Presidential Election 2008: Campaign Songs and Controversy

Popular music and politics often collide. The government plays a large role in the censoring of much popular music, yet political candidates still use popular music to connect with audiences. Sometimes, the artists themselves use their fame to promote a political agenda. The 2008 presidential campaign will provide examples of the sticky political situations that can occur when politics meets popular culture.

Republican candidate John McCain was sued after the 2008 election after his campaign used the Jackson Browne song “Running on Empty” in an ad criticizing Barack Obama’s energy policy. Browne claimed that the song was used without his permission, and was therefore a copyright infringement.



Here, the McCain campaign was using a popular song strategically, presumably as a source of mockery, as the title of the song and topic of the ad suggest. Using such a widely known song would also help connect McCain to fans of Browne through association. Browne’s protests lay in the fact that he did not support McCain as a candidate and did not want his song, or his “property,” to be used to McCain’s advantage.

In another example on the same ticket, the writer of the Martina McBride song “Independence Day,” Gretchen Peters, was unhappy with the use of her song to bring Sarah Palin onstage at a rally after her debate with Joe Biden.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/soundboard/2008/10/independence-da.htm

"The fact that the McCain/Palin campaign is using a song about an abused woman as a rallying cry for their vice presidential candidate, a woman who would ban abortion even in cases of rape and incest, is beyond irony," Peters said. "They are co-opting the song, completely overlooking the context and message, and using it to promote a candidate who would set women's rights back decades.”

This case was not a copyright infringement, since Peters did receive royalties from the use of her song. As a form of protest toward the McCain/Palin campaign, however, she began donating royalties for the song to Planned Parenthood – in Palin’s name.
This situation, therefore, represents both the strategic use of a popular song in a campaign as well as a celebrity using her fame to speak out against a candidate.

These two situations within the McCain/Palin campaign are reflective of when Ronald Reagan used Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA” for his campaign. In this case, as in the ones mentioned above, the artist felt that his song had been misinterpreted and was unhappy with the association of his name with a particular political candidate.

The issues that the candidates had with popular music in their campaigns were not limited to the Republicans. A Ludacris song entitled “’Politics’ (Obama is Here),” which contained offensive lyrics, caused some trouble for Barack Obama’s campaign. In this case, it wasn’t a song that the candidate had used for his campaign, but rather a tribute by a celebrity that supported Obama. At a time when critics were questioning some of Obama’s past relationships, the fact that Obama had stated his respect for Ludacris’s talent before the song was released caused Sean Hannity to insinuate that Obama was a black radical.



This is an example of a celebrity using his music to express political allegiance and exploiting his fame “to endorse political positions and candidates.” This song also happens to support a liberal and progressive candidate, as the textbook says is typical among messages when popular music meets politics. However, the song also uses misogynistic and racist language, which reflects poorly on the candidate, Barack Obama.

The association that Hannity made, Ludacris’s song reflecting Obama’s radicalism, is an example of this poor reflection. Obama did not have anything to do with the song’s creation and his campaign was quick to denounce the song. However, speculation about the controversial song continued and may have hurt his campaign.
Politics and popular music often meet, sometimes due to a candidate trying to appeal to voters, and sometimes due to a celebrity musician using his or her fame to influence public opinion. This can be helpful or harmful, and often, the people involved can get themselves into some difficult situations when someone feels that a line has been crossed.

It's Not a "Chick Flick"

In the book “America On Film,” femininity and masculinity are studied in the context of Hollywood filmmaking. Throughout history, Hollywood has tended to uphold traditional patriarchal society. However, this is not a thing of the past. Men and women still fulfill largely stereotypical roles both as characters in film and as consumers.

The following clip from FunnyorDie.com features three of the male stars of the film “He’s Just Not That Into You” (Bradley Cooper, Kevin Connolly, Justin Long). This short video features the three men making fun of the “chick-flick” genre by acting out clichés commonly associated with them. The premise of the video is to convince guys that it is okay to see their movie (which would be seen as fitting the “chick-flick” genre) by providing evidence that it is “just a movie,” not a “chick flick.”



This clip brings up many points about gender when it comes to film audiences. First of all, the video assumes that the only reason guy will be going to see this movie is because their girlfriends will drag them to it. The reason that men do not plan to see this movie on their own or are reluctant to go is because of its “chick flick” status. “Chick Flicks” create stories that supposedly attract female audiences. Though this video tries to downplay the film’s “chick flick” status by pointing out clichés that were not used, “He’s Just Not That Into You” still fits the textbook’s definition of a “chick flick” (the plot is “centered on a lead female character’s romantic trials and tribulations”).

Since the female demographic had already been hit, part of the purpose of this video was to attract the male demographic as well, through sarcasm and humor. The male actors were trying to convince a male audience that they wouldn’t be jeopardizing their masculinity by seeing this movie. The fact that these three funny, sufficiently masculine actors weren’t ashamed to suggest that it was a good film made the pitch more credible to men than if three of the female stars had made the same argument.

This clip also walks a fine line between homosocial and homosexual relationships between men. In their short skits, the men played versions of typical “chick flick” characters. However, they portrayed all of these characters as male (though many were particularly effeminate males). However, the understanding that the scenes were parodies of “chick flicks” made this behavior acceptable. The humor comes from the fact that the men were – in acting like women – effeminate, which is viewed as abnormal or inconsistent with traditional masculinity.

This video was rated 88% “funny” on a scale of “Die – Funny.” The fact that many people saw this as funny suggests that they probably understood that the men were masculine and heterosexual and that is why their effeminate and homosocial/homosexual behavior was humorous. It also suggests that people agreed with this list of “chick flick” clichés, and recognized them from past experiences with the genre.

To end this post, it can also be noted that many of these “chick flick” clichés are also present in television dramas. They actually make use of them quite liberally. For example, these scenes from the 2003-2007 show, “The OC” using the character Seth Cohen:


Seth falls backwards into view onto a bed (there is no pillow involved, but close enough).


Seth runs through the airport to catch Anna before she moves away.


Seth tells Summer the reasons he has had a crush on her since elementary school.


Seth announces his relationship with Summer at school in front of many of their classmates.

These clichés are used time after time in various contexts throughout seasons of the show. This shows that these clichés appear not only in “chick flicks,” but on television as well. However, the audience of “The OC” was probably mostly female, so this does remain consistent with the types of narratives intended for and popular with female audiences.