The Britney Industrial Complex—Is It now the Palin Industrial Complex?

Earlier this year, there was a great deal of discussion around “The Britney Industrial Complex.” Both NPR and the Washington Post did articles/segments on the subject, after an article by Portfolio Magazine: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/21/AR2008012101691.html

The point was simple, to quote from the Post:
“Portfolio's Britney Industrial Complex illustrates the economy's need for celebrities. Vast amounts of money can be made by manufacturing ones who appeal particularly to the young. Spears was once one of those, although at age 26 she has leaped that demographic boundary. Still, the breadth of her drawing power cannot be fully estimated. Portfolio's concoction does not, for instance, measure her worth to the morning television shows -- "Today," etc. -- which on any given day are mere adjuncts to the fan magazines. Nor can it measure what she is worth to us as a topic of common interest for our communal water-cooler moments. Even this column has, in a sense, exploited her.” You can see the Portfolio article here: http://www.portfolio.com/culture-lifestyle/culture-inc/arts/2008/01/14/Britney-Spears-Career-Analysis

Recalling back to the beginning of the year and the end of last year, there is a strident similarity between John McCain’s Vice Presidential nominee and the woman who acquired a faux British accent just prior shaving her head. The point is simple, there parallels are too consistent; moreover, the judgment is ridiculous.

Our media plays to a market, and our market has truth to it, which is to say that if Palin didn’t sell magazines or bring back SNL’s popularity, they wouldn’t make a thing out of her. Taking a step back, and reading myself write about this woman, I am only a reflection of the society from which I come, I am only reiterating the same bit of media. The point is, McCain will most likely lose this election, but even after 4-November, we’ll have a new celebrity over which to fawn. With that new celebrity and celebrity family, perhaps we’ll even have reality television shows. The media potential is limitless, and when you are finally suffering Palin-overload, come two more months, you can thank John McCain for introducing her Wasilla-Hillbillies to the US.