Earth Day: For Treehuggers Only?

Today is Earth Day. How is one to react?

For several decades, anyone who has shown any type of concern for the environment has been swiftly labeled a treehugger.

However, during my entire, albeit short duration of adulthood, being “green” has become trendy. Car companies brag about their newest development of hybrid cars, grocery stores encourage us to buy reusable tote bags, and even tiny tots are being bred by Disney to “send on” the message of environmentalism (See the Jonas Brothers, Miley Cyrus, & other Disney 'Friends for Change' perform an ode to environmentalism here).

The movie “No Impact Man” (released in 2009) keeps the momentum going, shattering the stereotype that environmentalism is nothing but a useless hassle. Producer and main subject of the film, Colin Beavan successfully takes on the challenge of living a year with leaving “no environmental footprint” not as an individual in exile, but alongside a young family in the middle of New York City. The film concludes that if he can do it, anyone can.

No doubt, the film is one of extremes. Giving up electricity, takeout, and motor vehicles are not things anyone beside Beavan would usually be willing to endeavor. From the beginning of the film, Beavan admits that he is embarking on this impossible journey NOT because he expects others to follow unquestioningly behind him. He doesn't even plan to continue to perform all of his “experiments” beyond one year. Instead, he wants to use his experience to raise awareness and inspire others to do whatever small thing possible to lessen his or her negative impact on the earth.

As extreme as Beavan's experiments were, I'm willing to incorporate several of them into my life. Especially when I start a family and have small children, I would love to not have a TV in my house. As the Beavan family demonstrated, such a simple act successfully brought the family together and forced them to get out of the apartment and do more interesting activities together, like go to the park or on more family trips. Besides, if I'm really craving an episode of Glee, there's always Hulu to the rescue.

I was also inspired to buy more locally grown food. I'm a pretty culturally diverse diner, so I don't think I could completely rule out restaurants or imported groceries. However, I would definitely consider getting most of my produce from local farmers. The weekly Farmer's Market in Union Square makes this especially easy to do. Lastly, I absolutely hate taking out the trash, so if I ever had a balcony or a backyard, I would actually give the worm compost bin a fair try. Imagine all that money I'd save on trash bags!

WHAT DO YOU THINK?
What are some "green" steps you are willing (or not willing) to take?

Jonas Brothers: Candid Conviction

Grammy-nominated Pop/Rock trio the Jonas Brothers have become much more vocal about their Christian faith lately. Granted, their donning of the infamous purity rings, a symbol of chastity before marriage, has whipped up a good share of controversy surrounding the band (See “Freaked Out Over Standards?”).

In the course of almost three years in the spotlight, these three sons of a Baptist preacher have been relatively low-key about their beliefs, usually opting to redirect interviewers to ask about their music, rather than about their faith.

Yet in mid-March, Nick, Joe, & Kevin agreed to do an interview for Gateway Church, a non-denominational church located in Austin, Texas.

On it, they spoke of their personal relationship with God, and its relevance to their personal lives and careers. For example, as Christians, they see every concert performance as a way to worship God and share their gifts with others. They were also a guest worship band at Saddleback Church's Easter Service at the Anaheim Angels Stadium, of which The Purpose Driven Life's Rick Warren is lead pastor.



WHAT DO YOU THINK?

Should celebrities keep their beliefs to themselves or openly share it with all?

The Oscar Curse's Next Victim: Sandra

Photo Credit: www.woodenspears.com

Legend has it that winning an Oscar does wonders for an actress's career, yet horrors for her love life. In 1999, Gwyneth Paltrow won an award for her role in Shakespeare in Love. Just two months later, she and Ben Affleck called it quits. Julia Roberts won in 2001 for Erin Brockovich, and three months later broke it off with Benjamin Bratt, her boyfriend of four years.

The latest edition is Sandra Bullock, who recently won “Best Actress” for her role in The Blind Side. Just two weeks after winning, she moved out of her Southern California home, leaving husband of five years Jesse James just days before rumors surfaced that he had cheated on her.

Sandra's next move is up in the air, whether she will let herself cool down and work things out with her husband, or become another statistic as a divorcée. It seems Jesse has hopes to reconcile, reportedly checking into a treatment facility to deal with personal issues, “a crucial step to help himself, help his family and help save his marriage,” said his rep in a statement.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

What would you do if you were in Sandra's shoes? Whip out the divorce papers or work it out?

New Moon: Why I Love What Everyone Loves

MY ENTRY FOR THE MYSPACE "NEW MOON PREMIERE RED CARPET CORRESPONDENT CONTEST"

Grand Prize: A 4 day / 3 night trip to Los Angeles, CA for the winner and one guest to attend the premiere of “The Twilight Saga: New Moon” on November 16, 2009. Winner will assist a co-host or other designated person as a red carpet correspondent.

In 150 words or less, answer the following: "Why are YOU the ultimate ‘The Twilight Saga: New Moon’ fan and why should you be on the red carpet to interview the stars?"

