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October 11, 2005

Stealing Peter's thunder

A number of folks have e-mailed me about the upcoming Lifetime movie Human Trafficking, which is pretty obviously inspired by our friend's article, even as it steals his thunder.

The truth is, the movie actually looks less exploitative than the article, if only because it acknowledges that it's a work of fiction. Viewers will be coming to it for entertainment (Per the Lifetime message boards: "this movie is gonna be so good! Even though these young ladies are in a terrible position. they showed the previews like 3 months ago,and now i gotta wait 1 more month but its worth it! cant wait till it starts") and that's what they'll get.

Oh, sure they're dressing it up with a call to action, and who knows, maybe that'll even do some good, especially if people compelled to learn more turn to an actual source of information, rather than Peter Landesman. That said, it's amusing how the house party tool kit tries to apply an Oprahiffic "personal experiences" lens to an issue like this: "Have you ever been put in a situation where your control over your life was limited? How did you deal with the situation? Take on the identity of one of the trafficked girls. What would you have done in her shoes?" It depends. Were they high heels?

Posted by Daniel Radosh

Comments

I'm sorry, but "Oprahiffic" is not a workable coinage; it requires the aspiration of a silent H. Much as it may seem to stretch the point, you would be required to add the "R" back in to make Oprahriffic for a really useful word. Or better yet, drop the "iffic" and make it something more organic, like "Oprahtive."

That is all.

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