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Showing posts with label Ben Relles. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ben Relles. Show all posts

Thursday, October 7, 2010

The Good Wife 2.2: Lou Dobbs, Joe Trippi, and Obama Girl

A superb Good Wife 2.2 on CBS this week, at turns riveting, delightful, and all together captivating.

The legal drama part was about as powerful as you'll find on the best lawyer show.  Will and Alicia represent an accused murderer who is acquitted, mainly because they smartly moved to exclude questionable evidence.  As Will says to Alicia, cases are won on the success of attempted exclusions.  But Cary for the prosecution is furious.  He's sure the client is guilty, and feeds a friend in the military some of the excluded evidence that makes the client look guilty.  What does the military have to do with this?   Turns out the acquitted Randy Simmons was in the military at the time the crime was committed, so they have jurisdiction - and another bite of the apple, because double jeopardy does not apply from civilian to military courts (just as it didn't with OJ from criminal to civil courts).

The military trial was outstanding, as good in its maneuvering as the kind of trial seen in A Few Good Men.   Will and Alicia face a tough judge, but they manage to out-maneuver and win her over in the end.  That was the serious part of the show.

The fun part involved the real Lou Dobbs and the real Joe Trippi as conflicting clients with the firm - conflicting because Trippi is Diane's client, Dobbs is being brought in by Derrick (Mr. Bond), and Trippi and Dobbs have bad political blood between them.   It's great to see real people woven so well into a fictional television show.

But in many ways the most fun part of the evening - with serious bite as well - concerns an Obama Girl-like video made by Florrick's former prostitute, Amber Madison.   I don't who wrote or sang the song, but it sounds exactly like the excellent hilarious work of Leah Kauffman, responsible for the writing and singing in Obama Girl.  And the production is a dead-on perfect satiric take on the original Obama Girl video produced by Ben Relles.   It's also worth noting that Amber Lee Ettinger played the original Obama Girl, and, well, as mentioned above, Florrick's prostitute is named Amber.

In our real world, outside of television, the Obama Girl video helped humanize Obama at a time when he needed to get known by Americans (see New New Media for more on the impact of the Obama Girl video on the Obama campaign).  But along with this serious impact, the Obama Girl video was fun - it was comedic satire.   The Florrick Girl video was delightful for we the viewers to see, but in the context of the show that was little funny about it.   Rather, it was created by Childs as a way of hurting Peter.   It's a Nixonian dirty trick, tailored for our viral video age, and Becca may be trying to retaliate by setting up a bogus Facebook-like page for Childs' son, where he will say bad things about his father.

I can't think of a better mix of real and fictional politics on a television show which breaks new ground with just about every episode.

See also Obama Girl Applauded in my Class at Fordham ... An Interview with Obama Girl Producer Ben Relles ... The Barely Political Revolution

and The Good Wife Starts Second Season on CBS




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The Plot to Save Socrates



"challenging fun" - Entertainment Weekly

"a Da Vinci-esque thriller" - New York Daily News

"Sierra Waters is sexy as hell" - curled up with a good book


Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Obama Girl to Hillary (with Love): Stop the Attacks!

Obama Girl is back with a brand new video - like her others, a mix of sage political advice (Hillary - stop attacking Obama, it only helps McCain), hilarious, incisive lyrics and special effects (my favorite, for some reason, is Obama Girl talking to Hillary in the diner), and a great, catchy tune.

Kudos, plaudits, and accolades to Ben Relles's BarelyPolitical.com team, Amber Lee Ettinger as Obama Girl, and Leah Kauffman for the songs and the singing. "Everyone's got a crush on Obama ... Chris Matthews, Bill Richardson, even George Clooney..." ... Hey, this video even has Bill Clinton playing a mournful saxophone...

Here's a special preview ... as I've been saying since the summer, when the history of this revolutionary campaign for the presidency is written, I guarantee it will have a chapter on the contribution of the Obama Girl videos to the YouTube generation...

(At the very least, I'll be writing about this in my new book - New New Media - watch for an announcement about that here soon.)



Additional links -

Interview I did with Ben Relles this Fall

Obama Girl visits my class at Fordham University

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Hillary Clinton Swings Wildly at Obama - Saturday Night Live Provides Comic Relief

It was predictable. When candidates get desperate, they make mountains out of molehills. They take huge offense at their opponents. They try to make federal cases out of any criticism they receive.

Hillary Clinton is down to her last two primaries. Not only does she need to win in Texas and Ohio, she needs to win by very big margins to catch up to Obama.

