Barack Obama And The Unstoppable Momentum

Tagging off of a comment I made on Ultrabrown:

Barack Obama has taken the place of Harry Potter in our collective consciousness.

Think about it. Last year, the entire world waited to find out what a seventeen-year-old wizard would do to save the world from evil. To pass the time, they made fanvideos, posted online, and generally whipped up enough momentum to cause grown people to dress up in ridiculous costumes and stand in gigantic lines to pay $30 for a book.

With Harry Potter done and gone, where will America (and abroad) transfer its collective fandom energy?

How about onto this other, slightly magical man whom we believe will save the world from evil?

I think it's fantastic that Obama is gaining so much momentum from what are, essentially, fangirl techniques. I also think it's fantastic that this momentum is cropping up within nearly every demographic; will.i.am, Viva Obama!, and the infamous BollyObama video.

(A full collection of fanvideos can be found here.)

All that's left are fanfic and cosplay. I did a search for Obama fanfic and -- luckily -- didn't find any. But I wouldn't be surprised if it started turning up in the next few months. (The only slash we see had better be Barack/Michelle, 'kay?)

As for cosplay... well... the national election, the big one, is on November 4. My birthday.

I think I just decided on my party theme.