Entertainment Weekly is a Time Inc. sibling, so this may seem like corporate whoring, but it is probably malpractice for a pop-culture/politics blog not to link to EW’s Q&As with John McCain and Barack Obama on their favorite TV, movies, music, etc.
This may sound a little Maureen Dowd-y, but comparing the two, you have to wonder if McCain isn’t a little irked that Obama gets labeled as the cool, contemporary candidate (hence the pissy “celebrity” attacks). In many ways, after all, McCain’s tastes are at least as edgy and current as Obama’s: he likes Dexter, and Usher[!], for God’s sake. More than that, he simply seems more engaged with the stuff than Obama—he even puts together a considered, if not overwhelming, argument for Viva Zapata! as the best Brando-Kazan film.
Obama, on the other hand, seems more diffident and wonky about pop culture. He’s said before that he loves The Wire (as it turns out McCain does), but he says that he doesn’t care that much about TV except when there’s a game on. The last movie he saw was Shrek 3 (he thinks). He balances his love for ’70s liberal soapbox (and brilliant sitcom) M*A*S*H with good old Dick Van Dyke. His musical tastes do seem to run more current and eclectic than McCain’s, but he cites plenty of fogey stuff on his iPod: Sinatra, Dylan, Coltrane. (Not that there’s anything wrong with any of those.)
A little armchair political analysis after the jump:
Disclaimer: Yes, I recognize that this is no basis on which to choose a President. Those of you who object, feel free to go back to reading your position papers on trade policy.* And both candidates, even in a light Q&A like this, are probably keeping their answers mindful of the needs of their campaigns. It helps McCain to cite movies from after the silent era. It would probably not behoove Obama to give a shout-out to Ludacris at this juncture in time.
But there is a little reflection here of how the two candidates have worked to present themselves in the media. For all the talk of Obama as “rock star,” McCain is actually more the pop-culture candidate of the two, in the traditional, blowing-sax-on-Arsenio sense. He’s done movie and TV cameos and practically has a second career on late-night. He’s more jokey, more emphatic about, say, referencing The Office on his talk-show appearances—he’s more on. Obama, on the other hand, is much more dry-humored and chill in his presentation. He’s a pop-culture figure more as an object than as a subject, through things like the “HOPE” posters, the Yes We Can video, etc. McCain is the hot candidate, Obama the cool one; McCain projects himself into the pop culture; Obama lets himself be projected upon.
So who’s the “celebrity”? Depends how you define it.
One other interesting thing: Obama confesses that the last videogame he played was Pong. (There’s probably a cheap joke in here somewhere involving McCain and the telegraph.) There’s been a little talk about how Obama has introduced hip-hop signifiers into the political mainstream (“dirt off your shoulder,” etc.) but I wonder if videogames are the next cultural gap a candidate will someday have to cross. Who will be the first Presidential hopeful to admit playing Grand Theft Auto, or World of Warcraft, or Guitar Hero? And which would be the most dangerous to admit?
I’m going with GTA, although it might be more discomfiting to imagine a future President roleplaying as a night elf. As it is, I’m sure my teenage Dungeons and Dragons addiction has permanently disqualified me from holding public office.
*Further disclaimer: I voted for Obama in the primary. Is everyone getting sick of this disclosure by now?