This morning I watched the Today Show on NBC. The big event of the day was the return of Katie Couric to 30 Rock almost “…two years to the day” Matt repeatedly exclaimed, of her announcement that her “head and her gut” were compelling her to make that move to anchor the CBS Evening News.
She was not alone. She was joined by Brian Williams and Charlie Gibson. Why? ABC, CBS and NBC are collaborating on a giant, star studded, televised cancer research fundraiser called Stand Up 2 Cancer. The commercials started running (or maybe I just started noticing them) yesterday. You know it’s got to be serious and important whenever Susan Sarandon lends her celebrity to anything because she never attaches her celebrity to anything unless it’s serious. And important.
This morning’s Today Show announcement got me thinking. You know there has been a string of whopping natural disasters lately. China…
*May 12, China: over 50,000 people die and hundreds of thousands more are injured when a 7.9 magnitude earthquake strikes Sichuan, Gansu, and Yunnan Provinces in western China. Nearly 900 students were trapped when Juyuan Middle School in the Sichuan Province collapsed from the quake. On May 19, 158 rescue workers are killed in landslides caused by rain and floods.
The cyclone in Myanmar…
*May 3, Myanmar: Cyclone Nargis hits the Irrawaddy Delta and the city of Yangon, killing about 78,000 people. Most of the deaths and destruction were caused by a 12-foot high tidal wave that formed during the storm.
Five consecutive months this year of violent tornadoes that seemed to be occurring one right after the other paved a path of death and destruction in Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, Missouri, Georgia, Virginia, and Ohio.
The thought provoking question of the day is: Where in the world is George Clooney?
Almost immediately after the horrific attacks on 9/11, George Clooney organized the September 21, 2001 America: A Tribute to Heroes telecast. The concert telethon featured dozens of top Hollywood stars, including Clooney, Tom Hanks, Will Smith, Jim Carrey, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tom Cruise, Julia Roberts and Chris Rock, and raised about $129 million, which was given to the United Way for distribution.
George was stirred into action once again when, on January 15, 2005, he prevailed in a war of words with Bill O’Reilly and helped produce Tsunami Aid: A Concert of Hope, a second worldwide benefit held for the tsunami victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean Earthquake. Once again the stars came out to showcase their spirit of charity, giving back by performing for free and using their celebrity to help those less fortunate.
In response to Hurricane Katrina (which slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, 2005 destroying beachfront towns in Mississippi and Louisiana, displacing a million people, and killing almost 1,800. When levees in New Orleans were breached, 80% of the city was submerged by the flooding) George put his considerable money where his considerable mouth is and wrote a check for $1 million dollars to the United Way Hurricane Katrina Response Fund to help the victims.
This year, Hollywood and all the other collection plate passers are uncharacteristically silent. Not one mega-star telecast, rock-a-thon simulcast or concert. No angst riddled, impassioned public expressions of sorrow. No arty PSA’s. What’s going on? Dare I say it– Disaster Compassion fatigue?
In all fairness, George of Good Deeds has been pretty busy. In addition to promoting his latest film Leatherheads and splitting with his former waitress girlfriend of one year (saving the world does exact a toll), since January, 2008, George has been travelling in his capacity as a UN Messenger of Peace.
Hope there won’t be too many more disasters this year. Seems George Clooney and company– well, they’re just too darn busy.
*Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved
