Politics and the Public Eye

Posted by on Jan 24, 2013 in Passion | 4 comments

Obama inauguration

This past Monday was an event that millions of people around the country talked about endlessly: Michelle Obama’s new bangs. All jokes aside, the inauguration on Monday drew a crowd of around a million people while others watched from the warmth of their beds instead of chilly D.C. The event has the world’s best singers including Beyonce, and Kelly Clarkson as well as readings by some of the world’s most renowned orators. The ceremony was not only beautiful but also uplifting and motivating. After the ceremony concluded there was a brunch which the First Family attended before they attended the big parade to say hello to the people lined up to meet them.

 beyonce-lp

 

If you weren’t watching CNN, MSNBC, or some other news outlet you would think that no one cared about the start of Obama’s second term or what he plans to do for the next few years. The focus of entertainment news was either Beyonce’s lip syncing or Michelle’s new bangs. It’s sad to say that if the inauguration did not have entertainment that far less people would attend. Not that it isn’t an important event in our nation’s history but no one cares unless it directly interests them. Shouldn’t we as a society be more at the forefront of pressing political issues? Why do people refuse to bring political news into everyday conversation. To me, the inauguration  would have been a perfect opportunity to introduce rhetoric on the topics concerning our country but that just wasn’t the case on Monday.

 

Hopefully in the future there will be a time when people can focus more on the implications of our first black President entering his second term than whether or not Beyonce lip-synced at the ceremony. What do you all think? Should there be times when the focus should be completely on politics? Or is there a happy medium to be found? Comment what you think below!

4 Comments

  1. But I must say…Beyonce is looking FINE.

  2. I happen to completely agree with you. It’s really unfortunate that a lot of times, the lure of celebrity clouds the actual purpose of a political event. It annoys me so much that I wish they’d just cut out the idea of celebrity performances in political events. However, the truth is that celebrities pull a lot of weight in the political world. Their endorsement of a politician means a lot, their performance at a campaign event draws crowds that platform alone could not accomplish. The truth is that the common man speaks the language of the celebrity, not of the politician. And if we can get more people to vote through celebrity rock the vote campaigns, then that’s wonderful and well-deserved. I only hope for a future of educated Americans who can discuss fruitfully what it means to have universalized healthcare instead of focusing on the designer coat that First Lady Obama wore at the Inauguration.

  3. I think that there should definitely be a balance. The fact that the first black president is beginning his second term should be the headline story without a doubt. But there is room to discuss pop culture with politics as well. I don’t think that Beyonce’s lip singing should have been more important than Obama’s second term. It undermines the purpose of the inauguration. Whether she lip sang or not is unimportant. But as Americans, we will most likely always be more interested in the mishaps of celebrities than history in the making with political leaders.

  4. I actually watched the inauguration while running on the treadmill at the gym, so I guess that I didn’t really catch Beyonce lip-syncing. She always sounds beautiful, so who cares! However, I think that you’re right when you say that people should definitely focus a lot more on the politics in this case. Yes, our world is submerged in things serious and not so serious, but it was the inauguration of our president! People should be focused on more serious things in this point.

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