Animation as Propaganda

As we approach election day, the airwaves have been blackened with rhetorical flack as the two parties try to pick off what undecided voters remain.   But of all the political propaganda I have seen this fall, this short, Why Obama Now is the best.  WHY?  Because the filmmaker, Lucas Grey, took one of President Obama's stump speeches and illustrated it in animation.  And while this may not sound interesting, it is very well done.

The still frame is very misleading - this is not another silly Jib-Jabesque cut-out photo face thing.  Grey uses the medium of animation to visually sell the President's views on economics.  The graphics - a stylized animation reminiscent of U.P.A. - is a perfect counterpoint to Obama's monotone delivery.  Grey not only animates the content of the speech, he adds material to support the speech as well.
It's as intelligently done as it is skillful.   You may not agree with the viewpoint, but I don't think anyone could argue with the quality of the short.

Why Obama Now is another great example of the magic of animation.  Ideas are communicated with stripped-down, simplified visuals that entertain as they inform.
-Steve

ObamaCare and Me

Yes, I'm weighing in on health insurance.

My wife, Donna, and I did not have health insurance when she was diagnosed with cancer last year. (see earlier post.)  She had left a job with insurance, and was looking into buying private insurance when it all hit the fan.

Thanks to the Affordable Health Care Act (a.k.a. ObamaCare), we were able to get insurance even with Donna's pre-existing condition.  If opponents of this law had had their way (and they eventually may),  we would have been denied insurance, and would have faced severe financial stress while trying to fight a life threatening disease.

There's been an awful lot of nasty rhetoric being tossed around, decrying this law as unconstitutional. An invasion of privacy.  An attack on our freedom.

I thought they were talking about Facebook.

This is about health insurance.  Not Communism.  Not the Taliban.  Not gay whales.  Not Mo-Cap.   Health insurance.  We are being forced to get insurance. Insurance companies are being forced to insure the sick.  That's the deal.

Some gnash their teeth in panic, imagining that their fears and prejudices come to life and gang-bang them in the name of ObamaCare.  Donna and I experienced this law in the real world, first hand.  It helped us.  That's not a Democratic thing nor a Republican thing.  It's a human thing.
-Steve

And now, a cartoon.....

Bimbo's Initiation

Not unlike getting a law through Congress.