The Third Man - why Willie Mason and John Howard have embraced postmodernism

We can see the benefit of commodification when we think about rugby league players.

They are considered by team owners as things of value, things that can be the object of trade. So it would not be out of the ordinary for one of the world’s greatest rugby league players, Willie Mason, to be the object of trade.

He would himself see the benefit and refer to himself in the third person as a commodity, as he did on the Footy Show on April 19.

Willie and his Australian teammate Nathan Hindmarsh were being interviewed by the Footy Show panel live from Brisbane on the eve of the Australia New Zealand test match.

Willie was provided with a choreographed opportunity to apologise to a woman journalist with whom he had had a run in some days earlier. Willie was then asked a questions about his performance on the field.

He described it and concluded by saying that “Willie Mason” would play his best.

This postmodern response reveals a great deal about Willie the person and Willie the commodity.

Willie on the field is one of the best. Willie off the field however, is a public relations nightmare, a disaster wherever he goes. But is he really such a disaster?

What we had on the Footy Show was a glimpse of the very clever Willie - the Willie that knows his value as a commodity, the Willie that knows whatever he does off the field is calculated to provide maximum media coverage of “Willie the Commodity”.

Commodified Willies are things we expect from postmodernity.

Footballers change teams every year. Supporters, rooted in the idea of continuity and familiarity have learned to deal with this.

But how do they react to the same commodification of politics?