I’ve noticed a trend recently in our society that I find rather disturbing. The politicization of everything. Now, unless you’ve been under a rock, I’m sure you’ve noticed this too. Just to be clear, I am not talking solely about the politicization and polarization caused by the recent election. No, this problem has been around for much longer than that.
What recently brought this concept back to my attention was a combination of a few things; The Grammys, the Super Bowl, and the newest Star Wars movie. All three of these massive media magnates were unfortunately wracked with politically motivated content.
The Grammys. “Music’s biggest night” apparently, seemed more like an infomercial for divisive political rhetoric. Speeches, skits, jokes, songs; all with a sharp political tinge. Instead of sitting down to a nice evening of performances and watching the elated faces of artists winning accolades for their work, audiences were instead subjected to hours of lecturing from totally out of touch Hollywood elites. These people are the richest of the rich, the most privileged of the privileged, they have everything going for them and nothing to worry about.
Still, they feel the need to talk to ordinary people, talk down to ordinary people, like they are somehow more educated about real-world problems and what they say is right. Well, I’ve got news for you, these people do not live in the real world. They live in the exclusive world of Hollywood, where all their friends are millionaires. But no, don’t listen to a poor college student, go listen to the millionaire who could care less about you (unless of course, you stop buying their products, then they may care a little).
Both the Superbowl and Star Wars VIII suffer from similar problems. With the Superbowl, it was multi-billion dollar mega-corporations preaching their political views. With Star Wars, it was again Hollywood elites but from the movie industry instead obviously. Yes Coca-Cola, yes T-Mobile, I understand diversity is good and all humans are equal. I do not need you to explain these things to me in commercials for your products which have nothing to do with politics or human rights. Star Wars spins a similar political narrative, unfortunately to the detriment of the overall narrative.
Not everything needs to be political. I’m not advocating for totally neutral media entertainment. Of course, media should be there to make us think and ask us questions. But Star Wars? Come on, stop ruining Star Wars. Stop ruining everything with political garbage. If I want to learn about politics, I’ll watch the news. I want to watch movies, award shows, sporting events to be entertained, not to be lectured.
If any companies or Hollywood mega-stars are reading this right now (highly unlikely, why would they bother dabbling with us plebeians down here) I just have one thing to tell you. Be like Tide and David Harbour. Please, just make quality, non-biased, entertaining, wholesome media products that everyone can enjoy equally.