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In Edward's effort to protect Bella, he inflicts upon her the greatest pain possible, forcing her to live a life apart from him. In Bella's effort to cherish Edward's undeniable love, she goes too far, believing that she's entirely undeserving of his love. New Moon gets to the heart of every love story, the hard balance between knowing how to love and be loved. It's the reason why I love the story.

My name is Marilette dela Cruz, a Media student in New York City. I am passionate about entertainment journalism, because I believe celebrities have a story to tell, and that they are not commodities but human beings. My blog, “The Camera's Lying” is dedicated to this subject:

www.thecameraslying.com. I would be honored to represent the cast of New Moon well. New Moon Trailer: The Twilight Saga: New Moon Trailer in HD Trailer Park | MySpace Video

EXCLUSIVE Someday Static Interview for TheCamerasLying.com

Members of Someday Static (from left to right): Jeff Weinstein (bass), Malin Bray (vocals), Brian McFadden (drums), Artem Chernorgod (guitar) and Stefanie Eichmann (keyboards)

Listen in on an interview with NYC-based rock band Someday Static EXCLUSIVELY for TheCamerasLying.com.

Ever wonder which sDs band member wanted to be a theology professor? Who got his musical break in Karaoke? Who wanted to be a ballerina? Who sells high-end furniture as his day job? What charitable cause unites them all?

Get inside with Malin, Artem, Brian, Jeff and Stefanie as they talk about their band, their music, and their lives.



(Having trouble? Click here.)

For More Information, visit MySpace.com/SomedayStatic.

All music used in this podcast is the property of Someday Static. © 2009 Someday Static. All Rights Reserved.

Interviewed and produced by Marilette dela Cruz, New York, NY, August 2009 for TheCamerasLying.com.

Stark Naked Souls

By the time Joe Jonas realized that the camera was there, he and Kevin were already exposed, shirtless. Rather than take the opportunity to flaunt the results of his daily workout, he was unnerved at the camera’s presence: like a deer in headlights, his jaw dropped and his eyes were wide open in shock. He quickly directed his bodyguard’s and older brother Kevin’s attention to the camera, and urged them to take action. With furrowed brows, Kevin grimaced as he swiftly threw a shirt to cover the camera lens.



The sibling pop group Jonas Brothers' first movie Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience has caused hysteria among millions of Jonas Brothers fans in multiplexes across the nation. Nearly a month since its release, it has sparked hundreds of copyright-infringing YouTubers to describe the aforementioned scene as “fantasy,” “beautiful,” and “the greatest seventeen seconds” of their lives.

Yet a close look at the boys’ demeanor in the film shows that they were not experiencing the same euphoria as their fans.

Joe, lead singer of the band, admitted to MTV News on February 25 that they had allowed the Disney cameramen to “film everything backstage,” but it “just happened to be our quick-change room and they caught us.”

"The thing is, we were in the midst of the show, so we were just continuing like a show," Kevin, backup vocalist and instrumentalist, explained. "So when we went backstage, we didn't realize they were there and we were changing ... we went, 'Oh my gosh! Wow! We might want to get them out of here.'”

MTV Shows

This is not the first time the media have overstepped their boundaries, exposing aspects of celebrities’ lives that they would have rather kept private.

The pop icon Britney Spears has had to deal with the invasiveness of paparazzi for almost a decade now. Her January 2008 single, “Piece of Me” reflects her distress: “I’m Miss American Dream since I was 17/ Don’t matter if I step on the scene/ Or sneak away to the Philippines/ They still got pictures of my derrière in the magazine/… I’m Miss bad media karma/ Another day another drama.”

American law upholds the basic human right of privacy, yet somehow we as a society feel entitled to deprive celebrities of theirs.

In her book The Repeal of Reticence: A History of America's Cultural and Legal Struggles over Free Speech, Obscenity, Sexual Liberation, and Modern Art, scholar and cultural critic Rochelle Gurstein explains that “Intimate matter… because of their smallness and fragility, needed to be tenaciously guarded against curious eyes lest they be deformed.”

Charles Eliot Norton leading American author, social critic, and professor of art of the 20th Century would have agreed. In the preface to Letters of John Ruskin to Charles Eliot Norton, he mentioned that he held “with those who believe that there are sanctities in love and life to be kept in privacy inviolate.”

As Norton further explained in his book, “[v]ulgar curiosity is, indeed always alert to spy into these sanctities [of private life] and is too often gratified as in some memorable and mournful instances in recent years, by the infidelities of untrustworthy friends.” When the Jonas brothers agreed to be filmed backstage, they were no doubt aware of the transparency and vulnerability that it would entail. Yet, nowadays, apparently, dressing rooms are no longer considered to be sacred, at least for the camera. If any individual were to be standing in a famous performer’s dressing room, they would swiftly be arrested and labeled a stalker. Yet these trusted cameramen were given license to violate common courtesy for the sake of the entertainment of the masses.

