There is no doubt that Will & Grace is one of the funniest sitcoms to roll around PJ (that is a demarcation of time the gay community uses that stands for “Post Judy [Garland]”). And it continues to bring the yuks in its new pro-Hillary Clinton video that it released on Monday night just hours before Clinton took on Donald Trump in the first presidential debate.
The 10-minute clip kicks off with Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace (Debra Messing) being equally pissed off from something they read online except Will is mad about the Trump ascendancy and Grace is angry that Jamie Dornan used a butt double in the 50 Shades of Grey movie. It’s a classic move from this sitcom, as is Jack (Sean Hayes) showing up and wondering why everything in the fridge is 10 years old or Will and Jack trying to convince everyone that not all gays think alike and then launching into a simultaneous tirade about Ryan Lochte on Dancing with the Stars.
But, like always, all of the really great lines to go Karen (Megan Mullally), the vacuous socialite and Trump supporter who has built a wall in her backyard to keep her housekeeper Rosario out of the main house. Of course Karen is more of a caricature of a Trump voter and she claims that she helped Trump “pick out” Melania like she was a mail-order bride and marvels at the “mahogany brown of the staff” at Mar-a-Lago (Which takes on a different meaning after the first debate when Trump’s claim that he isn’t racist is that his clubs allow members of all races to join.)
This is where the video fails. One of the biggest problems of this election is that liberals like Will and Grace (and the creative team behind this) treat Trump as a punchline. They don’t take his proposals or those who are swayed by them seriously. These tactics are not going to sway voters to be #ImWithHer supporters, they’re just going to reconfirm misguided notions that Trump’s America has about “Hollywood liberals” and how they don’t understand their plight.
The second half of the video then focuses on trying to convince Jack, an uneducated white male who happens to vote in Pennsylvania, that he should support Clinton. Grace gives an impassioned speech about how cracking the glass ceiling would be important, but what ultimately convinces him is that Katy Perry is a big Clinton fan, something that probably won’t sway most Pennsylvania voters.
There’s no doubt that it’s a good gag though, and every laugh is truly earned. It was great to see the old gang back in action and they’re all still as sharp and funny as they were when the show was in its heyday. But this clip was more preaching to the choir and a nice diversion for those who already support Clinton. If the aim was to win the election, it might not convince all the undecided voters out there to join the liberal cause.
However there is one truly subversive joke when Grace tells Karen that Trump says awful things about Karen’s maid who is a Mexican American. Will retorts: “She’s from El Salvador.” Grace replies: “Same difference.” This highlights that liberals, while trying to do good, don’t even realize some of their blind spots. Unfortunately, I’m afraid this modest, topical entertainment is going to fall squarely into one of those blind spots.
