Live Earth (UK)

Well, what I meant is not that you can't review events like the Live Earth, you can. Personally, I think those events are boring (not because of lectures delivered but rather because of their sheer length), but I would never question their raison d'etre, because they are useful to spread messages about real problems.

They are certainly important in terms of spreading a message, but can also be boring and give the impression that their audience is being talked down to. One of our morning shows did a week long Green theme. One of the sections was on how you can recycle wrapping paper and bows. It was presented in a way that made it seem so innovative and novel. Well, my Mom and thereby her children have done that all our lives. We also saved old clothes in the Halloween box to use as costumes and learned to turn off the light switch when we left a room and recycle cans etc. And short showers are de rigeur in a house with ten people. We also celebrated Earth Day from Jr. High on, spending a day cleaning litter and planting plants. While I realize there are people out there who haven't got the message yet; it's when they become kind of self-righteous and make it sound like it's something people haven't thought about before that I get frustrated.

I thought Ioan just seemed a bit nervous out there in front of thousands of people, rather than unmoved. (scary not having a character to hide behind, for lots of actors! :roll:)

Well the critic was right, Ioan probably did read from a piece of paper. He hasn't ever spoken out about human rights or the problems with Earth and it's warming before that occasion; so I can't help but think the speech was just something thrown together so people could hear what they wanted to hear. If he truly cared, he'd have started talking about it all long before he was (most likely) approached to take part in Live Earth.

Stevie - Have to agree that reading might have been out of nerves and wanting to make sure he got it right. Seems like he did that in The Guerrilla Tapestry also. (Which if memory serves was about the environment and drawing attention to poverty and world problems) I know many actors who can't get off the page for a stage production, unless they've had a lot of rehearsal. Could be Ioan is one of those. Might be why he's more of a film than stage actor.

Well put it this way GG, Ioan is in no position to speak out against povertly like he apparently did in The Guerrilla Tapestry seeing as he is quite convinced that he isn't rich yet. How much more money does he need? It makes me angry that he thinks he can speak out against poverty when he also thinks he could earn even more money than he does currently. Plus, there was that article last year when he bragged on about his car and his plasma screens and swimming pool (that he said wasn't big enough) that was followed by people telling me that I have stuff he doesnt when I said that I'm sick of Hollywood people going on about their expensive things. He's clearly doing his bit for world poverty, isn't he. :roll:

I thought Ioan just seemed a bit nervous out there in front of thousands of people, rather than unmoved. (scary not having a character to hide behind, for lots of actors! :roll:) I have to agree with you, too. It is not true that actors are always be at ease in front of audiences when they can't hide behind a character, so reading could serve him to be sure to get it right. Well the critic was right, Ioan probably did read from a piece of paper. He hasn't ever spoken out about human rights or the problems with Earth and it's warming before that occasion; so I can't help but think the speech was just something thrown together so people could hear what they wanted to hear. If he truly cared, he'd have started talking about it all long before he was (most likely) approached to take part in Live Earth. Well, I guess that if a prerequisite to perform or present at the Live Earth was to have spoken out about human rights or Earth and the environment before that event, the list of participants would have been much shorter. :wink: I guess that being asked to participate in an event organized for a good cause may be an occasion for celebrities to learn about problems and if you let yourself be discouraged by your lack of experience or previous involvement, you would never commit yourself to any cause. Any activist for any cause started somewhere and had an occasion when s/he spoke out for the cause s/he fights for for the first time. Well put it this way GG, Ioan is in no position to speak out against povertly like he apparently did in The Guerrilla Tapestry seeing as he is quite convinced that he isn't rich yet. How much more money does he need? It makes me angry that he thinks he can speak out against poverty when he also thinks he could earn even more money than he does currently. Plus, there was that article last year when he bragged on about his car and his plasma screens and swimming pool (that he said wasn't big enough) that was followed by people telling me that I have stuff he doesnt when I said that I'm sick of Hollywood people going on about their expensive things. He's clearly doing his bit for world poverty, isn't he. :roll: Well, then we could debate about whether celebrities living very privileged lives should campaign to end poverty or for other causes they are not necessarily directly touched by. The case of a singer - Bono Vox - I like very much springs to my mind... He campaigns to end poverty and lobbies government to donate a percentage of their budget to ending poverty, but he is, indeed, a very rich man presiding over an investment empire and whose band - U2 - moved its music publishing company to The Netherlands - where musicians' royalty income is generally untaxed - in June 2006, just six months after Ireland ended an exemption on musicians' royalty income.

