For anyone tired of turning on the television to see only Beverly Hills 90210 and election returns, the Internet has an alternative that combines the two. Candidate96, conceived by the design team responsible for MTV's Rock the Vote campaign, is an interactive World Wide Web site which blends the politics of the presidential election campaign, the intrigue of a mystery novel, and the style savvy of MTV.
"It's really a combination of entertainment and awareness,"Eddie Hartman, BR '92, a writer/designer for the project, said. As an interactive site, visitors assume the role of a character in the plot, which unfolds before the viewer's eyes. According to the storyline, the fictitious candidate, Jack Parrish, is drafted to run for office by a fellow phantom politico, 21-year-old Spike Mason. When the Communications Decency Act is passed, Mason realizes that the candidacy that began on a whim has become the only possibility of preventing Internet censorship. As the only Republican presidential candidate willing to oppose the act, Parrish's campaign becomes serious.
According to Hartman, what makes the site unique is the fact that the viewer enters the site randomly as one of the characters, and then has free reign to examine documents, communications, press releases, and media reports as the fictitious campaign unfolds. The viewer is left to piece together the various mysteries that surround the candidate's politics, extramarital affairs, and eventual assassination. "In the traditional forms of media, people have a viewpoint forced on them. Visiting this site is like starting a mystery novel on page 50 and then jumping to page five, or wherever you like," Hartman said.
Apart from its entertainment value, the site is part of a greater protest against the Communications Decency Act. The act, which was passed by Congress and signed by President Clinton earlier this year, allows for censorship of pornography on the Internet, and limits discussion of issues such as abortion.
Opposition to the act has sprouted across the cyber-community in the form of e-mail petitions and the mournfully black backgrounds on thousands of World Wide Web pages.
Candidate96 takes those actions one step further. "Many people are outraged at political actions in this country that are verging on totalitarianism," Hartman said. "This is our small contribution to the fight against the [Communications Decency] act."
The site is operated by AND Interactive, an Internet communications firm, but the company intends to sell the site to MTV. Plans are also being made to conduct real debates between the fictitious candidate and the "real-life" candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination. Although no definite arrangements have been made, an agreement is in the works with National Public Radio to air a debate between Jack Parrish and Bob Dole.
The Candidate96 site can be visited on the Internet at http://www.candidate96.com. Hartman said he hopes that the interactive nature of the site will inspire people to become active participants in the real political world. Perhaps the true message is found on the site's welcome page: "Do politics, before it does you."
Copyright 1996, The Yale Herald, Inc. All rights reserved.
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