We’ll Miss Old Blue Eyes!

Paul Newman passed away last night… He had come to incarnate Westport, Connecticut. He moved here years ago, tucking himself on a large property hidden in the woods, with his wife Joanne Woodward, and their children. They helped prevent the building of a nuclear power plant on Cockenoe Island and the construction of a Nike missile base, which they later turned into a comedy Rally Around The Flog Boys! 

We all loved his movies, but not everyone loved his shifting politics. Most recently, last year, before his illness became public knowledge, to everyone’s great surprise and dismay, he agreed to speak out on behalf the relicensing of the Indian Point nuclear power plant on the Hudson river. His Newman-Haas racing team is in part sponsored by nuclear industries, and never once promoted Green Racing initiatives.

Now why would a man known for leftist tendencies, a supporter of the Center for Defense Information, do such a thing? That question may well remain unanswered for ever. What does it have to do with fashion? Let’s take a step back from green fashion for a second, and look at it in context with the whole fashion industry. Concerns for sustainability are relatively recent. Yet, the emerging market opportunities for independent new designers who have embraced green ethics as a business model, are doing extremely well… while older, more established clothing companies, often the ready wear divisions of famous old design houses, are starting to wane…

Newman was a progressive soul stuck in the time warp of old Hollywood. He came from a time when life style choices were kept to yourself, where your politics didn’t matter or where kept hidden… times have changed. Now that cameras are on every street corner, it’s hard keeping secrets. The public, on this side of the looking glass, want our heroes on screen to be heroes in life… which is what gave birth to Green Hollywood… if these actors can save the world at the movies, why can’t they also play the part in real life? So they created an entire network for green reality TV… Planet Green. Some of it is like watching paint dry, Green Emeril and sadly Greensburg, while other shows like Alter Eco and Battlefield Earth are a hoot, breaking new ground!

California elected Arnold as their governor… as much for his image as his politics. People trust that his presence will fix things. Newman came from a time when except the rare few exception, you said your lines and kept your opinions to yourself. He was sold a bill of goods, that nuclear was clean and green, and would solve global warming. He cashed the check, and went back into the woods. Probably thinking he’d done a good deed. But he didn’t.

By lending his image and celebrity to favor the relicensing of Indian Point, he set back the work of countless peace and justice organizers, many of them his friends and colleagues, who understood the relationship between nuclear power and nuclear weapons, who were shocked at his endorsement of the Entergy corporation. Paul left us with his secret, leaving us guessing as to what his true intentions were.

Many customers in health food stores now pass on his organic products, despite the profits going to a good cause, because Newman himself could not comprehend the link between nuclear radiation, the centralization of power and the spread of cancer. Newman’s support of Anderson cost Carter his second term, giving us Ronald Reagan. I don’t think he really thought anything through. He just liked to drink beer and drive fast, and maybe that’s all we should have expected of him, instead of projecting our need for leadership on a man playing fictitious tuff guys on the big screen.

James Coburn once said, movies create reality, and reality inspires the movies, they feed off each other. That’s the secret of media and fashion. Every movement develops a new look… we all wear our colors, everything we put on is a uniform. We can’t have green fashion without also changing much more than the fabrics used and the production methods… the whole look and feel of green fashion is morphing into a new way of doing things, reflected in the way we wear our clothes. This is the challenge for young green designers, to give our century its own calling card identity, so we don’t keep repeating the same mistakes.

At New York fashion week this season the steps were ornate with make beleive campaign buttons… but no real buttons were made… it was just for show. It was devoid of content, of meaning… just style and no substance, which is why the old houses are failing, they have lost their relevance, like GM, Ford or Chrysler! Why did Mercedes-Benz wait 10 years to bring the Smart to the USA? Why did it take so long for humanity to respond to the environmental crisis?

Sarah Palin’s PR machine latched on to a quote from one of Obama’s campaign speeches, that had nothing to do with her, and twisted it to make it personal, so they could capitalize on the fashion visuals…

Because her handlers know fashion trumps politics, that it’s all about perceptions, something you learn by reading the classics, like Thomas Carlyle’s Sartor Resartus. So I’m asking please don’t get fooled again… Create a green fashion look, solve the world’s problems one organic cotton thread at a time, but don’t let them steal our fire, don’t let them turn ecotopia into a radioactive wasteland, when so many wonderful energy solutions are just around the corner.

Has anyone asked super model Carla Bruni what she thinks of her husband’s role as global nuclear salesman? Are we such victims of globalization, that Paper magazine, the beacon of New York style, nightlife and culture, can allow their covers to be produced in Athens!?! Is anything real anymore? (Oops… see new closing comment!)

Newman’s passing spells the end of an era, when appearances and spin were more important to the studio system than what was really going on behind the scenes. Now we have shows like TMZ showing us how the other half lives, and maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Might bring some truth in advertising.

+++

Sorry David, it’s not covers you are producing in Athens, it’s an entire Greek edition?! ;o)