Agreed Frances. Everyone has to start somewhere and ten years ago when they were Ioan's age or even a little older: Brad Pitt, George Clooney, and Bono were not the first names that came to mind when I thought about benevolent celebrities. They were involved in building a career. Ioan has participated in some charity events. Some perhaps more personal and not well advertised, but I'm sure that will increase. My impression was that he was proud of and grateful for the things he earned and in my book; there is nothing wrong with that. It's not uncommon for people to talk about what is new and exciting for them, especially if asked. Ioan's home was new and from his description, it's not a mansion, just a nice house in a decent neighborhood. Many of the above named celebs do have multiple and much larger homes and they are also mentioned in articles about them. Kaitlyn, just give Ioan a little time, if his career continues in an upward path, he will be asked to contribute more time and money and likely he will that for the charities that are close to his heart. If all celebs contributed to the same causes there would be a lot of worthwhile, but orphaned causes out there.

Well, I guess that if a prerequisite to perform or present at the Live Earth was to have spoken out about human rights or Earth and the environment before that event, the list of participants would have been much shorter. :wink: The list may have been shorter but it would have been a more genuine one. Any activist for any cause started somewhere and had an occasion when s/he spoke out for the cause s/he fights for for the first time. Relating that back to the article, that is what makes me think the critic was right in saying Ioan read from a piece of paper. I'd like to bet Ioan didn't write his speech, therefore he'd be reading from a piece of paper making the words a little less compelling or inspiring. Well, then we could debate about whether celebrities living very privileged lives should campaign to end poverty or for other causes they are not necessarily directly touched by. There are celebrities who support campaigns or charities and actually seem genuine, Ioan is not one of them. In the case of Bono, he never says he doesn't earn much money and goes on about what size television he has. The Welshman does. There are different ways of going about the celebrity life, Bono goes about it the right way. Ioan can campaign to end poverty all he wants but it will never seem genuine to me; there are things he should stay away from and charity work is one of them because I honestly think he doesn't care about the big things like global warming and poverty. No nicer way of saying it.

Well, this is such a subjective area, don't you think? The guy has an interview where he says he's grateful and proud of the things he's earned (as am I!) - probably in reply to particular questions. An interviewer will know before the interview what direction will hit the button with his readership. None of this is off the cuff - it's all strategically planned. So Ioan says these things in one interview and that means he's 'going on'. Sorry, I don't buy it. Does having nice things preclude you from doing nice things? So his speech was written for him and he read it from a paper. As ever, we have no idea about what went on behind scenes, maybe they changed it at the last minute. Maybe Ioan is just not good at public speaking - it's an art form. And because of this he is condemned for eternity to be a money-grabbing hedonist? Give the guy a break!!!!!!!

You're saying we don't know what went on behind the scenes, that things could have gone either way; if that's the case then why is it wrong to think the negative way as oppose to the 'positive' one? Not everyone has to automatically run to the man's aid when a critic says he is a crap actor or can't present or that he 'read from a piece of paper'; and I stand by my first opinion whether you three agree with it or not. Ioan's speech wasn't touching to the critic, it's not the end of the world, just overlook it. Excuses don't need to be made for him. Stevie, to be honest, I'm not even going to bother trying to respond to your comment about him being 'condemned for eternity to be a money-grabbing hedonist' because I'm not going to get anywhere. It's all going to keep being shoved back at me anyway.

Perhaps, Stevie was just saying that we should give Ioan the benefit of the doubt. Having nice things, wishing you could afford (more) nice things, or not speaking out in favour of a cause all of the time don't mean that you don't care about good causes and you don't do nice things. In the end, it is what you do in your everyday life to support a cause that will make a difference, not how much you talk about it. In the case of the environment, recycling wrapping paper and bows. It was presented in a way that made it seem so innovative and novel, saving old clothes in the Halloween box to use as costumes, taking short showers, using your car only when it is strictly necessary, not keeping the heating in wintertime and the air conditioning in summertime too high, cleaning litter, planting plants, turning off the light switch when you leave a room and recycling cans etc, will make a far greater difference for the environment than a thousand high-sounding words.

