We all know Obama won the election because he looked like change, sounded like change and never stopped campaigning for change. Presenting herself not only as an object of desire but as a material girl with her eye on the profits was one of the many smart moves she made from the beginning.
Fear and power do not peacefully coexist. It follows, then, that she who wishes to reach the most rarefied and potent ranks of fashion, whether in dealmaking or designing, must have a certain serenity. Obama puts it this way: "I serve as a blank screen on which people of vastly different political stripes project their own views." But those metaphors all suggest that he is some sort of passive instrument, when in fact his elusive quality is an active part of his personality.
"I like to mix it up and make things in the opposite way than they were meant for," What sets her apart is her disregard--in some cases, her open contempt--for the dictates of fashion. Whereas common sense says a designer should design what she likes, Prada will choose a color (sic) that she despises, because of the rush it gives her when she can make something beautiful with it. By flaunting her control and her triumphs, Madonna gave fans a stake in her long-term prospects, something that loyalists should be able to appreciate as her sex appeal inevitably fades.
For ushering the country across a momentous symbolic line, for infusing our democracy with a new intensity of participation, for showing the world and ourselves that our most cherished myth — the one about boundless opportunity — has plenty of juice left in it.
References:
Barack Obama
David V. Drehle, “Why History Can’t Wait”
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2008/personoftheyear/article/0,31682,1861543_1865068_1867013,00.html (Accessed: 11/05/2009)
Michael Grunwald, “How Obama Is Using the Science Of Change”
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1889153,00.html (Accessed: 11/05/2009)
Madonna
Jon Pareles, “Material Woman, Restoring Her Brand” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/27/arts/music/27pare.html?_r=I (Accessed: 11/05/2009)
Miuccia Prada
Belinda Luscombe, “Miucci Prada” http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,993332,00.html (Accessed: 11/05/2009)
Kate Betts, “Miuccia’s Material World” http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1594161,00.html (Accessed 11/05/2009)
No comments:
Post a Comment