an understanding of the trauma suffered by rape victims. The Holocaust was brought sharply into focus with Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993). Saturday Night Live, which first aired in 1975, has a long history of political satire. George W. Bush's presidency gave rise to a raft of comedy shows specializing in topical political humor that ironically became the primary news source for many Americans.

Jeffrey P. Jones (2014) suggests that politics and popular culture have converged in the early twenty-first century as the removal of dividing lines between the two has opened up avenues for simultaneous interaction between politics and print, broadcast, and online media. The presidential election of 2004 is seen as the beginning of the contemporary convergence cycle because of the intrusion of popular culture into the campaign. Filmmaker Michael Moore released Fahrenheit 9/11 on June 25, offering a scathing portrait of George W. Bush's actions following terrorist attacks on the United States that led to the War on Terror and the War in Iraq. It became the highest grossing documentary in American history, with a reported box office gross of $119 million. Republican attempts to counter Moore's accusations led to an anti-Obama documentary, 2016: Obama's America, authored by Dinesh D'Souza and filmed by John Sullivan. The conservative documentary grossed $20 million.

Further Insights

Television shows have frequently dealt with a wide range of political topics, including law and order, jury duty, civic responsibility, abortion, civil rights, women's rights, and the environment. Opening monologues of late-night talk show hosts are filled with political jokes and references. Politicians frequently use references to popular culture to appear more relatable. George W. Bush quipped that the United States needed more families like the Waltons and fewer like the Simpsons. While Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton used a scene from the movie Argo (2012) to illustrate the chaotic reactions of members of the American military to the attack on the American embassy in Benghazi, Libya, on September 1, 2012. That same year, at the Democratic Convention, presidential candidate John Kerry used a scene from Rocky IV (1985) to illustrate Mitt Romney's lack of knowledge on significant foreign policy issues. Members of the Hollywood industry on both sides of the political aisle have used their celebrity to support political candidates. In 2016, Hollywood and Broadway figures came out strong for Hillary Clinton. Her supporters included Barbra Streisand, Tom Hanks, George Clooney, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen. A star-studded televised fundraiser in October 2017 featured appeals by Julia Roberts, Helen Mirren, Hugh Jackman, Josh Groban, Neil Patrick Harris, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

A number of presidents have made informal television appearances. As a presidential candidate in 1968, Richard Nixon famously appeared on Laugh-In, and Bill Clinton played the saxophone on the Arsenio Hall Show in 1992. Barack Obama was considered particularly skillful at using popular culture references to add relevance to his speeches, and he appeared on a number of shows during the 2012 campaign; in 2018 Barack and Michelle Obama signed a production deal with Netflix.

One case in which politics and popular culture merged completely was in 1992 when, in a public speech on family values, Vice President Dan Quayle attacked fictional television journalist Murphy Brown (played by Candice Bergen) for having a child out of wedlock, suggesting that the show negated the role of fathers in the lives of children. Murphy Brown creator Linda Bloodworth-Thomason responded with a show that directly responded to the Vice President by highlighting the diversity of non-nuclear families.

The pop culture response to the presidency of Donald Trump was ubiquitous and highly reactive. CBS announced that it was bringing Murphy Brown back to television in the fall of 2018. On the other side of the political spectrum, ABC brought back Roseanne, another 1990s sit-com, featuring the working-class Conner family. Trump was so pleased with the show that he called the show's lead, Roseanne Barr, to congratulate her. ABC recaptured the number one spot on television with Roseanne, after eighteen years of competition from cable and subscription services, but removed Barr from the show after she posted a racially charged insult aimed at a former Obama aide.

Politicians have also adopted popular songs as campaign songs, but those attempts have often met with controversy, as when politicians represent views opposite to those of a song's artist. Bruce Springsteen refused to give Ronald Reagan permission to use "Born in the U.S.A" in his 1984 reelection campaign, but Reagan referred to the song in a speech, misinterpreting Springsteen's message. During the 2016 presidential campaign, Donald Trump outraged both artists and fans by using Queen's "We Are the Champions" and the Rolling Stone's "You Can't Always Get What You Want." A diverse group of artists that included Josh Groban, Sheryl Crow, Michael Bolton, John Mellencamp, and Cyndi Lauper appeared on John Oliver's talk show to protest Republican co-opting of their songs. In "Don't Use Our Songs," they warned that such use of copyrighted music was illegal, and could lead to lawsuits. On the other hand, Fleetwood Mac was delighted with Bill Clinton's choice of "Don't Stop" in 1992, and jazz saxophonist Kenny G experienced a surge in popularity in response to exposure during the Clinton campaign. Except for country musicians, who tend to be conservative, most musicians are liberal. When planning his 2017 inauguration, Donald Trump was turned down by artists that included Elton John, Garth Brooks, Kiss, Céline Dion, Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, and Charlotte Church. Country singer Toby Keith and the rock group 3 Doors Down ultimately accepted his invitation.

