Idolizing Trudeau is dangerous
When we commodify politicians, we threaten reality
Many Canadians collectively cringed Wednesday when Rolling Stone Magazine unveiled the cover of their August 2017 issue. Leaning against a hardwood desk was none other than Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, piercing blue eyes and all.
Whether you like Trudeau or not, something felt wrong about seeing the prime minister getting the rock-star treatment on the cover of Rolling Stone.
The cover is the culmination of months of non-Canadian news sources gushing over Trudeau, always with the unspoken — and, in Rolling Stone’s case, spoken — craving for Trudeau as their leader.
With the U.S. political climate as tumultuous as it is, the rose-tinted view of the North’s leader is understandable — but it’s also incredibly dangerous.
What we’re currently witnessing is the mass production of Trudeau as a commodity. Every time the mass media commodifies Trudeau, it not only makes it increasingly difficult to engage with Trudeau as a human being, but it also defuses a reality in which it’s acceptable to consider politicians superficially.
Here’s where the danger lies:
When we look at our prime minister superficially, we by extension look at their work superficially.
But there’s nothing superficial about having the power to shape a country and the lives of those within.
There’s nothing superficial about liaising with counterparts who at times run fascist, abusive and authoritative regimes.
And there is most certainly nothing superficial about leading a country where more than a thousand indigenous women and girls have been murdered or gone missing.
In a world of social media, we increasingly take each other at face value. It’s bad enough we do this to strangers and acquaintances, but when it comes to politicians, it’s just downright dangerous.
Take for instance Trudeau’s tweet in January welcoming refugees to Canada (following U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement of the Muslim travel ban):
Obviously, the tweet’s timing is meaningful, but words of welcome aren’t enough to bring refugees to safety. That’s what policy is for, and in this case, the government’s policies directly contradicted Trudeau’s words, as Canada decreased its target for refugees and protected persons from 56,000 to 40,000 per year in 2017.
However, because the world was drooling over Trudeau as the antithesis of Trump, many didn’t see the contradiction.
The reverse can also be true, where a superficial look at Trudeau and other politicians can lead to excessive demonization.
At the end of the day, this isn’t about Trudeau the saviour or Trudeau the failure — this is about Trudeau the man, Trudeau the prime minister. When we treat him as a personality or commodity, rather than a human being, we do ourselves a disservice and allow superficiality to cloud our judgement.
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