Nothing melts the stress away at the end of a long day like a
cheap joke at the expense of the American government.
I laughed my nuclear arms worries away this weekend as I watched
“American Dreamz,” a political and social satire of the
United States.
I was an outsider, an observer of our nation and all of its
silly follies. I was suddenly not so concerned about the state of
our foreign policy ““ it seemed so far away, just the setup to
an awfully funny joke.
But after the movie is over and lights come back on, do these
issues remain just jokes to us? Do we pursue them any further?
Apparently I am not alone in my escapism. According to the New
York Times, “American Dreamz” opened this weekend with
$3.7 million in ticket sales. Not bad for a film based on the
premise that our society is so shallow we’ve elected a
president who refuses to read the newspaper.
The frosting on the comedic cake is that we couldn’t care
less. Part of the tag line reads: “Imagine a country …
where more people vote for a pop idol than their next
president.”
How can a movie that so blatantly uses its audience as the butt
of its joke be so successful?
Filmmakers and comedy show hosts aren’t the only people
who are critical of the American public. After every election,
pundits and analysts try to find reasons to explain the
consistently low voter turnouts, and it seems they generally come
to some version of the same conclusion: The American public is
simply too uninformed about politics, making it completely
apathetic.
But if Americans really do not care about current events, why in
the world are the “Daily Show” and “American
Dreamz” so popular? Why are politically charged songs by
artists like Pink or Neil Young popular?
There must be a reason Americans are willing to sit through two
hours of a cinematic feature about politics but can’t find
the time for 10 minutes at the polls.
The youngest group of voters, consisting of people age 18 to 24,
is the biggest target audience for the entertainment industry and
generally has the lowest voter turnout rate of any age bracket.
According to the United States Census Bureau, only 47 percent of
this bracket voted in 2004, as compared to 73 percent of those who
were 65 to 74 years old.
During the section for my “Introduction to
Communication” course, my TA noted that being inundated by
the media can make us feel like spectators ““ powerless and
passive. This discussion reminded me of the black T-shirts I
occasionally see my fellow students wearing. They display a picture
of President Bush, with a line in bold that reads, “Not my
president.”
Has our sense of political efficacy declined so much that we
figure it really doesn’t matter whether or not we vote, write
letters, or voice our opinions at all outside our circles of
friends?
As an audience member of “American Dreamz,” I felt
exempt. I felt like I was in on the joke with the filmmakers,
laughing at everyone else ““ not the one being laughed at.
America’s problems with terrorism are funny when a member
of the Taliban performs show tunes with his gay cousin in a movie.
The laughs begin to die down, however, when Time magazine features
yet another photo of a mangled U.S. soldier.
Reality sucks, but if we pretend that it doesn’t belong to
us or filter it through entertainment media, we don’t have to
face it, right?
Unfortunately not. We have to inform ourselves on more levels
than the entertainment industry can bring to us. No, MSNBC
correspondents aren’t nearly as humorous or as hip as Jon
Stewart, but they provide an amount of depth you won’t find
elsewhere.
Spending just half an hour listening to NPR while you work out
at Wooden and reading the paper on your way to class are excellent
starting points to being more well-informed.
More importantly, being exposed to the not-so-funny aspects of
the government can be enough to give you the extra energy you need
to fill out the voter registration form that the overly friendly
person on Bruin Walk is waving as he chases after you.
On a good day, it might even cause you to personally visit the
nearest elected official and beat him ““ I mean, beg him
““ to address an issue that’s caught your concern.
Remember, we are paying the salaries of these government
officials, so when they screw up, they have to answer to us.
But if nobody cares, they aren’t going to. If your boss
didn’t make you come to the office but continued to pay your
salary, how much work would you get done?
An important final word of caution, however. You don’t
need to be obsessive in order to be informed.
Too many CNN marathons are the reason Paxil was invented.
Although he shouldn’t be the only news anchor you’re
listening too, it is OK to relax with Jon Stewart occasionally
““ we all have to hold on to our sanity somehow.
Send your most hilarious voting anecdotes to
kstrickland@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to
viewpoint@media.ucla.edu.