American Politics & Pop Culture

I love the names prescription pills are given. Zoloft. Prilosec. Lunesta. I trust those names; the semblances of futuristic sounding syllables make me believe that they are from the future, of a higher intelligence. Like I’m swallowing microchips or something. You have to wonder if it wasn’t the same deal with Bing Crosby and WWII. In Marketing Iron Pigs, Patriotism, and Peace: Bing Crosby and World War II-A Discourse, by Mary Anne Schofield, Bing Crosby’s pro war persona is analyzed in terms of his political influence in WWII. In her introductory paragraph, Schofield ponders, “One wonders, perhaps, why Bing?” Yes. Exactly. Why Bing? For the same reason that prescription pills are given names that sound like far off distant galaxies: WWII needed to be marketable. The US Government sought to insert propaganda into pop culture, and Bing Crosby, being well known both in radio and cinema, was the perfect vehicle. Although much of Schofield’s analysis is based upon whether Mr. Crosby was inherently this way or if this patriotic personality was crafted for professional gain, the article’s overall goal was to highlight the manipulation of pop culture by the US government to bolster public support of the war. Schofield uses Bing Crosby as an example, if not the example for this covert tactic by explaining his involvement with everything from morale-boosting entertainment to selling war-bonds by holding charity golf tournaments. For me, this article not only raised the question of the public awareness of this tactic at this time, but if and how it is being employed today. I doubt the social structure of today would be receptive to such ploys as it is already skeptical of most government activity, but this should not denote that pop culture and its entertainment industry has been totally forgotten by the US government, merely exercised differently. The difference between the entertainment industry of the 1940’s and the entertainment industry today is stark, seen most tangibly in its expanse into our daily, even hourly, lives. Bombarded with advertisements and entertainment In a culture whose nightly news covers who was voted off American Idol the night before, the weight of any social or political problem is lifted from us by the influx of technology and entertainment offered by our culture and, in this climate, no sort of conviction for change can ever survive. Was this type of culture bred by government intervention? That’s for the conspiracy theorists to decide. But no one will argue that the distracted nature of our culture, because of its pop-culture, makes things harder for the US government. A public that is pacified is a public that will find no conviction to protest. As for me, I’m going go pop some Zoloft, drink some beer, and forget about this whole depressive thing.