Trudeau’s good looks a handicap?

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 19/11/2015 (3842 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CANADA’S sexiest prime minister. Smoking-hot syrupy fox. Incredibly good-looking. #apechottie.

Poor Justin Trudeau. It was one thing to be written off by the Conservatives as being a lightweight with good looks but no brains. It’s completely another thing to be on the world stage, wearing your big-boy pants and still being objectified for your good looks. What does this do to his credibility? Or does his meteoric rise to fame mean that for once, bland, beige Canada is a player internationally?

At some point, there was an expectation this focus on Trudeau’s good looks would abate. But here we are in November, and it remains a topic of conversation. You almost feel sorry for the guy.

Our new prime minister is in Manila right now, after first stopping in Turkey, his first international tour in the new job. Trudeau has had to deal with the attacks in Paris and Canada’s stance on the Islamic State as the G20 met in Turkey. Now, in the Philippines, he is discussing trade at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit. And the interesting thing is, for a change, the international media actually care about what Canada is doing.

Every step of the way, he’s been greeted by screaming fans, desperate for a selfie with Canada’s sexiest prime minister. The hashtag #apechottie is trending on Twitter, and the Philippine Daily Inquirer devoted its front page to ask the burning question: “Who’s sexier: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau or Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto?”

For those of us of a certain age, this all seems vaguely familiar, as we remember black-and-white photos of Pierre Elliott Trudeau mobbed by young, pretty women under the spell of Trudeaumania in 1968. Trudeau took over the leadership of the Liberal party, in power but as a minority, in 1968. As prime minister, he called an election, which he won easily. For many, he was seen as an antidote to the old, boring men who had previously held power. He was young. He was single. He drove a convertible. He didn’t wear stuffy ties. He wore a fedora and a cape for God’s sake, and kept a red rose in his buttonhole.

During that time, the Free Press documented Trudeaumania in this city, which included the opening of the PET Shoppe on Sargent Avenue. It was a store dedicated to selling sweatshirts and buttons and manned by the Trudeau Troupe, part of the central campaign made up of university students, including those “of the pretty female variety.” Even sage reporters such as Allan Fotheringham gushed that Trudeau was “the most newsworthy prime minister.” His marriage in 1971 to Justin’s mom, Margaret Trudeau, seemed to settle things down a bit — it took the bloom off the rose, so to speak.

Fast-forward to 2015, and there are photos of Justin Trudeau surrounded by screaming young women — our very own selfie PM.

In social media, there are those who are critical, suggesting this is going to get old quickly. Frankly, it’s all kind of cringeworthy. And as Winnipeg Mayor Brian Bowman has already figured out, the endless selfies could earn Trudeau a fair bit of criticism.

However, it’s different in Trudeau’s case. Unlike Bowman, Trudeau doesn’t seem to be the one with the camera. Instead, he’s being asked to pose by his fans. If he said no, wouldn’t that hurt his reputation as well? The snobby, too-big-for-his-britches PM, who’s too self-important to have his photo taken? His graciousness seems to play on the stereotypes about Canada. Polite and now, well, sexy, too.

This whole business of Trudeaumania 2.0 has a much bigger life of its own, unlike the original iteration. Back in 1968, there were no selfies, no Twitter, no Facebook. Now, websites such as Buzzfeed and Gawker continue to feed the news machine.

Pierre Elliott Trudeau could be his flamboyant self, with his red rose and his defiant anti-monarch pirouette.

Justin is in a fishbowl his dad never had to face. Hopefully at some point, folks will stop focusing on his face and start focusing on the work he’s going to do. Because he has a lot of work to do. And being photogenic isn’t going to help solve climate change, murdered and missing indigenous women, poverty or fears about terrorism. In the meantime, he can use his perfect smile to Canada’s advantage.

 

Shannon Sampert is the Free Press perspectives and politics editor.

shannon.sampert@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @paulysigh