Politics might make for strange bedfellows, but the digital entertainment business is capable of pairing some unusual bunkmates in its own right.
Just look at the newest tenant at budding Internet empire Or Die Networks, home to Funny Or Die, Will Ferrell's comedy dot-com. The company is branching out into new fields, each with celebrity poster boys attached to their corresponding sites, including skateboard guru Tony Hawk for action-sports hub Shred Or Die and video game god Fatal1ty for gamer haven Pwn Or Die.
But they are no comparison to the surprise attending the latest addition to the Or Die world. In November, the site quietly added GreatAmericans.com to its suite. It is billed as a home for “positive role models," particularly men and women in uniform, from our armed forces abroad to the cops or firemen in local neighborhoods. It's a strange fit to say the least to see such high-minded content among the snark and sass that pervades the rest of Or Die Networks.
But if GreatAmericans.com is an unlikely addition to the Or Die family, its charter member might strike an even odder presence. Creator and executive producer Matt Daniels introduces himself on the site's home page in a video in which he is seen descending a subway escalator in a rough section of Harlem, an area where he grew up poor. He tells us he might never have survived were it not for role models in his life, thus inspiring a website that serves as a showcase for other heroes.
But what Daniels doesn't mention, nor does the press release that announced the site's launch, is his claim to fame. Five years ago, Daniels was a leading opponent of legalizing gay marriage and even authored a proposed constitutional amendment banning the practice. As founder of Alliance for Marriage, he emerged as a high-profile figure in the conservative movement one election cycle before the gay-marriage issue exploded again in the form of the controversial Proposition 8 in California,
Just look at the newest tenant at budding Internet empire Or Die Networks, home to Funny Or Die, Will Ferrell's comedy dot-com. The company is branching out into new fields, each with celebrity poster boys attached to their corresponding sites, including skateboard guru Tony Hawk for action-sports hub Shred Or Die and video game god Fatal1ty for gamer haven Pwn Or Die.
But they are no comparison to the surprise attending the latest addition to the Or Die world. In November, the site quietly added GreatAmericans.com to its suite. It is billed as a home for “positive role models," particularly men and women in uniform, from our armed forces abroad to the cops or firemen in local neighborhoods. It's a strange fit to say the least to see such high-minded content among the snark and sass that pervades the rest of Or Die Networks.
But if GreatAmericans.com is an unlikely addition to the Or Die family, its charter member might strike an even odder presence. Creator and executive producer Matt Daniels introduces himself on the site's home page in a video in which he is seen descending a subway escalator in a rough section of Harlem, an area where he grew up poor. He tells us he might never have survived were it not for role models in his life, thus inspiring a website that serves as a showcase for other heroes.
But what Daniels doesn't mention, nor does the press release that announced the site's launch, is his claim to fame. Five years ago, Daniels was a leading opponent of legalizing gay marriage and even authored a proposed constitutional amendment banning the practice. As founder of Alliance for Marriage, he emerged as a high-profile figure in the conservative movement one election cycle before the gay-marriage issue exploded again in the form of the controversial Proposition 8 in California,
