Nothing to do with "retro" at all really, but a deliciously mordant piece at the New Yorker by Jeffrey Toobin, arguing that Mitt Romney has "a record of consistency in his commitment to retroactive retirement"
Showing posts with label MITT ROMNEY. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MITT ROMNEY. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Friday, June 8, 2012
remix politics
further to the post on Nicki Minaj's versatility and the big spat over "Starships"
"There is something increasingly chilling about this shape-shifter, isnt there? He views himself as a product to be marketed to different audiences at different times. And the actual content of that product is completely malleable."
That's actually Andrew Sullivan on Romney. But it shows how the notion of integrity and consistency has traction in the political realm (or let's hope so, come November)
If "realness" counts still in politics--the belief that even given that it's "the art of the possible" and involves negotiation and compromise, there are these core principles about which you'll never bend and thus there limits to one's flexibility when it comes to terms of ideology and policy, and that these principles are grounded in and arisen organically from the pol's life experience and character--then why are we so certain that the apparatus of authenticity is to be dispensed with in culture and the arts?
What Sullivan describes here--adaptability, mutability, endless reinvention of the self: all virtues in pop, supposedly--are negatives in politics, or should be. "The actual content of that product is completely malleable. It can change as swiftly as Mormon doctrine, when market share is at stake. To predict Romney, in other words, you simply have to merely examine the market he's selling to." That's a bit like how pop singles come in multiple mixes targeted at different dance scenes and club styles.
further to the post on Nicki Minaj's versatility and the big spat over "Starships"
"There is something increasingly chilling about this shape-shifter, isnt there? He views himself as a product to be marketed to different audiences at different times. And the actual content of that product is completely malleable."
That's actually Andrew Sullivan on Romney. But it shows how the notion of integrity and consistency has traction in the political realm (or let's hope so, come November)
If "realness" counts still in politics--the belief that even given that it's "the art of the possible" and involves negotiation and compromise, there are these core principles about which you'll never bend and thus there limits to one's flexibility when it comes to terms of ideology and policy, and that these principles are grounded in and arisen organically from the pol's life experience and character--then why are we so certain that the apparatus of authenticity is to be dispensed with in culture and the arts?
What Sullivan describes here--adaptability, mutability, endless reinvention of the self: all virtues in pop, supposedly--are negatives in politics, or should be. "The actual content of that product is completely malleable. It can change as swiftly as Mormon doctrine, when market share is at stake. To predict Romney, in other words, you simply have to merely examine the market he's selling to." That's a bit like how pop singles come in multiple mixes targeted at different dance scenes and club styles.
Tuesday, June 5, 2012
retro politics?
column by Judith Grey in Daily Beast argues that Obama's "Forward" slogan may not resonate with a public that wants to go backward:
column by Judith Grey in Daily Beast argues that Obama's "Forward" slogan may not resonate with a public that wants to go backward:
"The slogan was intended to
communicate the idea that the country should go forward and not regress
to the pre-2008 policies that engendered the financial crisis from which
the country is presently trying to extricate itself. It’s
a reasonable thought, but it fails to take into account one important
reality of our world today: Americans—perhaps more than at any other
period in the country’s history—actually want to go backward.
"Way backward. Ideally, to some time during the ’60s.
"For argument’s sake, let’s say 1967. That’s the year in which this season of AMC’s increasingly popular advertising period drama, Mad Men, transpires. Since its inception in 2007, the show’s viewership has increased almost fourfold, and it has become one of the most culturally salient influences of our time"
Not all convincing, the argument made here, overall (the comparison of Mr and Mrs Romney with Don and Betty Draper especially unconvincing) but some interesting snippets:
"Way backward. Ideally, to some time during the ’60s.
"For argument’s sake, let’s say 1967. That’s the year in which this season of AMC’s increasingly popular advertising period drama, Mad Men, transpires. Since its inception in 2007, the show’s viewership has increased almost fourfold, and it has become one of the most culturally salient influences of our time"
Not all convincing, the argument made here, overall (the comparison of Mr and Mrs Romney with Don and Betty Draper especially unconvincing) but some interesting snippets:
"Just last week, Banana Republic reported its best first quarter ever with sales generated from its Mad Men collection, a line of ’60s-inspired apparel that the company began designing as a cross-promotion with the series in 2010.
"Tommy Hilfiger, another global American fashion brand, has also experienced extraordinary growth
using a backward-gazing advertising campaign. Since launching its
retro-chic, Romney-clan-resembling “Meet the Hilfigers” offensive in
2010, the company has enjoyed a double-digit increase in sales and seen
considerable worldwide expansion.
"Instagram is another case in point. The photo-sharing app that was recently sold to Facebook for a billion dollars ... also peddles in reminiscence. Instagram’s most
distinctive feature is that the images it produces have a 4:3 aspect
ratio, resembling the square-shape proportion of photos produced by the Instamatic camera
manufactured by Kodak in the early ’60s. The app’s other cherished
attribute is that it can imbue an image with a patina similar to that of
a Polaroid that’s been lying at the bottom of a shoebox for 50 years.
"Face it, nostalgia is in"
That's true, but let's hope Ms Grey is wrong about November seeing American decide it would rather "Rewind with Romney" than inch tentatively and falteringly "Onward with Obama".
That's true, but let's hope Ms Grey is wrong about November seeing American decide it would rather "Rewind with Romney" than inch tentatively and falteringly "Onward with Obama".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)