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Image Credit: I Made America

When in the course of human events it becomes necessary for one person to distract herself from work, Facebook provides. Through the The Second City Network I found a video entitled “Founding Fathers History Pick-Up Lines.” Clearly, I couldn’t resist. I was deeply amused to watch Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, George Washington, and John Adams seduce modern women with such lines as “It’s not the Louisiana Purchase, but it will double in size,” “Never leave for tomorrow what you can screw today,” and “I take the virgin out of Virginia.” The full video below features many more salacious lines, some of which might not be SFW:

More delightful than the video itself was discovering that it is part of a much larger undertaking. I Made America is a transmedia project that relies on multiple media to tell one story: how Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Washington, and John Adams were kidnapped from the past, brought to 2012 Chicago, and the adventures that followed. Transmedia, as described by Henry Jenkins, “represents a process where integral elements of a fiction get dispersed systematically across multiple delivery channels for the purpose of creating a unified and coordinated entertainment experience. Ideally, each medium makes its own unique contribution to the unfolding of the story.” This scattered content then “offers backstory, maps the world, offers us other character’s perspectives on the action, or deepens audience engagement.”

Image Credit: Screenshot from YouTube

In I Made America’s case, a series of videos shows how the Founding Fathers adapt to their new circumstances after being abandoned by the American Revolutionaries for Freedom and Family Super PAC, who brought them to the present to endorse conservative causes. Their modern lives include keg stands, romantic intrigues, drunken bar brawls, open mic nights, and even enhanced science-fiction dioramas. Yet the videos can’t contain the whole story—as the Founders wander about Chicago, their activities are recorded on various social media platforms, which are collated and archived on the series’ website. Fans can thus follow their favorites from Facebook and Twitter into real life interactions with the characters at birthday parties and Cubs games.

Image Credit: Screenshot from It is better to be alone than in bad company

Transmedia thus makes possible new kinds of personalized fan experience. An I Made America fan can watch the first episode, then check out Franklin’s video blogs, read Hamilton’s Tumblr, download Jefferson’s music, and follow Madison’s Twitter feed. The series’ heavy social media presence, however, means that fans can not only produce fanart but also share it with the objects of that art directly.

Image Credit: Polks

Their interactions even have the power to solicit new content: as Benjamin Franklin often eats Pop-Tarts during the episodes, one fan texted Franklin to ask if he had ever put a whole Pop-Tart in his mouth. He then attempted to do so on video, challenged others to respond, and then George Washington posted video of his officemate Caroline attempting the feat. The audience can move from passive reception to active participation.

Image Credit: @GoingMadison

However, what is the purpose of such transmedia projects? If transmedia allows audiences greater interactivity with texts, what kinds of experiences does this make possible? And what distinguishes I Made America from earlier (and more conventionally produced) projects like The Blair Witch Project? According to the original video pitch, I Made America is “not about selling a product, but about telling a story. A story of fiction, reality, comedy, politics, and America.” While comedy predominates, its bent is frequently satirical; we can laugh at the sheer silliness of Benjamin Franklin saying “You’re welcome for French ladies,” but Hamilton demanding “Why don’t you vote?” points out the consistent failure of Americans to participate in the political process.

As the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence remain central to American political discourse, remediating and reimagining the Founders through embodied performance calls into question what we understand America to be. Right now, it’s not just fictional groups like A.R.F.F. who feel like they best understanding the Founding Fathers, it’s also political movements like the Tea Party and legal practitioners of originalism that imagine 2012 America should be governed like its 1788 counterpart. I Made America challenges this by imagining how Thomas Jefferson might answer Newt Gingrich’s assertions of what Jefferson might do, as well as suggesting how inadequately the Founders might be prepared to deal with twenty-first century realities.

At the first season’s end, I Made America’s initial light plot turns serious as John Adams begins a presidential re-election campaign and as viewers learn that A.R.F.F. holds Madison captive. What will happen next can only be predicted through another founder’s words: in this case, I Made America’s creator Mark Muszynski, who planned the series to run “alongside the upcoming election so it can respond in real time to things that are actually happening in our world.” So far, Adams has made a campaign stop at Occupy Chicago and received his former Vice President’s musical endorsement. As fans continue to spread the word about I Made America, I can only wait to see what happens next. Perhaps Hamilton, Adams’s campaign manager, can learn some Chicago-style savvy from @mayoremanuel. I don’t think he needs help with the cursing, though.