Joe Biden’s recent visit to Ottawa marked the 100e anniversary of the first official visit of an American president to Canada. On what his administration called the Journey of Understanding, President Warren Harding stopped in Vancouver in July 1923, the only Canadian city on his itinerary.
Since then, bilateral visits and press conferences between the leaders of the two countries have become traditional. Think of Kennedy and Diefenbaker in Ottawa in 1961, of Clinton and Chrétien in 1997 in Washington or of Bush Sr. and Brian Mulroney, five years earlier, in the same place.
During the joint press briefing by President Bush and Prime Minister Mulroney, the questions asked were mainly about trade surpluses, the North American Free Trade Agreement and Murphy Brown.
Murphy Brown was an anchorwoman and the main character of an excellent eponymous television series that was very popular at the time. “Do you think Murphy Brown serves as a good role model, sir?” asked one of the journalists present to President Bush. Taken out of context, this question may seem strange. Except that earlier in the day, 4000 kilometers from the capital, Vice President Quayle had criticized the character of Murphy Brown – fictitious, I remind you – during a speech at the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco. To complain about Kamala Harris today is to have forgotten Dan Quayle and his great uselessness.
In the season-ending episode, which aired a few days earlier, Murphy Brown had given birth to her first child, whom she had decided to have and raise alone.
Speaking about what he perceived to be the decline of traditional values in the United States, Qualye told Californians gathered to hear him speak that “it doesn’t help when you find yourself on television, at prime time Murphy Brown, a character who supposedly embodies today’s smart, well-paid professional woman, poking fun at the importance of fathers by bearing a child alone and calling it just another lifestyle choice “.
Of course, Murphy Brown hadn’t mocked the importance of fathers, but Quayle’s statement will cause much ink to flow here, there and elsewhere, spark yet another abortion debate and become emblematic of the cultural divide. that often exists between Republicans and Democrats and the appropriation used to divide by one party and to unite by the other. Alas, this dynamic has not changed.
If, in Canada, we are used to hearing members of the Conservative Party threatening to defund Radio-Canada and the CBC, the Americans have their own version.
Over the years, and as if they had passed a communicable disease, more than one Republican has repeatedly wanted to reduce, or even eliminate, funding to PBS – public television. During a presidential debate in 2012, Mitt Romney, the Republican candidate, announced that if elected, he would end broadcaster subsidies despite his love for Big Bird, the endearing and unmistakable gigantic yellow bird of Sesame Street- the token transmission of the network. How and above all why attack such a legendary, educational and essential children’s show? Perhaps, like today, was it too inclusive?
Attacking Big Bird is as blasphemous as attacking Mickey Mouse. It is however one of the fights chosen by Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida and probably a candidate for the presidency of the United States for the election of 2024. Last year, DeSantis went on a crusade against the Disney empire, Mickey’s kingdom, with fiscal and governance reprisals and multiple attempts at public smear. Disney, whose headquarters and major operations are in Orlando, Florida, had publicly opposed the governor’s bill dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.” The bill – Parental Rights in Education, its real name – has, since its passage in March 2022, banned teaching and the possibility of discussions about sexual orientation and gender identity in classrooms. daycare in the third year of elementary school.
Disney has been in the Republican crosshairs for years. The party seems unable to digest the sensibility of the entertainment giant, its ability to evolve at the same rate as the majority of its consumers and its desire to be a reflection of the society from which it comes.
From the change of ethnicity of the next Little Mermaid in the cinema to the removal of a misogynistic scene in the Pirates of the Caribbean carousel at Disney World, the troupes of DeSantis, Carlson and other acolytes are using these new popular culture references to dig a gap that only crystallizes the polarization that exists between the two parties and between their respective voters.
Too often, and with a few exceptions, including President Biden, Democrats are ineffective when it comes to political messages. At least, for the past few years. On the other hand, several of them know how to properly recover those of others. We got the illustration of it last week, as the cast of the much-loved and award-winning series Ted Lasso were invited to the White House, to talk about the importance of mental well-being. In Ted Lasso, the main character suffers from anxiety and is, on occasion, paralyzed by panic attacks. These are disorders that affect approximately 30% and 5% of Americans respectively. This visit – a marketing coup for both entities – had the merit of talking about an important subject without taboos, giving it visibility well beyond the United States.
It is said that television is losing popularity. Some figures prove it, but the fact remains that it is the media that federates the most, the one that still has the most influence and impact, and this, without geographical limits. Think of Will Smith’s slap in the face at the Oscars last year, Harry and Meghan’s wedding ceremony or the interview the couple gave to Oprah.
As a telephile, I ardently hope that when great moments of television are recovered, that they will be to move us forward and not for the contrary. At its best, television and the popular culture of which it is a part know how to crystallize realities and societal changes, by telling them. I worry about a party or individuals, whose influence crosses borders, who are unable to recognize and embrace these changes. If they can’t do it for a fictional world, what are the chances that they can do it in the real world?