Hollywood is getting more and more warped in their thinking. It is a total lack of understanding the real world.
A new MTV series features Hollywood celebrities praising the developing world's primitive lifestyles as earth-friendly -- despite those poor nations' high infant mortality rates and short life expectancies.
This article just confirms my feeling of most of Hollywood. There was a time when I actually wanted work "in the industry." That was until I worked on an HBO series. I have never met such self-absorbed, vain, egotistical people. And that attitude did not stop at the celebrities. To quote the Asst. Accountant, "We're spoiled and we expect to be treated that way."
Anyway, I digress.
Actress Drew Barrymore, who reportedly earns $15 million a film, told MTV viewers in one episode that after spending time in a primitive, electricity-free Chilean village, "I aspire to be like them more."
Yeah, right. You can start by donating your 15 million dollars so that they can have simple electricity or running water or adequate hospitals. Can you imagine Drew Barrymore living without electricity? Does she realize that you need electricity to make lattes?
Barrymore, apparently enthralled by the lack of a modern sanitary facilities, gleefully bragged, "I took a poo in the woods hunched over like an animal. It was awesome."
I'm sure the people in the Chilean village think its awesome, too. She is treating this like some amusement park and that these Chilean people are there for her entertainment. This is just sad and very condescending. She probably thinks that their "houses" are "cute" too.
Diaz also criticized the lifestyles of many Americans after visiting an indigenous village in Chile. "It's kinda gotten out of hand how much convenience we think we need," she said.
Yeah, you know how out of hand it is for us to have electricity. How selfish of us.
The first four episodes of the MTV series made scant mention of the difficult economic and social conditions of the countries visited. Bhutan, a country that received particular praise from Diaz for its environmental policies, has one of the highest infant mortality rates (103 infant deaths per 1,000 live births) and lowest life expectancies (54 years) in the world.
I guarantee that most of these people would trade their "environmental policies" for better health care in a New York second. It is not like they chose the quality of the environment over their quality of life. They don't have a choice. Would Cameron Diaz give up her "conveniences" to "save" the environment?
This is my favorite quote, though, from an obvious mental giant:
"My favorite thing about Bhutan is they measure their country's wealth, not based on dollar amount but on gross national happiness," Diaz said
Oh, really!?! I'll bet the people of Bhutan would beg to differ. Somehow, I can't imagine them walking around saying, "We don't have electricity, or running water, and my kids are dying, but, boy, am I happy!" Happiness is a luxury. When you are only focused on surviving day to day, happiness is low on the priority list.
This is just so disgusting. If these celebrities were going to these countries to try and help improve the quality of life of these people there, it would be commendable. But they are going to these 3rd world countries and acting like they are on a trip to the zoo.
I could continue to highlight inane quotes from this article, but, frankly, it's making me sick.
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