Instant Guide to the Farm Bill: Video
August 28, 2007
Those clever film folks who make The Meatrix videos, have a new one out on the Farm Bill. Can’t understand the Farm Bill? Try this–it won’t take long–and see if it helps. It is also at this site.
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It is unfortunate that this seems to be a bit childish, albeit funny at times, and just seems to come of as not as serious as it could be. I think it just misses a great opportunity.
More effective would be doing something that the politicians might notice rather than something that is just ‘YouTube’ standard.
Comment by Mark D. — August 28, 2007 @ 9:47 pm
Well, I disagree with Mark D–this video is designed to be fun to watch for regular ole Americans who couldn’t string two sentences together pertaining to the Farm Bill. Politicians are not going to be swayed by this, and they’re not supposed to be. It is to get the politician’s contstituents interested in the issue. Now, whether that will end up mattering or not is worthy of debate, but I really doubt much of anything that The Meatrix folks could’ve done would have any impact on politicians, anyway. I think they made a very good choice in their target audience, and produced a successful video for that audience.
Now…. must figure out how to embed this video in my blog! Quite the contrary of it being “YouTube” standard (though I take the point), I wish it *were* on YouTube, as it would get better and easier distribution!
Comment by Robyn M. — August 29, 2007 @ 10:22 am
On one hand, the video does a good job of making the basic point that it’s a crooked bill controlled by corporations, and that it affects everyone, not just farmers. My concern is that neither the video nor the website really have clear statements of what needs to be done.
“Where on earth (you ask) can I get clear explanation of the Farm Bill (geared toward adults) along with clear and specific proposals for reform?” I suggest you check out:
http://www.agobservatory.org/issue_farmbill2007.cfm
Comment by JimH — August 29, 2007 @ 3:42 pm