We are witnessing a rare moment in the annals of the dramatic arts: An upstart actress is taking Hollywood by storm. The thespian in question? Why, none other than Bristol Palin.
In a guest-starring appearance set to run July 5 on the ABC Family teen drama "The Secret Life of the American Teenager," Sarah Palin's eldest daughter will reprise a role she knows well, playing an out-of-wedlock teen mom named Bristol Palin.
The series depicts the ups and downs of a teen mother named Amy Juergens. In her appearance, Palin — who, US Weekly recently reported, secretly reunited with the father of her child, Levi Johnston — informs Amy that they are both taking part in a music performance program designed exclusively for teen mothers. She then utters a line of dialogue that just might win her an Emmy: "You're the world's greatest French horn player and I'm Yo-Yo Ma."
When her cameo on the show was announced back in February, Palin said, "I am thrilled to be on this show and to be part of a program that educates teens and young adults about the consequences of teen pregnancy." Palin has been active as an abstinence spokeswoman since early 2009, fetching up to $30,000 per speech at abstinence-themed gatherings.
[Video: See Bristol's PSA campaign against teen pregnancy]
Critics have assailed her fee arrangements — and her own past statements dissenting from the abstinence-only message. In a 2009 interview with Fox News' Greta Van Susteren, she characterized teen abstinence as an option that was "not realistic at all."
[Bristol's mommy-and-me glam fashion shoot]
Early reviews of Palin's acting debut have been less than charitable — at least in the Web's snarkier outposts. Gawker.com's Matt Cherette pronounced it "horrid," and gossip impresario Perez Hilton archly declared: "Pencil shavings have more personality than this girl!!!"
We're withholding judgment, though, until Palin reckons with something meatier: Lady Macbeth, perhaps, or the lead role in Henrik Ibsen's proto-feminist classic, "The Dollhouse." At the end of the day, performers can only be as good as the material they're given to work with.
— Brett Michael Dykes is a national affairs writer for Yahoo! News.