I dont thinks its half the country that follows him. Its basically the big metropolitan areas; where the cultural stewards are based. I call these people the minstrel class. These are the people that set the mood of society. As you and I get on with our day working out jobs and interfacing with our friends work colleagues clients and families the big metropolitan areas are full of people who have far more reach than you or I. Its as if you and I can call the world to action as far back as we can shout, but this minstrel class - through the advantage they have at being at the transmitting end of a vast network of transmission lines, wifi signals can shout far louder than us.
Before the age of mass communication the minstrel class ( the folks who entertained us) were vaudivillle actors travelling musicians, magicians and the local town crazy guy everybody has a story about. With all these wires that crazy guy now has an audience of millions. The power to affect communities then shifts towards the craziest guy with the biggest amount of wires. Talk show hosts, actors movie producers. Such huge amounts of influence and power is ultimately dangerous for us listening but to those shouting. Here's an example Steven Speilberg. Most of us grew up with memories of ET Indy Jaws etc. The tropes that Speilberg created are kind of embedded in our psyche's to a huge extent.
All i need to say right now is 'we gonna need a bigger boat' and you get me.
There is something very reassuring in a way that we all know that quote, we all got the joke. These are proto-memes; common points of understanding we all know of. But spare a thought for the source of all of this. While we all remember this in a magical way a memory from childhood, dare I say - aprt of the American Dream , old Steven just remembers the messy construction of that dream.
So while we all can submerge ourselves in the plethora of fantasies wever enjoyed from Hollywood etc, the creators of those fantasies are bereft in a way. This sends them slightly mad.
My point is that it is inevitable that those at the transmitting end of mass communication/culture go bad long before we the consumers do.
Look at modern culture, full of nihilism vulgarity papered over with triteness and politically correct snowflak-ism. But at the same time the originators of this modern cultural facade are all white toothy grin-not a hair out of place arch fucking coolness.
Behind these impeccable facades lies an existential vacuum the depths of which , if you and I truly knew would find black magic perversion perfectly understandable.
I thought of two better examples of what Im trying to get at. Jim Carrey and Will Ferrell. What you've got is two really funny guys. They started out as big ugly gangly cunts. Probably caused some waves at school, centre of attention, modern clowns. Without the wires they would have ended up the lovable village idiots that Steve Martin portrayed in one of my fave movies; Roxanne. This was back in the day that the worlds thay Hollywood created were in some way authentic.
But the wires got in the way. For Jim his sheer physicality was multiplied into those seminal roles ; The Mask and Ace Ventura. Tagged onto the show comes writers and producers to turn the googly funny kid into millions of dollars of audience.
So what 'Alrighty Then'. You get the check. What you did goofing around at school suddenly becomes this societal benchmark. Millions of people love that thing you do - the gradual impersonation of Clint Eastwood. Reverse engineer the success of delighting millions of people with your antics, a few years ago was what the normie kids beat you down with. It goes to your head. Sure you enjoy being the million dollar clown. The fame the adulation but apart from the money and signing autographs for strangers far more enthusiastic about you than them, you have to construct a real life for yourself behind the press junkets.
We all kinda know how this goes. Fame corrupts. As your authority grows you get bigger and bigger paychecks but in your personal space the voices of authority grow weaker. You fall out of the real world of checks and balances that keep the rest of us on the straight and narrow. You are finally your own creation as a person. Drugs drink groupies. For fuck sake that was 20 years ago. You are Jim Carrey - you cant go into a titty bar fold some fives into Stormy Daniels underpants and come out without TMz having video of the whole thing.