The midterm elections are just two months away, and if some audiences weren’t aware of how important voting is, leave it to liberal celebrities to give a condescending civics lesson and drone on about the fragility of our democracy.
HBO has fully committed to making political advertisements packaged with the megawatt smiles of its stars. As a partner of the non-profit voters’ awareness group, Rock The Vote, the cable company has produced another liberal promotion ahead of the November midterm vote.
Although there’s no overt plug for either political party in these advertisements, it’s hard to view it as anything other than a progressive ad considering that all the featured actors often share radical lefty opinions.
Released on Tuesday — National Voting Day, no less — the HBO promo featured stars from the company’s current content lineup. Maggie Gyllenhaal (The Deuce,) Jeffrey Wright and Ed Harris (Westworld,) Kumail Nanjiani (Silicon Valley,) Sarah Jessica Parker (Divorce,) and Lena Dunham (Camping) all appeared onscreen in their support for the democratic process.
The premise for this most recent promo was slightly different than previous iterations. Where before you had ads with the likes of Olivia Wilde and Jamie Foxx putting on their best desperation faces and imploring voters to throw away the second amendment, Rock The Vote opted for a subtler approach.
Each of the stars appeared onscreen for a brief moment, but instead of saying anything, they observed a moment of silence, as this year’s theme was about the viewer’s voice being heard. After the celeb appearances, the ad read, “Right now, there’s only one voice that needs to be heard. Yours.”
The thought of rabid liberals shutting up and listening for a change was an interesting twist that seemed to make for a more conciliatory political statement. But really, is it all that believable that crazed feminists such as Dunham and Gyllenhaal, or hysterical never-Trumpers like Nanjiani and Jeffrey Wright could sit there and conscientiously listen to views from across the spectrum? Not really. The thoughtful and pensive demeanors displayed in the commercial seemed to reflect hearing regurgitated progressive statements from like-minded liberals.
Does anyone believe that Lena Dunham could politely listen to anything other than a screeching affirmation that the gender wage gap is killing women? And even without open Trump-shaming, one can almost still see a seething fury behind the polished celeb veneer that says, “Get Trump NOW!”
Of course this is about creating the blue wave, whether they say it or not. On the brightside though, it sure was a refreshing change to have these individuals on screen without the physical pain of their ear-grating opinions, regardless of the heavily-implied political stance.
