Rethinking The Waldo Moment
The Dangers of Capitalism
I know I am late to the party, but with my weeks-long break from social media, I decided to read books and watch some shows.
One show I decided to go back to is the infamous Black Mirror series. Black Mirror is basically sci-fi dystopian fiction that revolves heavily around philosophical questions regarding society and technology. A particular episode I enjoyed was “The Waldo Moment” episode from the second season released in 2013.
This episode focuses on British politics and tells the story of a washed-up comedian (Jamie) who creates and plays an animated bear (Waldo) on a satirical TV show. However, due to a series of events, Waldo becomes the unwitting face of political discontent among the British population, who are tired of career politicians. Even as a fictional character, Waldo gains support and recognition among voters.
Eventually, Jamie becomes concerned about Waldo’s growing political influence, the potential misuse of the character, and his strained relationship with another politician he was sleeping with. Jamie tries to disavow the character by urging people to vote for someone else, but it is too little too late. Waldo is taken over by the person who financed his TV show and placed second on the ballot.
Many commentators want to use the plot of “The Waldo Moment” to draw parallels to the 2016 elections of Boris Johnson and Donald Trump. However, I see these insights as surface-level at best. Yes, the character of Waldo is buffoonish and crude, as we can describe Donald Trump, but I want to address other points from this episode.
With the advent of Trump’s reelection in 2024 and the overt rise of fascism in the United States and abroad, it is important to look at what this episode was trying to tell us. An important, yet surprisingly overlooked, part of the episode showcased a meeting between Jamie, the executive of the show (Jack), and American agent Jeff Carter.
American Imperialism
It’s obvious that Jeff Carter is a representative of the CIA and speaks to the beneficial political utilization of Waldo for their ends.
Waldo is a construct people not just accept but embrace. At the moment he is anti-politics, which is a political stance in of itself, right? But he could deliver any brand of political content, minus the potential downsides of a human messenger…
…He’s the perfect assassin.
- Jeff Carter
Jeeze, where else have we seen anti-establishment rhetoric be used to deliver a political message that is harmful to most people but helpful for a minority faction?
We can point to Trump and his MAGA movement as a clear example of this, but this also applies to fascism and the CIA more broadly.
The CIA is known for suppressing leftist movements and propping up fascist dictatorships. An easy example of this is Salvador Allende, a democratically elected socialist who was the President of Chile from 1970 to 1973.
Allende nationalized key industries which cut into US corporate interest. The CIA since Allende took power, funded and supported right-wing opposition to his government. This opposition involved both Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger.
Allende was eventually ousted from government by a CIA-supported military coup by dictator Augusto Pinochet who reigned the country from 1974 to 1990. This ended about 40 years of democratic governance. Pinochet killed thousands of political rivals, typically left opposition, and ruled the country under a military junta.
I am saying this to showcase just one example of many in which the US (typically through the CIA) has undermined the democratic processes of other countries for its own political aims. So, it does not surprise me that a CIA agent talks about utilizing another tool to deceive populations and undermine the political institutions of other countries.
In the United States, we are given empty political platitudes about democracy and freedom, but from a historical perspective, we have supported anything but.
Class Struggle and Fascism
Additionally, the ending of the episode solidifies the underpinning class struggle in the episode. Jamie, clearly homeless now, is displaced by police officers for sleeping under a public tunnel as he walks away from this area he sees Waldo (a character he has created) being used on a global scale for political messaging, this messaging ironically advocates for societal change. Jamie throws a bottle at the Waldo board and is attacked by the police as we look onto a Bladerunner-like dystopian background.
Jamie is clearly exploited in the episode by TV executive Jack. Jamie does not want Waldo, a character that he created and brought life to, to be involved with politics after being personally attacked by political opposition. But Jack persuades Jamie under the threat of basically owning the character.
Jamie then tries to speak out and get people to not vote for Waldo but for the other politicians. Jamie then tries pledging with people on the street, Jack takes over Waldo and advocates for someone to attack Jamie. Someone does attack Jamie and he ends up in the hospital.
We see the exploitative nature of the capitalist and worker relationship through Jamie and Jack. Jamie creates and gives life to the character of Waldo through his labor, but in the end, Jack receives the credit and money from this labor because he finances the TV show. Jack is perfectly willing to give the CIA access to the Waldo character for their ends and that’s what happens. While Jamie gets nothing and sees his creation bastardized for whatever nefarious ends.
Beyond the Jamie and Jack relationship, we also have to look at why the character of Waldo was so popular to begin with. Why did the conservative and labour parties struggle against an animated bear? It seems absurd until you put it into perspective.
I am generally ignorant about British politics, but I assume they’re similar to what is happening in the United States. I will speak from an America-centric perspective, but I am open to critiques regarding parallels.
There is growing discontent among the US population with both Democrat and Republican parties. Both parties do not, by and large, support popular left-wing reforms like Medicaid for All or guaranteed parental leave. Both parties have similar donors from similar industries which greatly impact their decision-making from a legislative standpoint.
Unlike the UK which has more universal healthcare and education programs, the USA does not. This is primarily because it is against corporate interest to fund these programs. Out of many developed nations, the United States has poorer outcomes from a health, education, and life satisfaction perspective. This does not push our political establishment to change course and adopt popular public reforms because of the aforementioned interest.
This is not to say politicians do not attack social services in other countries like the UK. Other social democratic countries have seen significant roll backs in public services and programs. Perhaps, the introduction of these roll backs is causing some strife within European countries, but this is part speculation as I do not know the full scope of these situations.
What I can speak to is the discontent with electoralism generally speaking in the US and how that is represented in the fictious setting of the episode. When people are disenchanted with their current political and economic systems they look for alternatives.
The overall anti-establishment rheortic and revolutionary asthetic of fascist ideologies sounds attractive when you look at times of political and social upheavel. Fascism tends to rise during times of economic instability and political upset. Classic historical examples can include Germany and Italy after World War 1.
Fascism plays into peoples needs and wants for structural change. Fascism tends to undermine existing political instutions while promising to end all of societies problems, no matter how empty the solutions or rhetoric ultimately are.
The popularity of the character Waldo makes sense form this perspective. People are tired of their electoral system failing them, they are tired of not feeling heard in the realm of politics, and they’re tired of career politicians over promising yet underdelivering. This is when an absurd opportunist like Waldo or a Donald Trump swoops in to shakes things up and gets popular for it.
Working class people do not have power in electoral systems the same way that big donors and corperations do. This feeds into the disenchantment and reactionary movements that are springing up.
We need to realize characters like Waldo and Trump becoming popular in their respective situations (fictional or not) represents systemic failure more than anything else. If people truly felt that their political institutions represented their best interest, why would they vote for an animated bear who curses? Why would people vote for washed up TV star Donald Trump?
Final Thoughts
I think “The Waldo Moment” episode represents deep rooted themes that go beyond any analysis I have seen of the episode. There are clear hints to US imperialism, political disenchantment, and class dynamics.
People will see the voting for Waldo as a fluke that can be explained by things like the media and cultural shifts, similar explanations some might give for the election of Trump. However, I see the voting for Waldo and Trump as symptoms of overall societal decay and structurals issues that have not been resolved.
Political disenchantment and the rise of fascist ideologies does not materialize from thin air. They’re phenomenon that is emblematic of deep rooted political and economic issues we are currently dealing with.
Keep in mind I only briefly touched upon US-based imperialism which feeds into the issues I was getting at during this essay to a greater extent than most realize.