The Indie Documentary: ‘Christmas In Darfur’
by Dan CollinsSeveral years ago, a ragtag group of internetizens decided to go to Darfur, then the subject of a good deal of hand-wringing and tutting by Concerned Important People – including, of course, a number of Hollywood celebrities of one or another of the alphabetical lists — to see what conditions were like in that genocide ground. Their idea was that they would create a documentary – though none of them had any experience doing so – and so they scraped together whatever money they could by emptying bank accounts and begging from friends, family, and online for equipment and travelling money. Then, after convincing their wives they were going to attend a web technology conference in Vegas, they went first to Addis Ababa, then Chad. There they visited refugee camps full of exotic people of color, and eventually met up with rebel fighters. After a long struggle, and many, many apologies, they’ve managed to bring their documentary to the public.
It’s called Christmas in Darfur, though it could be called Lip Service. And because that’s so, I thought it would be a perfect fit for Big Hollywood. The introductory segment features some of the heroic exploits of actors and musicians in order to throw into relief the puny efforts of determined regular people to try to make a difference. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you’ll come forcibly to the conclusion that only celebrities and high-profile policy wonks and UN diplomats are capable of focusing the world’s attention on such a problem in a way that will make any difference at all.
I should probably mention that it was recently announced, to the consternation of many good-hearted people who were appalled by the numbers, that there may have been something flawed about the Lancet report which claimed the eeeeeevil Bushitler regime had caused the deaths of some 655,000 innocent Iraqis. It’s all technical nonsense about “methodology,” of course, which I’m sure NPR and Bill Moyers will soon clear up to the satisfaction of a citizenry well served by its traditional media, and who am I to carp over such trivialities? Coincidentally, about that number have probably perished in Darfur, but I have to admit that once again I’m disappointed by George W. Bush’s inability to live up to his press.
At the same time, non-partisan elder statesman Lanny Davis has asked us to set aside our differences, and has undertaken the noble initiative of The Civility Project. In keeping with this new spirit of comity, I invite any and all to join my movement, Civility NOW! which you can read about at Jeff Goldstein’s blog, Protein Wisdom.
Because only by throwing in with the impetus of such noble-minded and altruistic humanitarians as Lanny Davis can this country become the country our Founding Fathers – had they not been narrow-minded 18th Century putzes – would have wanted us to be. We are the Shirley MacLaine we’ve been waiting for. And without further ado, below is a clip from the movie, and the entire documentary can be seen here.
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You can bail these fellows out of their quixotic silliness and help pacify their wives by donating at either their film website or their blog.
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27 Comments
Don’t you find it ironic that you question the numbers of deaths due to Bush’s invasion of Iraq, but a certain Bishop is not “allowed” to question the numbers of another historical event?
Are you anti-Iraqi?
Are you a conspiracy theorist?
[...] could not supply a legitimate explanation of his methodology, and for my troubles, I am given this: Trent – February 9th, 2009 at 6:44 [...]
JUST WORDS?!
Yep, that’s mostly what liberal Hollywood has for Darfur. It was a convenient cudgel to bludgeon the Booooooooosh! administration with, in yet another attempt to underscore their indifference to “brown and black people”; despite the fact that Booooooosh! did more than any prior President for the countries that make up the continent of Africa.
But, aside from being a handy prop, the most hand-wringing of the celebrity types didn’t really do anything concrete to help out. So aside from being another self-serving attention getting device, and perhaps a way to show yet another facet of their individual “enlightenment”, I don’t see where any of the public posturing did much save for helping huckster vendors sell “Stop the Genocide in Darfur” shirts prior to protests in DC…
But wait, that’s economic stimulus, isn’t it? Imagine that; without a single government semolian involved…
Much like all of the public posturing by the left wing Democrats, it is simply public preening; a need for affirmation, much like a child entreatying his parents to, “look at me!”…
…and Collins moves one step closer to meeting Liz Stephans.
Dan,
I’m certainly not questioning your Narrative or agenda. Where would the world be if men didn’t do things to meet women?
Dan:
I think you’re progressing well. I thought for sure that Karl’s mention of meeting The Lithesome One would make you lose consciousness. . . again!
Great to see your work here, you’re a natural fit. I look forward to more.
Hollywood liberals love a cause, as long as it doesn’t cost THEM anything, and that it’s far enough away from them not to be too inconvienient regarding their lifestyles.
It’s OK to talk about the plight of the ‘homeless’ and to go to fundraisers to promote ‘awareness’, but how many of them volunteer at a homeless shelter,week after week for eight to ten hours without their publicist, agent etc.? How many of them do this three, four, five years straight without any attempt to draw attention to themselves?
