Paparazzi pics of sad politicos sign death warrants?
Is this really a thing? Apparently, there's a tradition of paparazzi taking pictures of British politicians in cars being sad, and apparently this is some kind of cultural sign of their impending social demise?
I'm questioning the veracity of this observation, but it's an intriguing idea.
I'm questioning the veracity of this observation, but it's an intriguing idea.
For observers of British politics, this viral photo seemed to signal that Starmer’s end could soon be approaching. “Once a photograph is published of a PM looking sad or distraught in a car,” British researcher and developer Laurence Day wrote, “the entire nation starts hearing the Countdown Clock jingle ending in their resignation.”
Indeed, the Starmer picture is part of an evidently long and established tradition in the British press and cultural imagination of politicians and royals appearing at their lowest. Dubbed the “snatched backseat car photo” by the BBC, its history stretches all the way back to an iconic image taken of Margaret Thatcher shedding tears as she left No. 10 by car for the final time. “Deeply fascinated by this distinctively British genre of photography,” reads one viral tweet that shows Starmer alongside similar pics of former Prime Minister Theresa May (looking teary and deflated), Prince Philip (looking like he didn’t have long left), and Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor (looking villainous and double-chinned). As the photos went viral, Josh Billinson, a social media editor at Semafor, posed a simple question: “Why doesn’t this genre of photo exist in America?”
Comments
I think there's less respect for the office from a particular type of British journalist compared to their American colleagues, but I feel the causation is around the wrong way. It's a sign that journos think a particular person is on the way out/has reduced power of access and it's safe to get their licks in.
That's a fair take. That a picture of this makes headlines is itself a sign of weakness, and the publishers of the newspaper might have a sense that the "leader" is weak enough that they can be mocked with impunity? Interesting!
I was trying to think of non-British equivalents to the unflattering car photos, and one of the first that I thought of was Muskie crying in the snow over the Canuck Letter. But, of course, that was at a press conference related to the issue in question, not a random car trip.
Wasn't he the guy who was photographed riding in a tank trying to look macho?
That was Dukakis, '88.
McGovern in '72 supposedly walked into a kosher deli and asked for a hot dog and a glass of milk.
Right, thanks for clarifying. In my defense, I was a small child at the time and learned about the anecdote in college.
Le sigh...