Last night, I went over to my buddy John’s to watch the spectacle that was “Idol Gives Back”, a charity event where every celebrity they could muster showed up in support of “raising awareness” for people in need. The focus, was raising money to give to kids in Africa, as well as those still in need here in America (did someone say Katrina?). While I honestly want to believe that their hearts were in the right place, this absurd spectacle of “giving back” just made me angrier and angrier as the show wore on. Basically, they showed clip after clip of celebrities going to Africa, walking through the ghettos, and showing these poor unfortunate souls (Ursula!) suffering and dying in the slums.
Now, I am all for charity. In fact, I am all for the raising of awareness. I am all for giving to these people, because they need us. BUT, I am not okay with this dog and pony show parading these kids around in this manner. For the first hour of the program, they didn’t even say AIDS. Now, I understand that the “general” public doesn’t want to hear about the reality of AIDS in Africa, but the fact is, it is real. It isn’t going to go away if you throw a few million dollars at it. To say that it will enrich lives and make things all better is a lie, and that is what is wrong with what happened last night. Simon Cowell and Ryan Seacrest sitting in a one roomed house with a boy of twelve telling him to “just let it out” because he was sad that his parents were both dead was sickening. To top it off, they didn’t even address the fact that this kid’s parents likely died as a result of AIDS.
I truly want to believe that all of these celebrities give tons of money to help rid the world of poverty. I really want to believe that American Idol’s true motive behind this was nothing other than philanthropic; but it wasn’t. Even Ryan Seacrest said it, and said it well, “PART of the proceeds will go to charity”. If they were serious about helping these people in need, then all of it would go to charity. The POINT of the event was to raise money for charity, so where is the other PART going?
Additionally, if I see one more fucking celebrity “slumming” it up in Africa, surrounded by little AIDS infected orphans, saying how the antiretroviral drugs will save their lives and allow them to live happier and healthier lives, I will throw something at the fucking TV. Yes, Madonna, Bono, all of you, I am talking to YOU. Just because you put on a ragged t-shirt, go make-up-less on TV, and talk about how our $1 donation will “save lives”, doesn’t mean that it will. What it does mean, is that you are even further out of touch with reality than I would have ever believed possible. When you get on your private jet to fly home to your 15,000 square foot home, think about this: The only thing that will truly save these children is a continuous stream of money and support that doesn’t show up and then disappear. Spectacles like this merely shine a light on a problem that has been around for decades, and once that light goes out, and the show ends, the focus again dims, and the problem continues to get worse.
If they really wanted to do something lasting, do something good, and do something for these people, this would not be an “awareness” raising event; it would be a daily practice. These celebrities have more money than anyone else, and they have the gall to stand there and ask people to give and give and give some more. I think that we should all give, and I know that many of them do as well, but ask yourself; isn’t a bit hypocritical to live in your mansions on the top of the hill, and point out to the middle and lower class the plight of poverty throughout the world? Do you even know what it means to live paycheck to paycheck?
I would love for every problem in the world to be solved by a night of seeing Josh Groban surrounded by African children, and people calling in to donate money, PART of which will be given to charity. But over simplifying their problems by saying things like, “all they need is a $10 net to stop malaria”, and “if they could just get the antiretroviral HIV drugs, then their lives would be great” is disturbingly misleading. If you really want to do some good, focus on getting that money, ALL of it, to these people, and find a way to make sure that the focus does not wane; otherwise, you have done it in vain. The only way to stop AIDS is to talk about it and maintain a focus on it EVERYDAY. Events like this are a flash in the pan, and in the long run do practically nothing for the people suffering. This seriously frustrates the shit out of me.
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I don’t think you can bust Ryan’s chops for that comment about ‘Let it out’. Most people don’t know real sorrow. When faced with it, they say stupid things like that.
That’s exactly the point I am making; AIDS shouldn’t be something so shocking and such a surprise. He should have known better. There’s sympathy, and there’s a pathetic attempt at showing pity. I think he could have handled it a bit better, but as you said, he is probably ignorant to true misery; which again, is largely part of the problem.
wtf? I thought they cured AIDS? Where’s Africa?
right…
Simon was upset because the huts were dirty and smelly. The whole show made me sick - he walked behind the man carrying his sick wife - why not offer a hand - why wait until she is in the car to say let me help? I didn’t see Simon carry one sick person to a truck/car/van nor did I see him give any money.
