In bad taste

From the Imdb ticker today:

"Warner Bros. Accused of Amputee Exploitation
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 and local charity Eastern Cape has been forced to outfit them instead to avoid their disappointment. 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." A spokesperson for the company tells PageSix.com, "We're working on it." "

Just makes you all warm and fuzzy inside, doesn't it? Always nice for us to wait to give the children their prosthetic legs until we can blast it over the media outlets to drum up an audience for our movie. Mental note: Skip "Blood Diamond". A shame, considering this was a movie I was actually interested in seeing because of its African setting. Once again, Hollywood proves itself insensitive and moronic, and the money that we so faithfully contribute into the coffers of these insensitive idiots would definitely be better used elsewhere. Like perhaps in the charities actually giving the children their prosthetic limbs. It's ridiculous that I'm giving Hollywood $10 of my money to see a 2 hour movie. It's my money. And it should be used for good, not for ridiculous displays of insensitivity in the name of profit. The ultimate irony, perhaps, is that Hollywood is dead set in favor of the idea of making sociopolitical movie after sociopolitical movie to the point where it becomes mundane, and yet they cannot use their vast truckloads of money to change any part of the cultures that they are exposing to the harsh light of Western criticism. Give me a break. Hollywood needs to stop taking itself so seriously, and start taking the rest of the world more seriously. There should be some serious guilt in that Tinsel town, that the large amounts of money funding their massive estates could be used to feed people around the world for their entire lifetimes. To whom much is given, much will be expected. And the world expects more than your Jimmy Choos...they'd like some legs to put them on, first...