World's On Fire, Sarah McLachlan To The Rescue
Have you seen the new video from Sarah McLachlan? Instead of spending $150,000 on camera crews, editors, hair and make-up, etc... the singer donated the "World On Fire" budget to charity.
The clip cites numerous examples of how the money spent on one music video could be better spent on food, medicine, and education in third world countries. Take that Chingy, you selfish prick!
A noble gesture, or should Sarah get off her high horse? Watch it here.
Posted at 8:37 AM
i wish it would open up some people's, regarding their shallow values, but whatever. it's a noble gesture, definitely!
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i wish it would open up some people's eyes regarding their shallow values, but whatever. it's a noble gesture, definitely!
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Perhaps she should refrain from recording music altogether -- just think of all the time and money wasted in expensive Sunset Boulevard recording studios perfecting her trademark minor chord changes and tepid vocals.
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Ya know, I always say I'd be a philanthropist if I didn't have to work for a living.
D
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RIGHT NOW. Hey, it's your tomorrow.
Catch that magic moment, do it right here and now.
It means everything...
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maybe a little bit annoying, but jesus, it was a nice thing to do!
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Do they know it's Christmas?
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Re: "One years schooling for 145 girls in Afghanistan."
How about a copy of "Eats Shoots and Leaves" for Ms. McLachlan?
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I think this is a fantastic video. Not only is it beautiful, moving, and impossible to stop watching, but it will open people's eyes tremendously. Westerners complain about not having enough, but a video like this can truly put everything back into perspective. It also serves to remind people how messed up our values are in this country--150,000 dollars is a LOT of money for a stupid music video. Many times, videos are made that don't get any airtime on MTV, Vh1, etc and so it's just a complete waste of money. Granted, I love music videos but that money definitely can be better used in other places around the world. So yes, I think it's fantastic.
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I really wish people would stop citing Eats Shoots & Leaves as a English language reference. It is totally poncey and pretensious and full of grammatical errors, endlesslly full of them. Buy American and use the Chicago Manual of Style - no errors!. Other than that, her grammatical booboo does take away from her point, I agree.
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and yes, I know, I spelled pretentious wrong.
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Bob, thanks for the advice. Sadly, your own inability to spell or use punctuation properly detracts from what is otherwise a fairly trenchant review of the Chicago Manual of Style. It was let down, however, by your ironic exhortation to "buy American", a form of fairly noxious trade protectionism that frequently cripples the very developing countries that Ms. McLachlan aims to help.
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Why would anyone object to someone doing their job in the kindest way possible? I don't love her music but she is certainly going about her career by compromising w/the industry in the kindest, most mature way she can. I think that's cool.
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Sarah, please learn grammar before trying to make a statement. You look like an ass.
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Good for her. Her intent seems genunie, now only if P.Doofy could take a lesson in modesty from Sarah when it comes to the issues. While I think its great that he is trying to get young people to vote, I get annoyed when I read quotes from him and his people saying that he can sway the whole election and that he has gotten voter registration up 250 percent (that last quote was said by one of his spokespeople in yesterday's page six). The point being doing one thing much like Sarah and stop trying to remind people that you are this big hero.
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remember when Hammer spent $1,000,000 on the video for 2 Legit 2 Quit? He could have been King Hammer of a 3rd World country if he played his cards right...
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I'm not a major fan, but I'd say it was noble. I think the Dems and Reps should have saved some of their convention money for similar good deeds!
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I meant do one thing like Sarah and be modest remind people that they should vote and give them the reasons why. Don't have your spokespeople saying that you got voter registration up 250 percent. Don't something that should be done all the time into a fad.
And I have to agree with Matt Stone and Trey Parker "Vote or Die" is such a stupid phrase!
Sorry for the P.Doofy rant
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Re: Diddy
But isn't it true?
Wasn't the election decided by a small number of votes in 2000? Since MTV is focusing on its demographic, which is *probably* if not *highly likely* to vote Democratic, then the "Choose or Lose"/"Get out the Vote"/"Vote or Die" groups could very easily change the election results.
