New Politics and "The Waldo Moment"

The Black Mirror episode titled “The Waldo Moment” takes technological advancement and the information society that it creates, to develop a controversial new way of politicking. Jaime, the beaten-down and not very successful main character, is forced to turn a comedic character that he created into a political icon.

Miller (2011) describes the global financial crisis that made the “faith in the relevance of a national political party difficult to maintain” (p. 135). This crisis presented itself in several different ways that eventually led to the a new form of politics described through ‘new social movements’ (NSMs). There are four criteria for new politics established by NSMs that “The Waldo Moment” explores.

1. NSMs tend to be less economically or class-oriented and more focused on social changes in lifestyle, cultural or identity-related issues (Miller, 2011, p. 136).

Waldo is a character that is available to anyone that has access to the television program. But the television program is not the only way to access information about Waldo’s “attacks” against Monroe. He has become a public figure and is being reported in the news and newspapers, driven around on the Waldo truck, and invited to a variety of live events. Waldo is a social movement meant to draw attention to the issues of the current political state. He does not need to appeal to a certain audience, because it is impossible for him to ever be more (in a human sense) than a controversial cartoon.

2. NSMs are often issue-oriented and ad-hoc as opposed to ideological (Miller, 2011, p. 136).

Waldo was created to be satirical character for a late-night comedy show. With the episode focusing on the current election, Waldo enters the political sphere in order to draw attention to the show. But, the issues that Waldo addressed in his initial interview with Monroe led to something much bigger. Not only was Waldo going to continue to antagonize Monroe, but he was going to try and get on the ballot. Waldo’s continued existence was ad-hoc for the duration of the election.

3. NSMs tend to be decentralized, diffused, networked organizations (Miller, 2011, p.137).

Waldo is what he needs to be for this particular election. Jeff Carter, from the agency, describes exactly what Waldo could be in a decentralized organization in the following quote:

“Waldo is a construct people not just accept, but embrace. At the moment he is anti-politics which is a political stance in itself, right? But he could deliver any brand of political content, minus the potential downsides of a human messenger” ("The Waldo Moment", 33:38).

4. NSMs tend to move away from nationality based issues and political structures and are often more transnational in focus (Miller, 2011, 138).

While this final point is not addressed early in the episode, the potential for Waldo on a transnational scale is brought up be Jeff Carter. He proposed Waldo’s ability to become a political figurehead for other elections as a way to get the disenfranchised involved. And that proved to be possible at the end of the episode when Waldo became a global figure.

The nature of the information society prompts a change in politics. By using technology and non-human representation, “The Waldo Moment” is able to highlight the possibilities of new politics and social movements.