Why Hasn't Hollywood Rallied for Japan Relief?
The entertainment industry has rallied en masse following some of the world's most devastating recent tragedies, organizing relief efforts for survivors of 9/11, the 2004 tsunami in Indonesia, Hurricane Katrina, and last year's earthquake in Haiti. The latter crisis alone prompted -- mere days after the disaster -- a star-studded charity telethon spearheaded by George Clooney and Wyclef Jean and which raised $57 million for the stricken nation. So why, in the wake of last week's 9.0 magnitude Japan earthquake -- and its resulting tsunami and nuclear crisis -- have we heard so little from Hollywood this time around?
A week after the March 11 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami claimed over 6,000 lives (over 10,000 people are still reported missing), destroyed entire cities and ravaged a nuclear power plant to meltdown, no concerted group relief effort has been made in Hollywood.
Instead, we've witnessed individual efforts varying from sympathy tweets to calls for donations via text message (which totaled $2.8 million by Wednesday, according to the American Red Cross) to personal contributions on the part of filmmakers, actors, musicians and corporations. Some celebrities got creative with their support: Lady Gaga began selling "We pray for Japan" bracelets soon after disaster struck, and has raised a reported $250,000 to date. Director Chris Weitz announced early in the week that he'd donate $1 for every Tweet he posted in the month of March -- and he's been Tweeting up a storm. Linkin Park's Mike Shinoda designed two charity T-shirts, one of which is emblazoned with the words, "Not alone." And even before Sandra Bullock stepped up yesterday to publicly announce a personal pledge of $1 million to the American Red Cross, Charlie Sheen promised that $1 of every ticket sold for his upcoming "Violent Torpedo of Truth" tour (which has sold out all of its dates, often in a matter of minutes) would go to the Japanese cause. A number of media corporations including Sony, Disney and Warner Bros. have pledged their support as well.
But in the general populace, as in Hollywood, there seems to be a hesitation to collectively jump to arms. Does America have relief fatigue?
Consider that in the wake of Haiti, dozens of celebrities announced significant personal contributions to charity, leading the cause by example. With her $1 million pledge to Red Cross, Bullock remains the lone major Hollywood figure publicly doing the same for Japan. Veteran publicist Michael Levine points to differing perceptions of Haiti and Japan on the scale of global power -- i.e., Japan isn't some poverty-stricken, underdeveloped country -- as an explanation as to why image-conscious celebrities haven't stepped up as urgently.
"I think celebrities, like all human beings to a larger degree, like feeling heroic," Levine said. "And there's a sense with third-world nations that you can be heroic. Japan is a very wealthy nation, so there's a feeling among some that money into Haiti or Africa is a different kind of poverty, a different kind of relief effort."
One internationally-known filmmaker, speaking on condition of anonymity, acknowledged to Movieline that Japan's superpower status was likely part of the problem, noting further that the best course of action in the ongoing crisis is still relatively unclear.
"The fact that the tragedy is still happening and not over yet, people don't know how to process it," he wrote via e-mail. "We all saw the images on TV and the number of people left stranded, but people are still waiting to see the Tokyo effect from the nuclear fallout." For some reason, he writes, "the urgency seems to be missing."
What differentiates Hollywood's reaction to the Japan crisis from Haiti in terms of organized efforts, he points out, is the lack of a central figure stepping up to lead the charge. "Usually there is a celebrity from the disaster area who really picks up the banner and rallies other celebrities and makes it a reality to us Americans, but who is that giant star [with ties to Japan]?"
It's perhaps the crucial question in all of this: Who is the Clooney/Wyclef of the Japan crisis? Despite commercial and cultural overlap between the United States and Japan -- a pop culture-hungry nation that every major American film star and musician has visited at some point -- the two countries don't have an apparent public figure in common with the personal investment to spur the Hollywood community into action. Add to that reports in publications like the New York Times advocating against immediate donations, and the fact that Japan has injected 37 trillion yen into the economy, which contribute to the perception that maybe Japan doesn't need a celebrity champion after all.
