During my workout this morning, I decided to see if there was anything new on MTV or VH1 that might catch my ear. Being old and crotchety, I'm not exactly up-to-date on the latest musical trends, so every now and again I'd like to see if something new pops up that doesn't totally suck. Imagine my surprise when I saw Jared Leto in a very fashionable scarf singing his lovely lungs out on a sheet of ice that I later discover is somewhere near the Arctic circle. Well, he's the lead singer to 30 Seconds to Mars, so that in itself wasn't surprising on MTV, but what did surprise me was that it was a video to "A Beautiful Lie," which even crotchety old me knows came out two years ago. Don't get me wrong, I'm not here to dog the band. I love the band. I've been singing their praises for awhile now. And let's face it, Jared's kind of easy on the eyes, even if he is a little on the pretty side for me. What surprised me is why they would be releasing a video to ABL now, after two years. Then I got my answer. Apparently, the song is being released to promote their new environmental cause, and you can read all about it here. You can even watch the video here, because, as I said, I'm a fan of the band and Jared Leto's golden voice. Just make yourself comfy, because (like all their videos it seems, especially the ones directed by Jared himself), it's pretty long. Although I have to say, it is very pretty to watch. The man does know how to direct.
What was my first impression? That Jared Leto, or his manager, or whoever came up with this idea is briiiiiiiiillllllliiant at marketing. I mean think about it! The environment and climate change and all that green hippie stuff is the latest fashionable hot topic. What better way to extend the shelf life of your album (that came out two years ago!!), promote your tour, and get your name out there for people to remember than tying it into THE cause of 2008? I have to admit, I was in awe at the simple genius of it. And the bonus? Hello? It's for a good cause! Win-win. Understand, I'm not being cynical here. It really is brilliant. I'm not even concerned with whether or not anyone in the band gives a flying fig about the environment. I'm sure they do. Everyone does nowadays. But even if they don't, the fact that in one great big swoop, Jared Leto can promote his band, show off his directing skills, get his name on heavy rotation on MTV, and still leave his name out there to be buzzed around for the movie he'll be releasing next year is a model of efficiency. I'm in awe. I can only hope that if I ever get a comic book off the ground, I could channel even a quarter of that kind of efficiency to promote it. Abso-fucking-lutely brilliant, and I mean that most sincerely, with no disrespect whatsoever. That's like, PR-ninja shit.
On the other hand, you may think I'm being a brat about this whole environment thing. Maybe, just a little, but I have my reasons. For those who knew me back in the day, I was that obnoxious teenager who lectured people about he dangers of hairspray, would walk to the corner store instead of asking for a ride because it would save gas (this was back when I was in shape, of course), and generally made myself an eco-nuisance. You know when this was? The last time America went through it's eco-fad. You know, back in the 90's when Captain Planet was on the air (I know, I know) and books like 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Save the Earth were on every high school library's shelves.
Then it became fashionable to rag on people who actually cared about the environment. "Oh look at me, I'm so sophisticated. The news tells me that the environment is just fine, so I'll just continue buying Hummers to show off how small my penis is, even though I'll never need one of these monstrosities in A GAZILLION FUCKING YEARS! You, little hippie, go hug a tree or something while I throw my non-biodegradable garbage out the window at you." I got a lot of shit from people around me, telling me how misguided I was for wanting to take another, oh I don't know, two steps to the recycling bin so that I can throw my can of coke away. I got tons of lectures as to why global warming is just a bunch of hoo-hah by reactionaries, so really, it's just cute that I'm a member of the Green Club on campus. *pat pat pat* So me, being the ornery and admittedly cutting-off-your-nose-to-spite-your-face type of girl that I am (I admit that I have my flaws. Pretty big flaws. No one's perfect.), gave everyone around me the middle finger and said "serves all of us right if we all die in a drought. I'll continue to recycle when I can, and do small things when I can, and you do what you do and leave me alone." My reasoning was, and to a certain extent, still is, that when the world is at the brink of the next Black Death-like event, then we'll either figure out a way to fix it (humans are pretty good at rallying under pressure), or there will be so many dead that the world will fix itself anyway. How's that for reactionary? Nyah! Grim? Maybe. But that seems to be our MO as a species. Either way, I feel comfortable saying I told you so, and really, isn't that what matters?
Does this mean I'm not encouraging everyone to be a little more green? No, don't be silly. I love the fact that people are turning on to living a little more harmoniously with their surroundings. I love the fact that we're trying to come up with clever solutions to dirty little (or horrendously big) problems. I'll even grudgingly admit to being tickled it's become something of a fashion to "go green." And yes, kudos to Jared Leto and his boys for getting the word out there and doing their little part to save the planet and the wolves and all that. They seem sincere in their efforts and good for them. But I'm sure in about a year or two, the fad will fizzle out and everyone will be throwing their Styrofoam coffee cups out their car windows the way they always have. I hope not, but I'm not exactly holding my breath. It won't stop me from trying to improve my greenness in any way I can, but I'll be grumbling about it the entire way--and you can't stop me.