You're saying we don't know what went on behind the scenes, that things could have gone either way; if that's the case then why is it wrong to think the negative way as oppose to the 'positive' one? There's nothing at all wrong in expressing that view, Kaitlyn, I was merely expressing the other. I didn't say you were 'wrong', I asked you to give the guy the benfit of the doubt. Not everyone has to automatically run to the man's aid when a critic says he is a crap actor or can't present or that he 'read from a piece of paper'; and I stand by my first opinion whether you three agree with it or not. Ioan's speech wasn't touching to the critic, it's not the end of the world, just overlook it. Excuses don't need to be made for him. Excuse me? I have always formed my own opinions about Ioan, which have varied greatly depending on the subject in hand. Why is wrong for me to express an opinion on the critic's view, but okay for you to do so? Stevie, to be honest, I'm not even going to bother trying to respond to your comment about him being 'condemned for eternity to be a money-grabbing hedonist' because I'm not going to get anywhere. It's all going to keep being shoved back at me anyway. Kaitlyn, I was simply pointing out that 'one swallow does not a Summer make' and one expression of possession acquisition does not mean you don't care about the environment. I'm a great believer in each person doing their bit, but for most of us, that doesn't include garnering a lot of publicity while we do it.

Well put it this way GG, Ioan is in no position to speak out against povertly like he apparently did in The Guerrilla Tapestry seeing as he is quite convinced that he isn't rich yet. How much more money does he need? It makes me angry that he thinks he can speak out against poverty when he also thinks he could earn even more money than he does currently. Plus, there was that article last year when he bragged on about his car and his plasma screens and swimming pool (that he said wasn't big enough) that was followed by people telling me that I have stuff he doesnt when I said that I'm sick of Hollywood people going on about their expensive things. He's clearly doing his bit for world poverty, isn't he. :roll: First of all let me say that I am not attacking you. Technically, we all could earn more money (or less for that matter). If someone was in a position whereby they could earn one million dollars and not do jack would they take it? I know I would! The majority of people would whether they admit it or not so even if Ioan was never working and laying around the house eating Ben and Jerry's in some fuzzy slippers and had an option to rake in the dough and he took it, I would not begrudge him that because I would do it too. I wager most people would. Even so, Ioan is not as bad as my example. He does work for his money and he is not a millionaire unlike a lot of celebrities who had three houses in three different countries and are multimillionaires. Even if he was, it's his business. Let's be real, most people would take the mansions and in ground pools over a lifetime of drudgery at a job that they hated if they could. You said that he was going on and on about his expensive things. He goes on and on about a lot of weird stuff like wire coat hangers. Talking about that pool is just something else for him to yap on and on about since he doesn't have to live in cold flats and eat leftover soup anymore (that was in articles as well as the bragging about the car. He is not Paris Hilton...he has not always been "rich" financially). He strikes me as one of those people who just don't get it. They are kind of dense and don't pick up on cues and they just don't know what to say out of their mouths sometimes and end up shooting their own selves in the foot. You can't tell people things sometimes and I learned this the hard way. If I got a Jag, I would feel like yapping about it too. But if I were in the public eye, I would not blab that to a reporter ("omg, I am so stoked I have a jag...teehehehehee") because they have a funny way of using things against people and twisting words. It seems that Ioan doesn't quite get that everyone does not have your best interests at heart, everyone is not nice and everyone is not your buddy. I read about his upbringing and it seems that his parents are really sweet people and perhaps Ioan grew up thinking everyone was like the family back in Wales and that's not the way things work. It seems as though he is a bit sheltered when it comes to "the world out there". He always seems "younger" than what he really is mentally and very naive. I am surprised that he is still in one piece with those stunts he has pulled. Also, even if he did give more and more and more time to these organizations, what then? All people are going to do is criticize and say something like "actors should stick to acting" and "what does he know" or something asinine like that and not take him seriously. People laughed at Sheryl Crow when she talked about using one sheet of toliet paper and people sneer when Madonna and Angelina Jolie adopt foreign babies when American babies are up for adoption as well. People are going to do what they are going to do regardless of what celebrities say. I know some racists who've stopped listening to U2 music when Bono began trying to help Africa. No matter what Sheryl Crow says people still buy bottled water, SUVs and leave the water running while brushing their teeth. That is the way of the world be it right or wrong. All each of us can do is what we think is right whether its just recycling or something as big as starting a whole new organization. On a slightly off topic note, I find that a lot of people who hate on celebrities (not saying that you are one those people, I am talking generally since we're already on the subject of entertainers and the media) are disappointed in their own lives and are just jealous. Why else do people delight in Britney Spears' troubles when they've done things far worse than going out without underwear when they were her age? A lot of things people say about actors, musicians and other types of entertainers is just sour grapes. If the people talking all of that trash could star in a hit TV show and have beautiful women, fast cars and loads of cash, they'd do it too and they need to stop pretending that they wouldn't.

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