Hollywood cares

Today's Los Angeles Times had a list of the top ten "moments in 2008 celebrity activism," which—of course—was heavy on various entertainment-industry figures' support for Obama.  But the following, which was (perhaps fittingly) at the bottom of the list, caught my eye:

Hollywood is a global business and no international cause moves quite so many stars quite so deeply as the ongoing genocide and dislocation of the people in Darfur. The cool guys from "Ocean's 11-13" were convinced by costars and friends Don Cheadle and Clooney to make the cause of Darfur their own. With that crew on your side, it's hard to go wrong, but as more of the industry educated itself about the situation in western Sudan, it became the international crisis closest to the film industry's heart. Fundraising for relief continues, and a surprising number of stars have taken the extra step of intervening whenever possible with the governments and international organizations involved. Hollywood's a town with a notoriously short memory, but don't look for Darfur to slip off the radar any time soon.

And don't look for their efforts to actually, you know, accomplish anything any time soon, either.

Because, seriously, "The cool guys" from those movies and their celebrity pals haven't managed to get jack shit done so far, no matter how much "the industry educated itself" about what's going on there.  And I'm sure that while Don Cheadle and George Clooney have good intentions, countries like China that are doing business with the Sudanese government couldn't give a shit when they take "the extra step of intervening" when they're not otherwise occupied making movies and banging starlets.

And besides, unless I've missed something, have there been any movies about the situation in Darfur?  There sure have been plenty of anti-Iraq war movies, but I don't think Hollywood has made a single dramatic film to help educate the public about this, their most serious cause.

(Aside from getting Obama elected, that is.)

Posted by: Sean M. at 11:42 PM | Comments (12) | Add Comment
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