Photo: ginnerobot
Perhaps you missed the story that was a mere footnote to many newscasts the week of March 6.
During British Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s visit to the U.S., President Obama presented the PM with a rather untraditional gift: a set of 25 DVDs representing the best of America’s film culture. The set included “The Wizard of Oz,” “Schindler’s List,” “Citizen Kane,” and “Psycho.”
Typically, Presidents’ gifts to other sitting heads of state are more symbolic, often with historical or cultural value reaffirming the ties between the two countries.
The HotAir blog called Obama a cheapskate; the U.K.’s Daily Mail was a bit more circumspect, observing that even if PM Brown was a known movie buff, the DVD gift set would have been hopelessly gauche compared to the thoughtful gifts Brown presented to the President, including “an ornamental pen holder made from the timbers of the Victorian anti-slave ship HMS Gannet.”
President Obama and his wife were also criticized for the gifts they selected for the Prime Minister’s children: two models of the presidential helicopter. The Browns, meanwhile, presented the President’s daughters with books and outfits.
One British journalist argued that the DVD box set was just one symbol of Obama’s brush-off of Brown, kvetching that Obama failed to hold a traditional joint press conference, as is customary during a British PM’s visit. “Obama really just didn’t like having the Brits in town,” the journalist said.
Community Connection:
What do you think? Was the DVD box set a bad gift? And does it even really matter?
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I heard the bit on NPR and couldn't believe they wasted the airtime. My first impression of the gift and the quasi-story: "Wow, surprisingly unremarkable. Whoever was in charge of the purchase probably could have done better. Now, let's please move on to more important things – like the financial crisis, growing global instability, etc." Sounded to me like a case of over-reporting – linking an underwhelming perfunctory gift exchange into a failing relationship between the U.S. and one of its allies. Did that journalist not have enough *real* news to report on that day?
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Daniel- My thoughts exactly! I agree that the gifts were pretty tacky, but c'mon; the guy's had quite a bit on his mind and on his agenda, and I'm personally glad that gift-shopping wasn't at the top of that list. I was surprised, really, by the vehemence of the criticism of the British journos– is a DVD set really indicative of a country's foreign policy or its respect for its allies? (Admittedly, that pen set sounds pretty neat).
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I don't even really see the gaucheness, myself. (Maybe I'm not well-schooled in presidential gift-giving, since… it's never been in the news before! Ha.) But I'd much rather have an amazing collection of classic films than an "ornamental pen holder". I don't really think any of it matters, but who knows? If it was an insult, maybe it was deliberate. After all, Brown was in the cabinet when Tony Blair served as Bush's chief ally/enabler in the Iraq debacle. (Saddam's 45 minute warning, anyone?) Maybe Obama was saying his respect needs to be earned.
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As an English man I feel I should point out that very few of us bother to take anything the Daily Mail says seriously. I didn't even know that there was an "insult" over gifts until I read it on here, and i read through the news every day. The English public, politicians and press have far more interesting things to get worked up over than a few DVD's.
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The special relationship doesn't exist, and frankly this is a prime example of it. As a Brit who was not happy with the ties that Blair held so close to Bush while he didn't care I'm sick of people trying to carry this on. Yes, Obama's gift was incredibly tacky, and Brown's was pretty monumental, but this is a perfect example of the non-existent 'special relationship'. Actions speak louder than words, and Obama just said 'here, look at the tat we can mass produce for the rest of the world, you're no different'. I'm sick of Britian being as one commentator put it "the caddy at America's golf club".
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This isn't a matter of politics, it's a matter of etiquette. Perhaps the DVD's would be a thoughtful gift (although how appropriate that he chose Psycho to represent our culture), had he taken the time to make sure that they would play on the PM's player. That, moreso than the DVD's themselves, shows a lack of etiquette. Why purchase a gift for someone that they will never be able to use? Politics aside, thoughtfulness and etiquette dictates that President Obama do something different.
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Might be an even bigger gaffe if the DVDs were NTSC instead of PAL
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