The NA710N

At this point, it appears that Sarah Palin will never stop whining about Newsweek thinking she had nice enough legs to make it on the cover of their magazine. Perhaps had she looked out of her living room window before calling sexism, she would have seen the leader of her neighboring nation, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin of Russia, riding a horse shirtless through the frozen tundra, pursing his lips for the cameras as if he expected himself to be on the cover of a Harlequin novel the next day. Putin, like Palin appears not to, understands a central tenet of Marketing 101 that escapes most in the business of politics: sex sells. He has made that clear throughout the years with various publicity stunts that would make even Levi Johnston blush. He has no qualms about hinging a major part of his cult of personality on the objectification of his body, admittedly quite fit for his age. He contextualizes his objectification such that it does not render him a frivolous figure but, rather, a beloved one.

He also understands the significance of popular culture in a way that few, if any, world leaders before him have. Sure, some of his contemporaries attempt to inject themselves into the popular discourse, but most attempts—from Hugo Chavez’s variety show “Alo Presidente” to Paul Biya’s attempts at using his wife Chantal’s hair as a campaign prop—feel contrived, at the very least. Most strongman world leaders initiate the conversation with their country’s pop culture. Putin, on the other hand, humbly accepts the invitation into his nation’s collective psyche where most of his ilk fear to tread.

To totalitarians, pop culture has traditionally been a lethal weapon. It was often said among circles that opposed the Cold War embargo on Cuba that Coca-Cola was the key to breaking down communism— that the infiltration of Western capitalist culture in communist nations, not matter how trivially it manifests itself, would enlighten the masses to the fact that their state regularly deprived them of luxuries for which they should not feel guilty indulging in. In China, at least, it has proven partially true. China will never exist as an ideal Western liberal democracy, and certainly one can point out many flaws with the way the leadership there handles opposition and freedom of expression. Yet that appears to be the last remaining vestige of communism in the country. Business is booming, if only from the debts America is collecting at China’s expense. The Revolution shows increasingly less opposition to the petty bourgeoisie, as long as they adhere to the ideology on a theoretical level.

The Russian government understands the implications of allowing American culture to seep through the cracks, so officials are filling that void by promoting a Russian-centric, Putin-centric pop culture. Propaganda no longer adheres to the standards of the past, but now masquerades as a Western-influenced fixation with health and fitness. His credentials as a fitness advocate have certainly never been in questions, with his judo instruction video being a hit in his country and his repeated public statements against drug and alcohol abuse. His fusion of this passion with the arts is where Putin has achieved his tight grip on Russian pop sensibilities. Earlier this week he made a surprise appearance at the “Fight for Respect” rap music program on youth network Muz-TV to support the hip-hop community and advise youth against drug and alcohol abuse. “It is really a promotion of a healthy lifestyle. It is hard to imagine break dance being combined with alcohol or drugs,” he said of the American tradition. His young fans expressed an interest in recording an album with him, and there’s no reason to put it past the Prime Minister.

His career in the music industry, though, began with techno. In 2002, a mysterious song, entitled “A Man Like Putin,” was released with much fanfare to radio DJs in the nation. The DJs didn’t know where it was from, no one knew the two female singers responsible for vocals, and Putin officials themselves made a half-hearted attempt to be upset. The women in the song lament that their boyfriends are irresponsible, weak drunkards, and hope to one day find a man like Putin, who is strong, reliable, and not abusive of his girl or his vodka. It was a hit, and is still making its viral way around the world via YouTube and, in 2007, inhabited the mysterious web domain Putin.su, a Soviet URL, which reports from the time indicate was once an oasis of pro-Putin political techno. The song is currently enjoying an English rerelease, reborn as “He Must be Like Putin,” and its own stuffed rabbit trend. To any astute eye, the answer to the riddle lay in plain sight: Putin himself appears in the music video, and on the cover of the single— audacious, yes, but quite the successful publicity campaign.

What makes Putin’s approach to culture bulletproof is that, unlike many tyrants, his feet are planted firmly on the ground. The fitness problem in Russia may be long-standing and have no simple solution, but by highlighting it he elevates his status above the average Russian male. He does not fancy himself a Messiah, but paints a Zeus-like image of a hyper-intelligent, strong, virile Greek god with just enough human qualities for followers to not feel sinful if they conflate lust with admiration. In the process, neither he nor the Kremlin make any lofty promises about the state of the nation. He is not trying to sell Russians a utopian reality, nor entertains any expectations. On the contrary, he (and/or whatever obscure force is promoting him) is highlighting one of the major cultural flaws of his nation and shoving it in the faces of his citizens. His campaign for fitness, and subliminal message that fitness and temperance are irresistible to women, is rooted in a harsh reality. The life expectancy of Russian men lags fourteen years behind that of women, at 59 years (Putin is pushing 57 and still going strong). A recent New York Times feature reports that Russians consume more than twice the yearly quota of alcohol per person that the World Health Organization considers a threat, with men consuming 10% more alcohol than women. And it starts early: Russian officials report that the total number of children aged 10-14 who drink alcoholic spirits rose 15.4% in 2008. The result is a steep rise in accidents and homicides.

After a near decade of Cold War that taught us the key to spreading (little-l) liberalism and democracy was promulgating the culture of capitalism, it appears the hydra of totalitarianism has grown a new head, evolving to generate its own shoddily constructed government equivalent. While other foreign dignitaries attempt to generate popular appeal through tired forced parades and a cult of perfection around their personalities, Putin is engaging in something much more dangerous: relatability through objectification and idealization through inviting comparison. Let’s just hope Sarah Palin doesn’t figure it out.

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