Word: hollywoodize
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...Stein's excellent article brought back memories of another down-to-earth movie star. In the '60s I attended a meeting with colleagues in Hollywood, and we were in the Ambassador Hotel the night Barbra Streisand had her opening at the Cocoanut Grove. After the show there were stars galore in a hospitality room. Two associates and I decided to crash the party, which was easy. To make a long story short, I spotted Henry Fonda all by himself and said, "Hello, Mr. Fonda." His first words were "Call me Hank." I mentioned I grew up in his home state...
...Joel Stein, for the wonderful story about George Clooney's visit [March 3]. You totally reaffirmed what I thought to be true: Clooney seems like just a cool, down-to-earth dude you would love to have a beer with. If there were more people like Clooney in Hollywood (people who don't mind laughing at themselves rather than dying for attention), young actors wouldn't be living such chaotic lives. Next time you have Clooney over for dinner, let me know - I'll bring the wine! Marc Falco, Norristown, Pennsylvania...
...started it. In a racy scene with Claudette Colbert in It Happened One Night, Gable unbuttons his shirt to reveal--to the shock of 1934 audiences--a bare chest. No undershirt. Legend has it that undershirt sales dropped 75% that year. While never verified, the tale lives on because Hollywood loves it. If Gable's chest can have that kind of mass cultural impact, the thinking goes, then movies, far from being just passive entertainments, can influence audiences to change their behavior in more significant ways. If a movie can doom undershirts, can't it also end war, poverty, global...
More and more, Hollywood is betting on its powers of social engineering. Stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, Angelina Jolie, George Clooney and Charlize Theron have taken pay cuts and strolled red carpets for features that further humanitarian or political agendas. Big-name directors have put their reputations on the line, and rich men have risked fortunes for passion projects. This spring there are at least eight projects with a strong social agenda hitting theaters from such noteworthy filmmakers as Errol Morris and Morgan Spurlock as well as from message-movie newcomers like Ben Stein...
...hunger and disease, and 2.5 million more are displaced. Although the conflict has no clear ethnic or religious lines, the janjaweed hail from nomadic tribes that identify themselves as Arab, and the rebels represent settled tribes usually labeled African. The plight of the Darfurians has received worldwide attention, with Hollywood stars like George Clooney, Angelina Jolie and Don Cheadle taking up cudgels on their behalf. The crisis has also become a campus cause in the West, with students taking up collections, demonstrating and attending benefit concerts. Their cry is as simple as it is poignant: Save the Africans before...