Game Change

As I read the Barney article, I kept thinking about the new movie about Sarah Palin called, Game Changer:

"Whether it is post-Habermasians attempting to flesh out the exacting demands of discourse ethics and the sort of public spheres necessary to support deliberative practices, critical media scholars painstakingly documenting the pathologies of capitalist, patriarchal, and racialized political economies that condemn media systems to democratic failure, or the countless political actors who struggle daily to materialize something resembling fairness, diversity and integrity in the media environment, on thing is clear:  the road to democratic justice is paved with more and better information and communication" (p. 91).

 So I'm posting videos of the trailer and a Chelsea Handler interview with Julianne Moore (the actor who played Palin).  I really only want you to watch from 1:33 to 2:40 on the Julianne Moore and Chelsea Handler video.

Basically this movie, Game Changer, brings to light the problem with "movie star" politicians.  Is our political system truly paving the road to democratic justice with "better information and communication" when elections tend to favor candidates with the most charisma, stage presence, and good looks?  Especially in the 2008 election when the media catered to the theme of diversity. Is information really valuable when we risk electing uninformed individuals to represent and manage the future of our country?

This quote from the Barney article also reminded me of a YouTube video my dad sent me with his constant warnings of the demise of the world thanks to upcoming generations who "don't know anything."

"To imagine that the potential of the computer age for democracy lies in the accessibility of information to individual citizens and voters who will be moved by the millions to petition and to vote more wisely than ever before is to imagine what will not be -- and it is to exercise a very narrow democratic imagination in the first place" (p. 92 - 93).