College Humor posted a video about sexual assault and it’s just as hilarious as it is important
Last month, we were totally blown away by the brilliant combination of side-splitting humor and dead-serious political commentary in Amy Schumer’s SNL skit parodying gun control. And now, a new public service announcement from the White House’s “It’s On Us” campaign, created by College Humor, is making a hilarious yet sobering statement about sexual assault. You’d probably think that the word “hilarious” doesn’t belong anywhere near a video about sexual assault, but the good people of College Humor REALLY got it right here.
The video features various New Girl stars, including Jake Johnson and Lamorne Morris, having a bro session in a garage. . . only to have their evening interrupted by a ferocious, terrifying bear, roaring just beyond the door. You know, a situation that would normally send everyone running for the hills. But Jake Johnson’s character just tries to play the situation off as if it’s totally NBD, using all the lines many would use to dismiss sexual violence and assault in college:
Though it’s a totally hysterical concept — not to mention a wonderful moment seeing the New Girl guys reunited once more — the PSA sheds light on an incredibly important issue. One in five women will be sexually assaulted by the time they finish college, reads a very grave statistic at the end of the video. And by replacing sexual assault with a bear, it uses the ridiculousness of the situation to show how terribly the nation has been handling the national crisis that is sexual assault. And ignoring it won’t make it go away.
“As a bro, you kind of look the other way and there’s a line a bro won’t cross against another bro,” Johnson told reporters about the video. “. . . I think that is so tired.”
The video was posted before the “It’s On Us” campaign entered its second annual week of action, Huffington Post reported. The campaign aims to raise awareness surrounding sexual assault, as well as “identify situations in which sexual assault may occur. . . intervene in situations where consent has not or cannot be given. . . [and] create an environment in which sexual assault is unacceptable and survivors are supported,” according to the It’s On Us official website. Next week, vice president Joe Biden will be speaking at Morehouse College, the U.S. Navel Academy, and Clemson University to speak about sexual assault on college campuses.
Check out the full video below in all its glory.
(Image via College Humor)
