Kaitrin Acuna - Bush Image Stagecraft Response

After reading Bumiller's New York Times article, thoughts of how much we construct our own reality immediately came to mind. In the case of presidential elections, every single public appearance is treated like a set. There are camera people aware of specific angles, people assigned to light the scene in a very specific way, and props, outfits, and mannerisms are all consulted on before hand. I was particularly shocked to find that this was not only the case with capital appearances, but even political appearances at universities. Every detail is constructed.

Another tidbit that particularly surprised me what that people in the front few rows at a Bush talk were asked to remove their ties so that they seemed to represent a different class for photo purposes. This completely buys into the false idea that certain classes or groups of people look a certain way, and contributes to that problem, but I suppose I digress, and that's not really the point here.

While we scorn these acts of false representation, are we ourselves being hypocritical? Every time we cover a zit, dress up for a business interview, or put on hair extensions--are we not doing essentially the same thing? Aren't we just constructing our own images and realities by doing this? When we clean our house before our family comes over, are we not constructing our own sets based on how we want to be perceived? I think we are all guilty of this to some extent.