In this over 30 year old interview McLuhan describes two kinds of politicians or personalities, the hot and the cold personality. Hot personalities look like themselves, the have only a 'private' image and they don't broadcast well on television. Cold personalities on the other hand have a lot of television appeal, not because they are themselves, but because they have a 'corporate' image, or charisma, - they look like a lot of other people rather then just themselves.
Now ponder a while the 2008 presidential elections, which were the most heavily televised events in political history. If McLuhan was correct then the winner of such a contest must have been a corporate image, a *brand*, not a person. **
What's funny is that Obama wasn't even a good enough front to keep up appearances once he got into the White House. How long did that take?
ReplyDeleteWe woke up to a new world on January 21st, suddenly this incredible speech giver was mumbling about "the proof of the pudding's in the eatin" like a bumbling dunce (but OMGObama is NOT a bumbling dunce, we need only look at his questionable Chicago track record to see as much)...
...so yeah. You're totally right. Great post :)