Obama King in Carnivalesque

Something that I have found interesting over the course of this assignment is the idea of ‘carnivalesque’. We discussed in class that this idea was derived from an old tradition that there was one day of the year that it was acceptable to make fun of the king. After this one day things would return back to normal. In today’s media, a carnivalesque story – where a politician is made fun of occurs regularly and is certainly not a one day a year occurrence. The CNN Election Center by Kristi Keck from November the 8th lists numerous events that satirize or ‘make fun’ of political activity. In particular she focuses on President Obama who would be equivalent to the king in a ‘carnivalesque’ situation. For example, the article comments on Obama’s campaign trail saying “Perhaps it is part of his populist pitch and/or the makings of a new drinking game. Either way, Obama's been channeling Porky Pig with his new favorite word: folks.” The article then goes on to comment on Obama’s dancing abilities at a Diwali celebration in India saying “A for effort, C for technique.” The “carnivalesque’ stories are common in today’s media and it seems that instead of being one day to make fun of the ‘king’ it would be more likely that there is one day a year the media does not make fun of him.