I’m Greener Than You Are
Celebrities trying to “Out Green” each other has become all the rage lately. Notice that you don’t see many of them getting out of Hummer’s anymore. I think even Arnold Swarzenegger shoehorns himself into a Hybrid these days. The mean streets of Beverly Hills have certainly changed since everyone has gone from off-white to green. The parking area on movie sets looks like the front row of a Prius dealer. I heard that Leonardo Dicaprio is now almost as Green as Ed Begley Jr.
Pushing a climate change agenda in nearly every interview has become notoriously chic in Hollywood. Sipping Perrier in a decked-out trailer complaining about people not doing enough is ironic considering the trailer was towed in a massive parade of trucks carrying studio equipment to and from locations. Each movie produced probably emits enough exhaust from diesel engines and generators to kill the entire Brazilian Rain-forest.
Leonardo Dicaprio has been one of the most outspoken of Hollywood’s elite on climate change. It’s nice to see a celebrity standing up for something he truly believes in. It’s also nice to see the same celebrity performing in movies with so many special effects explosions that the toxin level spewed into the atmosphere equals that of Hiroshima and Nagasaki after Fatman and Little Boy dropped in.
Corey Feldman is doing his part. The former Goonie and Lost Boy just did a new project for Peta. He and his Playboy model wife did an ad to promote vegetarianism called “Give Peas a Chance”. The ad is a knock-off of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Give Peace a Chance bed-in to protest the Vietnam War. Feldman with a guitar in hand and his wife without a thought in her head sit in bed with signs reading “Go Veg” and “Give Peas a Chance.” With the fear of Tomato Salmonella and Lettuce E-Coli still fresh in our minds it is amazing that the healthiest part of a BLT is now the bacon. I’ll take my chances with Mad Cow’s Disease over E.Coli any day Corey. It is nice to see a child star all grown up and come to the realization that at an early point in his life cuteness was mistaken for actual talent.
In his Academy Award winning documentary An Inconvenient Truth, former Vice President Al Gore calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home. According to the Nashville Electric Service Gore’s mansion in the upscale Belle Meade area of Nashville consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year. Ouch, that is an inconvenient truth Al. The Gores average yearly electric and gas bill is $30,000. Hey, you could run Leo Dicaprio’s air conditioned trailer for a week with that kind of extra cash.
Edward Norton is continuing in a family tradition of conservationism with his own nonprofit cause called BP Solar Neighbors.The program helps stars help others. Every time a celebrity buys a solar power system for his or her home, another one is donated to a deserving family in South Central Los Angeles. Without BP Solar Neighbors, gang-bangers wouldn’t be able to power up their X Box’s or use high powered plant-lights to grow sticky weed in a closet. Do you really want a fourteen year old cleaning his gun with poor lighting? A misfired bullet could ruin a perfectly planned drive-by shooting.
Going green in Hollywood is just going to be another eco-fad fashion of the month. Once tabloids start running pictures of celebrities doing anything inconsistent with their “greener than thou” status, the interest will fade. Consider all of the recent past Hollywood fads like Kaballah, Scientology, adopting multi-ethnic children, and making out with Brittney Spears. Now just disturbing memories. If the stars in Hollywood had the focus and commitment of a two year old Chimpanzee they might make a difference. Since we have witnessed celebrities flip-flop and go from cause to cause it is difficult to take any of them seriously. But, when someone so prolific like Pamela Anderson starts talking about the environment it’s really time to listen. It is inspiring to see her set such an example by switching from silicone implants to soy implants. Let’s face it the only thing celebrities have been strongly committed to over the last thirty years is rehab.
