Populist Celebrity in the Election Campaigns of Jesse Ventura and Arnold Schwarzenegger
2010; University of Texas Press; Volume: 65; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/vlt.0.0083
ISSN1542-4251
Autores Tópico(s)University Challenges and Reforms
Resumon the futuristic action flick Demolition Man (1993) supercop John Spartan (Sylvester Stallone) is thawed out of cryogenic stasis to hunt down superkiller Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes). Phoenix and his band of miscreant thugs (including the character actor Jesse Ventura) have been covertly and illegally thawed by the resident “benign” dictator/ mayor to quash a nascent rebellion. The rebellion is led by a bedraggled band of underdwellers who don’t want to be vegetarians or abstain from sex—lifestyle choices demanded by the “San Angeles” authoritarian society of 2032. In San Angeles Lt. Lenina Huxley (Sandra Bullock) and the resurrected Spartan hunt Phoenix in a utopian/ dystopian society ostensibly free of violence and anger. There is no “outside” of the unified San Angeles, only a stratified hierarchy of above and below; no hints of other governments, unengineered societies, or the flow of people across borders. Huxley, a nonviolent police officer and history buff, mentions her adoring fascination with Spartan’s twentieth-century escapades, referencing her research in the Schwarzenegger Library. Spartan, still acclimating to 2032, stops her, saying, “Hold it. The Schwarzenegger Library?” Huxley responds, “Yes! The Schwarzenegger Presidential Library.” With a bemused look she says, “Wasn’t he an actor when you were . . .” Spartan: “Stop. He was president?” Huxley: “Yes. Even though he was not born in this country, his popularity at the time caused the 61st Amendment, which states that . . .” Spartan interrupts: “I don’t want to know. President.” Huxley laughs, reminding us that anything can become natural and acceptable if given time and the right historical narrative of transformation. Political campaigns demand constant innovation in the use of media technology and attention to the most current mechanisms of publicity. One need only turn on the news to realize how intensely political campaigns rely on traditional mechanisms of Populist Celebrity in the Election Campaigns of Jesse Ventura
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