Still, Levine predicts that Bullock's bold move will spark a flurry of celebrity donations. "People lead, and celebrities are silently begging to be led," he said. "When somebody steps up like Sandra Bullock it has a big and significant impact on their own way of being. I think there will be many people in the movie industry that will come forward now that she's done it. I do believe she will make a difference."
[Photo: AFP/Getty Images]
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Comments
Nailhead hit...or should I say "nailheads hit?"
I agree that there are multiple reasons why Hollywood and it's pet nation, the USA, has not rallied with the same urgency and financial compassion as other recent tragedies. I think you hit the biggest reasons in your article, Jen.
Media coverage has waned significantly in only one week, but if you watch Japan's own news coverage, as I have, over the last week, the potency of this disaster has not lessened at all. Perhaps the "shock and awe" of the disasters have...but now the stories of the human toll are just starting to be told; only we aren't seeing it on American news stations very much.
Perhaps some a-listers will step up with some major donations...and the western nations will then step up themselves. It would be even better to see a grassroots movement actually make a collective dent in the need...so much so that the a-listers can't help themselves but to join in.
Well done, Jen. I'm glad to see this published.
Christopher
Another difference that seems to be overlooked is we are talking about Japan, a country who has an infrastructure, a stable democratic government and who actually has disaster plans and recovery teams that respond quickly already in place. In the cases of Haiti and Indonesia outside help was and is needed.
We all need to do what we can to help Japan through this terrible time, they absolutely need our help but they don't need someone to lead them, they are perfectly capable of managing relief efforts and seeing that what is donated is distributed appropriately themselves. Haiti and Indonesia needed someone to step in and lead that charge, Japan doesn't.
Please donate to the Red Cross and know that your help will be well used and very much appreciated.
There's also one thing you don't seem to mention, and that is Hollywood tends to present a one-dimensional, racist view of Asians as a whole, largely lumping them into one big swarm of faceless people, or unapologetic racial caricatures.
Just as UCLA Alexandra Wallace lovingly describes the "hordes of Asians" who infiltrate and invade her school, many other Americans view Asians the same way.
And how Hollywood keeps on whitewashing Asian roles and treating Asians as the new minority that can be mocked and made fun of -- even in openly racist ways -- all plays a part in how most Hollywood celebs are just sitting on their hands.
I point to some recent tweets by Hollywood entertainers who look at the quake/tsunami/radiation as payback for Pearl Harbor, nevermind that America already dropped two nuclear bombs on innocent civilians as payback way back in the 1940s.
And yet other celebrities make stupid jokes about the situation even thought it's ongoing. There is a general xenophobia among many Americans concerning the Japanese, and there's even some fear/hatred by other Asian groups toward Japan.
Good question.
Japan is the 3rd largest economy on this planet. It's GDP is almost 5 and a half trillion. They enjoyed one of the highest standards of living in the world until last week. The US and other countries are sending aid. And there is much military assistance that was already there as we are their protector.
So I don't think it s a matter of anyone in Hollywood not caring, it's just that we know they'll be OK in the long run. Haiti and Africa take so much attention because we know they were struggling companies to begin with.
And also, some stars don't want to be seen as piggybacking on the back of a tragic disaster lest it be construed as a publicity stunt. More stars these days dedicate their time to long term causes. (example Angelina Jolie and George Clooney)
"There's also one thing you don't seem to mention, and that is Hollywood tends to present a one-dimensional, racist view of Asians as a whole, largely lumping them into one big swarm of faceless people, or unapologetic racial caricatures."
You mean like you do to "Hollywood" in this post?
Hello kettle, have you met pot?
Referring to 'Hollywood' as shorthand for dominant trends within the entertainment industry is not the same as having a homogenized, racist view of Asian people. A ridiculous comparison.
Hollywood Celebs have made a lot of money in Japan.
what was it? Million a commercial?
Studio's too.
$25 or more for a movie ticket?
If 20% of our nation is crippled and have massive victims
Do you want other countries to say,
"Oh, they have the largest GDP so they are okay. they don't need any help" ?
They need help.
They deserve help.
I am doing whatever I can to help the people in Japan.
