Sexing up politics – BarelyPolitical.com
Debate '08 girls posse -- Politics laid bare?
Launched last month with the "I Got a Crush on Obama" viral video, BarelyPolitical.com has staked out a space that no one has yet dared (or thought about) getting into: hot chicks pretending they care about the electoral process.Their latest entry pits Obama Girl (Amber Lee Ettinger) against an equally attractive Guiliani supporter. It's "Debate '08" Girls Gone Wild-style. The video ends with the two sets of flygirls in a hip-hop shake-off in the streets, and fades to an admonishment to "learn more about politics..." by visiting the site.
We’ll be grinding in the streets
Funny thing is the site says nothing at all about politics-- nothing about the issues, the candidates, or why anyone should care. It does say a lot about the creators (Team: Obama Girl) and the eponymous lip-syncing dancer, plus offers to sell you "I got a crush on Obama" tees and videos. Question is, who's the money going to? If this is a fundraiser for Barak, there's no indication.When the political discourse has degraded into breast-bouncing and pillow fights, one has to wonder if democracy hasn't become just another relic of the previous millennium's idealism (like world peace and no more Die Hard sequels*.) But I'm reminded most of the recent, but little-seen satirical movie from Office Space's Mike Judge: Idiocracy, in which mankind has devolved to lowest-common-denominator stupidity. "Obama Girl" is just a mile marker along that path of good intentions.
*I do have to admit to actually liking Die Hard 4.
Addendum: Two interesting articles on BarelyPolitical's efforts and possible future:
- Pornifying politics, by syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker:"The confluence of the worst of modern American trends - national narcissism, the sexualization of all things animate and otherwise, and the devaluing of currencies from literature to public discourse - has reached a perfect storm of idiocy in the form of MTV-style political videos."
- A Crush on Obama, And An Eye On The Prize, The Huffington Post:"Relles the Wharton grad doesn't want to talk about the business plan, other than saying that, sure, it would be great to earn big bucks consulting or be bought out by a Barry Diller... For now, he is confident that all of that will follow — right now, he's caught up in the moment. "Being part of the political conversation is fun," he says. "What's exciting about this is not cashing out... what's exciting is that we're making these videos and campaigns are paying attention."