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I think it's great that she did this. Unfortunately, however, I can't run the video on my 'puter so I can't watch it. I'm still using Win98.
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I'll never bitch about someone helping others..but it does seem overly self-serving in a way doesn't it? Doesn't it?
I guess I have never been genuinely swayed by a celebrity's attention to world issues--all I can think about is how ridiculously luxuroius their lives are and how easy it is to make grand donations when you are making millions upon millions a year without actually doing MUCH work.
Jealous? But of course...but I'm a poor 24-year-old struggling up the ladder in the evil publishing world...my ass is in-debt. The best I do can is volunteer once in awhile.
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Oh I agree with you Karen, I think what he is doing is great but what bugs me is the amount of ego on this man. Everytime I see him interviewed about this he asks as if he is the huge hero and to me I want to think that his intent is genuine but there is a part of me that is bothered by the fact that it seems to me that he wants to make something that should be done all the time into something that is trendy.
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Sorry I keep hitting post when I don't mean too. I meant he acts not ask. But its the same with Howard Stern too, if these guys can change election results with their efforts (and believe me I hope they can) then more power to them. Its going to be interesting to see if Stern and Diddy are still talking about voting come Nov '05.
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Too bad she couldn't afford a proofreader for her grammatical mistakes.
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It's simple, effective and remarkably unpretentious. Pretty much the last thing you'd expect from her at this point. But I like it.
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James. I was going to respond to your testiness, but then I decided....nah! He is just a lonely procrastinator like me (although one with an inferior Irony Meter), and this is really all about Britney, anyway. Cheers.
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I strongly dislike her music, but its a pretty neat video. Sarah's looking WAY too skinny however. Sheesh.
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I think its good- but I also like greed a lot. So I'd have been fine with a nice video with lots of cool things to look at. But less is more I guess- but what I like even more is when you spend the huge budget and make it look like you didn't! That's art people.
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Yes! Uber-rich celebrities who get countless freebies and perqs and shovels full of money they don't need that could change lives for entire populations need to GET OFF THEIR HIGH HORSES. Damn self-servers who give to charity!
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Grimm--
Of course they won't be. They'll wait until 2008. Diddy annoys me, too, especially all of these organizations he has-- Citizen Change, "P Diddy RUNS THE CITY", etc. But they need to be obnoxious to get publicity. And without the publicity, they aren't effective.
Who was it who said they'd rather 19-year olds who know nothing about the issues didn't vote? That's kind of a good point too. In a way, maybe it's better if people don't vote.
It's too bad we can't distinguish the I'm-not-voting-because-I-approve-of-neither-candidate" from the "I can't be bothered to vote" or "voting doesn't matter" people.
I don't know; sometimes the elections really remind me of the Simpsons when Homer ran for garbage commissioner or whatever it was.
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Long time listener, first time blah blah blah:
The concept underlying this video and of many of these comments are taking this out of perspective. Yes $150,000 is a lot of money to you or me, but it's not a lot of money when you consider the investment that a record company puts into an artist like this. Videos have always been advertisements for music. The record company makes a judgement that considering the amount of money it could gain from sales, it is willing to risk $150,000 on an ad, which compared to the amount of money they'd have to spend on to air just one three minute commercial on network t.v. is a huge bargain. Yes of course they can, as in this case, not spend the money, however the reason they can is that they have this "hook" of a charitable donation. Needless to say, they would not be able to do this with every video without having their revenues cut so much that they could no longer afford to make the $150,000 videos, which is the price it costs them to make a video that will justify the free advertising they get on MTV.
So essentially, the record company has $150,000 to donate to a cause only because they are willing to put many more dollars than that at risk with many other pricey videos, with the hope that MTV and the public will look favorably on the artist and pay them money for the music.
Basically, the reason they spend a ton of money is that they need to spend a ton of money to get back a bit more (the profit margin for the record industry as a whole is very small). Call it greed if you will, but this basic model underlies nearly all of the prosperity that exists throughout this entire world, not just the U.S.
