Reality interrupts the Trump Show
Reality interrupts the Trump Show
By Dana Milbank Opinion writer September 2 at 4:46 PM
It looks more and more as if Donald Trump’s reality show isn’t going to be renewed for another season.
I’m not talking about “The Celebrity Apprentice,” the NBC show Trump turned into a classic of the reality genre; that show is now in the strong hands of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The show that’s in trouble is the horrifying yet irresistible one we’ve all been watching since June 2015. Trump’s campaign is the apotheosis of reality television’s hostile takeover of the U.S. political system, in which the winner is often the one who generates the most shock and who commands the most attention.
Trump followed this plot device over and over again, causing one outrage after another — and, until recently, it worked. It didn’t much matter what the issue was or what people thought of Trump; if they were talking about him, if he dominated the news cycle, he won.
When Trump launched his campaign, “the rules of reality TV came along for the ride, in which the person who says the worst stuff is rewarded with the most airtime,” Post TV critic Hank Stuever observed . Under these rules, “fame disengaged itself” from achievement. In this world, you became famous “especially if you were the guy or gal that nobody liked. In fact, the more despicable, the better.”
Said Paul Manafort, Trump’s then-campaign chairman, in May: “This is the ultimate reality show. It’s the presidency of the United States.”
But in recent episodes, something has gone wrong with the Trump Show. Trump still dominates the airwaves, but his just-spell-my-name-right theory of fame is no longer working. It turns out the Trump Show, late in the season, has lost its plot progression. And voters, belatedly but finally, are less inclined to view Trump the same way they view reality TV: with a suspension of disbelief.
More now seem to share the view Michael Bloomberg voiced at the Democratic convention: “This isn’t reality television. This is reality.”
Each stage of Trump’s life, and campaign, has been something of a reality show. His privileged youth was Paris Hilton’s “The Simple Life,” his years in New York’s tabloid culture “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” his professional life “Million Dollar Listing,” his three marriages “The Bachelor” and, with Melania, “90 Day Fiance.”
READ MORE: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/re...
By Dana Milbank Opinion writer September 2 at 4:46 PM
It looks more and more as if Donald Trump’s reality show isn’t going to be renewed for another season.
I’m not talking about “The Celebrity Apprentice,” the NBC show Trump turned into a classic of the reality genre; that show is now in the strong hands of Arnold Schwarzenegger. The show that’s in trouble is the horrifying yet irresistible one we’ve all been watching since June 2015. Trump’s campaign is the apotheosis of reality television’s hostile takeover of the U.S. political system, in which the winner is often the one who generates the most shock and who commands the most attention.
Trump followed this plot device over and over again, causing one outrage after another — and, until recently, it worked. It didn’t much matter what the issue was or what people thought of Trump; if they were talking about him, if he dominated the news cycle, he won.
When Trump launched his campaign, “the rules of reality TV came along for the ride, in which the person who says the worst stuff is rewarded with the most airtime,” Post TV critic Hank Stuever observed . Under these rules, “fame disengaged itself” from achievement. In this world, you became famous “especially if you were the guy or gal that nobody liked. In fact, the more despicable, the better.”
Said Paul Manafort, Trump’s then-campaign chairman, in May: “This is the ultimate reality show. It’s the presidency of the United States.”
But in recent episodes, something has gone wrong with the Trump Show. Trump still dominates the airwaves, but his just-spell-my-name-right theory of fame is no longer working. It turns out the Trump Show, late in the season, has lost its plot progression. And voters, belatedly but finally, are less inclined to view Trump the same way they view reality TV: with a suspension of disbelief.
More now seem to share the view Michael Bloomberg voiced at the Democratic convention: “This isn’t reality television. This is reality.”
Each stage of Trump’s life, and campaign, has been something of a reality show. His privileged youth was Paris Hilton’s “The Simple Life,” his years in New York’s tabloid culture “Keeping Up With the Kardashians,” his professional life “Million Dollar Listing,” his three marriages “The Bachelor” and, with Melania, “90 Day Fiance.”
READ MORE: https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/re...
As always, we would like to open this topic to the floor for discussion.