• About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
The Wellesley News -
  • News and Features
    • 2020 Alumnae Achievement Awards Held Virtually; 3 Awardees Honored
      2020 Alumnae Achievement Awards Held Virtually; 3 Awardees Honored
    • Students Remember the Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg
      Students Remember the Legacy of Ruth Bader Ginsberg
    • First-Year Students Reflect on Their Expectations for College, One Semester In
      First-Year Students Reflect on Their Expectations for College, One Semester In
    • News
      • News in Brief
      • Nation & World
      • President’s Corner
      • Senate Report
    • Features
      • Alumnae Spotlight
      • Eye on Science
      • Faculty Focus
      • LGBTQIA+ Column
  • Opinions
    • No image
      You have no valid reasons to oppose raising the minimum wage
    • No image
      Free the pee: cut the hygiene theater and let us use other bathrooms
    • Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
      Wellesley, why can’t you meet our dietary needs?
    • Staff Editorial
    • Letters to the Editor
    • The Elephant in the Room
  • Arts
    • “Judas and the Black Messiah” subverts, soars as Civil Rights story
      “Judas and the Black Messiah” subverts, soars as Civil Rights story
    • Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations for BHM!
      Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations for BHM!
    • Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat
      Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat
    • Arts In The News
    • Reviews
    • Music Peek
  • Health and Wellness
    • COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
      COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
    • No image
      Athletic impacts of Covid-19
    • No image
      A new kind of PE
    • Athlete of the Week
    • Boston Sports Update
    • The Vegan Digest
    • The SHE Corner
  • Miscellanea
    • No image
      Remote students experience existential crises; change class years in email signatures
    • President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
      President’s Column: The Butterfly Effect
    • Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
      Your next on-campus romance isn’t going to work out
    • The Artichoke
    • The Dose
    • The Olive Branch
    • Multimedia
      • Galleries
      • Infographics
      • Videos
By Emily Fu Arts, Arts In The NewsApril 11, 2018

Should we be electing actors for public office?

Cynthia Nixon accepts the award for Best Actress Tony Award for her role in "The Little Foxes" Photo Courtesy of Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tony Awards Productions

Early in March, actress Cynthia Nixon (D), famous for her role as Miranda Hobbes on the HBO hit “Sex and the City,” announced her candidacy for governor of New York.  She will run in the September Democratic primary against incumbent Andrew Cuomo (D). Nixon’s candidacy reflects an increasing trend of actors and other media celebrities running for office.

America has seen many celebrities successfully pivot to politics. For example, Arnold Schwarzenegger (“The Terminator”) served as governor of California, President Ronald Reagan was an actor before he entered politics and our current president is reality TV star. We are now in an era in which politics is becoming increasingly intertwined with entertainment, and celebrities’ pre-existing fame gives them an unfair advantage over opponents who are not famous. In a society dominated by social media and new digital technologies, the market for attention has become extremely competitive, and capturing the public’s attention is becoming more difficult. Celebrities tend to receive an outsized share of the media’s attention compared to campaigns run by more traditional politicians, and this provides a decided advantage.

Image and presentation is a crucial part of campaigns, and celebrities are great performers. For example, President Reagan’s 30 plus years of experience as a television and film actor certainly gave him a big advantage in terms of his ability to sell ideas to broad audiences. In today’s internet age, media-savvy celebrities who already know how to effectively market themselves have a great advantage over other candidates.

Another advantage celebrities have is their outsider status. In the political podcast “Start Making Sense,” journalist John Nichols explained that celebrity candidates are popular in part because they have not “weighed into every political issue.” According to a Pew Research Center study, only 16 percent of Americans think the government does the right thing “most of the time.” In such a political climate, celebrities are able to use their outsider status and inexperience to their advantage, tapping into Americans’ distrust of government. In Schwarzenegger’s 2003 campaign for governor of California, he stated that “politicians are not doing their job,” and promised to voters to “bring California back again.” This message resonated with voters who had lost confidence in politicians and were frustrated with the status quo.

Being a political newcomer does not necessarily mean that a candidate is not capable of doing a good job as an elected official — we hope that they have dedicated substantial time to learning about politics and legislation. The danger with celebrity candidates, much more so than with non-celebrity political newcomers, is that there is a greater risk of voters becoming clouded by the celebrity’s persona and the hype surrounding them. In other words, a celebrity’s brand, charisma, candor and engaging communication style may draw in voters more than their specific policy status.

Donald Trump’s candidacy was made possible by a “collision of politics and entertainment,” according to journalist and author Matt Bai. Bai criticized the media for focusing on Trump over the 17 other candidates that competed in the Republican Primaries because of his entertainment value. He argued that the media’s outsized attention on Trump harmed the other candidates’ chances and helped his campaign, despite “Trump having no ideology other than the promotion of his brand.”

Celebrities should have the right to run for office if they would like to do so, but it is up to us to decide whether or not we want to elect them. Marketing, branding and image, where celebrities have huge advantages over other candidates, will remain an important part of political campaigns. However, we as voters need to be aware of the advantages celebrities have and how the media shapes what we pay attention to and how we evaluate candidates. If we choose to withdraw some of our attention from sensationalist stories and celebrity culture, and instead focus more on candidates’ policies, we will be better equipped to fairly evaluate candidates, celebrity status notwithstanding.   

Share on

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Pinterest
  • Google +
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Previous article“A Wrinkle in Time” is an important kid’s movie that’s not for grown-ups
Next articleFrances McDormand’s mention of inclusion riders could be impactful

You may also like

“Judas and the Black Messiah” subverts, soars as Civil Rights story

Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations for BHM!

Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Email Newsletter

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

Top Articles

  • Free the pee: cut the hygiene theater and let us use other b...
  • COVID-19: Popping the Wellesley Bubble
  • Queer Storylines in “The Prom” Fall Flat
  • Black Entertainment Without Black Trauma: Recommendations fo...
  • You have no valid reasons to oppose raising the minimum wage

Recent Tweets

Tweets by @Wellesley_News

The independent student newspaper of Wellesley College since 1901.

Sign up to receive our weekly digest in your inbox

* indicates required

  • About
  • Editorial Board
  • Advertise
  • Join Us
  • Archives
COPYRIGHT © 2021 THE WELLESLEY NEWS
Back to top