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Noble indeed. Even more noble would be if this is the last video she ever makes. Would not another 'regular' video be hypocritical?
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Plus, how come nobody seems to be worried about the suddenly out of work hair and makeup people?
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production assistants need to eat too.
haha.
besides, i'm a little confused. how'd they get the editing and graphic design for the cut-scenes on a $15 budget?
i call bullshit.
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Actually, for $50, you can get a cheapy video editing program. And since she's like famous, she probably knew someone who would do it for free.
I would really like to see the video without downloading itunes, though. Mac users have this superior air about them. Sluts.
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A music video is nothing more than a marketing tool designed to motivate people to talk about/purchase product from the artist.
Mission accomplished.
BTW, what's worse...Birkenstocks or barefeet?
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I'd fuck her, even without the make-up.
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they forgot to mention the price of converting the video to beta tape in order to air it on mtv.... that's another couple of hundred dollars.....
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Also, I'll probably regret this, but...
http://www.stereogum.com/img/stereosarah.jpg
That's from 1998.
Sarah totally sweats me.
But what's up w/ my hair?
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I dare J. Lo to do this. That prima donna would last ten seconds in a video before running for her mascara.
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That's 1998 hair, man. Don't worry about it.
(not that I or anyone I know had hair like that in '98)
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Get naked and get back in that tub.
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mary-louise parker much?
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I think it's great that she had the intiative to do this. Those of you that are bitching about it would do good to stop being such cynical self-centered assholes! I don't see fuckers like Britney, J. Ho, or P Idiot doing anything like this. Sure she makes money, she could just conform to the status quo and be a greedy selfish pig like most idiotic celebrities these days. At least Sarah is bringing attention to areas of the world that have long been neglected. It's like Angelina Jolie, how awesome that she adopted a Cambodian baby, not only is she rich, famous and beautiful, she actually gives a shit about the underprivileged.
That's what it comes down to, giving a shit.
Apparently the overwhelming majority of people, just don't give a shit because it doesn't personally affect them.
So, yeah, it's awesome that she gives a shit! Go Sarah!
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now if only she'd have donated the $ she spent on plastic surgery.
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As much as I want to read cynicism into what she's done, ultimately it's a lot more of a productive act than past efforts such as "Live Aid" or "Band Aid" or "Whatever Aid".
I think it goes without saying that the music and video industry is a bloated beast. Heck, the whole entertainment industry is bloated as hell. Half of the jobs that exist at any record label are a joke at best. And the amount of money spent on frivilous crap is really out of control. I'm rambling a bit and getting off topic...
But what is admirable about this is simple. Instead of entertainment companies wasting money asking average working people to donate money and just "help", companies themselves can donate a fraction of their damned budgets to make a difference in the world. Even if it is a small gesture.
Cut the catering budgets for half of the productions in the business and you can take that saved money and donate it to people who could really use it.
I wouldn't say Sarah McLachlan is the greatest humanitarian on earth, but I don't think this particular gesture can be dismissed as just cynical and empty and ineffective.
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Still, it's so Soul Asylum "Runaway Train."
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Noble gesture for fuck's sake. Like we really need another "Big Pimpin'" on the airwaves.
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what a plea to sell records.... she could've raised that money independtly. She doesn't need to waste record label resources. Total bullshit. Complete bullshit. Lets hope that record gets spins on Mix 102.7! The station all hip kids listen to! DERP
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i dare you to call me out on my horrid spelling error(s)... :)
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OMG Cali_, I too noticed that she looks totally different. Way skinnier, and her face doesn't look the same... I wonder what all she has had done. I always thought she was cool because she looked like a 'normal' girl - meaning, she wasn't tanorexic. Meh! Everyone is a slave to the knife these days.... we are going to be some fucked up Joan Rivers looking old people. *shudder*
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Wow, remember when Blink 182 blew all their music video budget *in* their music video, and outfitted that toothless bum with some proper pimp gear? Those were the days...and at least I got to see half nude, middle-aged, bro-hawks doing...whatever it is they did.
