“The Waldo Moment” was primarily about a blue bear who jokingly ran for Prime Minister. Waldo got his initial exposure and popularity after Monroe was brought into his “cave” on a joke news segment, which Waldo used foul jokes to make Monroe uncomfortable. After it aired, Monroe filed a complaint, spiraling the network to continue to get press. Even though he ran for exposure, he became a figurehead for people's dislike for current politics.
The people hated politics as it stood. They felt as if they did not have a voice. They felt as if politics made the country stand still. Thus, the stage was set for a “joke” candidate. It wasn’t Waldo’s ideas they wanted, but the idea of Waldo. Throughout “The Waldo Moment”, his ideas weren’t made clear. His views on the major issues were never expressed. Rather, his views on politics were made clear.
During the latter half of the movie, Jamie, the man behind Waldo, has a change of heart. He doesn’t want to be Waldo. He leaves the truck and tries to tell people to vote for someone else. He booed and beaten. This probably happens because they don’t care about who Waldo is, but what he stands for.
The same could be said for our politicians. During the U.S. 2016 election, we had the choice between a politician as usual and an outsider. This outsider was the Donald J. Trump. He was not the usual politician. He had a foul mouth, said what he wanted, and was a reality TV star. He ran on three things: he’s really rich, his campaign was self-funded, and he’s good at business. Unfortunately, two things were false. His campaign was not self-funded, and he was not good at business. But on top of that, he is also accused of rape and fraud in his Trump University scam. But nobody cared. Not because those things were horrible, but because, like Waldo, they don’t care about the person’s ideas, but about idea of the person. He represents the United States’ distrust and frustration with politicians, not their ideas. The idea of an outsider made the American people feel like they have a voice.
This thinking is dangerous. If the people continue to vote based on the idea of the candidate, then the country might suffer greatly. Just like Waldo, this idea may have disastrous consequences that spread even further. Politics as a whole should not have protest candidates.
1 comment:
I somewhat agreed to your post. I believe Trump ran a campaign based off people's emotions and certainly he chose racism, sexism, misogyny and all the other -isms that oppress and marginalized people. From a business perspective, I think Trump ran a fascinating campaign that engaged his voters to be excited about his candidacy as president. On the other hand, its disheartening to know that we still live in a country where justice and equality will never exist for all people. This was hands down the worst election I am sure this country as ever experienced. I hope this election will be a message that White fragility is racial violence, period.
Post a Comment