You may, after six months, miss the exquisite squirminess of an employee-supervisor meeting. But around 1:43 into Dwayne Johnson's Instagram video body slam of what's left of TV, when Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are finally ushered onto the virtual set, that familiar feeling will hit you. The Rock is their boss. On Sunday morning, the country was dazzled by an Instagram video from the star of "Ballers," a presidential endorsement vlog slash interview show. And no one was more starstruck than Biden and Harris. Because Johnson, with his 200 million followers across the political and social spectrum, was obviously the one with all the power. It's been a weird year, sure, but it shouldn't surprise you that an action movie star and former screwball comedy actor is our Walter Cronkite now, our shared source of gravitas. Media has spiderwebbed into infinite shards, and Johnson's Instagram somehow became "The Tonight Show" and "Meet the Press" combined before anyone in Midtown or D.C. realized it.
Everything about his video, from its production and its content to its demographic reach, reveals not only Johnson's cultural dominance over Biden and Harris but also the awkward inversion of celebrities having more authority than traditional news media. They're vying to become the most powerful people on Earth. But they're the ones who had to go on The Rock's show. And it's not even a show.
ProductionOnce you get past the staccato awkwardness of any pandemic cultural product, the first thing you'll notice is the set. I don't know whose choice it was to have the candidates sitting down looking up, but the effect is a feeling of fawning subordination. With glowing smiles, they breathlessly thank him for the opportunity to appear on his improvised Instagram show. But even more telling is The Rock's set. It's like if Jeff Bezos was a room. In front of oak panels painted jet black, with the implied massive oak desk below and just out of frame, The Rock is in his office. The visual dynamic immediately brings to mind a meeting between a boss and two employees each sitting uncomfortably in front of him in small chairs with their legs exposed. It's the exact same effect Trump used on "The Apprentice" to create his boss character.
ContentThe next thing you'll notice, and another example of the authority being flexed in the video, is that the substance of the conversation seems to be solely dictated by Johnson."I've got friends in all parties," he said to open the video. "But the one thing we can always agree on is the conversation and the dialogue and where that conversation lands."Not quite. Instead of a conversation, it seems Johnson knew what he wantedthe candidates to talk about. He wanted them to talk about respect. He prompts them. They say a bunch of nothing with the words respect, truth and trust sprinkled in. If the goal was to get people to associate Dwayne Johnson with hard work and honesty, mission accomplished.
Demographics
The Rock's biggest flex, though, is his audience. Where else can a candidate reach millions of Democrats and Republicans simultaneously right now? It's a cross section of people that you can't reach on TV, which is, when it's watched at all, always only directed at one half of the country or the other. He's Hollywood's highest paid actor, so automatically liberal-friendly, who's also beloved by members of the military, who are not exactly coastal elites. Makes sense that he'd be everybody's boss, including Washington's.
The shorter stuff
How long until cocaine or meth makes an appearance in this Brad Parscale saga? (CNN)
Kanye's music business reformer phase really did not make the splash he hoped for, huh? (Billboard)
Pamela Anderson: "[The art market] is a little corrupt...It's just part of living a sexy life. It's a little bit West Westy." (FT)
I really want to believe that superstar SoulCycle instructor Akin pronounces the rapper 6lack's name as "Six Lack" as this Sunday Routine would suggest and that it was not just a typo. (NYT)
George Clooney looks like succumbing to Netflix has taken a toll on him. (VF)
πSpecial "Remember The Job Title Digital Ninja?" Section
Jake Paul hired a "Hollywood Svengali" to stage a fight at his wedding. (Page Six)
And there's a "psychedelic concierge" named Zappy going around Hollywood and getting paid to do whatever. (Page Six)
Reed Hastings had not read "The Three-Body Problem" before Netflix ordered it. (NYT)
"Watchmen" creator Damon Lindelof "and his team continue to communicate every day via a text chain." (Variety)
My head hurts trying to understand this absolute mess of a banner ad for some FX show. (Image)
Wondery has 16 podcasts being developed as TV shows. (Bloomberg)
Lorne Michaels: "There are four [presidential and vice-presidential] debates in the month of October, and I was trying to figure out how to take a week off, but it didn't work out. So we'll do five shows in a row, which we've never done." (NYT)
The debates are the only non-sports mass audience event. (Variety)
Feels like D.T. Max was simply recording various public shaming incidents for posterity rather than offering much of anything new, which is hugely disappointing because I expected this to be in my wheelhouse. (TNY)