What Ocean’s $11M Could Buy You
March 8, 2006 at 7:17 pm
When accepting his Oscar, George Clooney took on critics who say Hollywood is out of touch with America: “We’re the ones who talked about AIDS when it was just being whispered. And we talked about civil rights when it wasn’t really popular. .. I’m proud to be a part of this academy, proud to be part of this community, and proud to be out of touch.”
We’d take Clooney more seriously — and perhaps even forgive his socially-conscious movie glorifying a $100 million heist from a Vegas casino — if he weren’t preaching from the altar in the Kodak Theater — Hollywood’s $84 million shrine to itself.
How much can $84 million get if instead it was spent advancing causes Clooney presumably advocates? Well, we learn this figure from the obituary of Dana Reeve:
Through the New Jersey-based Christopher Reeve Foundation, as the American Paralysis Association was renamed in 1999, the Reeves helped raise about $60 million in research funds for neuroscientists.
Here’s an idea for Clooney’s next sermon — no more multi-million dollar message films, no more luxury Kodak Temples. Just give the money right to charity.
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