Yes We Can, Leni?



Does anyone else still hear echoes of Leni Riefenstahl in Will.i.am's February 08 ode to Obama?

Granted, there were overwrought comparison's when the video made its debut, but a lot has changed in the last 14 months. Campaign rhetoric has given way to the hard realities of governance. Citizens of all political persuasions have cause for concern over the breath-taking changes the current administration is making to an America "in crisis." Some fear the change is too much, while for others it's not happening as fast or as extensively as they would like.

But time offers perspective, eventually on the new president's policies and for now on Will.i.am's video. His is a brilliant example of political propaganda in the tradition of Riefenstahl. Do not for a moment think that this makes him a Nazi. I do not doubt the nobility of Will.i.am's intent. Rather, I am interested in the favorable comparison of two unarguably talented artists, and the outcome of their work.

Both were selling hard, well, and with impressive artistry. Both understood the power of film—image and music. Both produced their works in service of a charismatic leader determined to unite a nation behind a great quest. Both are unabashedly nationalistic and idealistic.

They are separated by the leaders they serve—and the evolving techniques of their art—among other considerations. But one cannot escape the similarities in their work: the powerful bond each film created between the leader and those led; the adulation these respective films lavished on Hitler and Obama. Each work stimulated intense feelings of attraction between the intended audiences and the feted leaders.

Will the similarities end with each leader's legacy? The answer has to be yes. Obama is not Hitler as some claim, but one cannot escape certain comparisons. He is a charismatic leader determined to remake his country after a radically progressive vision. The primacy of the State as evidenced in majority ownership of America's major manufacturing and financial corporations is radical, despite the precipitating events. Taking advantage of a "crisis" is radical. Decrying the country's Judeo-christian roots by characterizing the U.S. as a Muslim nation is radical—a noteworthy departure from traditional foreign policy rhetoric. These are but a few examples.

Calling Obama radical is verboten, though. It bucks the meme that he is a moderate pragmatist driven to extremes by unprecedented economic and Geo-political turmoil. I don't buy it, but that doesn't mean I want to denounce our new president. Radical does not mean bad or even wrong. It simply means a significant departure from the status quo. Jesus was radical. America's Founding Fathers were radical. When it comes to loving others and caring for the poor, I want to be radical. Radical is not bad. Radical is simply radical.

And so is Obama. The persona that Will.i.am helped create was a powerful icon. A symbol of all that can be right with America. A populist powerhouse. The American electorate responded to that persona, and elected Senator Obama our 44th president. But a person, not a persona, now sits in the Oval office, and the question becomes: will there be that jarring disconnect between art and reality that so colors Riefenstahl's work, or will Obama live up to Will.i.am's depiction of him? Hopefully, three years hence we'll answer, "Yes he did."

Comments

Mark N said…
Brilliant, Steve. An intriguing comparison - and I mean Leni Riefenstahl and Will.i.am', not Obama and Hitler. It goes to show how powerful art and imagery are, then and now.

I would add this thought. Overall, America has gotten a leader after its own heart. For many, many Americans, even those who did not vote for him, there were inspiring things about Obama, things he espoused and his promise of a new America. A huge part of that, IMHO, was the desire to put centuries of racism behind us.

The question is whether the heart of Obama that governs will continue to resonate with the hearts of those who elected him. At this juncture, with the Congress in his court, he is off to an ambitious start. If there isn't some leveling and if he doesn't recognizes that he leads a nation of people who are still politically divided, I suspect it will backfire.
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