THE HOLLYWOOD ELITISTS

"And as a child /I danced like it was 1999 /My dreams were wild /The promise of this new world /Would be mine / Now I am throwing off the carelessness of youth / To listen to an inconvenient truth" -- Melissa Etheridge, "I Need to Wake Up"

Shameful!  When Melissa Etheridge took the stage at the Oscars Ceremony this evening, the academy flashed approximately a dozen do-good slogans urging Americans to help stop global  warming.  As Ms. Etheridge sang her nominated song "I Need to Wake Up" from the woefully inaccurate and alarmist mockumentary An Inconvenient Truth, easy to read slogans flashed across the screen behind her:

-Don't drive if you don't need to
-Take public transportation
-Use light rail when you can
-Walk or ride your bike
etc

Helping to preserve the environment is a noble, if somewhat misguided, endeavor.  Many, many good meaning and well intended people have worked hard to reduce or eliminate their carbon emissions, buying into the misinformation Hollywood is feeding them.  Nonetheless, reducing America's dependence on foreign oil is, in my humble opinion, a matter of serious national security.

However, does anyone actually believe that a single celebrity sitting in that audience- a single academy member- a single technician -- does anyone actually believe that any of those people would ever even consider using public transportation?  Light rail?  Walking?

Of course not.  John Travolta told Joan Rivers on the red carpet that he flew his private jet from NYC for the ceremony.  And the line of Hummer SUV limos appeared to wrap around the block.  Of course, we all know George Clooney drives that little hybrid-- But he gets paid to do so!

Still, Melissa sang about America's need to wake up and smell the environment-destroying oil.  A few facts for you Melissa:  Hybrid cards are expensive!  Public transportation is available to about 12% of the total population.  Light rail is available to less then 5%.  I know it's hard to understand why the common people who work 40-50+ hours weekly don't have time to bike or walk to work, but trust me, we don't.  When you start getting from one gig to the next on a bike, let me know- maybe you will have an ounce of credibility then.   Till then, enjoy your tricked-out tour bus.  You've earned it!

Per usual, Hollywood wants us, the great unwashed, to save their environment so they can go to sleep at night and forget about their SUVs, private jets and tour buses-- not to mention the  tons of shit movies and music we are subjected to annually.  Meanwhile, mega-celebs like Bono want more our tax money to be used to feed the world and end the crises in Africa.  But he can't be bothered to pay his own share of taxes.

I wish I could wake up!

Comments

[GCL]

What a well-informed post. Celebs and the environment are a catch 22: on the one hand you have the visibility and awareness they bring any cause, but on the other you have the sense of entitlement and superiorty that excludes them from the real dirty work (riding the bus, walking, etc).

So, as the wise saying goes, we should all keep our side of the street clean. Forget what Bono and Babs might say about the suffering of the world: live decently, live compassionately and don't litter.

[Kameron]

Loving this post, and I agree with GCL on the celebrity situation. The reason I'm most annoyed at celebrities on their soapboxes is because, quite simply, they tend to be hypocritical idiots. Why does almost every major donation by a celebrity to a charity feel false, as if the gesture were saying, "I'm doing this for both of us, but mostly for me"? And because donating money is suddenly not good enough for the image, they've taken to adopting all of the underprivileged children in the world.

Too much of celebrity politics is driven by notions of celebrity image. It's frustrating.