Interesting article in the Toronto Star about the artistic legacy of the Bush administration. The idea is that presidents “cast distinctive shadows” over the culture made during their tenure. The piece connects JFK’s “testicular adventurism” to early James Bond movies, Nixon’s Watergate to the paranoid thriller, and Reagan’s “don’t-worry-be-happy paternalism” to 80s wish fulfillment fantasies like Back to the Future.
Meanwhile, W. gets credit for the rise of the liberal op-ed documentary (Super Size Me), the superhero as conflicted loner (Batman Returns), and making fiction irrelevant. (I would have also mentioned “torture porn” movies like the Saw series.)
Let us assume this is all true. If so, then what can we kind of culture can we expect to be made under President Obama?
1. Snark detuned
It’s hard to imagine Gawker and The Soup going away, but it’s possible that their stock takes a hit. When you have a secretive, bullying, uncaring president, then reactionary cynicism provides relief and self-protection. If our public life becomes more open, communicative and hopeful, then being a crank may become (slightly) less cool.
2. The return of screwball
On the other hand, sh*ts still f*cked up and probably will be for a while. Just because snark loses it’s appeal doesn’t mean that the world is going to go all Jedediah Purdy. But breezy escapism doesn’t have to mean dumb avoidance. That’s why I like shows like 30 Rock to do well. It’s frantic, sharp, (a little) mean but ultimately humanistic and engaged.
3. Crypto-racial stories
Electing our first African American president is a wonderful milestone, but we’re still lousy about talking about race in this country. Be on the lookout for deeply coded stories that explore race while also maintaining plausible deniability about the true subject matter. (Personally, I think this could be both artistically and politically interesting, not to mention useful. At the same time, I fear the rise of crypto-racist work, which would be f*cked up and wrong.)
4. The Emporer’s New Clothes?
Given the cult of personality surrounding Obama, it’s inevitable that people start telling stories that question whether or not there is substance behind the rhetoric. Expect some lame “empty suit” cautionary tales, but hope for some thoughtful explorations of how leadership works in our image-driven culture.
5. Utilitarian traditional
Solving our collective problems will require more collective thinking and action, but how do you pull that off in a starkly individualistic culture? I could see generic rebellion (a la Thomas Frank’s Conquest of Cool) getting a slight downgrade. It’s even possible that conformity loses its oppressive connotations and gets an update that highlights how useful it is in getting things done. I don’t know about you, but I’d wear a grey flannel suit for change.
I just mulled this over in terms of music a few weeks ago — linky link: http://www.motherjones.com/riff_blog/archives/2008/10/10309_what_would_an_o.html
My thoughts were, hey, maybe grunge will come back, but that Pareles article from ’93 makes me hesitant to make any wide-eyed predictions.
Agreed that there will be a decline in snark. If mockery is society’s first line of self-defense, and you have less to be defensive or fearful about or to rebel against, then, well, it follows that you’re less bitter and less inclined to mock. Which is good: snark is fun to dish out, even cathartic, but it’s inherently reactive — snark and sarcasm don’t advance new ideas or further the conversation.
Applying that idea to the arts more generally, I’m cautiously hopeful that in the more hopeful/optimistic/awesome/etc. era that we can only hope is now beginning, writers and artists will simply feel less burdened by the madness of the world, and therefore less burdened with the necessity of commenting on said madness — they’ll have more options and feel a greater freedom to experiment with ideas.
For example, I see MIA as the leading edge of the future of pop music — experimental and pulling ideas and sounds from a wide range of cultures.
Actually, that’s another thing I’d expect to see during an Obama presidency: novels, music, and art that are more ambitiously cross-cultural and/or are aimed at a more global audience (and not in a “Kumbaya”/”We Are the World” hyper-sincere or politically-minded manner but in a more mass-market-appeal way that reflects the assorted joys, frustrations, and confusions of globalization). That was already starting to happen, of course, but I think Obama will accelerate it considerably, particularly if it proves true that the rest of the world suddenly likes us again.
I would love to see a real examination of our collective shadow — rathering than the fascination with the projection of our shadow that had been going on under Bush. I humor will be important — fired by freedom and inspiration — not despair.
I whole heartedly concur with the idea that presidents and economies collide to create an aura that captures the collective mood of a decade or a generation. With the stock market plummeting and big companies laying off or disappearing it feels much like the great depression it is being compared with. Already it seems that fantasy in fiction is providing an escapism that was much needed under Bush and may still be needed while Obama works to restore our economy. The enormous success of the Harry Potter series, which I thought was very much about escaping reality into a much better fantasy world, and also Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight series in which the heroes have supernatural powers for good and evil, but use them only for good, of course, seem to fulfill an increasing need to fantasize about having power over our world. Just yesterday, I picked up a book at the airport B&N with the tag line: paranormal romance. Wow, if middle aged women now need not just the regular escapism of romance, but ones in which the heroes are super heroes, what does that say about what the average person feels about their life? Maybe the resurgence of the superhero is really our adult need to feel powerful in the face of powerlessness. Will this continue under Obama? Maybe not, if we feel we have some power returned to us in the form of economic strength that translates into us getting to buy more, travel more, pay our bills, feel free to pursue luxury and intellectualism over practicalities that pay the bills. Maybe if the NEA is fully funded and our public schools can return to a culture of arts and literature, maybe we will be able to have real discussions about racism, sexism, self-determination, and power. I hope so.
fantasy in fiction is providing an escapism
Wars tend to promote this need because fantasy often provides the typical plot wherein good overcomes evil. We see it even with the huge upsurge in anti-heroes as well; good will overcome, and “no one can be that bad, can they?”
I think a bad economy can actually promote the making, if not sales, of great art. Everyone’s down-and-out, so why not work at your first love? And really, nothing seems to promote probing creativity like angst.
However, like Dennis says, shit is still fucked up. We have a long way to go and many oppressed cultures to rise up.
You may have missed South Park’s new episode on Wednesday night. I’m sure they’d prepared an alternative version, but this actually featured President-Elect Obama sneaking into the Oval Office ahead of time. (Turns out that all along, he was a member of a super-duper caper team — including Michelle, McC, and Palin — plotting to steal a giant diamond from its secret vault beneath the White House.)
I figure South Park’s anarchy will be a good bellwether.
And you’ve probably already seen that The Onion has moved fast to keep up, too: Nation Finally Sh!tty Enough to Make Progress. Ha!
Mad Magazine debuted during the Eisenhower slumber; SNL, while Gerald Ford buffeted us with pillows for two years. I do think (in truth, HOPE) the snark index will drop, but there’s something about the knee-jerk human instinct for irony that resists being shut away very securely.
3. Crypto-racial stories
You think it’s a coincidence that Star Trek is getting a revival during the first year of Obama’s presidency?
@ Mayor: Yes! Sci-fi has been dark and conflicted. Perhaps it returns to its utopian/idealistic roots.