They can march about Darfur with nice designer t-shirts, but have they done anything to confront the people responsible for allowing genocide, the government of Chad and those Muslim nations that support it? They can take a nice ‘fact-finding’ trip on a UN-paid luxury plane, stay in a 4-star hotel where they later get plenty of photo-ops and hold a kid up to show how ‘concerned’ they are about the ‘victims’. But do they denounce the UN’s fecklessness or hold them responsible for their lack of action? They can boo Bush all they want, but would they cheer if he had sent troops into Darfur and then bodybags of US soldiers mounted because they had been sent to a place not with the objective of finding and destroying those forces who committed the genocide, but to sit between the killers and further victims, with a complicit Chad government ready to stab them in the back?
They go to parties and talk about ‘world peace’ with Hamas supporters, or gush about Hugo Chavez, Che and the Castros, and then claim that their Constitutional Rights were taken away from them, without giving an example.
And yet, people are dumb enough to take these clowns seriously.
Saw the movie, CHRISTMAS IN DARFUR…and talk about well-meaning naval gazers! At least George Clooney sounds like he wants to kick somebody’s butt in Darfur. (unfortunately, it’s Bush’s butt. Dude…wrong boogeyman!) But…let’s talk about the Clooney’s of the world a moment.
Whereas many major stars are irreproachably sincere in their promotions of world causes, some carry ulterior motives. Aware of it or not, all too many bleed cause-du-jour pathos to us as a symptom of their insatiable need to bolster their deep guilt at being paid millions for something that is, let’s face it, flat-out fun.
In lives of power and grandeur, surrounded by entourage sycophants, it’s easy to lose perspective and start believing you actually are as great as the fawning press and those around you say you are, 24/7/365. When they find themselves rich and powerful, and know they haven’t cured cancer or even eliminated L.A. traffic jams…that they earn millions pretending to be other people, well, it gets to them. And they sometimes need to assuage the festering suspicion that in the grand scheme of things, ultimately they just don’t really matter that much. So give Clooney a break. He’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders…and by golly, we’re all counting on him.
It is empowering to stand before the cameras, as ‘yourself’ and sincerely trumpet the cause of the third-word downtrodden. And I believe they are sincere, these socially conscious stars — however self-promoting (consciously or not).
But they are also myopic. And devastatingly naive.
Genocide is horrendous, and occurs because evil is real in the world. The hardcore Left is loathe to ever put a name to evil – because it would then follow that true good exists. (And by extrapolation, they must deny that the devil is real, for it would suggest the presence of God.)
The Sudanese government is engaged in the particularly virulent form of Islamofacism called Wahhabi Islamism. It is not tolerant of anything but itself. Under it’s strict, unyielding code, all who offer a different point of view or choose a different faith, (even moderate Islam) – are to be killed.
We Americans are hard pressed to fathom that such intractable evil exists today, much less able to comprehend it. This evil cannot effectively be negotiated with, sanctioned against, or resoned with. All the Clooney fundraisers and Bono concerts-to-aid-the-suffering, while helping to raise much needed awareness of the problem, won’t change the inescapable fact that those who perpetrate Wahhabist Islamofacism need to be destroyed. Anything less is to attempt to make insanity rational.
Lanny Davis and the Civility Project? Well…#$*&@&^() Lanny Davis and the unicorn he rode in on.
I always wondered what the celebs would have anyone do about Darfur. The only way I could see to really make a difference would be to invade Darfur ourselves. Somehow I didn’t think Hollyweirdoes would dig that solution. Besides we were busy with other rescues, such as Iraq and Afghanistan (and if you don’t think Iraq was a rescue you should ask some of the relatives of the lucky guests of Uday, Quesie [sic] and Pops; Afghanistan a rescue? yeah anyplace a little girl is forbidden to go to school and can be stoned to death for doing so needs a whopper of a rescue).
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I had heard that a dirty little secret in Hollywood is that some celebrities actually get paid for their endorsements. I am not sure if that is true, but I wouldn’t be surprised if money changed hands somewhere along the line. I do know that Julia Roberts was hired as spokesman for some enviro group in CA (I think alternate powered cars), yet everyone thinks she is admirable for being “green” even though she drives a big SUV.
“Meathead” Rob Reiner spearheaded pushing huge tax increases on cigarettes in CA, PUT IN CHARGE of administering the money and surprise!–he misallocated (STOLE?) some of the funds. He was quietly removed from that position in state gov’t. Anyone wanna bet he’s smoked lots of dope?
There is a direct conflict of interest in some of these cases, yet the MSM doesn’t bother except when a “conservative “is involved–anyone remember Kathy Lee Gifford’s clothing line and child labor problems? Personally I feel celebrities are a huge drain on my once-golden state and would gladly import them to Europe. How many Euros would they pay, or how many would we have to pay them?
Oops, “export.”
The conflict of interest comes when these celebs try to push legislation on all other Kulifornians. This company Julia Roberts represents is one of many environmental groups which are trying to push draconian auto efficiency standards in CA, which will then drive up auto prices nationwide. The celebs are free to spout gibberish but when they roam the halls of Congress, hide your wallets!
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