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Good call on the Soul Asylum!
Seriously, the more I think about this video, the more it smells like bullshit.
But what do you expect - there are few good intentions in entertainment or in politics..or in life for that matter
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And wait a minute, how noble is it to donate someone else's money and then take credit for it? I think a truly noble move would be for her poney up the dough, then not brag about it. In the end, she'll have made money off of this supposedly altruistic act. REgardless of her actual intent, this is fundamentally an act of marketing that capitalizes off of certain customer's innate guilt that they should not be enjoying the comfortable life that they have. And how do you temper that guilt? Buy a Sarah McLaughlin album. This is no different than a rock video using machismo to capitalize off of a customer's innate fear that they are not manly or agressive enough. Whether or not that fear or guilt is justified is beside the point, both artists will eventually make money off those emotions. Which in my view is totally legitimate, but far from noble.
I mean come on, I'd be happy to donate $250,000 of someone else's money then go on tv and act holier-than-thou about it, all the while getting paid to do nothing but play music. Where do I sign up?
Sorry for the rant, I'm done.
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aeon, you nailed it. not that i was ever a huge fan, but i thought the whole point of lilith fair was that you could be a normal women and still be a pop star.. i respected that.
topher is right, how noble is it to donate someone else's $? not one freaking bit.
hypocrites are the new missionaries.
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TOpher you fucking hit it. Like i said before she could've raised that money from her fans or through other donations and charity events. This whole thing stinks of a publicity stunt. "no no please listen to this new song, i have other good songs besides angel"
"no you dont"
"then here watch me donate money because i care so much"
"uhm its not your money sarah"
"thats it, give me those lilith fair VIP passes back"
"fine, i didnt like joan osbourne anyway"
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even though she's probably hypocritical as hell, the wads of moolah spent on videos could go towards better ventures...especially sice celebs want to claim..they're helping 'this' charity and that' charity....
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Sure she donated $150,000 of someone else's money, but how much of any us witty, ironic Britney watchers donated of OUR OWN MONEY or ANYONE ELSE's????
Hmmm?
That's right.
Sit down.
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i just donated 400 dollars to feed starving children in the US. So i think you should sit down.
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Hey, I could see topher's point. Foreign aid and loans to poor countries for infrastructure and other big projects work much the same way because *gasp* the contracters are usually corporations from the donor countries. From our outside, cynical perspectives, a novelty video like this is a worthy investment. And the executives or whatever have the added benefit of not having to deal with those pesky grips.
So bad/neutral intentions ---> good ends, still better than nothing? Eh, maybe. I'll give her a pass cause she's a fellow Canadian.
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yeah, i'm in for $1K this year (including political donations), so i think you can sit down now. thanks for playing.
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respond off-topic first:
//from ashley: Mac users have this superior air about them.//
Um, yeah, we do, because... we are. :)
Anyway. Topic.
My ASS that video cost $15. Jesus.
Interesting concept, possible nice intentions, but... stupidly executed.
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I dont think you can get away with calling it someone elses money, per se. It was money they were going to spend on her and she asked for it to be diverted to someone else. I think of it like my boss saying, hey, zipy, I am going to get you a complete makeover because it will be good for your career and then me saying hey, thanks but I would prefer you give that money to my favorite charity. I have a friend that will do the makeover for less money and I will just go with that.
I just think its shortsighted to say the money wasnt hers, or that she didnt give anything up.
And really, how bizarre of people to tell her she doesnt do enough. Sure, she couldve done more but who couldnt do more? Sure, I donated boku bucks this year to charity, raised boku bucks for charity, walked I dont know how many miles for breast cancer, did a triathalon for breast cancer, raised money (and walked)for MS, raised money for the Red Cross, and volunteer regularly, but am I a bad person because technically I couldve done more? And of course I am not better for doing what I did. I just did what I did. I think the point to remember is that she did something. As long as people do something about anything, whether it be whales, or trees, or treefrogs, or orphans here, or poor people over there, thats good enough for me. Good for her because $150,000 helps.
