YOUTH MAY be wasted on the young, as the Irish playwright George Bernard Shaw put it. But Hollywood is not wasting an opportunity to encourage America's youth to play a pivotal role in the upcoming presidential election.
With fewer than three weeks left until election day, members of the entertainment industry are turning to saucy and provocative new tactics. (What else could you expect from the industry that brought us the game show "Bingo America"?)
Industry politicos and the groups they support hope to engage novice voters with information and spectacle, handing out politically oriented comic books, producing viral videos, holding concerts, parties and comedy shows. Longtime activists such as Norman Lear are pointing out easy ways to register to vote online and, in some rare cases, industry gatekeepers are offering young political participants the most treasured perk of all -- face time with a celebrity or two.
Here's a quick rundown of the (nonpartisan and partisan) happenings:
* Rock the Vote this week unveiled a public-service ad featuring "Entourage's" Adrian Grenier. The ad will be played through Comcast's ad distribution network, YouTube, Facebook, MySpace and various e-mail lists. Directed by Matthew Welch at Savant Films, the video shows Grenier as an investigator questioning a suspect (also played by Grenier).
The dialogue goes like this: "I know you're looking at four to eight, you don't think you matter? What you do doesn't make a difference? I got to tell you, I'm a little scared. I know you can get the information if you want to. In this environment, keep sitting there. We all lose. . . . I know you didn't ask for this. We inherited this mess. So what are you going to do about it?"
The suspect answers: "I'm going to vote."
Rock the Vote also has set up an online "Election Center" at www.rockthevote.com/election to provide voting information.
* The liberal website MoveOn.org this week produced a 30-second television commercial featuring Penn Badgley and Blake Lively, two of the stars of the hit series "Gossip Girl." The spot parodies a drug-prevention ad. But instead of exposing the evils of drugs, Badgley and a cast of other young actors warn parents about the consequences of voting for Sen. John McCain.
