Campaign 640: week 1 January 2, 2006

1. Campaign 640: week 1January 2, 2006 McLuhan and his lessons for contemporary politicians

2. This week’s topic: theory and contemporary politics • David is providing the first two weeks of “Campaign 640” presentations, before the teams begin to present in week 3 • this week’s presentation relates to an article published in the January 1, 2006 edition of The Toronto Star • the article, by the Star’s book editor and the author of the major McLuhan biography, Phillip Marchand, relates McLuhan’s ideas to political leadership and the ongoing Canadian federal leadership debates prior to the January 23 election • McLuhan died on December 30, 1980; the 25th anniversary of his death was acknowledged several days ago

3. The Marchand article: three themes for our consideration • read the attached article by Phillip Marchand (in Word format and attached as a separate file) • the article offers us a shining example of how communication theory can relate to contemporary political phenomena, and help us transcend the often unavailing conventional media reportage on personality, policy, campaign strategy, etc. • we don’t read McLuhan in AC640, but we can appreciate him as someone who consulted with politicians -- most notably, Trudeau, who was a friend of McLuhan’s and took advice from him -- and was aware of how media culture was transforming politics • three themes in the article warrant our attention in AC640: • The transition from politics as governance to politics as performance • The hot/cool distinction and its uses • Media and the fascination with leadership and personality

4. (1) politics as performance • the article opens with an important insight: “politicians no longer govern… they perform.” • this point can be read in light of much theoretical commentary, notably deriving from poststructuralism, on the way that life is often and increasingly experienced in “performative” terms • this is not the same thing as arguing that reality is more superficial or lacking in substance; it’s important not to use theory as a rationale for easy moral judgments • Hollywood has recognized this trend with films like “Bob Roberts”, “Wag the Dog,” “Silver City”, and “Bulworth” • the graphic on left is from Tim Robbins’ film, “Bob Roberts,” which features a conservative candidate who uses folk songs and pop culture (eg. Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” cue cards) to address public

5. politics as performance continued • the terms on which we evaluate “performance” are dramatically different than the truth claims of other previous forms of discourse more grounded in the empirical and the rational • we respond to performance aesthetically: it is the statement “beautiful”? Does it have production values? • the result is a media culture and a political system in which we conflate the rational, the moral, and the aesthetic -- that is, the true, the good, and the beautiful -- in a way that can lead to significant confusion and potential manipulation • example: spin, impression management, photo ops, and other attempts to represent candidates and policies beautifully • see clips from a selection of movies about politics here; especially recommended is “Bob Roberts” (the “Drugs Stink” video) political movie clips here

6. “Drugs Stink” lyrics (satire written by Tim Robbins for “Bob Roberts”) Drugs stink, they make me sick Those that sell 'em and those that do 'em String 'em up from the highest tree Without a trace of sympathy Drugs stink, drugs stink Be a clean livin' man with a rope in your hand Drugs stink, drugs stink Hang 'em high for a clean livin' land Potheaded weirdos, sex deviates Dancin' fools: your day is done It's time to leave the face of this Earth Dope smokin' morons, dirty hippie freaks Drugs stink, drugs stink Be a clean livin' man with a rope in your hand Drugs stink, drugs stink Hang 'em high for a clean livin' land

7. (2) the hot-cool distinction and its uses • the hot-cool distinction is one of McLuhan’s most familiar formulae for media analysis, and one especially identified with politics • it’s used to explain and evaluate the texture of media experience, the rhetorical properties of a given medium, and the terms in which the audience relates to the message • it was most famously invoked when McLuhan explained why Nixon (a hot personality) was judged to have lost to John F. Kennedy (a cool personality) in the first-ever televised U.S. presidential debate • here is a clip of the 1960 Kennedy-Nixon debate (requires Real Player) Kennedy-Nixon debate (4 minutes)

8. Hot and cool defined(source: Toronto Star) • Hot: “Hot is high definition. It makes itself perfectly clear, and therefore involves low audience participation. Print is hot because printed letters are fixed and visually defined and complete in the information they convey, as far as they go. They foster habits of categorization and classification.” • example of hot media: print, radio, film • Cool: “Cool, according to McLuhan, is low definition. Whatever is cool forces an audience to fill in gaps of information, and therefore involves high participation. Television is cool — or at least it was in McLuhan’s time — because it forces the viewer to scan the dot structure of the television picture and complete the image.” • example of cool media: television

9. Hot-cool classification in more detail(source: Toronto Star)

10. (3) media and the fascination with leadership and personality • media coverage of politics often avoids detailed representation of party policy, ideology, and platform in favour of intensive discussion of the personalities of leaders • such coverage borrows from the more conventional media grammar of celebrity, and applies this familiar shorthand to understanding politics • the personality traits of leaders are then used as an index of the parties they represent: Harper is a cold fish, and his party is severe and uncaring; Martin is Mr. Dithers, and his party will say and do anything to get elected; Jack Layton is a hothead, and his party is not sufficiently rational to hold power • the parties respond by carefully grooming their candidates for the TV camera, e.g., Harper being told to smile more, do family-friendly photo-ops at “Toys R US” before Christmas • politicians are now so effectively “trained” by media that they mirror back to us that training, rather than arguably more genuine aspects of their personalities

11. “The Ballad of Marshall McLuhan” • here is a wry and wonderful comic ballad about “Marshall” McLuhan and his lonely battle against ignorance and lawlessness in the badlands of media studies • the song is by the Canadian group, the Vestibules, and is in MP3 format • listen and enjoy: "The Ballad of Marshall McLuhan"

12. Questions for discussion • Media theorists -- such as Jean Baudrillard, often described as the “French McLuhan” -- argue that the trend toward experiencing reality as performance is evidence that the metaphysical foundations of the real have disappeared, leaving us with only the surface of reality to make meaning from. However, it might be argued that in a complex world where reason often fails us, there is truth in imagery. That is, we can know a lot about a political party by the person they choose to represent them; and a lot about the person by his or her statements, non-verbal communication, etc. What are the costs and benefits of a media culture in which reality is performed, more than it is rationally understood and experienced?

13. Questions for discussion (2) The Marchand article wisely notes that rather than defining a personality or a medium as intrinsically hot or cool, we can appreciate that people and media are capable of hot and cool behaviours and properties. A politician in a TV debate may adopt a hot style to make an emphatic point, then continue with a cool persona more typical of TV presentation. Analog TV may be cool, for example, but high definition digital TV is hot. McLuhan offered other probes and concepts with relevance to politics. What, in your opinion, do the following probes have to teach us about contemporary politics? “Politics offers yesterday’s answers to today’s questions.” “At the speed of light, policies and political parties yield place to charismatic images.” These probes are taken from the website maintained by the McLuhan family, and are drawn from McLuhan’s own writings verbatim. That website is here.

14. Questions for discussion (3) Another convention of political reportage is poll-driven “horse race” style coverage. This party is ahead; this one is trailing; this one is likely to cover some ground between the election’s call and voting day. How does such horse-race style reportage affect our understanding of politics, and the behaviour of politicians and parties in general?