Mr. Clooney Comes To Washington
George Clooney is here in DC today, exercising his right as a citizen to petition his government for redress. Of course, it’s a bit different when you’re a movie star today, and Clooney’s goal today was to convert his star power into, well, actual power. He joined Senators Brownback and Obama to talk about the Darfur region of the Sudan where not only is there actual genocide happening right now, The United Nations isn’t doing a damn thing, nor are any of the other large militarized nations of the world. The last resort, of course, is to get interloping celebrities involved.
Welcome to Washington, George. Perhaps you should give up on the acting and go straight to work on the humanitarian causes, instead of, say, going to bed each night on top of a giant pile of money with dozens of beautiful women.
It’s not that I find your celebrity daunting, or that I’m jealous of your good looks, I just still remember you from Return of the Killer Tomatoes, and I can’t take you seriously any longer than that.
Interloping? When I hear stories about celebs like Clooney or Jolie using their prominence to get attention for world causes I don’t think less of them for doing so, I think less of the larger number of prominent people who aren’t. Good on Clooney for taking pointless fame and pointing it at something worthwhile.
Meh, I just find the whole thing unsettling and oh so very fake somehow. As if somehow they’re attempting redemption for making more money than God prtending to be someone else.
Seems odd to me.
Why is it odd? Once upon a time people with wealth were taught from birth that they had an obligation to philanthropy. Everyone with wealth should feel the obligation to use it to some good. What’s fake about actually doing it?
Whether or not this is some self-redemption gambit or not Tom, it really doesn’t matter as long as the message on the Sudan gets out there and is heard by more people. No administration in any country is going to move on this without more public understanding and involvement.
That said, let’s shift the focus from Mr. Clooney’s motives to drawing attention to the real issue here:
http://www.darfurgenocide.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darfur_conflict
Generally I find that the best spokespeople aren’t the ones who know the most, or who’ve done the most research, but the ones who have the prettiest visage. This is definitely the case here.
Again, it’s more anger at society than at Clooney, because it seems that evidence of genocide isn’t important to anyone, but the second George Clooney stands up…
Most people go along to get along – that’s not society, that’s everyone in human history. Aside from moral outrage (though I bet you could ask 100 people on the metro this morning and get something approximating outrage out of at best 2), almost all Americans are pretty much unaffected by the Sudan situation. So how could they be expected to care till someone brings it to their attention? All our photo-ops this week – on both sides of the aisle, I am pointing no fingers – have been at gas stations. Neither George Allen or John Warner’s webpages have any mention of Sudan on their front.
Checking Vote-Smart.org’s public statements Sen Allen has said “Sudan” 3 times in the last three years… each time in a talking point about the UN’s Human Rights Commission committee.
Senator Warner has said it 0 times.
Perhaps they’re just doing their jobs literally and being representatives for what their constituents care about. However I think that’s the kind of thing to take into consideration when we talk about society’s reactions and what it takes to get their attention.
Whoopsie – I have a bad edit. That search represents Warner and Allen’s statements in the last YEAR, not 3 years.
I’ll be going this weekend, although obviously not to see Mr. Clooney. The issue is WAY bigger than him, and if he wants to try to draw some attention to it, I don’t see what the problem is. If I were famous, I’d hope to do the same thing.