Kentish Express Ashford & District - What's On
PROTEST MADE FARCE
It’s funny when actors dip their toes into political waters.
Not because they shouldn’t have opinions, but because they’re so very bad at expressing themselves. You’d think they’d be good at it, these people who make their living from communicating emotions, but that’s where you’re wrong. They’re good at saying words other people wrote for them, and at showing you how other people told them to feel. When it comes to expressing themselves individually, they often fall flat on their pampered faces.
In recent memory, we’ve had Meryl Streep’s petulant display at the Golden Globes, which won praise from people in her bubble, but was seen as classist and reductive by the rest of the public.
It wasn’t that long ago Clint Eastwood stood on stage with an empty chair, and berated an invisible Barack Obama.
In fact, it’s Mark Wahlberg – someone usually mocked for being a meathead – who made the most sense. He said: “A lot of celebrities, did, do and shouldn’t [give their political opinions].... it just goes to show that people aren’t listening to that anyway. They might buy your CD or watch your movie but you don’t put food on their table. You don’t pay their bills. A lot of Hollywood is living in a bubble. They’re pretty out of touch with the common person, the everyday guy out there providing for their family.” Currently going out of his way to prove Wahlberg right is Transformers and Indiana Jones 4 star Shia Labeouf. Young Shia has staged a few art installations/pr stunts over the years, and on January 20
– the day of Donald Trump’s inauguration – he decided it was prime time for another one. He launched a livestream, where the plan was for him – and others of his persuasion – to intone: “He will not divide us.”.
On a white wall outside the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, there was a webcam, streaming live to the internet. Written above it, in large black capital letters, were the words “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US”. The plan was for Shia, and others of his persuasion, to stand in front of the camera and intone “He will not divide us”, until the tyrannical rule of the democratically elected president was over.
A press release said: “Open to all, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the participatory performance will be livestreamed continuously for four years, or the duration of the presidency.
“In this way, the mantra “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US” acts as a show of resistance or insistence, opposition or optimism, guided by the spirit of each individual participant and the community.” Shia and his helpers planned to maintain this brave demonstration for four years. But they forgot about everyone else.
It took no time at all for semiprofessional silly-pantses to turn up, and say things that Shia didn’t like. His peace-and-love facade didn’t last long, and he quickly resorted to screaming in people’s faces, and physically assaulting them – eventually leading to his arrest.
And so the museum decided it wasn’t worth the trouble and asked Shia to move on.
So on February 18 Shia moved the project to Albuquerque, New Mexico. The following day a man brandished a gun and made threats towards Trump supporters. Then someone else turned up and spray-painted the camera. They finally gave up on Albuquerque on the 23rd when gunshots were heard in the local area.
But brave Shia wouldn’t give up. And I’m grateful he didn’t, because here comes the best bit. On March 8, the livestream reappeared.
This time, there were no people – no opportunity for silliness. The camera was in an unknown location, pointed at the sky, with the frame filled by a flag waving in the breeze.
The flag read: “HE WILL NOT DIVIDE US.”
Surely that’s it, game over? No. Because again, Shia and friends underestimated the desire of normal people to trip up the rich and famous and laugh when they fall. Websites, forums, chatrooms mobilised.
That’s the thing about people with too much time on their hands… they’ve got too much time on their hands.
They analysed the video. They monitored planes flying overhead. They could then use triangulation techniques to deduce the vague location, and they ended up with three of them.
So, three locals went to those locations, and at predetermined times, drove around honking their horns in a particular pattern. If the webcam picked up the sound, they’d be able to narrow down the location even further.
At that point they went back to the video, looked at night footage, and used star maps to identify the exact location. On March 9, just one day after the flag went up, the livestream showed the flag being lowered, and replaced with one of the bright red “Make America Great Again” hats synonymous with Trump’s campaign.
The world laughed.
Last week the flag moved to another undisclosed location. It was just a matter of hours before that location was identified as the roof of the Foundation for Art and Creative Technology in Liverpool.
See if you can guess what happened next….
The flag and webcam stunt/ installation has now finished. Shia learnt the hard way that nobody cares what actors and actresses think, but it’s unlikely to stop another one doing it again in the future. But when they do, the internet will be waiting.
‘That’s the thing about people with too much time on their hands… they’ve got too much time on their hands.’