Major Acid's E-Rag
It Strikes Me...
California’s Newest Reality Show
Irony is a misunderstood, and therefore widely misused, term, but in
California, irony is running rampant. It is not ironic that a porn star
is running for Governor Gray Davis’s job, nor that half pint, one time
child TV star Gary Coleman is, too. It is not even ironic that
Bustamante, Davis’s Lieutenant Governor, is running for his boss’s job
even though it isn’t a certainty his boss will lose that job –
insulting, but not ironic.
What is ironic is that bodybuilder turned actor Arnold Schwarzeneggar is
the undisputed front runner while the media trashes and/or scorns
another contender – one who is a battle scarred (literally) veteran in
the fight for free speech, the free speech that journalists enjoy, and
the free speech that, at least in part, helped make Schwarzeneggar what
he is. That other contender is Larry Flynt, the self-styled “smut
peddler with a heart.”
Most of all, it is ironic that in the (again self-styled) home of
democracy, the democratic urge among more than 130 people is being so
heavily ridiculed in the United States and, indeed, in Canada. And
Canada, which has a long-standing habit of looking down on its southern
neighbours, could use some of that democratic impulse, especially in
these days when there is a dictatorship in Ottawa and individuality,
soul-killing, party-based politics as usual in every other part of the
country. But first, California.
Let’s be clear – neither Flynt nor Schwarzeneggar is stupid or frivolous
despite the clear suspicion of same in the press. Yes, Schwarzeneggar is
an actor, but he’s an actor who ignored a minimal education and levied
maximum determination to successfully build a sizable fortune. He did
this in a business where communication is the whole point, and he did
this despite a combination of a speech impediment and an unrelenting
Austrian accent.
Likewise, Larry Flynt, Hustler publisher, has had an uphill battle.
Where Arnie’s biggest critics have been, well, the critics, Flynt’s
enemies have included self-righteous conservatives, politically correct
feminists, and vilifying religious and governmental legions determined
to stamp out his product and him. Where Arnie has generally gone into
battle with carefully controlled, loaded-with-blanks Hollywood
firepower, Flynt has been gunned down by very real weaponry courtesy of
an American exercising (badly) the right to bear arms.
Yes, Flynt sells generally tasteless porn, but he has had to fight for
the legal right to do so, and in the course of that fight made America a
freer place. He also made it easier for Arnie to become the star that
Arnie is.
At least some of Arnie’s star power comes from flashing his naked,
muscled glutes on the big screen in his Terminator franchise. Indeed,
that brief set piece of nudity is hardly noticed today because most have
forgotten how long a fight it has been against the censors. From the
moment Jane Russell lay back in the hay and flashed her cleavage for The
Outlaw, the war was on. Much of that war was left to the likes of Larry
Flynt.
For most, though, Flynt and Arnie have become the newest reality show
where the prize isn’t a million dollars or the matrimonial hand of the
one most willing to debase himself for the titillation of the public;
rather, the prize is governorship of one the most powerful (though
currently flagging) economies in the world and stewardship of more
people than live in all of Canada.
The Canadian/America border, especially the electronic broadcast border,
being as porous as it is, Canadians, too, get the daily dose of
California’s reality show, and in the newsrooms and in the coffee shops
Canadians now have one more situation they can feel superior about. Of
course that’s partly because Canadians don’t have a comparable reality
show to trash. There isn’t any irony about the Prime Minister’s long
goodbye; his behaviour is pathetic but not ironic, and no one running to
replace him is nearly as interesting a choice as Larry Flynt. In a
serious way, though, that’s too bad.
Canada badly needs an infusion of that old-time democratic feeling, the
feeling that an individual – not a party – can make a difference, can be
heard above the din of party politics. The party system, however,
precludes that, and Chretien is almost the logical end to that system,
an elected leader who just won’t go away, and there isn’t anything
anyone can do about it.
Although elected is perhaps not the right word. Canadians don’t vote for
their Prime Minister. Her or she simply shows up courtesy of being the
head of whichever party managed to cobble enough seats together
(regardless of the popular vote) to form the government. There is no
room for individualism in such a system. There isn’t a law that says one
has to be a party member to run for a seat in the House of Commons, but
even if an independent is successful, he won’t ever become the Prime
Minister.
The same holds for the provincial Premiers. It is possible to have a
recall in Canada, but only for a single seat, not for the head of
government, and how much real entertainment can be had in a contest
where the prize is a backbench seat in the House of Commons, one that
comes with no power and no hope of even being remotely useful.
Perhaps it’s time to remedy this, time to set up a made in Canada
political reality show where anyone can run for office. And there is, in
fact, an opportunity – the Senate. This would mean, of course, an
elected Senate, and for most politicians, that means more party
politics. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Reform of the Senate can
be, should be completely different – let anyone run for a seat, but ban
political parties from the protest. If a party member (of any party)
wants to run, he is required to give up his membership and pledge to
perform his duties without party influence. As well, a leader of the
Senate would be chosen – like the President of the United States – by
popular vote from all Canadians.
True, the elected head of an elected, non-partisan Senate would not have
great formal power, but there would be significant moral power – he or
she would be able to chat with any elected Prme Minister and say, “You
know, Canada didn’t elect you, a minority of people in the riding you
live in did. Let’s think about that while we discuss this new tax plan
of yours.”
The potential for entertainment is huge. Anyone could run, from retired
business executives looking for something to do, to rabble-rousing
activists fighting for housing for the homeless, to Steve Smith (that’s
Red Green), to – well, pick your favourite Canadian celebrity, if you
can name one.
In such a non-party based free-for-all, the entertainment value would be
considerable, and Canadians in search of entertainment would not need to
resort to the battle between Arnie and Larry and the other 130 odd
California governor wannabes.
Okay, an elected Senate is, for the moment, a dream. Meanwhile, there is
California, where everything is about entertainment. And irony.
In the rush to entertain their viewers, both talking news heads and
stand up comics have been engaging in a bit of irony of their own,
albeit unconsciously. Flynt’s first big exposure came on CNN, while
Arnie’s came on Jay Leno’s The Tonight Show. Flynt tried to discuss the
specifics of how he would tackle California’s big problems, while the
CNN interviewer tried his best to focus on the porn angle and generally
treated Flynt as a joke. Schwarzeneggar, on the other hand, faced Leno’s
questions – questions that were very much about specifics – while Leno
accorded the actor straight ahead political status.
It may be that in America now, the most trusted name in news is comedian
Jay Leno. And if that isn’t irony, nothing is.
PS: For the record, my pick in the California race isn’t Schwarzeneggar
or Flynt. Neither is it Huffington or Bustamante or even Gary Coleman.
My guess is Peter Ueberroth will sneak up the middle and steal the show.
You didn’t know Ueberroth was running? You must have missed an episode.
