Seeing as it’s a day of the week, Lena Dunham has once again done something to upset non-fans and, in turn, make her fans come to her defense once again. The Girls star, who can seem to not do right by anyone, whether it be about casting choices, her wardrobe, her success as a young woman, or her Emmy opening sequence (okay, that one was actively terrible) has caused yet another stir, this time regarding her political preferences.
The 26-year-old actress/writer/director recently released a video in support of President Barack Obama in which she compares the first time you vote to losing your virginity. “Your first time shouldn’t be with just anybody,” Dunham begins in the ad, “You wanna do it with a great guy….somebody who really cares about and understands women.” Since Dunham has never been one to shy away from bringing conversations about sex to the forefront (any episode of Girls is evidence of that) it gives a little extra wink and a nod that the soon-to-be-author is not only talking about women’s rights, but voting in the election as well.
Dunham goes on to say in the clip that the guy who you choose to bring into the White House should be a guy who “cares about whether you can get birth control … brought the troops out of Iraq.” She also asks whether you’d really want to “do it” with a guy who doesn’t sign the Lilly Ledbetter Act or doesn’t want gays to marry. (In this scenario, and if this were an ’80s comedy, Obama is the sensitive friend who you missed all the signs from and his opponent GOP candidate Mitt Romney is the letterman-wearing jerk.)
“My first time voting was amazing,” she says, adding that the experience transformed her from a girl into a woman. Dunham then tells viewers before giving a giddy smile (see above): “I voted for Barack Obama.” Watch the “controversial” clip in question, which Dunham explained over Twitter by saying, “the video may be light but the message is serious: vote for women’s rights.”
The response on YouTube, thus far, is overwhelmingly negative. The clip has more dislikes than likes and comments such as “This creeps me out in so many levels” and “Ridiculous” sit high on the page. Is this response because of the overwhelming amount of negative reactions Dunham seems to get for anything she says or does or because the ad, instead of coming off as cute and effective, truly does make people (maybe even some of her fans) uncomfortable? Likely a little bit of both.
Of course, no one seems to dislike the message of the video (or it’s “double meaning”) more than Conservatives. The backlash has already been rampant with the right against the ad, with a lot of the focus being on Obama’s “agenda” for Dunham and young women everywhere. Conservative site Breitbart News asked, “How could a president with two young, blossoming daughters release an ad as disgusting as this?” He added, “Apparently Obama sees young women as helpless and sex-obsessed.” Wait… what? Tina Fey, please come help decode that one.
Since there probably won’t be anything to appease the side that is calling this ad campaign “disgusting” and asking if it was “appropriate”, try to keep this in mind: back in 2008, Diddy and co. didn’t actually kill anyone with their Vote or Die campaign, and Lena Dunham isn’t actually encouraging your daughters to have sex. Just some food (hell, maybe even some cake on the toilet, if you so want it) for thought.
What did you think of Lena Dunham’s Obama ad? Harmless and taken wildly out of context, or were you legitimately put off by it? Sound off in the comments section.
Seeing as it’s a day of the week, Lena Dunham has once again done something to upset non-fans and, in turn, make her fans come to her defense once again. The Girls star, who can seem to not do right by anyone, whether it be about casting choices, her wardrobe, her success as a young woman, or her Emmy opening sequence (okay, that one was actively terrible) has caused yet another stir, this time regarding her political preferences. 
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