Obama as an Artifact

Barack Obama was a member of one of America's subcultures up until the point were he became the Democratic nominee for President of the United States of America. At that point, Barack Obama, as a symbol, was obsorbed into the dominant culture. He was no longer only a part of the senetorial elite that the average person never hears of nor just a member of the African American community. Everyone in the country knows his name, whether they were for or against him.

After becoming President-Elect, he made his appearance in such places as the cover of Times magazine, in every newspaper in the country, and all of the major news stations announce fun facts and bio's. These newscasts and articles construct Barack Obama. We take their facts at face value because that's all we know; that's all we've been told. The culture industry controls how the dominant culture sees Obama.

With Obama being relatively new to the political scene, we only know what is presented to us through the different forms of media. Obama is becoming more and more "hyperreal." I don't know anybody who knows Obama personally who can describe what Obama is like. Instead, popular culture is becoming familiar with Obama through a simulation. Because we "know" Obama due to simulations, he can be constructed as more than the average person, making him "hyperreal." We don't see Obama's down time, his personal time where he isn't talking to cheering crowds or shaking hands with diplomats. We are only presented with images of Obama delivering his eloquent speeches and discussing his new policies. He is contstructed to appear that he's always busy, always doing something. He's more real than real. Get it?