Hello, Gays:
Can we talk for a second? It’s about Proposition 8.
Now, I live, like, a bajillion miles from California, and I know there’s, like, a one-in-a-bajillion chance that Louisiana will ever willingly allow gaymarriage. (It’ll take the intervention of the National Guard for that. Assuming they ever come back from Iraq.) But obviously, I’m 100% against Prop 8. Defeating it is important to everyone–gay and straight–and will bring America one step closer to the inevitable passage of nationwide legal rights for GLBT couples.
However, I have to say, I’m kinda on the fence about this:
I mean, yes, everyone needs to work really hard to defeat the amendment, and yes, viral videos are a cheap and easy way to spread the word, but I dunno… This particular spot feels a little underwhelming.
Commercials are not lectures: they have to make a visceral connection with viewers. But apart from the (overworked) Mac/PC gag, I don’t remember anything about this piece. The actors spout a lot of facts, but where’s the emotional appeal? I’m not asking for an hysterical Sally Struthers, “Please think of the children” pitch, but this feels really flat–almost like a waste of time. Or like you could’ve spent your time in a better way.
I don’t have any commercials of my own to add, so I guess I don’t have any right to bitch. But I have a sneaking suspicion that this isn’t going to tip the odds in our favor. If it’s true, as Susan Sontag said, that “[h]omosexuals have pinned their integration into society on promoting the aesthetic sense”, we lost an opportunity to leverage our aesthetic sensibilities for political gain. And if our over-zealous brethren keep beating up Prop 8 proponents, we’re going to need a LOT of those opportunities in the next few weeks.
Sorry to harsh your buzz, and thanks for your consideration.
xoxo/Richard
sturtle [dot] com 