The nets will not cure the problem - you can’t live in a net all day. What about the water issues there?? All the money given will not fix the problem - government can’t be fixed unless it wants to be. The issues there are rooted deep and can’t be changed with a donation. It will take money, time, effort and change in government control - we have been feeding them since the early 80’s if not before - they are still hungry and now they are dying of AIDS and bug bites - what gives??
Exactly. I was actually remember focusing on the fact that Simon had a bottled water, and didn’t offer any of those people any.
Well isn’t adopting an African baby the new Prada handbag? You gotta have an accesory!
It struck me as a pompous bit of self-promotion for a franchise that has returned a fraction of what it has taken in - or nothing, if you ask me.
What they gave back isn’t even a third of their ad revenue from one show. Meanwhile, they are in their sixth season of stealing money from viewers, phone voters, advertisers and the general public.
And, what a shocker … no one was eliminated, which means that all the votes were for naught, since they get to milk this nonsense for another week of prime-time advertising revenue.
I hate AI, I mean truly loathe it, but I caught the last hour of this and seems to me it was able to do some good things: like raise awareness, raise money (really, anything to shock people out of their complacency has to be good). I mean, who out there knew you could save lives by providing $2 worth of pills to kids with malaria, or that a child dies every 30 seconds from malaria.
Mosquito nets have drastically reduced malaria incidence. Malaria carrying mosquitoes bite at night, so that is why bed nets work. Millions of bed nets are needed, and bed nets cost pennies. Should we let them die while we wait for governments to get off their asses and give a damn?
I thought is did a good job of raising awareness of issues (although I agree that it dealt with AIDS poorly, but then, it is AI, and for me, that is par for the course…). And if governments and politicians won’t step up to the plate, why not celebrities and others?
Deb, I totally agree, but, I think that if AI wants to say that they are doing all this, then they really need to give it everything. Additionally, while the points they made about malaria are accurate, they drastically oversimplified things, which is dangerous, because as you said, people already live in complacency.
I am happy to see people raising awareness, but it needs to vastly exceed that, because as you so correctly stated, the government is sitting on its ass on this one, and it is up to us to do something about it.
It’s AI - what are you expecting from them? They never promised to do anything but raise awareness and money. They delivered. 70,000 people joined the campaign to end world hunger after the show…they raised $60 million [and even if it doesn't ALL go, a substantial portion will, and a substantial portion of 60 mil will buy a ton of mosquito nets and treatments...] and money is still coming in and people are still talking about it. I think it did what it set out to do: use its media might to raise money and awareness for various causes and it was a success. It did not promise to expose pharmaceutical companies for not providing free drugs to people in need, or to provide potable water to everyone, or to discuss the issues of governmental corruption that plague most of these campaigns. It would take many hours of sober documentary to provide an accurate portrait of what is going on places like Africa and what it would take in the way of a global effort to provide structural solutions to all of these pressing issues (maybe Al Gore could take them on!). Yes, they could have provided more information, but I don’t see that as a ding against what they were able to ‘give back’. People can only take in a few messages at once, and they chose to focus on the emotional ones (they know their audience is what that proves: teenagers and old folks!).
I don’t really see how they failed to meet expectations. I think they REALLY gave back what they said they would in the way they said they would do it. And for a few moments, people who live in the lap of luxury discovered (yet again) that billions of others have really hard lives and they got entertained to boot (and to feel good about drinking coke, downloading iTunes, and driving a Ford [and lets face it, Ford drivers rarely have anything to feel good about!!!!])! Really, is there any other way to reach the American public? Surely, AI was more successful in 2 hours than public health marketing and education campaigns have been in over a decade.
