Culture

Why Pop Culture Does Politics Better Than Politics Does Pop Culture

Because Lena Dunham discussing gay marriage will always be better than that time K-Rudd got really into selfies.

by Katie Booth  24 April 2014

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Politicians are essentially daggy parents, especially when they make subtle and off-the-cuff references to pop culture. Take Obama’s infamous reference to Snooki and the Jersey Shore cast, where he gave them exemption from the indoor tanning tax. He later admitted to not knowing who Snooki even was (good try, Obama.)

And don’t forget about Kevin Rudd. His list of pop cultural references is an endless one, though notable mentions should go to his endless selfie-talk, hip playlists full of Powderfinger (and, uh, John Denver), and that time he went on Rove in 2009 with Bruno and was “in a state of induced panic.”

Whether you think moments such as these are genuine or a calculated attempt to secure the “youth vote”, the results are always a little cringe-worthy. But when pop culture engages with politics, it’s a different story. Examples range across a spectrum of satire such as Parks and Recreation to celebrity endorsement of political parties. So what happens when celebrities muddy the divide between politics and pop culture?

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Woody Harrelson Backs Legalisation Of Industrial Hemp

He’s well-known for his veganism and general hippy life choices, including recently opening up LA’s “newest plant-based bistro”, SAGE. But Woody Harrelson’s claim to the title of the “happy hippie” isn’t just an aesthetic one: he’s long been one of the key celebrities behind the push for the legalisation of industrial hemp. He’s even found himself in trouble with the law for growing what he calls “the miracle plant” — in 1996, he was arrested in Kentucky for “planting four hemp seeds.”

“Right now, we have what I like to call ‘the beast’, which is the petroleum, the nuclear, pesticide, mining,” he says. “Industries that are destroying mother nature and getting giant subsidies, tax breaks. We need something sustainable… I’d like to see the power out of the hands of the beast and into the hands of the people.”

The happy hippie showed his political influence when he got his way in February this year, as the Indiana Senate approved a bill to legalise industrial hemp.

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‘Women For Obama’

In his campaign for the US presidency in 2012, Obama had many famous females by his side, proving that sometimes the dads of politics maybe aren’t so daggy after all. Beyonce, Kerry Washington, Olivia Wilde, Julianne Moore, Jane Lynch and Eva Longoria were among the celebrities who featured in the ‘Join Women For Obama’ campaign, one of the more notable recent celebrity political endorsements. Longoria also served as co-chair of Obama’s campaign, sparking rumours that she may have a career in politics on the horizon.

Lena Dunham also backed Obama during the campaign, using her status as women’s rights advocate in an ad called ‘Your First Time’, where she addressed gay marriage and birth control and likened voting for the first time to losing your virginity (so Girls).

Reactions to the ad saw conservatives labeling the campaign as “disgusting” and “astoundingly tasteless”. Who’d have picked a Republican criticism of the ad? (shock, horror!).

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Benedict Cumberbatch Disses David Cameron

Everyone’s favourite Sherlock, aka Benedict Cumberbatch, used his celebrity status late last year to make a few pointed political statements of his own. In the first of a series of handwritten notes held up to paparazzi on his way onto the Sherlock set, Cumberbatch hooded up to tell photographers, “Go photograph Egypt and show the world something important.”

CUMBERBATCH1

Rushed handwriting, obviously.

He followed that with questions addressed to British PM David Cameron, and a comment on the ethics of the phone hacking scandal in the UK.

Puppy dog eyes, pursed lips, such sincerity

Puppy dog eyes, pursed lips, such sincerity.

“Questions we have a right to ask in a democracy — Cameron, Theresa May, GCHQ, teacher, parent, each other…”, read one sign. “Hard drives smashed, journalists detained at airports… Democracy?”, read another.

To make the waters murkier, Cameron actually praised Cumberbatch months later for his portrayal of Julian Assange in The Fifth Estate, telling The Agenda he thought it was a “brilliant, fantastic piece of acting.” I’m sure Cumberbatch loved the thumbs up he received from the PM.

