A recent video attacking Rep. Brianna Titone simply crosses a line. Not for being too hard hitting or too tough, but for being plain stupid.
The video employed many of the usual attack ad tactics. Grainy black-and-white picture of Titone on one side. Dark, blurry images flashing on the other. A narrator with dire warnings.
It is the subject matter, though, that makes this an awful production. It is nothing more than an ugly attack on Titone’s sexuality. She is Colorado’s first transgender legislator.
Nominally entitled “History of Violence,” the video begins by claiming Titone “has always supported violence.” But before it can even reach its flimsy evidence for that claim, the narrator jumps into the real point it wants to make.
An otherwise unnecessary clause follows – “when Brianna was known as Brian” – and clearly makes her gender the real attack vector.
The audio real estate within 30-second commercials is extremely limited. Consequently, every word must have a distinct purpose. Using four of the first eight seconds on that phrase was no accident. It represents an intentional choice to make her gender the issue.
