I didn’t see the Emmy Awards because I was at work, and I have to take such shows in bits and pieces anyway. But I ran across George Clooney’s speech in his acceptance of the Bob Hope Humanitarian Award and was impressed, as I usually am by Clooney’s acting and his social activism.
I’m a huge fan of Clooney and his flicks. He can do wild and crazy or quiet wit as good as he can do heartbreak, and boy–he did heartbreak brilliantly in “Up in the Air,” the last flick of his, or the last I’ve seen recently. That was a little gem of a movie, but Clooney is a smart guy who does smart acting in usually smart movies.
So, the fact that he is a humanitarian, and sometimes a prophetic voice, makes him all the more likeable to my way of thinking. I was always a huge fan of Paul Newman, who wore his fame and fortune with such grace and good humor and generosity, and Clooney is cut from the same mold in terms of his acting, humanity and generosity.
Here’s a snippet from his acceptance speech, which–like pretty much everything about Clooney–ran to the very smart:
“It’s important to remember how much good can get done because we live in such strange times where bad behaviors suck up all the attention in the press and the people who really need the spotlight, the Haitians, the Sudanese, the people in the Gulf Coast . . . Pakistan, they can’t get any [press].
When the disaster happens, everybody wants to help, everybody in this room wants to help, everybody at home wants to help. The hard part is seven months later, five years later, when we’re on to a new story . . . honestly, we fail at that, most of the time. That’s the facts.
I fail at that.
So here’s hoping that some very bright person right here in the room or at home watching can help find a way to keep the spotlight burning on these heartbreaking situations that continue to be heartbreaking long after the cameras go away. That would be an impressive accomplishment. Thank you.”
