We'll have to wait and see on what Barack's actually up to and some critics are of the opinion that audiences need to wait and see on The Philanthropist. The feeling is that the first episode moved so quickly that people may not know what they've seen. Never mistake the Water Cooler Set for a democratic, love-the-masses type crowd. If they couldn't stick their noses in the air, well, they might be forced to sniff their own stink.
While offering their presumption that the average TV viewer is a moron, they reveal how moronic they themselves are. Like a cat fascinated by a fast moving object viewed through a window, the critics were the ones dazed and confused. The Philanthropist told you everything you needed to know in its first episode.
For example, it's a physically ugly show. That's obvious from the start when a bartender is lit and filmed as if she's a retired hockey goalie while wardrobe's outfitted her as if she's listed on the menu under "Piece de ass." It's obvious when Neve Campbell (Olivia) is filmed at such weird angles that she looks like a bobble head -- and a tired one at that. It's a very ugly show and apparently the show moved "too fast" -- at least for the Water Cooler Set which didn't catch those details.
Peter Horton 'directed' but the editing was the only 'visual' the show had to offer. Otherwise, you had badly staged, badly lit, badly filmed scenes mixed in with post card 'art' of scenic locales. It was a very ugly looking debut.
As a diversion on a hot summer night, The Philanthropist is worth watching and we'd certainly recommend everyone catch it if only for Neve (third episode finds her doing the most in any of the first four episodes, just FYI). But we recommend you watch with a critical mind.
The show revolves around the billionaire Teddy Rist who runs the multi-national corporation Maidstone-Rist Company. Rist, played by Brit James Purefoy, is Olivia's ex-lover and . . . Not a great deal more is known. He looks good semi-naked. That was obvious in an early scene where a barely-there sheet cupped the groin of his otherwise exposed body. The show doesn't set out to tell you a great deal more about Teddy.
Except that he's good. And a billionaire. And a do-gooder. And he just wants to help. And he runs a multi-national corporation. And he's good.
Did we mention he's good?
The show comes off a lot like Wall Street Propaganda. Amazingly, as the economy has tanked, we have yet to see a show based on any of the many criminals but, while we get no Bernie Madoff series, NBC rushes in to establish that the heads of business are really sweethearts and live to serve the world a Coke and perfect harmony. Yes, that's the song they sing.
And that's why you need to watch with a critical mind.
If you do that, you might wonder why this NBC show, this American show, about a do-gooder, finds the do-gooder traveling all over the world?
The first episode finds him in Africa. Helping the poor. Because there are no poor in America? Or because the US corporations don't want you to think of the poverty in America? The victims of Hurricane Katrina won't make a blip on his radar, but he will travel to Paris, for example, to take on sexual trafficking.
In fact, the show seems to exist to lull away any (deserved) anger the average American might have towards the Wall Street types and convince them that all the problems in the world exist outside of the United States.
There's a smug aren't-we-perfect attitude about this show that's most obvious in the first and fourth episode when Teddy visits Nigeria apparently to argue that the best person to 'save' Africa is a White man.
Philanthropy is donating to a cause or charity. One can write a check, give time, donate property, you name it. In this country, public philanthropy has always been good p.r. for those with lousy ethics going back to at least the robber baron era. And philanthropy exists on many levels.
NOW, the National Organization for Women, is seeking philanthropists. So much so that they sent out an e-mail last week entitled "Special Offer: Join NOW, Get Ms." For a twenty-five dollar donation, you could become a member of NOW and also get a one-year subscription to Ms. magazine. $25 happens to be the cost (non-special offer) of subscribing to Ms. And, goodness, is it worth it! Take the latest issue which features 'noted' 'feminist' Donna Brazile explaining "Real Men Don't Hit." Oh, how the mighty have fallen and they, like the old TV commercial, apparently can't get up.
It takes really backward ass sexist trash like Donna Brazile to serve up an article entitled "Real Men Don't Hit." "Real Men"? Ms., the magazine that once existed to explode gender stereotypes, wants to offer the ultimate racial stereotype (that's all Brazile has become -- a closeted life will do that to a person) weighing in on what "real" men do and don't do? What's next? "You Have A Right Not To Be Hit"? Ms. was always a feminist primer that most graduate from quickly but these days Donna Brazile's apparently been brought in to cater to the special ed market.
The offer from NOW surprised us because we assumed, with all those mythical anti-choice Sarah Palin supporters allegedly taking over the organization, they'd be rolling in the dough. For that lie to have been true, NOW would have had to have added a ton of new members in 2008 and their coffers should be overflowing. But their coffers are bare and the rumor was a smear. Where there are smears, there is Ellie Smeal and she's willing to give NOW the entire $25 out of the goodness of her . . . own self-interest. She thinks the offer will allow her to retain control of the organization she's trying to rule. The recent election found the grass roots rejecting Ellie's hand-picked successor to her hand maiden (Kim Gandy). Ellie's on the outs and desperate to get back in. And at the point in the near future when the rumbles begin about Ms. yet again going belly up, it would be good if Ellie were asked to explain how turning Ms. into a freebie was a good business move for the magazine?
Sometimes you're not the donor, you're the recipient of philanthropy. The Nation magazine wants to give you $100 . . . off on their (underbooked) Nation Cruise if you book before July 1st. Hey, don't you want to play paddle tennis with Patti Williams? When not wanting to give you $100 off on their over-priced cruise, they spent last week repeatedly sending out one e-mail after another begging for money in what Katrina vanden Heuvel (editor, publisher and organ monkey) termed "these difficult financial times". Kind hard to picture Katty-van-van clipping the coupons and telling her husband he better go back to working for the Bush family or they'll lose their manse, right?
US House Rep John Conyers wants to make a philanthropist of you. For a fifty dollar donation to his re-election campaign, Conyers informed last week in "Single-payer health care: the cure for what ails us," he'll send you a t-shirt with "Single-payer" on it.
Some may doubt Conyers when he writes, "As you know, one of the central issues of my campaign for reelection is the importance of creating a single-payer health care system that ensures all Americans have access to high quality, affordable care." They might point out, for example, that the health care bill the White House wants is expected to go before Congress shortly and not after the 2010 elections.
Ourselves, we remember how Conyers promised, ahead of the 2006 elections, that Democratic control of Congress meant impeachment hearings. And then . . . they never happened. But, under pressure, he promised that impeachment hearings could take place after George W. Bush left office and George W. Bush left office and . . . Conyers did nothing. Maybe he's planning to impeach Bush posthumously? We do know that shortly after he sent out the e-mail, the news broke that Monica Conyers, his wife and member of the Detroit City Council, had copped a guilty plea over accepting bribes. With the extra free time on her hands, we would assume shipping out t-shirts should be a breeze.
Philanthropy works on the it's-better-to-give-than-to-receive bromide which always struck us as rather smug and the sort of trash talk a power-top gives a bottom before getting down to business. The Philanthropist works as a mindless diversion so long as you keep both eyes open and your guard up. Otherwise, you may find yourself calling your senators to voice your support for $700 billion more in handouts to bankers. If you're foolish enough to believe that the corporation known for polluting the Hudson River is airing this program for altruistic reasons, you probably shouldn't be watching.