Culture Maven’s Person of Year

Posted: December 28th, 2008 | Filed under: Culture, Features, Personalities, Politics | No Comments »

On a lark, an old pal Jan and some friends went to a Lisa Minelli concert in early fall during the election. It was a rather staid crowd, including the well dressed couple sitting next to them.

To introduce a song, Lisa mentioned it was homage to “the greatest woman ever.” At which point the seemingly normal, mild mannered fellow in a suit and tie sitting next to my friend shouted at the top of his lungs, “Sarah Palin.”

Incredulous, Jan looked over and asked, “You’re kidding, right?”

“Absolutely not,” he answered.

In fact, Minelli was referring to Sara Lee. Yeah, the coffee cake gal.

But here’s the point. In a year when our country finally stood up for truth, justice and the American way by electing our first black president, when we finally are able to bid a fond adieu to our worst president in history and his unrepentant, egregious sidekick/ puppeteer, the most compelling personality of this very political annum was an out-of-the-blue previously unknown vice presidential candidate from Alaska.

Because of that unfortunately not-so-stunning phenomenon and what it says about our culture in 2008, Sarah Palin is the Culture Maven’s Person of the Year.

With a big assist of course from Tina Fey.

And it’s at this point that I intended an extended essay on the scary immediacy of internet culture, the oversaturation of punditry and how dangerous that is and how the love affair with that winking, aggressive looker from the Great White North at a time when we face very serious issues is the perfect metaphor for all that ails our glitz-entranced society.

I downloaded lots of ammo. Incidents. Statements. Polls. Photos of her traipsing around at campaign stops at midnight carrying that family values prop of hers, which by the by also happens to be her youngest Downs Syndrome afflicted child. Which is to not even mention her other family prop, a preggers teen daughter, whose shotgun mother-in-law was just busted on drug charges.

But I’m not going to get catty. Honest.

I’ve just watched a compendium of interviews with Barack Obama, and take reassuring note of his eerily presidential presence, intelligence and true sense of family. So, as perilous as these times are for any number of reasons, economic and otherwise, I’m going to lay off Governor Palin.

This diss is over.

She remains my Person of the Year. Her rise to prominence is simply too metaphoric. But it’s time for hope and change. And time for her to fade into her own parade, hopefully to be remembered as a 15-minute Warholian blip on our consciousness.

President Obama notwithstanding, 2008 belonged to Sarah Palin.

Now, Sarah, go on with your bad self and that GOP shopping spree wardbrobe and get outta here. How can we miss you if you won’t go away?

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