Last week, the world was an unstable place in need of serious attention from the US president. America’s proposed steel tariffs had become explosively controversial. Russia was under fire for “laundering” illicit North Korean coal exports. China’s National People’s Congress met to introduce a gigantic constitutional change permitting a Mao-style life presidency – and Donald Trump tweeted: “Lowest rated Oscars in HISTORY. Problem is, we don’t have Stars anymore – except your President (just kidding, of course)!”
That little faux-modest crack at the end: was that the president being cheerfully magnanimous in his zeitgeist victory? Could he simply be right? Is Donald J Trump, in all his gurning panto villainy and unrepentant, unbecoming enthusiasm for his own prestige, the modern world’s single authentic star? The celebrity-in-chief?
The Oscars’ audience-viewing figure of 26.5m was indeed a record low, down 20% on last year. As far as Donald sees it, all those woke stars just got the beaming smiles wiped off their faces – a bunch of complacent, overpublicised liberals irrelevant to the vast swathes of ordinary Americans who put him in the White House. Never mind Wall Street v Main Street – how about Rodeo Drive v Main Street?
Source:
theguardian
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