And I step down from my soapbox...
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Without getting into too much tax law: it was never her money (let me put it this way, for it to have been "hers" she would have had to pay income tax on the $150,000 [even if she later deducted some of it as a charitable donation]. Do you think she paid FICA on that money?)
On one level you may have a point, in that she "sacrificed" for the benefit of charity, just as you would "sacrifice" for turning down a make-over. In some way that sacrifice makes the act noble. However, in my own personal view, there was no sacrifice because by glorifying her own act, she does not "suffer" from having a less than glamorous video on television.
It would be like someone else donating money on the condition that you wear a button all day that says "I helped poor kids [now buy my record]". Is that noble?
(by the way, I wouldn't call political donations charitable, but that's just my opinion).
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how much did the hotel room cost that she's in, in that video? I mean i guess it was done on tour. How much do tours cost? Artists make most of their money while touring? I think she should donate the profits off her tour. I mean then she could build a palacial complex that looks like her dumb plain head and have it spew out cash. Fucking ridiculous. If anyone thinks that what she did was not done for publicity you're a fucking moron.
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I think you guys are missing the point of the video. It doesn't just raise $150,000 for charities. You're right, anybody (rich) could do that privately with their own cash. The point of the video is raising AWARENESS of the strength of our money and how much of a difference it could make in the world if used effectively. To reach a mass audience with that message in such a creative and poignant manner is priceless. Well done Sarah.
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Do I have to buy this shit off of iTunes? I have no intention of downloading Apple's software.
Maybe she should complete this gesture by donating her house, so that she could live in a shack.
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Leave chingy out of this. U don't know what charity he's involved in. u punk
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She's so inoffensive musically that it's offensive, but that goes without saying. High horse? Yes. Noble? Also yes.
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I DON'T CARE WHETHER SARAH MCLACHLAN IS A HYPOCRITE OR A SELF-SERVING MISSIONARY TO SELL HER RECORDS OR IF SHE'S TOO SKINNY IN HER NEW VIDEO! THE $150,000 AIDED LESS FORTUNATE PEOLPE ALL OVER THE WORLD...I THINK CYNICS ON THIS POST SHOUD JUST SHUT UP AND LET PEOPLE HELP ONE ANOTHER WITHOUT JUDGMENT OR MALICE! JUST THINK ABOUT HOW THE MONEY DONATED HAD CHANGED AND SAVED PEOPLE'S LIVES. QUIT ALL YOUR BITCHIN' ABOUT SARAH AND LET HER HELP PEOPLE! THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT!
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i worked on this video. really, it was the crew and production company who donated their time so that the money could go to the charities instead. everyone worked on it for free, and the production company absorbed the actual costs of dubbing, shipping, flights, etc.
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I also like to think of what she did as kinda like after you give blood they give you a little sticker to wear. It isnt so that you get kudos for having given blood, its so that others will perhaps donate too. Sure, she could have donated more, but so could all of us. Just think if some other recording artist, just for second, realized that the money they spent on their last video could've saved the lives of most of the people in Sudan. EVEN if they dont do something about, that they even had the thought causes a fundamental shift in whats possible for people.
One step at a time people, one step at a time.
And can you tell I just saw I heart Huckabees...
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Here's an article that explains how the video was put together:
http://yubanet.com/artman/publish/article_14059.shtml
As was said above, the people who worked on it donated their time. The $15 referred to the cost of a "Sony mini DV tape."
As to the "was this noble or not"...my response is, quite simply, who cares? If the end result is good, the motives behind it just don't matter all that much in the grand scheme of things.
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Dang, you people, most of you, sound like crap... so sarcastic and dumb: if only some of you had been born or dropped off in one of those places the video refers to, maybe then you might know what life's like for “those people” and have a little more RESPECT! Sarah McLachlan made a nice gesture and an eye-opening thing. You morons should do one freakin' good thing once in a while and see not only how it feels but also what it does for the receiving end.
