The days of television being a source of escapism from the turmoil of reality are long gone. In America today, it seems as though the current political atmosphere has permeated nearly every aspect of our society, and entertainment is no exception. During the 2017 Emmy Awards, which aired this weekend, the growing influence of politics on television was on display and more obvious than ever. While political jokes from award show hosts is certainly nothing new or surprising (even more so when someone like Stephen Colbert is hosting), the role of politics in this year’s ceremony surpassed the usual and expected comedic digs during the opening number. On Monday morning, Kellyanne Conway was already on the morning show circuit making her case that this year’s Emmy Awards were part of a larger trend toward the politicization of entertainment that will ultimately end up alienating some of the nation.
“You can’t deny that every show was influenced by Donald Trump in some way,” said Colbert in his opening monologue. “All the late night shows, obviously. ‘House of Cards.’ The new season of ‘American Horror Story.’” Pause. “And of course next year’s Latin Grammys, hosted by Sheriff Joe Arpaio.” As the LA Times pointed out, by tapping Colbert as host, the television academy all but guaranteed that the first Emmy broadcast of the Trump presidency would send a clear message — Colbert’s late-night career was resuscitated by his return to political satire. But it really wasn’t necessary. Sheriff quip aside, Colbert was barely joking.
Even if Colbert hadn’t been the host (or Sean Spicer hadn’t rolled out during the first five minutes of the show), politics were going to dominate the Emmy Awards regardless because politics are currently dominating and consuming our nation’s consciousness and daily lives. In fact, in 2017, 56% of Americans say they talk to friends + family about politics “very often,” up from 45% in 2013 and just 28% in 2002. Not watching or reading the news is no longer a viable tactic to avoiding it. Most of the Emmy big winners were either explicitly political shows or shows with strong and or fresh viewpoints on other topics being argued across Fox, MSNBC, Twitter and at any extended family gathering.
For example, John Oliver’s fantastic weekly HBO show garnered not one, but two awards during the telecast. The Handmaid’s Tale was one of the evening’s biggest winners, a show depicting a dystopian tale in which America becomes a theocracy where dissidents are executed and all women become property. Julia Louis Dreyfus took home her 6th consecutive Emmy for Veep, and Saturday Night Live, which recently concluded one of its most political seasons in years, won four awards, including two for Alec Baldwin and Kate McKinnon, who spent the last year playing Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Even when non-political shows, like Aziz Ansari’s Master of None, won awards, the acceptance speeches were frequently tinged with messages of resistance, as well as language subtly (and not-so-subtly) referencing political and social issues. Politics were the elephant in the room that every person pointed to every 45 seconds.
Ultimately, today’s political climate made it impossible for the Emmy Awards to divorce politics from the stage, and this is likely to be the case for years to come. Whether this trend is healthy for our nation’s psyche remains to be seen. However, there is good news for Americans finding themselves exhausted by the relentless presence of politics on TV – Bravo is still a politics-free haven. When the Real Housewives stop talking about each other and start talking about congressional bills, then we’ll know we’re in trouble.
