The Game Is On. Can You Please Take the Politics Outside? - New York Times
If you hoped that 2017 would bring a respite from a year and a half of constant political coverage, you were wrong. Instead it has brought us Meryl Streep denouncing Mr. Trump at the Golden Globes and “Saturday Night Live” singing a maudlin farewell to Barack Obama. The Women’s March and debate over the president’s executive orders received extensive coverage on ESPN.
Even on Netflix, it is difficult to escape political commentary. The most recent season of the critically acclaimed animated series “BoJack Horseman” featured a subplot affirming abortion, and Brit Marling’s new science fiction series, “The OA,” turns into a bizarre commentary on guns and school shootings. A star of “Stranger Things,” David Harbour, invoked his police chief character at the Screen Actors Guild awards this week in an acceptance speech on why we should “punch some people in the face when they seek to destroy the weak and the disenfranchised and the marginalized” to loud applause.
In his time, President Obama made regular appearances on ESPN, announcing his March Madness bracket live on the channel and participating most recently in a town hall on race relations. I can only imagine, if you voted against him, what it would feel like to have a similar level of infiltration of sports channels by President Trump.
Yet ESPN seems uninterested in pulling back from political conversations. When asked about the new 6 p.m. “SportsCenter” starting after the Super Bowl, the ESPN hosts Jemele Hill and Michael Smith recently promised fewer highlights of games and warned viewers not to expect them to “stick to sports.”
Of course, this is their right. Celebrities, comedians and sportscasters have political opinions, and they are entitled to them. But they need to understand that once they express a strong political opinion, they lessen something important entertainment provides: a break from the ardent and all-encompassing politics that have left Americans feeling divided, anxious and angry.
When you “stick to sports,” you are doing more than confining yourself to the field and the court. You are providing a way for people who may have diametrically opposed politics to share a beer at a bar discussing quarterbacks instead of executive orders. We should recognize this is valuable, particularly given that one of the factors that led to Mr. Trump’s rise is a market for outrage, on the right and the left, which acts as a consuming fire. There is always another inch to be won, another point to be defended, and this hyperpoliticization limits the space free from the culture wars Mr. Trump exploited to great effect.
In his new book, “The Art of Being Free: How Alexis de Tocqueville Can Save Us From Ourselves,” James Poulos recognizes the value these cultural outlets have for us in times of anxiety and tribalism. “When we’re alone, Netflix and smartphone binges give us a chance at play that’s safe from the craziness of other (real-life) people,” he writes. “And when we venture out into the world, team sports and infotainment and the other competitive fields of professional play entertain and divert us in ways that typically make us feel much less lonely.”
Bonding over sports, television, comedy, the latest Netflix series and more is healthy and valuable. President Obama’s farewell address in Chicago asked us to do as much: “If you’re tired of arguing with strangers on the internet, try talking with one of them in real life.”
Breaking down the walls between us is easier to do when our culture is not so politicized — when we can feel free to watch, laugh and cheer alongside our fellow Americans without catching ourselves wondering how they voted. That is the healthier way to live, particularly in the era of Donald Trump.
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