She spoke well in the debate on Tuesday, but so did Obama. The result was no stop in his surging popularity.

So, it was predictable. Take a look at this video ...



This is about, what? Obama's mailings say Clinton would require everyone to purchase health insurance? That's true, strictly speaking. And although it is also true that Clinton's plans would provide tax subsidies for people who can not afford to purchase this insurance, this does not erase Obama's point that everyone is nonetheless required to be part of this system, in contrast to his health plan.

Does making that point make Obama guilty of using Karl Rove-like tactics? Does it justify Hillary saying "shame on you, Barack Obama"?

I think, sadly, it shows how desperate Hillary Clinton is for votes. She'll need more than Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland, nodding his head yes like a puppet behind her, to win in Ohio and Texas.

She ends her unfortunate tirade saying "meet me in Ohio" to Barack Obama. I hope she reconsiders her tactics in the next two days, and doesn't leave the stage with this manufactured anger as the parting image Americans will have of her 2008 campaign...

***

Meanwhile, on a lighter note, did you catch the opening skit on Saturday Night Live last night? Another "replay" of Tuesday's debate between Obama and Clinton, with good satire of not only the candidates but the CNN moderators, including a question from the real Obama Girl - Amber Lee Ettinger - in the audience. Ben Relles, producer of the Obama Girl videos, has long said that he conceived of the videos as SNL skits, YouTube style. Now Obama Girl has literally come to Saturday Night Live - which is the fantasy and which the reality?

What's true is Barack Obama's on his way to being elected President. And, in some small but significant way, at the very beginning of this process last year, Ben Relles and Amber Lee Ettinger had something to do with this, by bringing Obama to the appealing attention of the YouTube generation.

Thursday, November 1, 2007

BarelyPolitical.com Gives Ann Coulter the Business!



The BarelyPolitical.com team - Leah Kaufmann as songwriter/singer, and Ben Relles producer - turns its satirical attention to Ann Coulter in the above video. Except, rather than the Obama Girl videos which we were fun, this Coulter video has a much deserved serious political bite to the satire. (Well, the Giuliani video had a little of that bite, but this Coulter performance has much more.)

Obama Girl Amber Lee Ettinger - who I was pleased to have lecture in my class at Fordham in September (along with Ben Relles) - makes just a quick cameo appearance in this production. Instead, Kaufmann takes front and center stage - not only as singer and songwriter, as she was in the Obama Girl videos, but as the singer we can see.

Kaufmann is easily the leading satirical lyricist around these days. "Perfect me, make me petty, I want to be hateful like Ann Coulter...," Kaufmann beseeches Coulter, picking up on her comment that Jews need to be "perfected"...

I'd say Kaufmann, judging by her talent as a writer, singer, and now a performer, is already there.

And BarelyPolitical.com continues in its work as the best new-media satire operation around.

See also:

Obama Girl Applauded in my Class at Fordham


and The Barely Political Revolution

Friday, September 21, 2007

Obama Girl Applauded In My Class At Fordham This Afternoon


I just got back from my Intro to Communication and Media Studies class at Fordham University, where I had the pleasure of Obama Girl Amber Lee Ettinger and Obama Girl producer Ben Relles as my special guests.

They were wonderful. I have a feeling the 50 minutes they spent with my class will be one of the high points in their higher education.

Ben Relles had visited a class of mine at Fordham once before - my graduate-level "Propaganda and Persuasion" class this summer. I also interviewed him for an episode of my Light On Light Through podcast. So I knew him to be a very thoughtful, literate producer, with a keen understanding of the political and social impact, as well as the aesthetics, of the videos he has produced.

I was delighted to find that Amber Lee also has an astute awareness of the impact of her videos, and her role in them. She fielded tough questions from my large (120 students) undergraduate class. Q: How did she feel about her parents seeing her in these videos? A: She's happy, because her parents are proud of her (good answer!). Q: Does she really support Barack Obama for President? A: She hasn't completely made up her mind - she's an actress. Q: How does she feel about the reaction of Obama's campaign and family to her videos? A: The videos are comedy, satire, and she hopes people will take them that way. (Ben Relles said much the same.) Etc.

It's rare in higher or any kind of education to have the real thing before your class - in contrast to an observer talking about it.

I'm really grateful that Amber Lee and Ben were able to come by.

They are both part of the ignition of a true revolution in media and politics, in which YouTube, blogs, and podcasts, made by people not necessarily already established, are reaching millions of people. This is a profound shift away from the mass-media dominated field which still reigns today - though in an increasingly diminished role.

