By Michelle Zubiate
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
Exploring the left side of the planet has rarely been so
amusing.
There are many reasons patrons, celebrities and common peons
enjoyed Wednesday night’s benefit, “Earth to LA!”
hosted by the Natural Resources Defense Council. But among the
do-good perks of raising money and awareness (saving the whales,
saving the trees, yada yada yada) were a few other morsels of
surprise that made the hefty price tag worth it.
How often do you hear actor-director Rob Reiner joke that the
NRDC does not, in fact, stand for Nymphomaniacs Repulsed by Danish
Cheese? This, of course, was followed by a group pep rally of
people screaming the NRDC’s wink-wink motto of “Sue the
bastards!”
A compilation of scientists and lawyers, the NRDC’s
mission involves a low-key type of advocacy and environmental
defense that keeps it out of the public eye. But many celebrities
and top political figures know what it is and were willing to
combine forces for an evening of raucous entertainment with a
sprinkling of serious substance.
For instance, there was that brilliant moment when an entire
Royce auditorium collectively cringed as comedian Al Franken told
some truly terrible (offensive, inappropriate) Thomas Jefferson
jokes.
“There are two reasons why I object to Jefferson sleeping
with a slave,” he started. (Oh yeah, it gets better.)
“One, I object to slavery, on principle. And two, what
kind of message does that send to the other slaves?”
Things only returned to normal when he left the stage and
actor-director Diane Keaton introduced the next short film.
From TV’s “Suddenly Susan,” actor-comedian
Kathy Griffin continued the irreverence by calling Bill Clinton
“bitchy,” as she recalled the time she tried to take a
funny picture with him, two seconds after she told him to take his
hand off her ass.
As if this weren’t random enough, when a giddy Cameron
Diaz appears out of nowhere to giggle for a few seconds into the
microphone, you know you are in posh company.
But, of course, the priceless moment of the evening occurred
when Jewel’s voice didn’t sound as perfect as her
complexion. (Give the woman a break, she did fly in from Alaska two
hours prior to the show.) But she shared with the audience three
pleasant songs ““ one folk staple, she announced with a laugh,
written to “change the world.”
And it isn’t often you get to see two
“Seinfeld” masterminds, Larry David and Juila
Louis-Dreyfus, perform the signature cynical humor live and in
classic form.
“Thanks to the NRDC, my wife (Laurie David) touched a
whale and had her first orgasm in six years!” David growled
to the audience.
But surprisingly between fits of Democrat pride and knocks at
the right, the left and everything in between, the show carried
some moments of substance that proved that people were really there
in support of a (gasp) environmental cause.
Videos highlighted successful projects such as the one that
closed down a toxic waste center in a poor community of Los Angeles
through the cooperative efforts of the NRDC and the Community
Coalition for Change.
Another film sung the praises of a victorious struggle by
entertainers and the NRDC to stop Mitsubishi from disturbing a
whale breeding site in Mexico. (See David’s above comments on
the orgasm.)
Keynote speaker Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. also reminded the
audience that everyone has the opportunity to protect the
environment through their own habits and ethics but also, more
importantly, by joining a local organization.
“We have to make sure that a foolhardy Congress
doesn’t dismantle the investment we’ve made in our
environmental infrastructure up until now,” he said.
Ending on a positive and serious note, the evening climaxed in a
communal singing of the environmental equivalent of
“Kumbaya” ““ the infamous “This Land is Our
Land.”
Carole King began, Jewel joined, Julia Louis-Dreyfus spiced and
the Crenshaw High School Choir completed the finale that would have
the entire orchestra level on its feet and clapping along to the
sounds of a momentarily charmed planet Earth.