The Obama Phenomenon: Saturation, Commodification, and Personification of the (Trans)Nation
I had to present on this work in class today, using powerpoint, video clips, and website pages. I spent probably 10 hours on a 15-minute presentation, in which I ended up skipping a nice chunk because Adobe Flashplayer needed an update, the hourglass icon decided to party it up and waste time, and people, all four of them, zoned out.
The powerpoint was a beautiful piece of art, a complimentary image for each page, long URLs disguised by pithy word links, and a final “Emo for Obama” clipart piece, just because. Some headings included: “Obama’s Media Blitz,” “Obamafication,” “Obamamania,” terms I wish I could say were of my creation. I showed a montage of Obama commodities (obamaties?): O’jamas (Obama sleepwear), “Obama is my Home Boy” tshirts, Obama bottled water. But it was still too wordy, and still too unidirectional.
Presenting is like floam. It can be molded in just about any way, but it sometimes doesn’t stick: “Some surfaces have a slightly oily or soapy coating that can prevent Floam from sticking. In many cases you can find a substitute shape that will work better.”
Some surfaces (Classrooms. All of them.) prevent presentations from sticking. Why? We have oily, soapy minds, used to sundry stimuli, selective hearing, and nonstop interactivity. So, I should be working to find a presentation-style substitute that will work better, entertain more, theorize and formulate less (less formally).
Knowing my generation as an audience complicates things. We have to work harder and harder to add bells, whistles, youtube videos, games, and other simulations just to keep us semi-attentive. If it’s not the professor presenting, we feel we can finally take a concentration break. So we zone, and the floam-shapes we student presenters are trying to craft just don’t stick.
What happened to the good old days when I didn’t need to ‘google image’ everything, wear O’jamas* to class for that kick-off laugh, and show Crush on Obama videos to resuscitate the audience???
*I don't actually own a set of O'jamas, but feel free to visit http://www.ojamas.us/servlet/StoreFront to order yours.
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