Hey, I agree that any exposure is better than none. But I disagree with the way this show promotes itself by “giving back”. Why don’t they (AI folks) donate 1/2 of the money they make for public appearances to this cause?? Ellen did make a statement by saying she was giving $100,000 to the cause - anyone else?? Of course Exxon was one of the first to step up and give - not the correct part of their share since the profits of this company are beyond real. How about other companies - 1 cent given per cell call would raise a chunk a change - 1 cent per cup of coffee sold - gas companies should give 1 cent per gallon of gas sold - 1 cent per bottle of water sold - I could go on forever.
Think of all the great things that could be done if big business would give back. We the people are already paying them - if in turn the businesses would donate .5 - 1% of their profits then all would win.
It’s always easy to sit back and say what “should” be done - the problem is doing it. I have to give AI a pat on the back for doing something - even if it was for their own profit.
Wendy, you’re right. We should be pressuring big corporations to do more, way more than give a few pennies on the cup. They have social marketing departments and lobbying groups. We need to be calling them, pressuring them politically, and boycotting them. These things are, I think, just beyond what AI can do, or can even imagine doing!
Deb, a lot of my problem comes from “only a portion of the proceeds” going to charity. If they really wanted to give back, why not give all of it? Idol makes millions of dollars a week on advertising alone; they could substantially contribute, and continually do so.
That is why I see this as a “heart’s in the right place”, but definitely a flash in the pan effort. It also angered me to see them parade around those kids like they did, that was just wrong.
I just see them as a big corporate entity themselves, and don’t really expect them to give it all back. It would be almost un-American of them!
Okay. Sure. But the alternative is not much better. At least some light is being shined in the direction of the problem instead of the American public living in complete darkness. If it weren’t for Madonna, Bono, Ryan and Sally Struthers, most Americans would never think about the world outside of their own living rooms.
And as for AIDS not being mentioned, I don’t have a problem with that so much. The point of the evening was to raise money for POVERTY. Maybe they’ll do AIDS next season.
The real travesty is that we had to sit through two hours of crappy performances and no one was booted. What is up with that?
Word word WORD. I was getting so upset watching it, and my boyfriend kept calling my cynical, but it was _ridiculous._ The Tuesday episode didn’t even name their intended beneficiaries. They just kept saying “charity.” I told him, “This is the perfect scam. Parade out some poor children, ask people to donate to ‘charity’ and leave out the fact that the charity is actually ‘Hannah Beth LLC.’” Finally, on Wed. they listed some beneficiaries but what do those organizations do? How much of their money goes directly to the cause and not to overhead? Why would I give you a $1 when you’re not even telling me how much of that $1 is going to your “charity” or what it is even going to do?!
I think it’s great that Ellen personally donated $100,000, but you know what? That is what, a week’s pay? (Maybe less!) So you know, gee, thanks.
You can’t just throw money at these problems. They will only be solved by PERSONAL INVOLVEMENT and stepping down from our Hummers to actually speak to the human need of each and every one of these individuals. Babies don’t just die in Africa. The highest infant mortality rate in the U.S. is in Southern Mississippi.
It was also making me nuts that they kept talking about how these AVR drugs are all these kids needs to live happy, long lives. Guess what Ryan, when your only water intake is SEWAGE? Drugs don’t really help a whole lot.
That was the most self-serving, over-the-top, joke of a “fundraiser” I’ve ever witnessed. I guess I am more het up about it than I realized.
I did not watch the show. I know it is about raising awareness about this heartbreaking situation (which is made worse by the IMF and World Bank). However- my co-worker who loves idol came to this conclusion in her own southern ignorant lower Alabama way: “I think the government should sterilize all of those women so they can’t have all those kids”. God I hate her. Obviously the show was not as effective at opening hearts and raising consciousness as planned. I am not sure how these celebrities with their overinflated egos can change the world for the better. I feel mixed about this show.
My problem with American Idol gives back is this: In the very beginning they stated that they were going to raise 5 million dollars for the children in Africa and for poor kids in the States. The problem that I have is this, they raised at least 65 millions dollars. Does that mean that 5 million goes to the cause and the 60 million extra goes to finance other things which they are not telling us about? Perhps Monsanto, who is ConAgra, needs $$ to experiment with vectors to feed Africa for example. Or perhaps Exxon needs extra cash for the war in Iraq. I found it fishy that George and Laura made an appearance. It smacks of deception.