Actress Megan Prescott has teamed up with Adam McKay in the hope that short online videos of women partially undressing can convince us to save the planet. Will it work?
The world, as we know it, is in trouble. The past three years have been the hottest on record. Global emissions are still at record levels, and the planet continues to teeter on the 1.5°C limit that it has pledged not to exceed. It looks increasingly like we need a real miracle to stop this path to disaster. Could that miracle come from an environmental warning from a woman in pants?
That's the idea behind Headline Newds, a new online video series from actress Megan Prescott, director Bree Essrig, and "climate storytelling strategist" Jessica Riches. Published by the nonprofit Yellow Dot Studios, owned by Adam McKay, creator of The Big Short and Don't Look Up, Headline Newds consists of short videos where the climate emergency is explained in engaging ways by OnlyFans models.
It's an intriguing idea, and not an unfamiliar one. When McKay made The Big Short in 2015, it was a gamble. The story was well-structured, but it sought to understand financial instruments and their impact on the 2008 crisis. Rather than bore the audience with long explanations, he used Margot Robbie to explain things by making provocative movements in the bathtub.
From this, Headline News logically emerged. The first episode, The Sun is Daddy, shows Prescott gradually taking off her clothes as she explains that solar power could meet global energy needs with less land than the fossil fuel industry uses. In her words: “Daddy is a giver.”
Of course, provocation is the key element here. The Yellow Dot website acknowledges that the videos may be removed from Instagram and YouTube for content reasons. However, they will also be available on OnlyFans, where the sense of shame is lower.
In fact, OnlyFans is expected to have the biggest impact. Most viewers on other platforms will go in with a general understanding of what they’re watching, but OnlyFans users probably don’t expect to learn serious details about the climate crisis – thus making the message more effective.
Currently, only one episode has been released, although more are expected to come throughout the month. The first episode is quite general, as most people already know that solar power is a smart energy option.
The good news is that the series is getting better. The upcoming episode, Spank Banks, will feature dominatrix Eva Oh naming the banks that profit the most from global fossil fuel projects while spanking a man in a pig mask. A call to action that suggests that consumer choices can influence banks.
Another episode features model Sabrina Jade explaining all the ways the oil industry has tried to downplay its knowledge of the environmental disaster. This episode is truly educational, even though it's less than two minutes long and has more provocative content than is usually the case in this type of communication.
Is Headline News a success? It depends. As a statement, it has managed to grab attention. As a call to action, it works partially, and there is room for improvement in a second season. As a tool for change, we will have to wait and see. /GazetaExpress/
t7 live
