Warner Brothers, what are you thinking?
Probably one of my most visited web sites, IMDB, posted a story today involving Warner Brothers and a bunch of South African teenage and child amputees.
Executives at movie giant Warner Brothers have been accused of exploiting African amputees to garner publicity for new movie Blood Diamond. The studio handpicked 27 teenage and child amputees from South African hospitals to appear as extras in the Leonardo DiCaprio-starring film and promised to provide prosthetic limbs as well as a small salary for their contribution. However, more than three months after filming wrapped, the kids are reportedly still waiting for their new limbs…
A Warner Brothers representative allegedly told the victims, “You will have to wait for December, when the movie comes out, so we can get some publicity out of it.”
What the hell is that? Why does everything have to be done for publicity? Why is it that the largest corporations are the biggest ass holes?
I can’t believe they’re making these children wait to receive their new limbs. If some amputees were promised prosthetic limbs as payment for their role in a film, then those kids should get what they were promised. Not that it should make a difference, but how big of a budget does “Blood Diamond” have? I don’t know the exact numbers, but judging from the trailer, it looks like at least $100,000,000 was spent on the making of this film. Just give the kids what they were promised.
It’s too bad “Blood Diamond” has to get such bad publicity because of Warner Brothers. The trailer looks excellent and I’m sure it will be an Oscar contender.
Oh jeez. That’s awful. And I totally agree - a film that looks this good doesn’t deserve this negative publicity. What the hell are they thinking over there? Maybe they’ll get their heads on straight before then.