Haiti

News from Haiti is devastating. To even begin to imagine how the people there are feeling or how those who have lost loved ones are coping is near impossible. This is why, while watching the golden globes I found myself becoming more and more irritated by celebrities sitting in their twenty five thousand dollar dresses surrounded by decadence saying nothing about Haiti. I guess the tiny ribbons just didn't cut it for me. 

It's not so much a money thing; the irony of wealth displacement was obvious anyway. It’s the influence these people have. Here we have a massive show, based around massive films, watched by mass amount of people. If even half the people accepting awards had gone up there and not thanked people who have homes to live in and streets cleared of dead people and had instead mentioned Haiti, something would have got done. 

As you can imagine from my blog, watching the award show with me wouldn't have been a huge amount of fun, and after about an hour my roommate suggested I would be less stressed if I just turned off the television and went to bed. Oh wise and intellectual Mike, I was waiting for someone to redeem the night, how could I turn off now? They sent Maggie Gyllenhaal up for about thirty seconds to mention Haiti and he looked at me expectantly as if this may placate me, it didn't. Sensing I was about to explode into another long winded speech about inequality in the universe he asked me what exactly it was I wanted to happen on the show. 

Turning his question into a 'what would I do if I was accepting the award' scenario, I answered that I would get up on stage and tell people to donate as much money as they could to the relief fund. I would explain how fortunate all us celebrities were to be in a position to help, and then tell the world I was going to melt down my golden globe and donate the money to those who truly needed it. And here is a break down of what goes into the statuette, which I nicked from the Golden Globes Official Website. 

ABOUT THE GOLDEN GLOBE® STATUETTE· 5.5 lbs· 10.75” tall· 3.5” width of base· 24kt gold plated zinc die cast top – Globe with symbolic filmstrip wrapped around, HFPA letters on base, atop golden cup· Exotic marble base, tapered sub base atop rectangular pillar· Made by Society Awards in New York www.society-awards.com· Each Golden Globe Award is individually hand-finished· Presented in red velvet lined, leather bound chest with HFPA logo stamped in gold·

Are they serious? It reminds me of the first time I watched Schindler's list. I remember they bring Oskar Schindler's car out, and he starts crying because all he can see is the amount of people he could have saved with the money for his car. If someone tallied the price of the golden globes vs. the amount of people that money could have helped in Haiti, the numbers would be truly sobering.

Anyway, we are only in control of our own actions, and so now that I have finished venting, I plan to do what I can to help. I have posted a link to the Canadian World Vision Website, which is accepting donations. Not everyone has money to donate but giving time, and organizing events is just as important, doing anything is amazing


http://www.worldvision.ca/Pages/Home.aspx

Alright Peace and Love to all of you

Meryl x