I hope Hollywood steps it up too
Sean Penn's in his rowboat and on his way. It's just taking him a little longer than usual.
The scale of the disaster is far smaller than the other examples you mention. I know that seems crass to say when we're talking about tens of thousands of people killed and scores more homeless, but it's true, and it makes a difference. Over two hundred thousand people died in the 2004 Tsunami and even more than that were killed in Haiti. The imagery coming out of Japan is far more dramatic because so many people there had cameras, but the events themselves are far less severe. One thing I've found interesting this past week or so is just how little Americans seem to know of the 2004 tsunami and how bad it was. Like, twenty times worse than Japan, effecting fourteen different countries. Yet it seems like it barely raised a mention here on the news or something at the time. Either that or I just know a lot of disengaged ignorant people.
Also, as others have pointed out, Japan has a vastly superior infrastructure to places like Haiti and Indonesia. They're accepting aid right now, sure, but there's very little donations will do for them in the long term. Most of the money going to the Red Cross, etcetera, won't ever even reach Japan. It will just go into the pot for future disasters.
A big celebrity fundraiser is really not necessary.
what happened in japan was a natural disaster, it was controlled by mother nature and the weather.
why should hollywood or anybody car?. the japanese will rebuild and they will recover. this is not a terrorist attack. it;snatural. things like this happen it happened in los angeles in 1994, it happend in san francisco in 88. it happened in 86.
If you can help. you help.
People help each other. don't we?
why compare which disaster is bigger than the other.
Does it really matter?
what do you mean by "why should anybody care"?
Would you like your neighbor to say the same thing at the worst time of your life?
if you can help, you help.
Hollywood can too.
You know that "Hollywood" is comprised of people, right? It's a diverse and multi-cultural group of people, not a cartoonish group of white fat cats with their top hats and monocles (or whatever anthropomorphized version of "RACISTS IN POWER" you choose to conjure up) decreeing horribly racist decisions.
How is describing a diverse and multi-cultural and multi-racial group as a singular racist entity NOT the same as "having a homogenized, racist view of Asian people."
Because they aren't Asian?
I didn't even call him out for directly saying that many Americans hate and fear Asians. Or the woefully revisionist "dropped two nuclear bombs on innocent civilians as payback." Yes...World War II was over BEFORE Hiroshoma and Nagasaki...they weren't done as a last desperate act to end the war...
Care to try again?
It might also have something to do with the collusion between the Japanese government and the US media in downplaying the severity of the nuclear dangers. The US has too much invested in nuclear energy, with plans to continue to expand.
Also, with Egypt, Libya and all that is happening in the Middle East, I suspect anyone paying attention to international news is enormously overwhelmed right now. There's a whole lot going on, to say the least! The earthquake/tsunami/nuclear meltdown is too much icing on too much cake.
"Usually there is a celebrity from the disaster area who really picks up the banner and rallies other celebrieis and makes it a reality to us Americans, but who is that giant star [with ties to Japan]?"
How about Darren Aronofsky? 'Cus he owes half his career, his last hit, and his first Oscar to Japan, after all. http://konstone.s-kon.net/modules/notebook/archives/60
Huh? So are the other disasters referred to in the article.
No. I'll just refer you to my previous comment. Keep being angry on the internet.
ANNNNNNNGRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
Grr...so much anger...Clearly...
Btw, I reread your comment and you're still wrong. So keep being wrong on the internet...my mercurial temperament has no bearing on how massively massively wrong you are.
Oh, "The Winchester", I usually like what you say. This time not so much.
Same reason there is no looting...............They aren't black
Apparently Doug glossed over the fact that Hollywood came out in droves to support the Southeast Asian tsunami victims. Doug is just another example of someone's ideology preventing them from objective and rational analysis.
I'll give you a hint, for when you re-read it again. The key phrase is 'dominant trends'.
They exist, and it's okay to say so, however "diverse and multicultural" the industry may be.
Well, I laughed.
There are several filmmakers who projects are largely funded by Japanese companies, or covered later by Japanese filmgoers, especially Vincent Gallo and Sofia Coppola.
Minor correction: although separate nuclear power plants were damaged, none had a "meltdown."
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