Unreciprocated Performance and the President's Twitter
I found this particular blog prompt really difficult, as I struggled with drawing lines of performing unintentionally while being watched vs not being watched, vs performing intentionally being watched or not watched. Ultimately, I think my own exploration of this drew me to the president's tweeting habit, as I think his various electronic ejaculations into the electrosphere fit into all these different categories. Let me see if I can explain:
Donald Trump likes to tweet. This is an objective fact whether one considers it presidential or not. There is tremendous debate as to WHY he likes to Tweet so much, and whether it is an endangerment to our country or not (I happen to think it is, but you already knew that), but one cannot argue with the fact that he is constantly putting on little performances all day long. That is the INTENDED aspect of his performance. He wants his words out there for our consideration, whether we love them or hate them (though it seems clear he prefers when we love them), and he actively uses Twitter as a tool to try and GAIN the support of his followers.
His supporters INTENTIONALLY watch what he produces there, and they cheer him on with Tweets of their own. It is intentional performance by the president and intentional audience attendance by his supporters.
But then there are the rest of us out here in the world who HAVE to watch his Twitter, regardless of whether we like to or not. Because his Twitter use is SO SIGNIFICANT I have no choice but to pay attention because it is LEGITIMATELY POSSIBLE that Trump will start World War III on the thing. Journalists HAVE TO watch his twitter because it seems to be the main way that we get news from the White House. And so even though there is this large group of people who want nothing to do with the president's Twitter, we are increasingly drawn to it. And I find this interesting because as you mention in your blog post, John, Kirby et al. suggest that we change when we know we have to perform, but I don't think that we are getting any form of abridged or altered version of Donald Trump. I think he lives his entire life in a state of performance, and did so even before he became president, and in fact the "altered version" of him is when he is forced by his entourage to "behave" within the rest of societies concept of a president. Therefore, I find his tweeting to be at once this performance under a "frame of added significance" and simultaneously his most heartfelt and unadulterated self.
We can then take this another step farther, and consider Trump within the context of Nigel the seagull. Perhaps he is performing his poor little heart out, giving what he considers all the love in the world, and his electro-plebian cohort is in fact just a stone that cannot see or respond, and one day Nigel Trumps corporeal form will fly off (bird jokes, boom!) from this earth completely and utterly alone.
One can only hope, but also there is, I think, something to be said about the difference between results in reality and the results as intended. Just this morning the president retweeted a video that was actually making fun of him. His intention was to perform a play on Democrats when he actually ended up satirizing himself. It turned his performance on himself and into a completely one sided affair where he became the butt of his own joke.
And finally, Trump is not only the performer, but he is also the consistent audience for his own material. He is always out there watching what is happening, on the news, on twitter, etc. There is always some sort of content being relaid to himself, and whether that is entirely masturbatory, with him watching the news about himself, or following someone else, it creates a weirdly solipsistic space in which he is both the performer and performed.
With what consequence, you ask? Well a lot of people like me are super uncomfortable. Does it matter? In the short run, probably, especially for those who are not voluntarily his audience or under his gaze. In the long run... well, I suppose we all turn to ash in the end. Especially those guys who died when Nero fired Rome on that one Episode of the Apprentice.
Donald Trump likes to tweet. This is an objective fact whether one considers it presidential or not. There is tremendous debate as to WHY he likes to Tweet so much, and whether it is an endangerment to our country or not (I happen to think it is, but you already knew that), but one cannot argue with the fact that he is constantly putting on little performances all day long. That is the INTENDED aspect of his performance. He wants his words out there for our consideration, whether we love them or hate them (though it seems clear he prefers when we love them), and he actively uses Twitter as a tool to try and GAIN the support of his followers.
His supporters INTENTIONALLY watch what he produces there, and they cheer him on with Tweets of their own. It is intentional performance by the president and intentional audience attendance by his supporters.
But then there are the rest of us out here in the world who HAVE to watch his Twitter, regardless of whether we like to or not. Because his Twitter use is SO SIGNIFICANT I have no choice but to pay attention because it is LEGITIMATELY POSSIBLE that Trump will start World War III on the thing. Journalists HAVE TO watch his twitter because it seems to be the main way that we get news from the White House. And so even though there is this large group of people who want nothing to do with the president's Twitter, we are increasingly drawn to it. And I find this interesting because as you mention in your blog post, John, Kirby et al. suggest that we change when we know we have to perform, but I don't think that we are getting any form of abridged or altered version of Donald Trump. I think he lives his entire life in a state of performance, and did so even before he became president, and in fact the "altered version" of him is when he is forced by his entourage to "behave" within the rest of societies concept of a president. Therefore, I find his tweeting to be at once this performance under a "frame of added significance" and simultaneously his most heartfelt and unadulterated self.
We can then take this another step farther, and consider Trump within the context of Nigel the seagull. Perhaps he is performing his poor little heart out, giving what he considers all the love in the world, and his electro-plebian cohort is in fact just a stone that cannot see or respond, and one day Nigel Trumps corporeal form will fly off (bird jokes, boom!) from this earth completely and utterly alone.
One can only hope, but also there is, I think, something to be said about the difference between results in reality and the results as intended. Just this morning the president retweeted a video that was actually making fun of him. His intention was to perform a play on Democrats when he actually ended up satirizing himself. It turned his performance on himself and into a completely one sided affair where he became the butt of his own joke.
And finally, Trump is not only the performer, but he is also the consistent audience for his own material. He is always out there watching what is happening, on the news, on twitter, etc. There is always some sort of content being relaid to himself, and whether that is entirely masturbatory, with him watching the news about himself, or following someone else, it creates a weirdly solipsistic space in which he is both the performer and performed.
With what consequence, you ask? Well a lot of people like me are super uncomfortable. Does it matter? In the short run, probably, especially for those who are not voluntarily his audience or under his gaze. In the long run... well, I suppose we all turn to ash in the end. Especially those guys who died when Nero fired Rome on that one Episode of the Apprentice.
Have you seen John Mulvaney's bit about the horse in the hospital. It touches on a bit of what you're talking about here: https://youtu.be/JhkZMxgPxXU
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