Sunday, September 9, 2007

Brad Pitt and New Orleans

With all the news that isn’t news about Hollywood's bimbo brigade (Brittney, Lindsay, Paris, and those damned twins), one could easily get the impression that no one in Hollywood does anything productive with their ease-gotten wealth and fame. To that I give you Brad Pitt.

In the midst of the devastation of Katrina, long after it stopped being a political hot spot, Brad Pitt is still there, still trying to help people expelled from their homes by bad weather and worse politics, and attempting to do so in a way that is good for business while reducing environmental demands, through combined efforts with a group called Global Green. You can see a full story here.

Now no one who knows me would confuse me with a treehugger, or Mr. Sympathy for victims of disasters. Will this effort succeed? Maybe. Is it a little pollyannish one-with-the-earthness? Maybe. But there is something surreal about what Pitt is doing. Even if you don’t give a shit about the environment, or New Orleans, and the suffering that goes on there, you have to tip your hat to a guy doing what Pitt is doing when he could spend every day in air-conditioned comfort with his beautiful wife, eating gourmet meals and having his feet massaged without a care in the world. Instead he is knee deep in mud trying to get homes built for people who couldn’t afford to live in his garage.

The best part is that he is not a pompous prick about it like some do-gooder celebs. His attitude seems to be “This is what I want to do for people. What are you doing?” It’s a refreshing change, and it’s worth a salute.

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