| Leo DiCaprio: I Took a Train Across the Atlantic |
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| posted May 21, 2007 9:50:08 AM | To All |
Al Gore remained quiet and used a spokesperson to answer for him when criticized about his electric bill, but Leo DiCaprio took a more direct approach at the Cannes Film Festival.
At the premier screening of his new movie, the 11th hour, a journalist asked if he'd taken a gas-guzzling jet to get there. Ticked off, he shot back, "I Took a Train Across the Atlantic." Ouch.
He also said that celebs like him are trying the best they can, and called on the media to stop attacking and instead focus on the message they are trying to deliver. He reminded them to focus on the big picture and factors like Big Oil and pollution.
Do you think Leo has a point about asking the media not to focus on the supposed inconsistencies of eco-celebrities, or do you think Leo and Al Gore, too, should walk the talk more than talk the talk?Edited by: GranolaJoe on May 21, 2007 9:58:58 AM |
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| posted May 21, 2007 10:02:36 AM | To All |
I think this is a great question. On the one hand I think Al Gore had done more than anyone on this planet to raise awareness of the Global Warming issue and for this alone he sould be commended. Leo, and other "eco-celebs" as well.
But, on the other hand, I don't think they should be excused from making the changes in their lives that they are asking the rest of us to make.
So, I agree that you should not shoot the messenger. But I think we should hold them to the same standards as everyone else.
And, again, I think that Al Gore has done the environmental movement a great service and should be recognized, other than an Academy Award, for his contribution. |
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| posted May 21, 2007 12:41:49 PM | To All |
I definitely think that they should be held to a standard too.
Though, I do think that the media likes to pick on celebrities that are vocal about their beliefs and values a bit too much. People like Tim Robbins get trashed whenever an election comes around, and I don't want to see people who are making a difference like Al Gore and Leo DiCaprio get the same treatment.
I think it's important that they make as many changes as possible in their lives to reflect that they are trying to make a difference, like they are asking the rest of the world to do. I also think it takes time. In Al Gore's case, he was criticized about his energy bills before he even had the chance to break the news that he was working on getting solar panels approved for use in his home by his neighborhood home improvement police.
In Leo's case, this was a cheap shot. It was painfully obvious that he had to fly to get across the Atlantic, so the question wasn't even necessary. I'm glad he was honest though, and even more glad that he took a commercial flight instead of a private jet. It's not the most he could have done being a prominent eco-celeb, but it's the lesser of two evils. |
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| Leo DiCaprio: I Took a Train Across the Atlantic |
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| posted May 22, 2007 11:40:47 AM | To All |
With all of the focus on what he said and not what he did, his movie was largely overlooked in the news.
Today though, the media finally caught up. Here's a great article about the 11th Hour, Leo's movie about Global Warming that he just debuted at Cannes. It is centered around warming caused by humans and solutions we have to fix the damage. It features commentary by important figures like the late Mikhail Gorbachev and Stephen Hawking.
It sounds exciting, and I can't wait for it to make its way to theatres here, since I missed out on An Inconvenient Truth. |
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| Leo DiCaprio: I Took a Train Across the Atlantic |
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| posted May 22, 2007 5:39:50 PM | To All |
I think Leo has a very, very good point. The media seems to pounce on any perceived hypocrisy from an eco-celeb, but they don’t celebrate quite so enthusiastically the positive changes these people have made. Reporting as Leo bags his organic groceries in a canvas tote (if he does) isn’t quite as sexy a news item as trying to make him out to be an eco-fraud. Reporting that Al Gore’s energy usage is 20x the national average while neglecting to mention that all his energy comes from green sources fills a 30 second new bite nicely.
I think the media would better serve humanity by focusing on the real problem, not lobbing cheap, inaccurate shots at the messengers. We need fewer lazy quibblers and a lot more real journalists.
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| Leo DiCaprio: I Took a Train Across the Atlantic |
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| posted May 25, 2007 9:54:29 PM | To All |
Its quite difficult to tell if any given celebs are being a bit hypocritical, or whether they are sincere.
We sparked off the whole controversey about Al Gore on the Off-Grid web site, talking about the fact that in 8 years as VP he never did a damn thing about the environment, did not raise the profiel of the problem.
Now he's out of power and he needs a cause to occupy his time, guess what? He can fly around America on this important work.
Film stars are in a different category - they can either blather on about their latest movie/relationship in the interviews that they give because enough people wnat to read about them, or they can use the exposure to deliver a message.
One way to tell how sincere they are is to look at how long they have been saying these things. Daryl Hannah, Woody Harrelson and others have been saying it for years. Leonardo was one of the first of the new wave of Hollywood stars to raise these issues, but maybe itsbecause his agent advised him to. I'd love to find out how much he really cares.
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| Leo DiCaprio: I Took a Train Across the Atlantic |
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| posted May 30, 2007 1:08:23 PM | To All |
Leonardo was one of the first of the new wave of Hollywood stars to raise these issues, but maybe itsbecause his agent advised him to. I'd love to find out how much he really cares.
How about risking his reputation by making a whole movie about Global Warming? Interviewing well-respected figures like Mikhail Gorbachev and Stephen Hawking? |
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| Leo DiCaprio: I Took a Train Across the Atlantic |
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| posted Jun 3, 2007 9:29:05 PM | To All |
I think Leo is for real. He wouldn't have to do these things if he didn't care and as far as I've read he's been environmentally conscious for a long time.
The advantage of having a celebrity promote eco consciousness is that it just may help to transform some of Leo's fans towards eco conscious lifestyles. |
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| Leo DiCaprio: I Took a Train Across the Atlantic |
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| posted Jun 4, 2007 10:43:39 AM | To All |
From Time Magazine: The Gores bought the old place five years ago and are still retrofitting it, making it energy efficient with new windows, new heating and cooling units, solar panels on the roof. (The anti-Gore crowd zinged him recently because his electricity bill last August was 10 times the local average. The Gores pay extra to get 100% of their power from renewable sources, and their zealous retrofitting will no doubt bring their costs down. But it stung.)
Media needs to stop tearing down what is positive in this country - if all we do is feed the cynicism and fear - the example we set for our children is horrendous. |
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| Leo DiCaprio: I Took a Train Across the Atlantic |
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| posted Jul 22, 2008 10:42:16 AM | To All |
| For what its worth, everybody needs to be a little less critical and focus on what he or she can do to make this a better place. Forget about the Al Gores and the DiCaprios, we can't change what other people do, and telling them what they do wrong only makes them resentful. Finger-pointing and guilt trips are not positive. If we all just try and make our own families as virtuous as possible (living "green" being a virtue), THEN the world WILL be better. |
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