Paris Hilton Makes Me Want To Be American

Paris Hilton Makes Me Want To Be American

By Chantelle Oliver • August 6, 2008 • 4 Comments

I blather on a lot about cultural change and here comes Paris Hilton to make my point effortlessly. After John McCain’s anti-Obama ad comparing him unflatteringly to the lewdness of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton, it was Paris who struck back fatally—not Barack Obama.

Paris calls McCain out for being an old nobody in content and delivering her message in an online viral medium (FunnyorDie.com) form that has spread around the world further and faster than McCain’s political ad format ever could. Paris totally p0wnd McCain. Not that he’d know what that means.

McCain—who thinks the Internet has shows you watch like television and is less web-savvy than a 106-year-old—cannot become president for a whole host of reasons from being a McBush with PTSD, to being an oiltard. But overshadowing all of these is the simplest reason of all:

This election may be explicitly a battle over energy and economic doctrines but implicitly it is a war to the death between two solitudes.

One, the exsanguinated husk of old politics and the other a giant question mark of technology shifting and moaning far faster than the old farty cultural theorists can wrap their post/neo/posted-heads around.

Neither choice is soothing. We face failure on one hand and the unknown on the other. And while exploiting her youth and sexuality, contextualized, Paris’ video makes a much more salient point: American politicians are just celebrities who are humourless, rich, and repetitive. Promising “experience” or “change” is about as democratically deep as being totally hot. And while rich and repetitive, Paris is wise enough to hire writers who are insanely more amusing.

Tags • mccain ad, paris hilton, paris video, presidential election
Posted in Web 2.0 Museum •

http://1326.tumblr.com/ maximo

Brilliant comment!!
Martin Bailey

“Paris Hilton Makes Me Want To Be American.”
Typically Canadian to vicariously watch Americans and their problems.
Countries that depend on one person are called dictatorships. Democracies do fine with many actually running the show.
Yeh! I would be proud to have Paris as my grand-daughter. I just wish she would keep her sex in private.
http://www.chantelleoliver.com Chantelle Oliver

I am in no way watching vicariously. It is longing, pure and lovely.

Unfortunately political systems are not neat and tidy dichotomies. Sorry!
To be clear, I am asserting that at no time has America been a democracy. Check history. Check your definitions. Economic systems make it impossible in such complex and sneaky ways.

Paris wouldn’t want to be your grand-daughter. She already has awesome rich ones.
Pingback: Voices without Votes » Paris Hilton Ready to Lead America

Paris Hilton Makes Me Want To Be American

Tags • mccain ad, paris hilton, paris video, presidential election Posted in Web 2.0 Museum •

The Walrus Foundation National Event Guide

Tags • mccain ad, paris hilton, paris video, presidential election
Posted in Web 2.0 Museum •