In the US, for long, the archetype of the politician was of the clean-cut family man. Yet, for at least a decade, popular culture has been creating a very different aspirational figure.
The first question on the minds of many in America, and beyond, regarding musician-entertainer Kanye West’s presidential bid is: Is he serious? At his first rally, West appeared in a protective security vest and “2020” shaved onto the back of his head. He asserted that Harriet Tubman (a freed slave who smuggled other Black men and women to the US states where slavery was illegal) “never actually freed the slaves, she just had the slaves go work for other White people.” He weighed in on abortion, claiming his mother wanted to abort him and he, his daughter. The spectacle in South Carolina may well be a publicity stunt. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean it’s not a presidential bid. West’s hyper-confessional, ahistorical and over-simplified political platform is a consequence of the 2016 campaign and what has become of public conversation in its aftermath.
In the US, for long, the archetype of the politician was of the clean-cut family man. Yet, for at least a decade, popular culture has been creating a very different aspirational figure. The reality TV star — anything but real, but that’s marketing — would confess, abuse, be outrageous and provocative. Any publicity was good publicity. With the candidature and election of Donald Trump, reality TV became reality, with serious consequences. West’s platform, like Trump’s before him, is also a result of underestimating the power of popular culture in public life, of ignoring the effects of how people spend their time on how they think.
Kanye West, though, is a far more tragic figure than Trump. In a series of tweets on Monday night (later deleted), he claimed that his wife (reality star Kim Kardashian) was trying to have him institutionalised after his rally. West has also spoken publicly in the past about his struggle with bipolar disorder. He is an excellent musician, designer and performer. Now, he could also be aspiring to be Trump.