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Go Margareta and Monica. The rest of you simps need to get a life. Ironic Cynicism is no longer the new black.
The point of the video is clearly not "Hi, I'm a rich pop star...look at me do a good dead." It is making a point about the wealth in our culture and that in much of world. An obscene amount of money floods through our entertainment industry to...entertain us. Nothing more. A pittance of that same money can do a hell of a lot of good elsewhere. I didn't see her taking credit or flaunting herself. She was just using her song and the advertising budget (aka, video costs) to make a point.
Watching it didn't kill any brain cells, did it? Shit...what's on music tv these day? One thought-provoking McLachlan video vs. how many mind-destroying hours of "Fabulous Life of the Pampered, Snotty and Fur-Wearing"? Please...
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Sarah has once again shown how you can use music to shed light on the amount of hungry and desperate people in the world. It is easy for you to sit there and judge her for it. But what do you bring to the global table? What you are able? Or do you just watch it all slide by.
Nice work Sarah...Great music...thoughtful imagery.
GB.
Burnaby CA
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Dammit people, shut the hell up already. What benefits the world more - Sarah doing this, or doing a normal music video? You know which is better, so how can you criticize her for doing something that betters the world? Even beyond the 150k spent is exposing people to the plight of others in a place they'd never expect - music videos. Plus starting dialogues like this. I think it's an excellent idea and well-executed.
I'm tired to sh*t of people saying, "Well, he/she donated x dollars, that's stupid, they make 100 times that." SO F*CKING WHAT?? Donating anything is better than nothing, and not everybody is going to give away all their money. If the only thing that'd make you happy is someone else putting themselves into poverty to help others in poverty, then expect to be pretty damn unhappy. Ask nothing of others that you would not ask of yourself.
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Instead of getting a grammer check (which I wouldn't be surprised if it costs something as well) she chose to save a life, I think it's a great thing she has done, so what if she wants to show it off, maybe it'll inspire others to do what she has done. Maybe others can't afford to do what she has done, but maybe they can at least say a prayer, volunteer, or at least do one small good thing for an unfortunate person, even if it's just opening a door for a blind person or something. It's a good thing that she is using her celebrity status to show others how fortunate we are compared to those living in poverty. She's not gloating, just putting a smile on someone elses face, and it probably makes her feel pretty damn good too.
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As an American living overseas for the past few years (10 miles from from Kenya's Kibera slum, where part of the video's budet went) I am incredibly impressed by the gesture that McLachlan made. There is a world beyond our comfortable life in America, a world full of faces just like ours. $150,000 can make a incredible amount of difference in the world, something that America should wake up to more often.
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Just think of what we could accomplish if every major artist did this type of video just once in their career. I think it taps into idea that the world is a smaller place today than it was just 50 years ago. Today's students are much more world citizens, so this type of video may even end up getting an artist more publicity and following from the Millennial Generation whose dollars are important in a marketing sense.
The amount of awareness that the video is provoking is another added benefit which has unlimited potential. Think of what could be done if each of us posting donated just one chicken from Heifer International?
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At least someone is doing something about the injustice in the world which we don't see nor UNDERSTAND living here in comfort. And wow what the US could do with the $300 Million pentagon budget.
Don't knock those who do good.
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Like Jason Settle, I too have lived in Kenya, a mere 5-minute walk from the Kibera slum shown in Sarah's video. Her video moved me to tears. Having traveled through many developing countries during the past decade, I always find it a constant struggle to emphasize to those in the privileged western world how incredibly fortunate and lucky we are to be here. As a Canadian overseas development worker, I saw situations of such abject poverty, that now it is hard for me not to feel guilty every time I go to the grocery store or drive a car or sit in front of my computer here in Canada. Sarah's video is all about awareness, and I wish more artists and musicians of her status would take advantage of their celebrity in this way.