For President Joe Biden’s inauguration in 2021, celebrities turned out in droves, with appearances by A-listers such as Jon Bon Jovi, Garth Brooks, Foo Fighters, Tom Hanks, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez, Demi Lovato, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Katy Perry, Bruce Springsteen, and Justin Timberlake.

Discourse

Newscasters, who generally pride themselves on being objective, have historically been well respected popular culture figures. In a 1972 opinion poll, Walter Cronkite, the anchor of CBS Evening News from 1962 to 1981, was named the "most trusted man in America." Donald Trump, however, made derision of traditional news media a signature issue of his campaign and early presidency, praising instead the overtly propagandistic Fox and Friends and Sean Hannity. Investigative journalists have contributed to the blending of politics and popular culture. For five days in December 2013, Andrea Elliott of The New York Times published the "Invisible Child" series, featuring the devastating life of Dasani, a young girl living in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn. The series led to the removal of four hundred children from substandard shelters.

The popular world of football became the subject of one hundred articles written between 2007 and 2011 by New York Times sports reporter Alan Schwarz, who documented the high rate of concussions sustained by pro-football players. He was able to trace the problem to flaws in helmets being used by the NFL. His articles forced the resignation of two officials, who had covered up flawed research, and led to new safety rules. An eight-month investigation into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church in 2002 in the Boston Globe focused public attention on the coverup of hundreds of abuse cases, forced the Archbishop of Boston to resign, and motivated investigations in other cities.

African American politicians have "a unique relationship" with popular culture (Iton, 2008) because a good deal of their support comes from groups such as the National Urban League, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the Rainbow Coalition, and the Nation of Islam. Actor and political activist Ossie Davis contended that African American popular culture has always been political because it speaks of the African American condition. An example of that claim involved singer Marian Anderson, who was blocked by the Daughters of the American Revolution (over the objections and resignation from the DAR of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt) from appearing at Constitution Hall in 1939. The concert was rescheduled for the Lincoln Memorial and accommodated an audience of seventy-five thousand.

African Americans have had a complicated relationship with film and television, and the early history of African American popular culture was defined by minstrel shows. Landmark films such as David W. Griffith's Birth of a Nation (1915), Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer (1927), and the Civil War drama Gone with the Wind (1939) all depended on racist themes and portrayals. In the early days of television, few African Americans appeared on television in anything other than stereotypical roles such as those on Amos 'n' Andy (1951). It was not until the 1970s that more realistic portrayals of African Americans brought black culture into primetime television with shows such as Sanford and Son (1972), Good Times (1974), and The Jeffersons (1975). Those shows were popular with both black and white audiences. In the 1980s, The Cosby Show (1984) was the first television show to present an upper middle-class African American family in which the parents were highly educated professionals and none of the children had kooky quirks. For the most part, however, television roles for African American—and for that matter, all minority—actors were scarce throughout the decades preceding and following the millennium.

Ronald Reagan was an actor before he became a politician, and Donald Trump starred in the reality show, The Apprentice. In 2018, talk show host Oprah Winfrey was encouraged to run for president in 2020, and actress Cynthia Nixon announced her intent to challenge Governor Andrew Cuomo in New York. Arnold Schwarzenegger served as governor of California, and pro-wrestler Jesse Ventura served as governor of Minnesota. Singer Sonny Bono, comedian Al Franken, television actor Fred Grandy, and character actor Fred Thompson all served as members of Congress. Clint Eastwood served as mayor of Carmel, California.

Others have used their celebrity to win support for political causes. Actress Alyssa Milano launched the #MeToo Movement on Twitter in 2017, eight years after activist Tarana Burke first came up with the idea. George Clooney campaigned to end the war in Darfur. Matt Damon co-founded water.org. Mark Ruffalo led protests against fracking. Charlton Heston served as president of the National Rifle Association, and both John Wayne and Tom Selleck identified with conservative causes. Musicians have lent their names and talents to raise money to provide disaster relief where political will had failed. Two of the most famous of these concerts were George Harrison's Concerts for Bangladesh in August 1971 and Bob Geldof's Live Aid on July 13, 1985, which raised money for famine relief in Ethiopia. Farm Aid, an organization founded by Willie Nelson, John Mellencamp, and Neil Young to provide relief for distressed farm families in the United States, had its roots in a 1985 benefit concert.

The constant blending of politics and popular culture, coupled with the increased popularity of reality television shows, has heightened the convergence. The presidential election of 2012 was the first to be heavily influenced by social media. On election day, there were 71.7 million election-related posts on Facebook and 31.7 million election-related tweets on Twitter. All the major candidates, particularly Barack Obama, used social media to interact directly with the public. Because of a rise in the spread of misinformation, both Facebook and Twitter took steps to monitor and either limit or flag misleading election-related posts for the 2020 presidential election.

Bibliography

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