Why Ban Ki-moon has ‘gone Hollywood’
BY TOM PLATE
LOS ANGELES --- Issues of power are the reality of the United Nations, an institution that routinely has to traffic in the realities of war, pestilence, plague, ethnic cleaning, nation-building and nation-destruction. But it generally gets bad media.
By contrast Hollywood often swims in the world of unreality, shaped into gripping stories and unforgettable images that seek to engage us to the extent (frankly) of commerciality. It generally generates great publicity.
What a difference! So last year Ban Ki-moon, the workaholic Secretary General, came to Los Angeles in an effort to utilize some of that image-power on behalf of his image-battered UN. And next Tuesday [editors: 28 Feb.] he’ll be back here again to try to do more of the same.
Whether it’s the power of illusion or reality, power is power. The UN, Ban feels, is one big treasure trove of untold stories – of individual heroism by field workers or collective competence by various and affiliated UN agencies. But only a massive screw-up is sure to attract the mainstream news media’s attention. That’s anything but the full true story of the UN.
The chosen venue for Ban’s mission for a more complete understanding of the far-flung world organization is the Global Creative Forum, a Hollywood nonprofit with the credibility of the entertainment business’ marquee names. Run by “Chicken Soup for the Soul” entrepreneur William Rouhana and Kate Moulene, a former magazine editor, Hollywood insider and self-described “Charity Chick,” its annual killer event includes issue-panels at the Hammer Museum that featureBan – and other stars.
One particular moment last year hit everyone hard. At the concluding GCF dinner, packed with Hollywood’s cause-committed stars, the UNSG got up to speak with great emotion. The difference between your reality and mine, Ban explained, could not be overstated. When the shooting stops on your sets, your “dead” and “wounded” jump up, wash off their bloody makeup and live to be “shot” another day. But the UN tragedy is real: when some horrible happening takes me to a UN scene, he said, the bodies lying on the side of the road do not rise up and walk off the “set.” They do not live for another day. They are really dead.
The large and attentive patio crowd included everyone from Hilary Swank, Orlando Bloom and Kiefer Sutherland (to drop just a few names) to powerhouse directors such as Ron Howard, Ed Zwick and Jason Reitman. They were visibly moved. For all the glitter, this crowd represented the more caring portion of Hollywood. This is the part of Hollywood that’s not continually in drug rehab, divorce court, or contract litigation – the part the media doesn’t usually cover: the productive part.
The media is invariably cynical about the effectiveness of charity celebs, as I used to be – at least until Moulene (and to some extent Ban, by his very presence at the annual event) wiped that cynical smirk off my face. I used to think that charity celebs had no idea about the complex issues they were fronting for, but in many instances I was wrong. I also used to think they didn’t accomplish much – wrong again, as found out.
Star power adds money to causes and expands the audience. Explains Moulene, the Charity Chick who’s also a mother of five and an environmentally-active outdoors-woman: “These are celebrities who don’t just ‘show up’ to be seen. Their issues tend to be lifelong passions for them. Richard Gere is totally genuine about his Buddhism and Tibet; sure, Jackie Chan is a virtuoso about making people laugh – but could he care if people laugh at his activism? No.” To my lingering cynicism, the Charity Chick says: “None of these actors need to be more famous! They get all the attention they need. Even so, they are willing to step up and help in order to bring attention to other people and other issues. I think that is something that we as a global community need to really acknowledge and appreciate. It is because of the generosity of time and concern of so many of these key artists that people behind the scenes, like me, have been able to raise many millions of dollars to help pressing causes.”
Ban doesn’t need the publicity, either, but he has been gambling with a little of his time to forge some kind of working alliance with Hollywood’s sincerely concerned image-makers. Now into his fifth year at the helm, the Secretary General is convinced that more stories about UN humanitarian intervention and heroic life-saving need to reach the global audience. He is well aware that the regular news media, except in rare instances, are not interested. Can Hollywood help? Maybe all that’s needed is enough good directors, the right stars and appealing story lines. Ban would only further require that the stories be true. That’s not ordinarily necessary in Hollywood, but Ban fervently believes the UN does enough good stuff out there in the real world to obliterate any need to make anything up.
Veteran U.S. journalist Tom Plate, author of the current bestseller “Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad” (Marshall Cavendish), is the Distinguished Scholar of Asian and Pacific Affairs at Loyola Marymount University. © 2011, Pacific Perspectives Media Center.
