Julianne Moore: Most Celebrity Do-Gooders Are Attention-Grubbing Famewhores

*uncomfortable coughing*

Wow.

So somebody - somebody famous - finally stepped up and said it.

I mean, c'mon. We've all thought this at some point or another, haven't we?

The story:

Actress Julianne Moore has slammed Angelina Jolie and Madonna for deliberately seeking media attention for their humanitarian efforts.

Moore, 47, claims she has made a conscious effort to keep her own political and social activism out of the limelight, and she cannot understand why stars get so much attention from the press for volunteering their time to help others.

She says: "It's definitely the 'to whom much is given' thing. And we have a tremendous amount of privilege."

"But, at the same time, I don't know why so much emphasis is placed on celebrities who volunteer. Most people do things in their daily lives. It's just normal."

Okay, so. On the one hand: BRAVO JULIANNE. Because, yes, supporting our own communities and communities in need is something that ordinary people do every day to little or no acclaim. It's something that people just do. Because they should. Not because it makes good press or because, you know, noblesse oblige, blah blah blah, but because it's the right thing to do. Like not littering and holding the door open for others and saying please and thank you and not going commando when you're wearing short skirts.

But on the other hand... as much as I might roll my eyes every time some celebrity announces that they're driving a hybrid or that they are going to India to rehabilitate alcoholic elephants, I gotta say: is it really a bad thing for the world if Angelina wants to rescue Darfurians? Whether or not it yields convenient photo ops for her? Doesn't the fact that someone like Angelina makes very public attempts to save the world provide a good example for those who otherwise wouldn't give saving the world any thought? Of course it does.

Then, of course, you have Madonna. Madonna's not helping anybody. I don't care how many orphans she adopts or how many times she insists that she's 'green,' there's something about a middle-aged woman in a leotard affecting dominatrix poses to promote her records causes - nay, a middle-aged woman in a leotard who compares the plight of Malawian orphans to the trials of Tom Cruise - that just, you know, makes the eye-rolling and the random gagging just a little hard to control.

So Julianne can have at her as much as she wants.

(BTW - you can see Julianne's own do-gooding in action at a Celebrity Hand-Me-Down auction that's being hosted at eBay by Johnson & Johnson: she's donated a Stokke high chair that you can bid on. Proceeds go to Baby Cause - an online global fundraising project run through Global Giving.

You can also bid on Tori Spelling's diaper bag, which of is absolutely no interest to me, but hey? Maybe you're a fan, or maybe your heart is just that much more charitable than mine.)

Source

Comments

[Faith]

Madonna's not helping anybody. There's something about a middle-aged woman in a leotard who compares the plight of Malawian orphans to the trials of Tom Cruise - that just, you know, makes the eye-rolling and the random gagging just a little hard to control.

Snort, Giggle, pee running down leg.
I love you.

[Nette]

Isn't the fact that she's making this statement fame-whoring in itself? "Hey look at me! I don't publicize my do-goodery! Except...right now where I'm not saying how much good I do when I'm making sure noone except the readers of this interview are looking at me...um...never mind."

[Martha]

I think Julianne looks HAWT in that pic. Rawr.

Um, anyway, I think for the most part Brad and Angelina publicize to draw attention to the problems and that it WORKS because frankly some people, and I mean people like me, have no idea what is going on in other parts of the world because we spend most of our time here and on other pop culture blogs *grin* So for those of us that the Daily Show IS the news, I say go them!

Madonna, however, should go suck it, and retire.

[BaltimoreGal]

I really just love Julianne. And I truly believe that charity begins at home- while she lives well, she still lives rather simply in a real house in New York in a regular neighborhood and really does things for herself. And she doesn't have a team who sends out press releases every time she does a charitable act.

[Suzy Q]

Angelia also did a lot of her do-gooding without any fanfare at first, while she was learning about which countries needed what. And she DOES bring a spotlight on situations we otherwise might not know (or care) about.

Madonna, as Matha put it so succinctly, should definitely suck it and retire. She was fun in the '80s but now? Not so much. She's so very grasping.

[Lori]

I think the pertinent part of what she was quoted as saying is: "But, at the same time, I don't know why so much emphasis is placed on celebrities who volunteer..." To me that statement implies more about those who publicize the do-goodery than those who do the celebrity do-goodery. And, possibly, those who would only do good things because they heard of a celebrity doing good things.

(Also: Laughing my ass off re: Madonna, ick. enough. please.)

[rednexmama]

Gotta agree with the idea that it's the fact that things are being done, not necessarily why that's important. Is it really such a bad thing that people are "living green", or volunteering at soup kitchens (Spencer, I mean you), or for that matter, adopting orphans??? Think about your own community... Like we don't all know that one person who constantly reminds how they compost EVERYTHING, and just got a new hybrid, and who buys only organic hemp clothing for their kids?? People do things for attention, celebrities or not. But you know what? I'd much rather see photos of Madonna faking it with orphans than yet another Lohan crotch shot, any day!

[DianaCLT]

Ditto everything Martha and Suzy Q said.

And, Madonna? Act your age, dress your age, and puh-LEEZE lose that ridiculously bogus accent!