It Gets The People Going

July saw two substantial instances of cultural provocation in the United States that are worth talking about—Ari Aster’s 2020-inspired film Eddington and a marketing campaign for American Eagle featuring Sydney Sweeney. The movie is a satirical look at major events of that summer—particularly Covid and the Black Lives Matter protests—that amounts to a ‘look how crazy both sides are’ thesis. The advertisements feature the tagline Sydney Sweeney has great jeans, which is certainly a choice to make as the politics of the country have hurdled into white supremacist authoritarianism.

While I have plenty to say with regards to both, I’m trying not to fall into the trap of actually getting involved in the discourse around either—because that is the sole point of both.

Provocation as an engine for creative expression is not without merit. Ai Weiwei’s Dropping A Han Dynasty Urn is a perfect example of how art can be provocative while also being targeted and inspiring. It’s shocking in a way that fosters curiosity, leaving the audience to ask questions.

When entertainment (or, worse, advertising) enters the fray of trying to provoke a reaction, it often misses the mark because it punches down in order to stir debate or outrage. It is vying for attention instead of posing a question about a larger issue in the world because it is trying to sell something. What is frustrating about Eddington and the ad campaign is that they’re both designed as rage-bait for sensitivity about the value of human equality as an idea. The film makes light of race-based protests and the ads play on the words of eugenics. Despite rampant displays of fascist behavior by people in power, these cultural entities are siding with the ideologies of the fascists.

It’s unsurprising that capitalism would push entertainers and advertisers deeper into right-wing values, because targeting the powers that be comes with real risk. (It is notable that despite being a movie about the controversies and politics of 2020, there is not a single reference to MAGA or Donald Trump.) While it’s more predictable that something as soulless as an ad campaign would indulge in controversy to sell clothes, it’s disheartening to see these pillars of cultural discourse continue to drag the Overton window still further to the right.