Okay, so the word is out. It's cool to be green now. Leo's doing it. Penelope's doing it. Woody, Tim, and Susan have been doing it. And it seems that global warming has even thawed out the likes of Gwyneth Paltrow and Elizabeth Hurley.
Wow. So. Green is in the spotlight.
I got to experience the coming together (clash?) of the Holly Woodies and the Green Beanies last week at Global Green's Pre-Oscar bash. I have to admit, I was really looking forward to this little party. Like many of you, I am pretty psyched about the "coming out" of the environmental movement. It's obvious (and no offense to you old-schoolers) that being planet-conscious is not just for hippies any more. And thank goodness. I mean, it's going to take all of us Earthlings to get our Mama back on track. And what better place than the uber-media to get the word out? And let's face it: People love when an issue looks good. (Think: George Clooney and Charlize Theron getting together to have a baby that turns out to be green. Can you imagine the press on that one? Move over TomKat. Grrr.)
Okay, back to the party. It was definitely not your usual party. I mean, think of Hollywood, you think glamour-glitzed-movie-fashionistas. Think of environmentalists, and in the old days, it was organic-potluck-hemp-wearing, etc. etc. Won't-go-there. But this party -- it was neither nor.
It took place at the Avalon Hotel, a style-y venue fit for a band, so that was a good start. And instead of the red carpet, it was green. I can't say that I was privy to walking down it; after all, I'm not a celeb, and my ticket was the $100 one that a friend gave me, not the $1000 VIP one that, I admit, would have been nice to have. So the $100 people gathered in the lobby where you could admire swanky floor models of a "green" kitchen (think: bamboo floors) and a "green" bedroom (think: awesome bed). Little waiters and waitresses weaved in and out occasionally offering things-on-a-plate and cocktails. And then there was the roped-off section by the stairs. Up there, far away, were the $1000 ticket people, hanging out with Leo and Penelope and my personal favorite (and my boss), Andy Lipkis, the founder of TreePeople.
Now, I'm a good mingler. Especially with like-minded folks. So that's what I did. Inside the venue, where Maroon 5 had not started performing yet, there were people of all types. At first, I didn't recognize anyone from my own green community of L.A., so I turned to perfect strangers, and I sort of politely asked these perfect strangers (in totally disguised words), "So, why are you here? I mean, are you an environmentalist, or did you just score a ticket to a pre-Oscar party?" Really, I said, "I'm trying to figure this whole party out. What do you think?"
I quickly found out what I was sensing. There were a lot of people there who slipped in on the Hollywood ticket and, frankly, if were asked to define "green" would probably refer to it as "the color in the rainbow spectrum between blue and yellow." (Of course, they'd be right -- literal -- but right.)
In short, I talked to a few cats who could not care less about Earth-mama and just wanted to get a glimpse of Ed Norton. Don't get me wrong: they were perfectly lovely people. They were just the ones that, when Al Gore and Leo announced that the Oscars had gone "green," probably got up to get more wine, figuring they weren't missing much.
Of course, it wasn't long until I ran into my peeps and then the music kicked up, and I think even the $1000 ticket people came down to dance. We drank martinis made from lime juice and green tea with some silly name like green-tini and just let all of this happen around us and to us: this Hollywood meets Planet Earth shindig celebration. We almost closed down the party, which, honestly, wasn't hard to do. I never saw Leo nor Penelope. That's okay. I'll catch up with them later.
So I'll end with a bad joke.
Q: What did Paris Hilton say after she saw the movie An Inconvenient Truth and learned about global warming?
I think you know the punchline.
All laughter and tongue-in-cheek criticism aside, I will take this opportunity to predict (or is "hope" a better word?) that Green and Hollywood will become more comfortable with each other over time, and, yes, we can thank our lucky stars (ha-ha) for that. Especially if they turn out to be the true role models that we all want them to be.
Can anyone say: electric jets?
