How pop culture is responding to Trump's assassination attempt

Less than a week after former U.S. president Donald Trump had his ear clipped by a bullet while speaking at a rally, American politics shows no sign of slowing down — and the entertainment world appears to be struggling with how to keep up.

Today on Commotion, writers Drew Magary, Marina Fang and Jason P. Frank discuss how the attempted assassination of Donald Trump has reverberated through the world of pop culture this week, and what it suggests about our current political moment.

We've included some highlights below, edited for length and clarity. For the full discussion, listen and follow Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud on your favourite podcast player.

Elamin: Marina, this is a news photograph that is now being analyzed by art critics in major publications. How are you feeling about this photo now being discussed as a work of art? 

Marina: It is a really striking photo. There's so much gravity to it. I see the rationale for analyzing it as this moment of art and this symbol of what is happening right now. It's been really interesting also to hear from other photographers and the photographer himself, Evan Vucci, about what it takes to get a photo like that. We talk about in journalism that we're writing the first draft of history, and this is sort of the photojournalism version of that.

Elamin: Jason, what do you make of the speed with which this image has been turned into memes and merchandise? 

Jason: Well, that's the thing about media right now: the Washington Post really doesn't set what the narrative is anymore — that all happens on social media. One of the interesting things about watching this particular image exist is that you see it and you notice how effective it is. It's such an emotional image, whether or not you agree or disagree with the emotion in the picture. And yet, because of the metabolism of the internet, that means that it's the best fodder for jokes for a few days, right? The effectiveness of this means that it's exactly the kind of thing that we want to spin on its head and make light of.

So you see a photo of this quality being instantly turned into memes, instead of being a historical document that gradually acquires its iconic power through newspapers that would later be talked about in an APUSH class or something. It doesn't become a defining document of American history through the same route anymore. I don't know if one photo can have the power that photos during the Vietnam War had anymore. It feels like in our context, it will always also be a joke.

Elamin: Marina, are you surprised at how quickly the photo ended up showing up in memes and in merchandise? 

Marina: Not at all…. It speaks to the meme-ification of politics over the last 8 to 10 years. I think that's happened on both sides, but particularly on the far right it has taken on this particular tenor of, "Anything that we can use to make Trump into our hero, we'll use that." And so this photo was the perfect encapsulation of that. Trump, more than really any political figure in recent memory, understands that power of image and of celebrity, and this made perfect sense that this would become fodder for t-shirts.

Elamin: There is one comedian who didn't make the most tactful response to the whole situation. Jack Black, who is one half of [comedy rock duo] Tenacious D, presented Kyle Gass with a birthday cake, and he said, "Hey, make a birthday wish." And then the response was, "Don't miss Trump next time." The fallout from that comment has been pretty swift. Jack Black said he was blindsided by the comment. He canceled the rest of the tour for the band. Kyle Gass was dropped by his agent. An Australian politician called for the band to be deported from the country.

I'm curious about this moment because it displays the dangers of reacting in the moment, Drew. There's something about people who want to participate in commentary on an unfolding event. I should say Tenacious D are not strangers to taking shots at Trump. What do you make of Jack Black's response to Kyle Gass's incident? 

Drew: It was a business decision. I think someone in his representation said, "You have to distance yourself from this, otherwise we're going to have a hard time getting you cast in the next WB movie," or whatever, right? Same deal with Stephen Colbert. He's on CBS. That's the official network of Cops. He's not going to make fun of Trump when his entire audience is retired people who are going to vote for Trump, right? His bosses are going to say, "Let's tread lightly here," and then he'll do the serious thing. And his writers will want to make jokes, and they'll all get thrown in in the trash because that's late night television now. It has no cultural relevancy with anyone under the age of 40.

All of this is reflected in pop culture now over the past decade. Where are the protest songs? Where are the great war movies that were made after Vietnam? Where is pop culture effectively commentating on this moment? Nowhere. Because the people who control the money that goes into pop culture don't want to ruffle any feathers, because then they reduce their audience size and they make less money and the stock goes down. Stock is the product, not the product itself.

You can listen to the full discussion from today's show on CBC Listen or on our podcast, Commotion with Elamin Abdelmahmoud, available wherever you get your podcasts.

Panel produced by Stuart Berman.