If you tuned in to Nightline last night, you saw a report from the Congo about the political and humanitarian crisis there. But, the interesting part about it was who was reporting the story: Ben Affleck.According to Reuters, Affleck has made three trips out to the Congo, and he contacted ABC News to see if they wanted to send a camera crew along with him. He also wrote an essay about his trips for the late-night news program's website. It's a refreshing view from Ben, whose trips to the war-torn country have mostly been under wraps.
"I view this as a long and ongoing learning experience to educate myself before making any attempt to advocate or 'speak out,'" Affleck writes. He also says that "it makes sense to be skeptical about celebrity activism. There is always the suspicion that involvement with a cause may be doing more good for the spokesman than he or she is doing for the cause."
What it looks like he's doing is taking the George Clooney route when it comes to celeb activism: Do what you need to do in the background, and only speak out when you feel the time is right. Also, it seems that his message is a gentle one, unlike the annoying hectoring and overt showmanship we often get from the likes of Sean Penn and Tim Robbins (though Robbins isn't nearly as bad as Penn).
If you want to see Affleck's report, there's a video accompanying his essay on the ABC News website.
[via Mediabistro]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-27-2008 @ 4:25PM
bc said...
This really seems like a much better gig for him than waiting for projects which suit his limited range, or taking on unsuitable projects. But he's pretty and can read from a teleprompter with conviction, which makes him a better candidate for network anchor than, e. g., Katie Couric.
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6-27-2008 @ 10:15PM
StillBash said...
It's kinda funny when you read this with the stuff Kevin Smith says on the Smodcast about Ben *snicker*
http://www.quickstopentertainment.com/smodcast/
It's in there somewhere. All the episodes are worth listening to IMHO so enjoy and laugh once you come to the part where Kevin riffs about the fact that Ben doesn't get any job offers anymore and how he promised to mention Kevin and Scott at the Oscars after not having mentioned them at the Golden Globes - and then doesn't mention them AGAIN. :-D
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