Hypocrisy is pandemic in Hollywood. While airing a wholly unnecessary and colossal waste of time and resources the "in crowd" on the left coast extolled the virtues of green living. I would wager that you could run a small city for a year with the energy consumed by the broadcasting of the Academy Awards. If these people really believe that global warming is the biggest threat to life on earth, they seem to be doing everything they can to hasten our demise. Only a Hollywood intellectual would consider adding a Prius to your other five cars in your six car garage of your 20,000 square foot ocean front home an environmentally friendly thing to do.
5 comments:
"Methinks he doth protest too much."
I disagree but I am a big fan of the Oscars. Granted the movie industry is first and foremost is an industry.i think it is admirable that actors use their resources to fund and promote causes that they feel strongly about. If Ed Begley cares about his electric car so what. No one balks about Heston's right to promote the NRA and sell audiotapes of him reading The Bible. Hypocrisy? Sure. Much like in the oil industry, the tobacco industry, etc...etc...
Dexter,
What specifically is hypocritical about the oil or tobacco industries? Does Exxon preach tolerance while persecuting Huguenots? Does R.J. Reynolds criticize Nestle for making addictive chocolates? Do you even understand what the word hypocrite means?
There is nothing wrong with Ed Begley driving an electric car and urging others to do the same. There is nothing wrong with Charlton Heston reading the Bible and belonging to the NRA. But to act one way; limousines, designer gowns from Italy, international Television broadcasts, private jets, multiple gigantic homes, advertising in print, TV, billboards, handouts, air-conditioned and heated movie theaters, entire ersatz cities created and destroyed in flame and explosion all for the sake of entertainment ALL while urging others to be green is hypocrisy on a titanic level.
Well, I believe in markets and there's obviously a market for the Oscars so I don't have a particular problem with them.
That said, are entertainers flaming hypocrites? Too often they are. Worse than that, they are just not the people you want driving this issue. They frequently are not well-suited to lead the kind of discussion that is needed. It's a matter of temperament. They present global warming as a kind of dogma. As a consequence nobody learns anything. Political posturing displaces any attempt to understand the scientific discussion. Opportunities to reach consensus on this or other enviromental issues are lost in the noise.
Tobbacco? Historically targeting children with advertising perhaps? Cmon. Oil companies ads that tout environmental concerns while using their political capital lobbying to make sure that greener sources dont ever impinge upon their profits? I do think I know what that word means. Enron? anyone?
Enron anyone? Why do you employ shibboleths instead of arguments? I’m no liberal Dexter; I won’t nod my head in silent agreement at the mere mention of Enron. What specifically is hypocritical about them?
Tobacco may be cynical and target children and the unsophisticated, but I fail to see how that can be viewed as hypocritical. Make your case, while smoking and complaining about noxious emissions.
Oil companies using their capital and political influence to ensure continued profitability can’t rightly be deemed hypocritical either. The fact that they show a caribou or two in their TV spots doesn’t rise to the gob smacking hypocrisy of Al Gore preaching about global warming while he himself wastes ridiculous amounts of resources. And please, don’t try the carbon offset dodge, they’re the 21st century’s equivalent to medieval indulgences and about as useful.
Post a Comment