Looking In: Politicizing everything

When a society is afraid of its government and when it faces constant strains and opposition from those in power, resistance permeates every sphere of public life. Movies, television shows, books, sports games and even gossip columns become avenues of politics. After generations, culture becomes so utterly politicized that it becomes impossible to read a book or look at a piece of art from any decade without understanding the political context.

This formation of culture forces every public figure to declare where they stand all the time. Will they appear on the government supported channels? Who will they give interviews to? Will they play soccer with the president? Will they go to his daughter’s wedding? All of these become important questions.

Many singers make their careers in the rich genre of “protest music.” One such performer and the perfect representation of a political musician is Selda Bağcan. An extremely prolific singer and songwriter, Selda Bağcan produced work that has been explicitly political. When famous opposition journalist Uğur Mumcu died in a mysterious assassination, she wrote a song honoring him.

Of course, there are American musicians and athletes who are political. However, when you think of the most famous public figures in America, their politics is not what immediately comes to mind. This is changing. The American cultural scene is becoming more and more politically-charged. This is new for many commentators. When Colin Kaepernick took a knee during the national anthem at a football game many commentators were shocked, and some on the right were furious. Some of this shock can be attributed to the novelty of political activism in the cultural space. The only other time mainstream American culture was as politicized as it is now was during the civil rights movement, when Bob Dylan wrote "Hurricane" and Olympic athletes raised their fists in Black Power salutes.

The direction American culture is taking is towards where Turkish culture is at now. We’ll see more actions like Kaepernick's, or the Patriots players' refusal to go to the White House and performers rejecting offers to appear at the Inauguration, not less. It should not surprise anyone when award-winners at the Grammys call out Trump personally. This is the culture of a society in desperation, and the desperate will take every opportunity they can to voice their opposition. This is a sign of deep polarization, and for at least the next four years, this will be the new normal.

So it will be of no use for Fox News to say “don’t politicize this” about anything, because everything will now be political. The institution of the presidency is not above the fray anymore because it has now become the Trump presidency, not the presidency.