NYT: Bush Image Stagecraft-Morgan Kirol

NYT: Bush Image Stagecraft

This article astonished me. I was taken back by the insanity of this reality we live in. If the particular name of the administration concealed, it would seem as though this government being described within the piece was that of a dissociate fantasy or corrupt ploy for clandestine evil dictator. Not something happening in America. Not here in this “land of the free, home of brave”. Okay, maybe I’m a little biased. Maybe my 20 years spent in the realm of the military had led me to believe that there was some true, pure greater sense of good that encompassed and outshined the weathered political world in which we live. Both naïve and delusional, I at first found this hard to believe was even true. Shows like Scandal depict the churning innards of the U.S administration. While dashing in a few flicks of steamy sexual scenes and obscured murders topped with the usual political ploys and jarring lies to make it a spicy, the Emmy-nominated  series has people addicted; astonished by each and every plot twist, both obsessed with and thankful for the “lack” of corruption in our present reality. I mean, this could never happen in real life. Or could it…my marketing major tells me that anything is possible. All it takes is a cocky PR manager and committed staff to pull anything off. And I mean anything. As Elisabeth Bumiller’s article reveals, I wouldn’t put anything past the administration. No cost is too grand, no cover up too large to simmer this boiling pot. What I find most interesting of it all is how much the administration relied on lighting to communicate every message that needed to be heard. The saying “see someone in a new light” becomes all too true as the golden glow of the sun waning through the sky illuminates the prominent cheek bone creased by softening wrinkles of Bush’s kind eyes. Because that makes up for everything, right? Every mistake, every lie is washed away by the twinkle in his eyes and his gleaming smile coupled with that infamous chuckle. Everyone loves a southern drawl. So, let’s put on a show. As Bumiller describes in her article, each event was set up as if it was a TV set; crews and crews of lighting, sound, and decorum rearrange the bad into something our eyes can settle in on. All we need is 30 seconds of listening to his few clumsy words to become enamored by the backdrop. Replacing stickers labeled “Made in China” and removing the ties of men place behind POTUS to make them look more homely and relatable to the cause are only a teaspoon of the amount of lengths a good administration will go to make each event something worth watching for.