In Mast’s The Performative Presidency we are introduced to the concept of
cultural pragmatics and the idea that political campaigns are in many ways
concertedly curated cultural performances (Mast 10). One of the six components
Mast highlights as making up these cultural performances is symbolic production, which he describes
as being, “the
material environments from which actors project their meanings. The material
objects that surround the actor, from the stage and setting, to props and
costumes, all contribute to the meanings a performance
will project” (Mast 12).
Using
this component that Mast introduces, we can better analyze the eighth
Democratic Debate of 2020, which took place in New Hampshire, to assess how the
material environment that was constructed for the democratic candidates played
a role in conveying both explicit and implicit meanings to the American
audience. More specifically, we can look at how the material objects that
surrounded the candidates played a role in how the eventual final democratic
candidates (Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders) were conveyed to potential voters in
the 2020 democratic primaries. Before the democratic candidates were presented
to the american public and before the political barbs would be exchanged on
stage the television audience was presented with the scene and stage itself.
The debate was hosted by the ABC television network and was filmed in front of
a live audience in a large arena in New Hampshire. The audience was dimly lit
while the stage itself consisted of a massive backlight digital screen that was
lit up in red, white, and blue and had patriotic american symbols like stars
floating across the background to convey the importance of not only the debate
that was to come, but the democratic tradition and ideals of the United States
of America. Freedom of political discourse and the gravity of democratic ideals
were being put on display through the pomp, circumstance, and symbolism that
were embodied in this stage setup. As the debate began, each candidate was
introduced and led to stand in front of a straight line of podiums where the
moderators explained that candidates would be placed based on their recent
national poll standings as well as the candidate’s standing in the state of New
Hampshire. The leading candidates, which happened to be Joe Biden and Bernie at
the time, were placed in the center of the collection of candidates and stood
directly next to each other. The placement of the candidates was an explicit
indication of who the American people should, and frankly already had been,
listening to and projected the viability and strength of the leading candidates
visually to the television audience by literally centering their visual
attention. Finally, the props/costumes used in the debate were typical for
American politicians. The men wore suits and ties while the women wore pants
suits with blazers. If we look more closely though we can see even in these par
for the course political uniforms there are differentiations that convey
slight, yet significant, cultural meanings. For the men in particular you can
look at the lapel pins which they attached to their suits to decipher more
about each candidate. Joe Biden wore a classic American flag pin on his suit,
while Bernie opted for a congressional pin he received for his political
service, even Andrew Yang had his own touch as opted not to wear a tie and
chose a “math” pin to attach to his suit. Each candidate's choice of “costume”
in Mast’s description of symbolic production carries a different meaning. Joe
Biden’s costume and pin are an implicit message that he is a patriot, Bernie
the dedicated social/political servant, and Yang the political outsider whose
expertise comes from the more tangible world between the lines of politics.
Mast
also introduces us to the concept of Mise-en-scene
or the ‘spatial and temporal choreography’ or dramatic components to the
political performance. To start, the debate is introduced with a dramatic, yet
inspiring score that highlights both the political urgency that our country
faces with the upcoming 2020 election, but also the inspiration that these
candidates hope to provide by debating how to best proceed for a better
American future. Some of ABC’s choreographed components include: introducing
the candidates in order by popularity and to different levels of live audience
response, subsequent interaction and handshakes between opponents placed
according to rank, dramatic camera cuts that move in and out and other cuts
that put debating candidates directly into visual opposition with one another
for the audience. Focusing more specifically on Biden and Bernie though, the
two candidates both received a significant amount of the questions that were
given to the candidates and therefore received larger portions of airtime
relative to their counterparts, which only helps them build a rapport with
audiences and build a better sense of candidate recognition across America.
Where these two candidates’ Mise-en-scene
differed was in how the camera cuts were choreographed for each. More often
than not, when Joe Biden was talking the camera would remain fixed on him in a
single candidate camera shot unless he directly attacked or was attacked
mid-speech by another opponent; however, when Bernie was talking the camera had
a tendency to zoom out and encompass the entire pool of candidates in the
camera shot, so that the audience could see visible signs of disagreement
whether it was disgruntled facial cues from other opponents or a lone finger
raised in the air to indicate to the moderators that they disagreed with
Bernie. This distinction in the Mise-en-scene
might have been important, as a main topic of contention in this debate and
throughout the democratic primary race was: could Bernie Sanders build, or
rather unite, a democratic coalition that encompassed many demographics of
voters and was inclusive of them. This camera angle habit during the debate
could have been a way of implicitly pointing out what some viewers and voters
already believed to be true about Senator Sanders: he was divisive and had few
political adversaries. Whether this opinion regarding Sander’s inability to
unite a nation is true remains to be seen.
Citations
Mast,
Jason L. 2012. The Performative
Presidency Crisis and Resurrection during the Clinton
Years. Cambridge, Ma: Cambridge University Press.
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