What’s with American women? In the last few weeks, two ladies have dominated the airwaves as they market new books. Who might these luminaries be? Sarah Palin and her wing-woman Carrie Prejean.
At first glance, these former beauty queens have relatively few things in common other than belonging to the Republican party and writing books. No doubt that’s a crowded category. What makes them singularly interesting -- for the purpose of this blog -- are their outright attempts at media manipulation, while simultaneously bashing the same medium that is the channel to their desired success.
Let’s recap... Sarah Palin is now a household name by virtue of being John McCain’s running mate in the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. Her new book is titled Going Rogue. Enough said. Carrie Prejean has less auspicious credentials. Previously Miss California USA 2009, she was fired for her shoddy work ethic OR her controversial views on gay marriage -- there are two schools of thought on her dismissal. Time has marched on, and in the intervening months both women secured book deals and are now hawking their memoirs.
On November 10, Carrie Prejean, a self described “sacrificial Christian thrown to the vicious and cruel media lions to be torn apart” was a guest on CNN’s Larry King Live. Watching her highly scripted responses to Larry King’s attempts to ask relatively benign questions about a legal settlement is pure entertainment. But what’s ridiculous is her repeated assertion that Larry is “inappropriate”. Larry King is no lion; he’s a soft-ball interviewer and first stop for disgraced celebrities for a very good reason (hello Chris Brown). Seemingly, Carrie Prejean assumed her appearance would be a walk in the park; she shamelessly promotes her book Still Standing: The Untold Story of My Fight Against Gossip, Hate and Political Attacks throughout the brief interview. The real question for Ms. Prejean is WHO will buy her book? Marketed to women of a conservative bent, will her target audience view her as less than the perfect role model now that sex tapes have surfaced and breast enhancement surgery has been confirmed? One can hope.
Meanwhile, Sarah Palin has returned from the frozen Alaskan hinterland with a vengeance. Going Rogue allegedly contains a no holds-barred account of her time as the Republican’s V.P. candidate and deliberately skewers former colleagues for perceived political blunders. She also targets the “mainstream media bias” in her writing and appearances. While a guest on Oprah, she confirms she sees herself as a victim of the media - yet she’s telling her tale of woe to the world’s most powerful media personality. Is this hypocrisy or just clever marketing by a woman with a serious personal agenda? Probably both. For the foreseeable future, Sarah Palin will continue to use the media for her own purposes, complain loudly if appearances don’t go exactly as planned, and forever blame any negative press on some sort of amorphous, vast, left-wing conspiracy.
For the sake of the rest of the world, please don’t buy these books. Sarah Palin is here to stay, but Carrie Prejean should quickly be dispatched back to California, and with any luck, never again subject the viewing public to another interview, sound bite or video. Amen.
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