Gurstein makes clear that “[te]nderness teaches us to forestall overly searching glances and to neglect harsh observations, ensuring that we never view our loved ones distanced, as in a photograph, but through a sympathetic lens that enables us to situate shortcomings within the unfolding narrative of our shared existence.” Celebrities are, in fact, viewed from a distance, and as such are treated as commodities. They are no longer mere entertainers, but entertainment themselves. Yet, as Gurstein warns, we should reconsider the “shared existence” we have with these celebrities.

Our society needs to redeem a sense of discretion, which Gurstein defines as, “the sensitivity that enables us not only to respect another person’s secrets, but also to sidestep knowing something that the person does not want us to know or does not expressly reveal to us…It is discretion that permits us to render truth about our lives sensitively, making a home for ourselves and other who are always only human and therefore not deserving of the brutality of full disclosure.” But our disregard of the humanness of celebrities helps us justify our desire to exploit them for our own selfish desires.

The Jonas Brothers and other modern celebrities have exhibited—as English lawyer, judge and writer James Fitzjames Stephen writes in Liberty, Equality, & Fraternity—this truth: “[t]hat any one human creature should ever really strip his soul stark naked for the inspection of any other, and be able to hold up his head afterwards, isn’t, I supposed impossible, because so many people profess to do it; but to lookers-on from the outside it is inconceivable.”

CASUALties

Spring break. MTV may not have invented it, but they might as well have. Every year, MTV’s Spring Break celebration draws over half a million college students to a non-stop party location, in places like Panama City Beach, Florida (where it was held last year). It attracts millions more through its television coverage. MTV influenced a generation of hormonal college co-eds who study just hard enough during the rest of the semester to find an excuse to down some Bacardi, and bump, grind, and make out with each other for a care-free week in the Spring. Nothing is more thrilling, they believe, than hooking up with a total stranger, then forgetting all about it, and about her or him. No time is more perfect than Spring Break to feel the exhilaration and excitement of sexuality with few strings attached.

Penny Wrenn, in a recent Glamour magazine article, however, admits that “sex is the big deal you think it’s not.” She cites Dorothy Robinson, co-author of Dating Makes You Want to Die, who explains that “sex is the heaviest thing that everyone does their best to make light of,” and warns that the heaviness can catch up with you as soon as the morning after your sexual encounter. Besides the possibility of irreversible physical consequences like sexually transmitted diseases and a child, there are also life-changing psychological and emotional trauma that usually accompany the oxymoron “casual sex.”

Nina Atwood, a Dallas-based therapist and author of Temptations of the Single Girl “find[s] it ironic that people would rather have sex than discuss the ramifications of it.” Contrary to what many date movies suggest, most of us girls don’t end up like Drew Barrymore’s character in Music and Lyrics, who falls in love with her leading man Hugh Grant’s character, after having sex with him as someone she hardly knew. Atwood warns: “[h]aving sex too soon is the biggest mistake I see women making…We always tout the exception: A woman sleeps with a guy on the first date, and they wind up married and it’s all great. But for every one of those fairy tales, I’ve heard 150 stories from women who’ve started down that road and didn’t end up in the loving relationship that they wanted.”

Dick Purnell, author of Becoming a Friend and Lover and Free to Love Again: Coming to Terms with Sexual Regret, wrote a helpful article to explain this phenomenon. He calls it the “morning-after syndrome” in which we wake up only to find that the intimacy we expected is not really there. The sexual excitement is no longer enough to satisfy us, so we find that what we wanted in the first place was never fulfilled. What we have are two broken people feeding their own insecurities by preying on the other. True intimacy is not something that can be obtained instantly and only physically. “[S]ex may only be a temporary relief for a superficial desire.” Purnell points out, “There is a much deeper need that is still unmet.”

This “deeper need” is fulfilled only when sharing mankind’s most invigorating experience with the one person to whom you are attracted to in every aspect of your being: yes, physically, but also emotionally, mentally, and spiritually, as well. Most people think that sex loses all its fun within a commitment. The same person, the same face, the same body, the same lips, the same everything…doesn’t it get boring after a while? They look at the mating rituals of animals and conclude that it is our biological imperative to disseminate our DNA as widely as possible. Most animals, they argue, do not mate for life, so neither should we. What these people fail to mention, however, is that animals mate out of pure instinct and procreational purposes, yet human sexuality is infinitely more complex: it is brain-oriented. We actively choose a mate; we never pursue a person simply for the fact that they are a member of the opposite sex.

Laura Berman, Ph.D, author of Real Sex For Real Women, reveals a little known fact: “Research shows that the number one component of women’s sexual satisfaction is not orgasm; it’s connection to the person you’re with.” There's a loneliness that pervades those who flee from one partner to the next, a sense that they are missing out on something profound and real. They remain unfulfilled, unaware (or in denial) that the best kind of sex is experienced within long term, mutually exclusive relationships. We fully enjoy the intimacy we create with another person—whose character we love as much as their body—when we bond within a safe haven of sexual pleasure and freedom. The deeper the bond between partners, the better the sex will be.