Actors meet activists, or activists meet other activists?

This is not the first time we’ve seen household-name celebrities attach themselves to activism, charities, or causes. PETA certainly has a laundry-list of actors, musicians, models, and others from the Clan of the Famous donating their salaries and their faces to animal rights and vegetarianism. But what’s interesting here is the amount of attention devoted to Tzeporah herself, and how she got involved with the film, and her interactions on the “green” carpet and at a ForestEthics-sponsored private screening of The 11th Hour the day after the premiere. Leonardo, of course, was there, but so was — wait for it — Paris “the Heiress” Hilton, fresh-faced and eager to champion the cause for forest conservation.

With pictures surfacing from the event to prove raising eyebrows all around, journalists turned to Tzeporah to ask about her take on celebrity involvement in activism, and in particular, Paris’s desire to see the forest for the trees.

Tzeporah told the Globe and Mail that yes, Paris is interested in contributing. “I’ve done a lot of strange things in the past 15 years, and found myself in a lot of odd places… but I didn’t really expect to be standing on a red carpet arm-in-arm with Paris Hilton,” she said.

When I first read this article I found myself wondering what will come in the future from these two radically different women. Only knowing one of the two, I certainly can’t imagine their conversation, but I can bet that if anyone can help Paris shake off her past, her reputation, and the instant word association of “Paris” and “prison,” Tzeporah can.

When it comes to celebrities taking up causes, we get a skewed picture from the media. How many people out there are wondering where Leonardo DiCaprio got the idea for the documentary, let alone the motivation? Who out there still thinks Angelina Jolie is a UN Goodwill Ambassador simply because she’s a talented lady with a pretty face and the fame to up the public interest factor? Do any of us, save for personal friends of these individuals, really know where their motivations come from? Who’s to say little Leo, barely tall enough to properly hug his mother, didn’t spend his days playing outside or working in a garden?

Last week, I wrote a short summary regarding The 11th Hour and Tzeporah’s involvement for the weekly newsletter at work. I mentioned to my boss how excited I was to see this film and asked if I could have some money to attend the premiere. First he laughed (a gentle way of saying “Not a hope in hell for you, Lise”), and then he began to ponder the strange world of celebrity activists and whether Leonardo’s work would accomplish anything. I told him, first of all, that regardless of how famous someone is, they’re still people who have passions. If we share passions with our favourite actors, musicians, writers, etc., then we have all the more reason to support them! Second, I reminded him that we live in a celebrity-obsessed society (can you say cliché), and thus we will read any article merely mentioning our idols. If celebrity support draws more attention to the cause in question, is that not for the best? It’s doubtful that everyone reading about So-and-So’s latest charitable donation will jump up and head to the organization’s Web site, but some will. Some will, and if that’s the only result, then it’s already done good, hasn’t it?

If the average Leo Lover is going to see this film and learn something as a result, then all involved will have something to cheer about, for their art will have delivered its message. It’s already got people talking, after all, so half the work has been done!

When we, the indyish, create, why not ask ourselves how we can create something to support a cause we care about? How can I champion Boreal conservation through what I do? What will get this message across in the most effective, artistic, and beautiful manner?

We haven’t been able to fully separate worlds for a long time. There’s no “artist” becoming an “activist” nor is there an “activist” becoming an “artist.” Exclusionary labels are out-dated and error-prone. Let’s take everything we love and throw it in a blender, just to see what it looks like when we open the lid… and then share it with everyone we know.