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The entertainment industry spends millions each year researching what we watch and why. As climate destruction and a global pandemic make it harder to hijack our social media feeds, CBS has found a new way to exploit these horrors with its show “The Activist.” The Doomscrollers are their new audience.
According to Deadline, CBS ‘five-week reality series “will feature six inspirational activists paired with three prominent public figures who work together to bring about meaningful change to one of three vitally important global causes: health, l ‘education and the environment’.
The show is perfectly timed: for the past few years, we have been stuck in a crisis loop. When California catches fire, the streets of New York are inundated with poisonous water, or cops parading harmlessly after murdering the most vulnerable on camera, we become a catastrophic audience.
Last week, as rainwater hit my window – helplessly – I scrolled through Twitter. Helpless, I posted. My eyes turned away from any show I might have watched excessively and turned to my social media feeds, filled with desperate messages from my friends and colleagues. It is this audience and these eyes that CBS and its producers have likely identified as the building blocks of a new entertainment market. We are already scrolling. We already post – mostly performatively – social and climate justice slideshows in our Instagram Stories. Why not turn our terrifying reality into its own reality TV show?
True activists were quick to point out the show’s dystopian premise. “I am confused: is this an advanced Marxist critique to expose how the competition for money and attention pits activists against each other? [and] undermine a profound change? Or quite simply the end of the world ”, Naomi Klein, journalist and author, written in a tweet Thusday.
“Such obscene shows make perfect sense in an elite, disconnected world where activists are nothing more than future entrepreneurs. It’s dehumanizing. noted Joey Ayoub, writer and researcher.
“It’s performative at best, and it makes the hard work that a lot of local organizations do in the field, on a daily basis, a bit light. Raw,” wrote Stephanie Yeboah, writer and activist.
It’s not just the premise of “The Activist” that is hollow, but also the solutions offered by the show. The show measures ‘success’ by ‘online engagement, social action and input from hosts’ and ultimately the groups will travel to Rome to attend the G20 summit where they will meet with world leaders to secure a funding for their causes. Basically, “The Activist” subscribes to the liberal dream that simple awareness can bring about radical change, a task much easier than passing laws or boycotting destructive companies. And when the outreach itself doesn’t work, maybe approaching Justin Trudeau as a venture capitalist for justice can do the trick.
The show transforms the collaborative nature of activism into competition and harnesses the desperation experienced under America’s highly unproductive two-party system. While social media can and has been used in transformative ways in politics, the reductionist nature of the internet has created a new breed of meaningless activism.
This void has already spread from personal social media accounts owned by friends and family. As recently as last week, I saw a member of the Kentucky State Senate post a TikTok waving his arms while hitting Soulja Boy’s “Rick and Morty”, a recently popular trend, in the face of “the Senate House until we raise the minimum wage in Kentucky. ”It is not enough to point out the problem. But virality can certainly to feel like doing something. Kevin Paffrath, who is running to overthrow Gov. Gavin Newsom in California, recalls voter engagement in his application. Five social media posts supporting his campaign earn you points that could, in turn, earn you a private jet selfie with Paffrath.
It feels like “The Activist” will describe organization and political action alike, while also paying handsome salaries to already wealthy celebrities like Priyanka Chopra, Julianne Hough and the guy who wrote “Yeah! “
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