AOC at the Met Gala: Performative or Poignant?

Layout by Jackie Ng

In an age of polarization, police brutality, and economic division, young people have been desperately searching for politicians who step away from the common image of a politician and live up to their namesake: representatives of the people. 

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, commonly referred to as AOC, has often been held to the limelight as one of those politicians. With her promotion of the Medicare for All bill, the Green New Deal, and her strong relationship with Gen-Z loved Senator Bernie Sanders, the youth of today have been strong supporters of Ocasio-Cortez’s grassroots efforts. Yet, AOC’s popularity has taken a sharp, downwards turn since the recent 2021 Met Gala, in which she donned a white gown with the slogan “Tax the Rich” painted in red on the back. While some praise Cortez for her “protest” in this manner, I find many of my peers, including myself, asking: how will this make change?

Recently, we’ve seen a huge uprising of populist movements-- i.e. politicians supported by a large group of people through using a semi-Us vs Them rhetoric. Donald Trump, the past president who turned the Republican party into Populists vs Traditionalists, strongly pulled in an Us crowd of white conservatives. But Trump’s strong polarization of the country needed a balance on the other side-- a balance Cortez would come to fill. Her “Us” is the group of young, socialist-leaning, Trump hating democrats. Love her policies or don’t, AOC falls into the line of a populist leader. This is where the discomfort over her Met Gala look came in for me.

I’m a strong believer in the idea that politicians should be seen as normal people. When we idolize politicians to a celebrity status, it becomes impossible to hold them accountable. They develop a cult following, in the same way that “Swifties ”would follow singer Taylor Swift to the grave. 

We have seen this happen with former-President Trump, and we are now seeing it with AOC and her “squad.” Cortez dominates the media, with the majority of her information being shared through social media and her strong prevalence in popular culture esk platforms. Her slogans like Tax the Rich have become sweatshirts, T-shirts, signs at protests, and money makers for any politician looking for democratic support.

Now, I’m not going to sit here and argue that we should not tax the rich. But is shmoozing with the exact people we are trying to tax making any difference?

AOC’s gesture is strongly performative. We watched Nancy Pelosi kneel for George Floyd while keeping police reform bills off of the house floor, and now we watch as Cortez puts on a fancy dress with her money-making slogan to dance with the very rich she “works against,” while hundreds of thousands Americans struggle to put food on the table. 

This gesture felt like a move to get re-elected, rather than to make change. When the wealthy celebrities saw AOC’s dress at the Met Gala, did they think “wow, let me write some legislation to have the government tax me more?” No. Hence the emptiness of AOC’s gesture. What did she hope to achieve from this outfit choice? Protesters are marching on the streets, calling for active politicians. And what does this politician do? Sell hoodies with a slogan and take photos of said slogan painted on her back in order to get more votes.

We must take a step back and look at who we support. Who is actually going to make change, and who is a populist claiming they will help the working class while celebritizing themselves to stay in power and partying with the upper class. We need change. We need people like us in the office fighting for our neighbors. This was a disappointment.