BY TOM PLATE
LOS ANGELES --- Issues of power are the reality of the United Nations, an institution that routinely has to traffic in the realities of war, pestilence, plague, ethnic cleaning, nation-building and nation-destruction. But it generally gets bad media.
By contrast Hollywood often swims in the world of unreality, shaped into gripping stories and unforgettable images that seek to engage us to the extent (frankly) of commerciality. It generally generates great publicity.
What a difference! So last year Ban Ki-moon, the workaholic Secretary General, came to Los Angeles in an effort to utilize some of that image-power on behalf of his image-battered UN. And next Tuesday [editors: 28 Feb.] he’ll be back here again to try to do more of the same.
Whether it’s the power of illusion or reality, power is power. The UN, Ban feels, is one big treasure trove of untold stories – of individual heroism by field workers or collective competence by various and affiliated UN agencies. But only a massive screw-up is sure to attract the mainstream news media’s attention. That’s anything but the full true story of the UN.
The chosen venue for Ban’s mission for a more complete understanding of the far-flung world organization is the Global Creative Forum, a Hollywood nonprofit with the credibility of the entertainment business’ marquee names. Run by “Chicken Soup for the Soul” entrepreneur William Rouhana and Kate Moulene, a former magazine editor, Hollywood insider and self-described “Charity Chick,” its annual killer event includes issue-panels at the Hammer Museum that featureBan – and other stars.
One particular moment last year hit everyone hard. At the concluding GCF dinner, packed with Hollywood’s cause-committed stars, the UNSG got up to speak with great emotion. The difference between your reality and mine, Ban explained, could not be overstated. When the shooting stops on your sets, your “dead” and “wounded” jump up, wash off their bloody makeup and live to be “shot” another day. But the UN tragedy is real: when some horrible happening takes me to a UN scene, he said, the bodies lying on the side of the road do not rise up and walk off the “set.” They do not live for another day. They are really dead.
The large and attentive patio crowd included everyone from Hilary Swank, Orlando Bloom and Kiefer Sutherland (to drop just a few names) to powerhouse directors such as Ron Howard, Ed Zwick and Jason Reitman. They were visibly moved. For all the glitter, this crowd represented the more caring portion of Hollywood. This is the part of Hollywood that’s not continually in drug rehab, divorce court, or contract litigation – the part the media doesn’t usually cover: the productive part.
The media is invariably cynical about the effectiveness of charity celebs, as I used to be – at least until Moulene (and to some extent Ban, by his very presence at the annual event) wiped that cynical smirk off my face. I used to think that charity celebs had no idea about the complex issues they were fronting for, but in many instances I was wrong. I also used to think they didn’t accomplish much – wrong again, as found out.
Star power adds money to causes and expands the audience. Explains Moulene, the Charity Chick who’s also a mother of five and an environmentally-active outdoors-woman: “These are celebrities who don’t just ‘show up’ to be seen. Their issues tend to be lifelong passions for them. Richard Gere is totally genuine about his Buddhism and Tibet; sure, Jackie Chan is a virtuoso about making people laugh – but could he care if people laugh at his activism? No.” To my lingering cynicism, the Charity Chick says: “None of these actors need to be more famous! They get all the attention they need. Even so, they are willing to step up and help in order to bring attention to other people and other issues. I think that is something that we as a global community need to really acknowledge and appreciate. It is because of the generosity of time and concern of so many of these key artists that people behind the scenes, like me, have been able to raise many millions of dollars to help pressing causes.”
Ban doesn’t need the publicity, either, but he has been gambling with a little of his time to forge some kind of working alliance with Hollywood’s sincerely concerned image-makers. Now into his fifth year at the helm, the Secretary General is convinced that more stories about UN humanitarian intervention and heroic life-saving need to reach the global audience. He is well aware that the regular news media, except in rare instances, are not interested. Can Hollywood help? Maybe all that’s needed is enough good directors, the right stars and appealing story lines. Ban would only further require that the stories be true. That’s not ordinarily necessary in Hollywood, but Ban fervently believes the UN does enough good stuff out there in the real world to obliterate any need to make anything up.
Veteran U.S. journalist Tom Plate, author of the current bestseller “Conversations with Mahathir Mohamad” (Marshall Cavendish), is the Distinguished Scholar of Asian and Pacific Affairs at Loyola Marymount University. © 2011, Pacific Perspectives Media Center.
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