Bill Gates clearly does this all the time in his work for the Gates Foundation. How else do you explain the perpetually tousled hair?
When I first heard about NBC’s new show The Philanthropist I was excited that someone was making a TV show about a field that most people struggle to define (as seen in this funny and revealing video that MCF made a few years ago).
And then I thought to myself, wait a minute, they’re making a series about an x-treme philanthropist, really? In case you haven’t heard about the new show, let me explain.
The new series, set to premier on NBC June 24, features main character Teddy Rist (James Purefoy), a down-on-his-luck playboy businessman.
A single act of heroism inspires Rist to adopt an “extreme vigilante” approach to philanthropy. The first episode finds Rist in Nigeria battling poisonous snakes and rebel gunmen in the hopes of delivering a cholera vaccine to a rural health clinic.
I think it’s great that NBC has chosen to do a show about philanthropy. I am, however, a little apprehensive that the show will give people an unrealistic idea of what philanthropy is.
After all, it’s hard to imagine Bill Gates basejumping into a refugee camp to deliver mosquito nets…although, if we’re talking about celebrity philanthropists, I could imagine Angelina Jolie doing it.
I guess my point is that one of our goals at MCF is to encourage people to see themselves as philanthropists, at whatever level their budget allows. This new character makes me wonder, will people look at Rist and honestly say to themselves, “Hey, me too!”
Maybe, maybe not. According to a recent article in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, inspiring others is certainly one of the hopes of Charlie Corwin, the show’s producer,and Bobby Sager, the philanthropist that the show is very loosely based on (who, by the way, is doing some really cool stuff.)
In the end, Teddy Rist may not be the perfect poster boy for philanthropy, but he will get people talking about the field and hopefully learning more about philanthropy in the real world. And that’s a good thing.
Join the conversation: Will you be tuning into The Philanthropist on June 24 with me? What stories about philanthropy or giving have inspired you?
Related links: Take NBC’s online quiz about survival situations. What you learn could come in handy the next time you’re battling blizzards to rescue endangered seal pups from poachers.
Update: The Council on Foundations (COF) reacted much the same to the news of The Philanthropist and its larger-than-life portrayal of the field. They’ve typed up some helpful talking points for people working in philanthropy to use when speaking with individuals about the show, and about what philanthropy is like in real life. (06/22/09)
-Cary Lenore Walski, MCF Web Communications Associate
