- Jeff the Brotherhood {Interview} - December 3, 2012
- My Week On Top: Adele “Skyfall” - October 24, 2012
- A Tale of Two Swifts: How Taylor Swift Mirrors Pop’s Split Personality - October 17, 2012
I get it— politics are a tough racket to get behind. Even in our campaign-obsessed culture, it’s hard to get down and dirty with the current sludge-fest that constitutes our national election. The Republican vs. Democrat feud has reached a fever-pitch that’s a few headlines away from being the next Biggie/Tupac rivalry and $507.9 million has already been spent (read: wasted) trying to win (read: manipulate) your vote— eighty percent of which was spent slamming the other guy, instead of, you know, actually saying something. But try and push all that nonsense away for a moment so we can focus on the real issue— our own entertainment.
I’m not ashamed to admit it— I love reality tv (okay, so maybe I’m a little ashamed to admit it). And the best show this fall isn’t going to be about a seven-year-old pageant-star whose name doubles as a punchline and whose favorite dinner is spaghetti with ketchup (seriously)[1]. Nor will it be about how Amish teenagers really just want to party like the rest of us[2]. No— this years hit show will be about two men, from different ethnic and religious backgrounds, engaging in a psychological cage fight to see who can run the entire fucking country. Sound good? Trust me, it is.
Full disclosure— I already know who I’m voting for. Everyone who’s voting already knows who they’re voting for. Only six percent of the electorate don’t know whose name they’re going to punch in November. But just because we’ve made up our minds doesn’t mean we can’t kick back with a cold one and watch two titans (in their own respects) spar in our national colosseum— just like the gladiators of old.
Now in it’s forty-fifth season (respectively), the Presidential Debates is a network’s dream show— the executives at Fox are still kicking themselves for not coming up with a hit like Democracy. It’s got heart, laughs, frights (foreign policy debates are always guaranteed to give you a good scare), some top-shelf zingers (a word which political pundits seem to be just now discovering), and above all else, a whole lot of stakes. Put aside civic duty, national pride, hope for a changing world, and the rest of that mumbo-jumbo and watch it like you would the hundred other shows where people cast their vote for whoever they like most— I promise, you’ll be wildly entertained.
And hell, maybe we’ll all learn a little something along the way. Maybe, without even realizing it, we’ll grow as young men and woman of this new republic, find out that there’s more that unites us than divides us, challenge our opinions and elevate our level of national discourse, and discover that the whole world can, and has, been changed by people who tune in, show up, and give a shit. Because that’s what great television and politics have in common— they inspire.
And if not… it’s still some damn good entertainment.
