Features, Social

Kellie Leitch And *That* Video

2297
It's been a while since Kellie Leitch first announced she was running for leadership of the Conservative Party of Canada. From the get-go, her platform drew criticism for its not-so-subtle xenophobic undertones, including talks of intensifying Canada's immigrant screening process and protecting "core Canadian values" (whatever that means). Then, a few days ago, Leitch went ahead and released an 8 minute-long campaign video which showed the politician in a room, alone, soliloquizing about her platform points whilst maintaining a creepy on-and-off eye contact with the camera. Her "film" bears striking resemblance to this infamous Chanel No5 ad featuring Brad Pitt. Both involve embarrassingly awkward monologues and choppy, blond bobs-- though to Leitch's credit, her hair is hands-down the better of the two. You can watch Leitch's version in all its questionable glory below: There are so many questions begging to be asked. The foremost being: why? Was it to seem more likeable? To reassure people that she was cool and like totally, not at all, not even one tiny bit racist? Did she just really want to be a meme? Also, what's up with all the pauses? Huffington Post Canada calculated that Leitch spent one minute and 57 seconds of her eight minute and 33 second-long video in silence. This means more than an eighth of the video focused on absolutely nothing except the sound of her breathing. Then again, perhaps we should be grateful. The silences were indeed a welcomed reprieve from her longwinded elaborations about "Canadian identity" and "tolerance" (essentially xenophobe-speak for "BE EXACTLY LIKE US".) She also used it as an opportunity to showcase her range as a thespian; sitting down, standing up, looking into the camera, looking off into the distance, not looking at all because she was closing her eyes-- Leitch maintained her meditative trance through it all. The one good thing I will say is this: Leitch's pant suit game is on point. While Hilary favoured bolder, more garish hues like cobalt blue and cherry red, Leitch stays true to the classic black suit, adding a dash of visual interest with a silk lapel and matching waist-tie. And yes, I know, it is somewhat sexist to comment on a female politician's appearance instead of her policies. But upon watching the video, I think you'd agree that her sartorial prowess was the one bright spot in an otherwise steaming hot mess. I lied. The second bright spot is the Twitter roasting. Enjoy! #cdnpoli. by Imaiya Ravichandran

Comments are off this post!