I was rewatching The Fellowship of the Ring today and was thinking about the fact that that they actually costumed thousands of people for those movies, and wondering how the cost of one of those costumes compared to the cost of a inexpensive real-life outfit.
Why is it more of a priority to costume actors than to clothe people who actually do not have enough to wear? And of course it's not just Hollywood; I could have donated ten bucks to a charity instead of getting the VHS.
It seems like it's not even worth asking which is more important, that people have sufficient clothing or that some of us have epic movies with great costumes. It's obvious, right? Or if it's not obvious enough, how about...epic movies or mosquito nets to prevent malaria?
Maybe this is too simplistic for some of you, but here's the thing: I would actually have to answer the question for a person with no assumptions to know that I think human lives are more valuable than good entertainment. ["What you believe is not what you say you believe; what you believe is what you do."] I don't really like that.
This reminds me of one of Ghandi's speeches.
ReplyDeleteDarn you!!!! You make those of us who bought the DVD's feel terrible
ReplyDeleteI'm just throwing this out there, things i've learned over the years
ReplyDeletesome homeless people don't want a better life, they just want money
Some put themselves there, some really had the rug pulled out from under them
My dad and a friend of his who is a veteran were driving and passed a homeless man with a sigh that read. "Veteran needs money". Dad's friend being a veteran and all wanted to help him. He got dad to stop the car and he told the man "I will put you in a hotel and give you a job." The man waved him away, said "I only want the money"
after much confrontation later turns out the man wasn't a veteran at all but using that as a way to get money and it really upset my dad's friend.
BUT on the other hand....
Dad and I had went out to eat and a girl with a dog thought we had brought out our left overs..we had just got carry out. Dad gave her enough to buy her own sandwich and some food for the dog.
Helping people is essential, but some people don't want to be helped and some people you can't.
okay....wrote more than I thought I was going too...
:)
It's disheartening to think of things like this, but it's not as if anyone would have been better off if The Lord of Rings had not been made. Actually, it provided a lot of jobs. There is no lack of clothing or money or food. It's lack of access and power.
ReplyDeleteSomnite - I would have bought the DVD if I had a DVD player in 2003.
ReplyDeletepinkapplecore - It's definitely true that some people are still in bad situations because they don't want what would get them out of it...
Ashley - You're right, of course. And I do realize it's not quite that black-and-white.