Hollywood’s latest pre-election production features several longtime actors solemnly swearing to “support and defend the Constitution” in a carefully edited political public service announcement. Jamie Lee Curtis, Robert De Niro, Noah Wyle, and Martin Sheen joined two additional participants in reciting an oath associated with federal officials and military personnel. The video was released as part of a campaign encouraging Americans to record and share their own versions. Its arrival came less than two months before voters head to the polls for the midterm elections.
The American Constitution Society posted the video on Instagram as part of what it calls “The Oath Project.” The organization launched the campaign for Constitution Day and described it as a nonpartisan effort centered on defending the country’s founding document. The video gives no detailed explanation of what threats the participants believe require the new campaign. Instead, it relies on familiar Hollywood faces, grave expressions, and a line-by-line recitation of the oath.
The PSA opens with each participant introducing himself or herself to the camera. Curtis, Wyle, De Niro, former federal judge J. Michael Luttig, Martin Sheen, and retired Army Col. Isaiah “Ike” Wilson III all appear. Sheen introduces himself using his birth name, Ramón Gerard Estévez, before adding that he is also known as Martin Sheen. The introductions are stitched together before the group begins the oath.
As Breitbart News reported, the participants divide the pledge into individual lines, with the camera cutting from one speaker to another. “And I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic,” the group says. The editing allows each celebrity to deliver only a small portion before another face appears. The effect resembles a political campaign commercial.
The group continues, “That I will continue to bear true faith and allegiance to the same, and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion.” None of the actors identifies a particular “foreign or domestic” enemy during the video. The speakers also don’t name a specific constitutional provision they believe is threatened.
The project leaves viewers to supply their own political meaning as the midterm campaign intensifies, though it’s heavily implied by the inclusion of the actors and their previous statements that they’re referring to Trump and his administration. Curtis delivers the closing individual line, saying, “I am proud to affirm my oath to the Constitution.” The video then places all six participants on screen together for the final appeal. “And I hope you will, too,” they say in unison. A graphic promoting “The Oath Project” appears as the PSA concludes.
Watch the Hollywood oath here:
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The language used in the video closely tracks the oath taken by members of Congress and many federal officials. The official oath published by the U.S. Senate requires members to swear that they will support and defend the Constitution against all enemies, bear true faith and allegiance to it, and take the obligation freely. It also requires them to promise that they will “well and faithfully discharge” the duties of the office they are entering. The Senate traces the current language to the Civil War era, when questions of divided loyalty drove Congress to expand the original oath.
The celebrity version drops the portion concerning the faithful discharge of an official office, which none of the participating actors is entering through the video. It also omits the traditional closing phrase, “So help me God.” That language appears at the end of the congressional and military versions discussed in the report. The final result is a shortened, voluntary pledge designed for social-media participation.
“This Constitution Day, we’re launching The Oath Project — a nonpartisan invitation to record and share an oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States,” the American Constitution Society said in its caption. “These participants are adding their voices. We hope you’ll add yours,” the organization continued. It then instructed viewers to “Take the oath on your own or with your community, make it your own, and invite others to join you.”
Featured image credit: screengrab from the embedded video.