Identity, credibility, owning his viewpoints and expressing them.
Sound like a rock star? That's what they used to have before everybody wanted to be a brand, when the penumbra became more important than the music.
The identity... You practiced, you didn't emerge out of nowhere fully-formed. Duane Allman even took his guitar to the bathroom. It's what you do when no one's looking that counts. And the rock stars of yore specialized in saying no as opposed to yes. You couldn't convince 'em and you couldn't buy 'em and they channeled their songs from the heart.
The media has been wrong again and again. It said that Biden was a shoo-in and Bernie was too old. Anybody who follows Joe knows he has a tendency to blow himself up, and he's mishandled this #MeToo/touching affair... You get two choices, deny or apologize. Anywhere in between does not register, we do not believe it, we cannot accept it.
And they said that Hickenlooper's name was too tough, a hazard.
And they said a black man couldn't win.
But now we've got a gay mayor who's captured the hearts of the people.
Oh, don't get your knickers in a twist, don't tell me you're a Republican and you hate Buttigieg, you're missing the point, you're part of the problem. The point here is the media was out of touch and wrong.
Everybody keeps saying social media is the problem... What about the mainstream media? Not the one Sarah Palin attacked, but the one that is holier-than-thou and thinks it knows what's going on when it doesn't.
The story of the week is the expose on the Murdochs in the "New York Times Magazine." How they could waste a year and deliver so little at such length is beyond me, but the article did illustrate the power of the media... As in "The Sun" might have pushed Brexit over the line. And when you tune in Fox News, it's like an alternative universe. The conspiracy is on the left, to bring down Trump, and the result of the Mueller report should be a special prosecutor, to look into the Dems' heinous behavior. Yup, they actually said this. And if you watch, you believe. Hell, you believed all the stuff your parents told you, didn't you?
We live in a misinformation society. The TV is all talking heads, analyzing what the newspapers break, and the papers have their heads up their tushies and can't see what is truly happening, they've got blind spots, they live in an echo chamber. No reporter's got a name, so they're not subject to blowback. I know this because I get it. Say anything political online and you're gonna hear from the trolls, but those pontificating for the big boys are clueless.
But in such a fractured media world, how did Buttigieg get traction?
Well, politics is the only movie we're all paying attention to. I read "Shazam" won the weekend, I can't tell you what it's about and I don't care, the title says it all. I think it's some kind of superhero movie, a fantasy for the masses too dumb to know they're pawns in the game.
As for records, we've got the curious case of Billie Eilish. I like everything about it but the tunes. I mean they're all right, but this is what the industry comes up with? We used to come up with jaw-droppers on a regular basis. Now we've got people following in footsteps playing to ever narrower niches. Imagine if some act decided to play to everybody, by doing it in a new way. That was the story of the Beatles. Everybody was asleep, Capitol even passed on the first album, but Brian Epstein pushed and the band broke through. It always comes down to one person who believes and pushes, without them you never make it.
But today's musical acts shoot low. As long as the Soundcloud/Spotify crew approves of them, they're satiated as they sign up sponsors and create hair products.
And then you've got the curious case of Beyonce, who waited a year to release her rave-reviewed appearance at Coachella. What, is this 1969 and Woodstock? You strike when the buzz is hot. But no, they had to get the marketing right. He who delays loses these days.
My point is we've got no Buttigieg in the music business. Maybe Ed Sheeran, but all the media does is piss on him, mainly because he's so successful. Goes with the territory these days, but he's selling songs when everybody else is selling beats, and he sings from the heart, what a concept.
But what this all means is you too can be a hero overnight.
Used to be you had to align with the machine. But the machine has lost its way. In every entertainment medium. Everybody's so calculating, that nothing rings true. That's the story of Hillary Clinton, she just didn't seem authentic. Oh, don't tell me she was the most qualified person for the job, I think so too, but if this was about credentials, Trump never would have won, but he did.
By saying what no one else would. They can swear on HBO, but not in the "New York Times," why? Trump uses the f-word, whose ears are we protecting?
So Buttigieg went to Harvard and served in Afghanistan with the Navy. Hard to argue with that CV. Oh, I'm sure Laura Ingraham and Tucker Carlson and Trump will, but that's not the point. You can't convince those whose minds are closed, but those whose minds are open...
And Buttigieg stood up to Pence, who keeps getting a pass despite views outside of the mainstream. Hell, give George Clooney credit for standing up to the Sultan of Brunei. You want to be stoned for being gay? It happens there first, and here later. Like anti-Semitism. We thought it was something in Europe, but now it's in the open here. And some people shrug. But the point is no one is immune.
And Buttigieg is gay.
And most people don't care.
Gen-X and millennials grew up with gay people on MTV. You see, the media has influence, young and middle-aged people have got no problem with gay people, only old set in their way and marginalized people do. That's the conundrum of America, how we're moving forward and backward at the same time. We've got computers in our hands, but we're using them to spew hatred and argue like we're in grade school in the last century. Does anybody remember PROGRESS?
I'd like not to think of politics all day. But it's the only story we all watch and talk about. We've all got something at risk. We're all afraid of what the future will bring, no matter what side of the spectrum you're on.
We stopped paying attention to movies. They're niche products for the marginalized.
As for TV... It may be a golden age, but it's still a one way medium. They make it and you watch it and even "Game of Thrones" garners a relatively small audience.
And music is all niche. The only ones with universal mindshare are the classic acts
Because we've got no Buttigieg.
He didn't change his name for consumption.
This ain't Hollywood, this is real life.
And the question is, if the media missed Buttigieg, focusing on Biden, what else is the media missing?
Plenty.
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