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Russell Brand Tells The Trews

“Professional person” Russell Brand recently put his celebrity power behind a call to change drug laws in the UK. Since his much-shared BBC interview with Jeremy Paxman in November last year, Brand has been showing some serious political biceps.

In the interview, which was broadcast in October on BBC’s Newsnight, Brand criticised the growing disparity between the rich and poor, the power elite and the powerless, and says it’s to blame for the drug problem and drug-related deaths which the UK is experiencing.

As a former heroin addict who has now been clean for ten years, Brand has spoken out about drug law reform before. In an article published in The Guardian in February, he goes on to blame “our drug laws” for the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Earlier this year, he urged people to sign a petition to address the UK’s current drug laws, which he called “hopelessly out of date”. And he won: the petition, which was facilitated through the “global campaigning organisation” Avaaz, received over 100,000 signatories, with the drug laws not to be debated in Parliament.

Brand has since continued his path to ‘revolution’, starting a vlog on his Youtube channel called ‘The Trews’, which is an analysis of the news, truthfully (or, basically, Russell Brand gloriously ripping on The Daily Mail).

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President Poehler And Political Satire

Although she holds off on the Cumberbatch-style bold political statements, Amy Poehler may soon be set to join the long list of actors-turned-politicians, if her interview on Late Night With Seth Meyers is anything to go by. Her plans for 2016? Just a casual run for the presidency. She made the announcement alongside Vice President Joe Biden, who recently made a cameo on Parks and Recreation.

And just quietly, their (non) relationship may be set to rival Beyonce and Obama’s.

“My name just came outta your mouth.” Naww.

All jokes aside, Parks and Recreation is able to deal with politics in a way that’s both satirical and a little patriotic. The show has never used the words “Democrat” or “Republican”, and according to executive producer Michael Shur, “we never will.” This hasn’t stopped critics from speculating, though, with the likes of The AV Club claiming, “[Parks and Recreation’s] satire is skewed towards the left.”

The show resists the urge to place these labels on itself, but, as Time noted, is still able to “realistically deal with issues that haven’t been entirely politicised” because of its focus on local government, with Poehler playing city councillor, Leslie Knope.

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And On The Other Side Of The Fence, There’s Obama

While satires such as Parks and Rec continue to be used as a site of political discussion, some politicians have been brave enough to use the platform to push their own political message. Obama is the obvious winner at this: he made an appearance on Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis recently, and absolutely killed it.

Not only did the Funny Or Die interview provide some great one-liners such as “If I ran a third time, it’d be sort of like doing a third Hangover movie. It didn’t really work out very well, did it?”, but the site also became the top source of referrals to Obama’s plug, HealthCare.gov.

Executive Producer of Funny or Die, Mike Farah, told Variety, “We built a great working relationship with the White House.” The idea came after a meeting between industry figures and White House advisors, “where the topic was how Hollywood could help get the message out about healthcare reform.”

In the week leading up to Obama’s appearance, Farah tweeted out his support for the White House push of Obamacare, proving the waters between pop culture and politics are well and truly murky.

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Love it or hate it (or take a page out of the political handbook and just be totally apathetic about it), but the convergence between politics and pop culture seems inevitable. As long as politicians have a particular demographic vote to get to or message to flog and celebrities have content to produce or attention to seek, this clash of cultures will continue.

In an interview on Acronym TV, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges says, “Culture has always been absolutely integral and essential in shifting social consciousness.”

Hedges might not include shows such as Parks and Recreation within his definition of culture — he’s specifically referring to art in this excerpt (starting at 5:20) — but the same idea applies to pop culture and it’s engagement with politics: celebrities are able to reach and influence people in a completely different way to politicians.

And when the two butt heads, the results can be spectacular.

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Katie Booth is Junkee’s editorial intern. She tweets at @kboo2344