August 07, 2007

Universal Health Care Reform Gets Me Warm

Chip Gibbons directed me to this video on the internets which cracked me up:

And then I came across this one:

Now, let me be clear: I don't know of a politician who doesn't disgust me.

Barak Obama irritates me because he's too touchy-feely. Well, that's one of the reasons anyway.

So, the Obama Girl videos are hilarious. Be sure to check out the dance off / sing off with Giuliani Girl. (Giuliani. Now, there's a freak. He doesn't stand a chance.)

So, Joy Behar remarks that Obama Girl looks trampy and she does. That's kind of the point. She does look like a stripper. And what's her name again? Amber Lee or something? Seriously, that's a stripper name.

Joy also remarks that when it is revealed that Obama Girl doesn't know if she'll support Obama, that it's real "hookerville."

See, it's like this: Obama Girl makes a video of her singing about her lurve for Barak Obama. In it, she appears in a bikini and other sexy outfits. She's dancing sexy for the camera. And why does she do it? For attention, of course. Attention for both herself and for Obama.

But then she doesn't know if she'll vote for Obama. So, really, she's willing to put her name -- stripperish, though it may be -- her face, and her body out there in support of someone for no other reason than money. No, it's not prostitution in the sense that she accepts money for sexual favors, but ideologically, it's the very meaning of the word.

I'm glad that Amber Lee has made up her mind and decided to support Barak Obama, but you can't honestly claim that prior to making up her mind, her support for Obama was "hookerville."

That's what pisses me off about the second video.

No one can honestly say that they think Joy meant that simply because Amber Lee hadn't made up her mind to support Obama that she was a ideological whore. Yet that's what the second video conflates her position to be.

That kind of thing pisses me off. It's blatantly dishonest and it's the kind of thing that is all too typical in political campaigns.

Posted by Flibbertigibbet at August 7, 2007 04:04 PM | TrackBack
Comments

You're WAY off on this one.

It's a sketch. She was playing a part. She NEVER implied she liked the guy.

Is Julia roberts a Hooker because she pretended to like Richard Gere?

Who EVER, EVER said doing a funny project where you're in a bathing suit makes you a hooker.

You're saying putting your body out there in support of a candidate essentially makes her a hooker? WHAT?!? She wasn't supporting him. It was a sketch. You're saying every pretty actress whose done a project for the money is essentially a hooker.

Ya'll owe Amber Lee Etinger an apology!

Posted by: tara at August 7, 2007 05:05 PM

There is a huge difference between a movie like Pretty Woman and a political ad masquerading as a music video.

Yes, there is a sense of humor to the ads, but there isn't any reason to think that it's a satire or a farce.

Just because you and Amber Lee can't tell that the Obama Girl ads are, in fact, political ads and not works of fiction doesn't mean anyone should apologize for being more insightful than she should have been.

If you're arguing that she is merely an actress in these ads, then you're arguing exactly my point: her opinion is for sale -- or at least she's willing to pretend that it's her opinion for fame.

Finally, it's "y'all" not "ya'all."

Posted by: Flibbert at August 7, 2007 09:49 PM

It's NOT A POLITICAL AD! how in gods name could you not think this is satire? Do you think SNL is real? The Daily Show? You can do political humor.

Her opinion is for sale? IT'S NOT A FUCKING OPINION - IT'S A JOKE! When Dave Chappelle hires someone to be in one of his political sketches is their opinion for sale?

I like your blog a lot but Tara is so right on this, and you are insanely wrong. Re-read your post. You have to reread the part where you call a comedy video "blatantly dishonest." That is absurd.

Posted by: Randy at August 8, 2007 01:31 AM

Sorry, dude. I completely disagree.

Also, I didn't say that the Obama Girl videos are dishonest, I said that conflating Joy Behar's statement to mean something it obviously doesn't is dishonest. And it is both dishonest and blatantly so.

The videos are funny, yes, but they do also espouse a political ideology. Apart from the hyperbolic crush this woman claims to have on Barak Obama, we have no reason to think she isn't sincere in agreeing with his opinion on things like health care, immigration, and foreign policy.

The video doesn't mock Barak Obama in any way, but actually calls attention to his campaign points. It does so with some humor, but no mocking.

On SNL, they mock the people in question. Their mocking is clear by their bad impersonations, silly costumes, and improbably situational sketches.

Jon Stewart does express a political opinion on his show and everyone believes that he agrees with it. (I've argued that his politics are more liberal than centrist than many care to admit, actually.) But he mocks the candidates by pointing out silly things they say and the obvious contradictions in their statements.

Dave Chapelle and SNL are also rather distinct from the Daily Show in that they are sketch comedy shows whereas the Daily Show is a current events/news satire. The former may employ satire at times, but they don't do so on the scale of the Daily Show and not with the same obvious political agenda.

If Dave Chapelle hired me, for example, to come onto his show to mock the philosophy of Ayn Rand then, yes, I would be an ideological whore.

Satire is an act of mockery. These Obama Girl ads aren't mockery; they do not undermine Barak Obama or his campaign in any way.

Check out Ayn Rand's The Fountainhead in which one of the most evil and disgusting characters ever portrayed describes his method of destroying virtue and self-esteem through humor.

Humor, my friends, is not without ideology. You would do well to remember that.

Posted by: Flibbert at August 8, 2007 12:12 PM
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