Brad Pitt Is Giving Really Deep

Until recently I have never been a big Brad Pitt fan. Although his filmography is long and includes some pretty heavy box office hits, the number of Brad Pitt movies I’ve seen can be counted on one hand. There is Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Ocean’s Eleven, Se7en (which I’m embarrassed to say I paid good money to be disappointed at the theater), Fight Club, and last but certainly my favorite Brad Pitt flick, The Twelve Monkeys. His portrayal of the mentally disturbed Jeffery Goines was priceless. Every twitch from his hands and blink of his eyes was hilarious.

I have to admit that I started on a couple of others. The other day I started watching Troy. But his character was so arrogant and anti social in the beginning of the film I turned it off right after he killed some giant about two minutes into the flick. You can actually witness the sword going inside this guy’s neck. The things people can do with computer graphics. I also started watching Ocean’s Twelve but couldn’t get through it. I think I had to pick some lent off a sweater or something else more meaningful. And I have to admit that I loved Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. But even though he makes an appearance I can hardly call this a Brad Pitt flick. But if one must then I will amend my claim to say you can count the number of Brad Pitt films I’ve watched on one hand and a finger.

But I got home from my packing job today and in my exhaustion I entertained myself with a little news from CNN. Brad Pitt was catching media attention with his Make It Right project to building homes a hundred and fifty new homes by the end of next summer in New Orleans’ Lower 9th Ward in an area of the city devastated by Katrina back in late August through early September of 2005. Said Mr. Pitt, “To build those one hundred fifty homes, we need the help of the American people. We need to all join together to do this. There is no reason why we can’t do a thousand homes.” Mr. Pitt and film producer Steve Bing will each donate five million dollars for the building project. Click here for more information on this initiative.

Now this is what I call giving deep. A few months ago I wrote an article titled Kelly Rowland and Giving Deep about Ms. Rowland’s message in an Ebony magazine article encouraging people to give painlessly with such activities as cleaning out their closet and donating the old clothes and shoes to charities. In my opinion this painless giving was nice, but it shouldn’t be the end all of people helping each other in the community. People who are capable of doing more should. With great ability comes great responsibility. The more we get from the community the more we have to give back to the community.

This message didn’t sit well with one Kelly Rowland fan that came to Ms. Rowland’s defense and chastised me about expecting more from people just because they are big stars in the entertainment industry. My message about everyone should have the courage and character to actually go out of their way and make a sacrifice that will impact their life for at least a little while in order to help others in our community fell on at least one set of deaf ears.

But here is Brad Pitt putting what I preach into practice. Five million dollars is a healthy sum no matter who you are. No matter how many old pairs of shoes you find in your closet there is little doubt that it would only amount to a fraction of this type of giving. And Mr. Pitt didn’t have to go to Africa or Australia or Austria to find someone in need. He found people in his own backyard. Mr. Pitt and his wife Angelina Jolie bought a mansion in the French Quarter earlier this year. He didn’t come out with some bull saying something off the wall like, “Hey, I tried helping black people before and they took advantage of me so I had to go and help black people somewhere else. Good poor black people in America are so hard to find these days.”

I realize that all this might be nothing more than a publicity stunt or some kind of popularity campaign. But it is a popularity campaign that has real benefit for people in the community. My hat comes off to Mr. Pitt and his associates for setting a real example of what it is like to be giving deep. And the fact that his charity crosses racial lines and specifically targets a predominantly black community is truly an example of reaching out to those most unlikely to be in a position to help themselves. I cannot express my gratitude to Mr. Pitt for his help to the black community. I don’t think I’ll be watching many more Brad Pitt movies. But I am more than happy to say that I am now a huge Brad Pitt fan.