This is a piece I wrote for the collge newspaper...
Call it poetic justice, call it irony, but Sarah Palin is now officially a comic. Whether you are Republican or Democrat, admit it, she is hilarious in a twisted sort of way, as is the latest piece of her propaganda. It is “Steampunk Palin“, and she, within it’s graphic pages is a half-robot, half-human kicking political butt in a future hypothetical universe where Al Gore is the evil mastermind she is fighting for a solution to clean energy because all natural resources are totally destroyed in a terrible war. Oh, and Obama goes by the name “Robama“. Did I mention Russia is also waging war with Alaska’s border? Well, in the comic, Russia, our cold-blooded enemy, is back to wreak some revenge on that dastardly nature reserve! It is truly the work of a demented media genius. This is not a practical joke arranged by the Democrats. But what is funnier is “Steampunk Palin” depicts Palin, along with her pair of amazing breasts, as the hero of the day, naturally.
Sometimes there just isn’t enough barf in the world.
“Steampunk Palin” is the epitome of political ploys playing dirty. Political comic book heroes like Palin are trying to reach out to young voters, by appealing to their tastes. But, there are more palatable tastes to appeal to, and better ways to get attention.
“How stupid do they think we are?” You may ask.
But is it really stupid? “Steampunk Palin” reflects a trend in popular culture to turn political figures, Republican and Democrat, into comic-book-style super heroes, and action figures-- you can get a John McCain or a Barak Obama action figure for roughly $15.00 online. They blur an already fuzzy line between product consumerism and the politician, cultivating an idea that political power can be bought. These toy ploys do little to cultivate respect for the politicians or bring attention to their plans for the country, but instead reduce them to fetishes, talking heads and plastic parts. Fetishes that are encouraged, like the eight pages of “Steampunk Palin” devoted to robo-human Palin in pin-up get-up; a puzzling interpretation of Palin, which is difficult to stomach. Even for staunch Palin supporters, this must seem a bit out of line, and it is doubtful the majority of Republicans will point out what a great testament it is to their political party. One cannot correctly judge an entire party on the antics of one member-- if that were so, everyone who knew Sarah Palin graduated from the U of I would think all of us attending the university to be very annoying conservative Republicans--but we judge anyway. And that is what political cartoons are for: judgement. They set up scenarios which lend us to judge political events in a certain light. They generally appeal to our sense of morality and sometimes our vanity. But whatever moral high ground “Steampunk Palin” is trying to appeal to, it has the repugnant smell of the incredibly strong hubris of the person it romanticizes. As a cartoon, it is simply selling to the fetishes surrounding Palin and her sexual appeal. As a political cartoon, it is worthless since it does not actually follow any sensible line of political commentary and has no valuable input for current political issues. “Steampunk Palin” erects, excuse me, raises, I mean, places Palin at a new, exciting level of bare-faced self-righteousness. But more than that, it blatantly tells it‘s readers that America needs “Steampunk Palin” as a delivering savior from the bad guys. While the vigilante savior of “Steampunk Palin” is hilarious, it still makes the innards churn with shame for whoever thought of it. So, thank you, “Steampunk Palin” for playing to our insecurities about the safety of our country, completely insulting our intelligence, embarrassing Sarah Palin by selling her image as a pin-up, trying to squeeze a few dollars from us, while offering no practical advice to solve any problem because all the problems presented in the comic are imaginary. But most of all, thank you for making us laugh.