I'll be teaching a new graduate course at Fordham this Spring - "Politics and the New Media" - so look for a lot more from me about this, especially the continuing impact of Ben Relles and Amber Lee Ettinger and BarelyPolitical.com, in the days, weeks, and months ahead.

In the meantime, the picture above is of Amber Lee and me taken in my office right before my class. And my podcast interview with Ben Relles follows.




Thursday, September 13, 2007

Interview with Obama Girl Producer Ben Relles

It's Rosh Hashanah - the Jewish New Year, 5768 - and, in addition to wishing everyone a Happy New Year, with lots of honey, how's this for a segue -

Another video response to "Crush On Obama Girl" - Rosh Hashanah Girl - went up on YouTube two weeks ago. It's good, and funny, and already has more than 200,000 views...

Which goes to show how thoroughly Ben Relles' BarelyPolitical.com videos have already permeated our culture.

So, what better time to post the podcast interview I conducted with Ben Relles last week! We discuss how Ben and the team came up with the idea for Obama Girl ... how Amber Lee Ettinger came to be Obama Girl ... the role of songwriter singer Leah Kauffman ... Barack Obama and his family and campaign's reactions to the Obama Girl videos, and Ben's response to these reactions ... plus, placement of BarelyPolitical.com in the history and future of political satirical television and video...

You can listen to this on my Light On Light Through podcast page, or just click on the player below...







interview with Ben Relles


Ben RellesAmber Lee EttingerLeah Kauffman

see also The Barely Political Revolution ...

Wednesday, August 8, 2007

BarelyPolitical.com Goes Meta!

Hey, the BarelyPolitical.com gang is at it again, with this sharp spoof of political attack ads ... in this case, in the form of an attack ad against BarelyPolitical's own Obama Girl (they're fair and balanced)...



I miss the incredibly catchy Obama Girl songs, but it's good to see BarelyPolitical.com moving into meta-analysis - satirizing the attack ad. From the outset, these YouTuber political-zinger videos were more than just fun - though they are hilarious, too (my favorite shot in this one: Obama Girl is flip-flopping on whether she'll meet with Iranian President Ahmadinejad) (also good is Obama Girl - Amber Lee Ettinger - on Howard Stern). But with this new ad, Ben Relles and the BarelyPolicical.com team are moving into serious, New Yorker cartoon, Lenny Bruce-type political critique and satire.

And keep an eye out for the ending of this one - turns out this attack on Obama Girl was sponsored by Romney Girls ... who appear to be triplets or clones or ...

Hmmm ... more evidence, from an unexpected source, that Mitt Romney may be a Cylon...

See also

The Barely Political Revolution

Is Mitt Romney A Cylon?

Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Ben Relles - Obama Girl producer - Talked To My Class Tonight At Fordham

And Ben revealed some great nuggets - about how the Obama Girl videos came to be, and what we can expect in the future ...

1. The Obama Girl video (I've Got a Crush on Obama) began as "I've Got a Crush on Jack Bauer" ... but real politics hit Ben as the better way to go. I urged to him eventually do the Jack Bauer video anyway - I'm always looking out to help fans of 24...

2. Ben and his team scrutinized YouTube before embarking on the project - they discovered that, with all the attention the comedy skits get, the most popular videos were music. Hence the catchy songs in both the "I've Got a Crush on Obama" and "Obama Girl vs. Giuliani Girl" (Debate 08) videos.

3. Leah Kauffman wrote the first drafts of the lyrics. They were much hotter than what made it to YouTube (which are pretty hot, anyway ... "I want Giuliani on me...")

4. Ben also told the class what the next release will be in the Obama Girl series. In fact, we saw a rough cut of it. I'm sworn to secrecy - but stay tuned here for very first word of it.

5. Obama Girl (Amber Lee Ettinger) will also be appearing as an interviewer of some of the Democratic candidates in the YouTube/CNN debates last week. These are interviews with some of the real candidates that she conducted last week in South Carolina. My favorite bit: an interview with Dennis Kucinich, who appears ever briefly in "Debate 08" (Obama Girl vs. Giuliani Girl).

It's never been more fun being a professor, and teaching a course in Propaganda and Persuasion.

If Obama is elected President - or Vice President - or even gets the Democratic nomination for President or VP, Ben Relles and the impact he's having with the Obama Girl videos will deserve part of the credit for that.

See also

The Barely Political Revolution

and BarelyPolitcal.com Goes Meta!
InfiniteRegress.tv