Politics as Media Spectacle - Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor Essay

Politics as Media Spectacle - Arnold Schwarzenegger as Governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger’s California recall election gubernatorial victory demonstrates the increasing collapse of the boundaries between entertainment and politics in an era of media spectacle. Over the past decades, major struggles around politics, race, gender, and sexuality have played out in the media. In the 1990s, the O.J. Simpson trial, the Clinton sex scandals, and the proliferation of tabloid journalism made serious political issues and conflicts the stuff of popular entertainment and culture. Moreover, presidential politics on the level of campaigns and governing have also exhibited a growing politics of the image and spectacle. In our media-saturated society, politicians become celebrities who fine tune their image through daily photo opportunities, spin out their message of the day, and, like celebrities, employ image management firms to make sure that their performance is playing well with the public. In an era of media politics, celebrities can become politicians and take on increasingly political roles. Hollywood stars of film and television were prominent opponents of the Bush administration’s 2003 Iraq war, while teams of celebrities were employed by both sides in the California recall election. Arnold Schwarzenegger had a familiar role to play in the California recall election scenario. The people were angry at higher taxes, energy costs, and what appeared to be a deteriorating economy and were looking for a savior. Arnold presented himself as the hero on the white horse who would ride into California and solve the problems. His â€Å"Rescue California† ... ... how the media present his policies, actions, and colorful past. Schwarzenegger has allegedly paid over a million dollars to purchase the original and outtakes from his 1976 film Stay Hungry that allegedly has him singing â€Å"Springtime for Hitler† and prancing about in Nazi regalia and poses, and there are Nazi poses of Schwarzenegger floating through the Internet. In an era of political spectacle, image is all and negative images can produce critical views of politicians and their policies as George W. Bush is learning from images of daily carnage and mayhem in Iraq that put in question his foreign policy decisions. Schwarzenegger too will become an important part of the spectacle of contemporary politics and what role he plays will be determined by his policies and politics, the media, and how a volatile and fickle public perceives him.