To vaccinate, or not to vaccinate? That is the question Alex Hluch (Production – M.F.A. ’16) is answering loud and clear in his quippy video “How Anti-Vaxxers Sound to Normal People,” which recently went viral with over 1 million views on YouTube and is quickly spreading throughout major news and social media outlets such as HuffPost Living, The Daily Dot, BuzzFeed and Bustle.
Heated debate about vaccine policies have taken place on an international level since the measles outbreak at Disneyland this February, which has largely been blamed on those who choose not to vaccinate their children, weakening the effects of “herd immunity.”
The video takes a satirical look at “anti-vaxxer” parental hysteria over the inconclusive health risks of vaccinating ones child, likening refusal to vaccinate to watching one’s own house burn down and refusing to put the fire out, in turn endangering neighbor’s homes, because “every home needs to learn how to burn.”
“Most of my humor comes out of anger and disbelief, and this case was no exception,” says Hluch, one half of Girl Pants Productions, a production company Hluch started two years ago with his best friend from his previous M.F.A. program in acting at the University of Central Florida.
“What’s truly encouraging is that we’ve received incredible support from both sides of the fence. Both conservative and liberal sites have picked us up and supported our message quite profusely.”
Hluch is a self described “HUGE nerd” and cameos in all of Girl Pants Productions’ sketches, which range from Doctor Who fan fiction to a video he launched yesterday called “How Gender Inequality Sounds to Normal People.“ After LMU’s own mission, Hluch is not afraid to use his comedy as a tool to promote social justice and challenge damaging cultural beliefs.
Subscribe to Girl Pants Productions, and watch “How Anti-Vaxxers Sound to Normal People” above.