The HBO President

Politico and New York magazine's excellent Daily Intel have rundowns of Barack Obama and his family's television habits. 

His love for The Wire and television sports is already well-known--he mentioned The Wire as his favorite show a few times on the campaign trail, and he was featured on ESPN on a Barackatology segment, where he picked the NCAA tournament. (For the record, he picked a lot of chalk, and of course, he ended up picking the champion, North Carolina.)

Two shows are signaled out by the two articles: Entourage and Gossip Girl. For the uninitiated, Entourage is about a movie star who bring three of his friends, one of them himself a former star, to California with him as he tries to make it big. The show is based loosely on Mark Wahlberg's life and the agent is based on Ari Emanuel, the brother of Obama's chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. 

But the familial relationship is not why Obama watches the show--like everyone else, it has to be the fantasy aspect of an existence lived by a different set of rules and standards. Though the show has legitimate drama and tension, the underlying message to me is the fantasy of American men living in a world of work and play without female guidance or less sinisterly, the positive but complicated nature of male friendship. Of course, it's about the glamour of Hollywood too.

There might be some parallels between life in the White House, though it's not exclusively a male-oriented world, and gritty details of running government seems essentially less romantic. 

Gossip Girl is at its essence about class, and the difficulties class relationships cause among a relatively undifferentiated group of privileged prep school students. And it's about the essential seriousness of high school, and of course, adults watching it see the parallels between it and their own complicated lives, which remind them of high school. 

There might be some parallels between life in the White House, though it's not exclusively a male-oriented world, and gritty details of running government seems essentially less romantic. The fact that Obama loves Entourage is just another piece of evidence that confirms his essential masculinity. Combine that with at least a reference to Gossip Girl, also shows his desire to keep up with pop culture. 

Though their popularity exclude them from true cult status, the fervent nature of followers of Gossip Girl--New York spends many column inches each week confirming its authenticity--and Entourage point to popular culture watchers--count our president among them--that at least knowing about the shows is crucial. 

--J.S.

More Obama and Basketball

I think this says more about the media than it does about Barack Obama, but yet another prediction has come from our president: Lakers v. Cavs in the NBA final. 

On Trash Talking

This image, part of a larger article about Barack Obama's attendance at a recent Wizards-Bulls game, seems to be unprecedented in its metaness. 

In the image, Miles Rawls, wearing a Barack Obama shirt, "trash-talked" with President Obama during the game. Trash talking is a noted aspect of basketball culture, one whose best practitioners are celebrated within the basketball community, although the practice is much more celebrated among players than fans, for the obvious reason that fans don't always attend each other's arenas. 

In fact, among true rivalries, such trash talking can be dangerous for an opposing fan. So the exchange between Rawls and Obama is unique in the comfort Obama felt in trash-talking in the other person's arena. 

But there is also comfort in Rawls trash talking the president of the United States. Perhaps wearing his image made him more comfortable, Obama's personality, or both.

--J.S.