Critics Corner: WGA Strike PSAs

It's not fair that our sister, LAist, gets all of the great writers strike coverage. Alas. But the Bay Area's own Sean Penn has joined the noble striking effort. He helped to create the above Writers Guild of America-conceived video for "Project Speechless," videos that feature A-list thespionic talent. What's more, they found a way of making Mr. Penn funny. (We kid, Sean. Please don't hit us. Not that you'll have the chance.)

Anyway, this campaign doesn't seem too effective. People will either find it funny (internalizing the message that actors can be entertaining without dialogue), or they will find it boring (and won't internalize anything because they don't care.) We think it's sorta funny, but akin to seeing protesters with duct tape around their mouths signifying censorship. In an attempt to jar to viewer, the whole concept collapses on its righteous self.

A better campaign might have been Sean Penn recreating Jeff Spicoli and maybe uttering the line "All I need are some tasty waves, a cool... something or other, and I'm... I have no idea." Or something like that. That said, we wish the strikers all the best and quick return to writing. (Also, will Marlee Matlin or other lip-readers out there please let us know what Sean is saying? For the life of us, we can't make it out.)