In terms of political insight, the opinions of celebrities are no more
worthy of consideration than those of the rest of us. That David Baddiel and JK
Rowling consider Jeremy Corbyn to be an anti-Semite no more strengthens that
case than if you, me, or Uncle Tom Cobley thought so. While both fantasy and
stand-up comedy remain integral to the practice of government, a background in
these arts does not contribute to political insight. The merit of all lay
political opinion should be treated as uniform, until the speaker displays
unusual political acumen and rises above the laity.
Regardless, substantial weight is
accorded to celebrity opinion. It’s a consequence of audience size. Celebrities
and their cultural products have always attracted followers. With new media
however, the politically inclined entertainer also has the opportunity to
broadcast their political opinions to their fans. Given the infinite
cross-fertilising nature of tweets it doesn’t stop there. People who really
hate the politics of a given celeb will still bump into their tweets and feel
tempted to respond to them; the net casts wider and wider. It is a blessing
that stardom is so far removed from egotism and vanity – otherwise things could
get really ugly.
Audience size also explains the prevalence of celebrity opinion in
corporate mass media. Like huge breasts, and cats that bear a superficial
resemblance to Hitler, celebrity opinion is clickbait. Even those who find
politics insufferably boring may sit-up when the pill is sweetened with popular
culture. The audience then has the fun of judging the celebrity by their
punditry: Wise and refreshingly down to earth for someone so wealthy and
successful/a big-mouth who should shut their ignorant face and concentrate on
football commentary.
Like it or not then, celebrity opinion does matter – not for its insight
but for its outreach. Celebrities have the loud-hailers, while the rest of us
fumble with our kazoos. Still, you’ve got to work with what you’ve got, so here
goes…
With my limited political acumen and non-existent fan-base I am confident
to make the following claim: Labour’s ‘crisis’ of anti-Semitism is a
politically-motivated smear campaign. The hypothetical future historian (who,
incidentally, I have had the privilege to meet in person) will dismiss it as
pure propaganda, no qualification. Another Zinoviev
Letter dreamed-up by the powerful and eagerly propagated by a complicit
mass media.
The religion threatened by Corbyn is not Judaism but Monetarism. The
movement behind Corbyn is the first serious challenge to forty years of
evangelical Thatcherism. Audaciously, it is the first serious challenge to the
economic grip of the arms industry. However realistic or desirable you might
consider such policy it is transparently obvious that this is the real threat;
this is what unsettles the powerful, rather than a ludicrous charge of racism
levelled at an impeccable anti-racist.
Which leaves one uncomfortable question unanswered: Do those celebrities
who regularly gnash and wail about Labour’s antisemitism realise this? If they
do, then one can only conclude that they are complicit in a propaganda campaign
on behalf of big business and the arms industry. If, on the other hand, they
don’t realise this then they are unwitting supporters of corporate propaganda -
the arms industry’s useful idiots. Take your pick.
