Right On, Mia Farrow

Until recently all I knew about Mia Farrow was Rosemary’s Baby and Woody Allen. Boy was I wrong.

Our story begins in Hollywood, where, generally speaking, celebrities who try to wield influence on political issues are at best annoying and at worst counter-productive trying to achieve their stated goals.

Hopefully, that will not be the case with Steven Spielberg taking a stand by quitting his role as an artistic advisor for this year’s summer Olympic Games in China because of that country’s role in the ongoing horror in the Darfur region of Sudan.

(China gets a lot of oil from Sudan and doesn’t want to put human rights above its need for energy.)

What triggered Speilberg to bail out? Enter Mia Farrow stage left. She’s spent years trying to get the rest of us to take meaningful steps to help the people in the oppressed region of Sudan where as many as 400,000 people have been slaughtered and 2.5 million people have been left homeless.

Farrow launched a full throttle campaign to persuade Spielberg to use his influence with China and its very protective attitude toward its public image relative to the Olympics. In a March 28 op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal she wrote that Spielberg ran the risk that he would "go down in history as the Leni Riefenstahl of the Beijing Games." Riefenstahl was a filmmaker who made Nazi propaganda films.

Less than a week later, Spielberg wrote to Chinese President Hu Jintao asking the Chinese government to “bring an end to human suffering” in Darfur. Shortly after that, China dispached Zhai Jun, a senior government official, to Darfur, where he toured three refugee camps.

It’s a beginning, at least. After years of shouting at the wind, Farrow’s efforts have a started to move the process that resisted years of international diplomacy. Continued pressure is needed to make sure the Chinese don’t just go through the motions and stall for time until after the Closing Ceremonies in Beijing.

I’ve heard Mia Farrow speak about the people of Darfur. It’s excruciatingly painful to listen. You can’t begin to imagine how hard it would be if that was your life. Day after day, with no hope in sight.

The only difference between the people of Darfur and you and me is where we were born. Listen to someone like Mia Farrow who knows what life is like for them and I defy you not to be appalled.

Alas, when confronted with such horror, the natural inclination is to push it out of your mind. After all, what can you do? You’re not a famous.

Turns out, your opinion might just matter. Money is the lifeblood of the Olympics and it’s sponsored by some of America’s biggest and best known corporations. They don’t want to have their customers to associate them with underwriting the “Genocide Olympics.”

You can let them know what you think, just point your browser here for more information:

http://miafarrow.org/sponsors_genocide_olympics.html

In a world where many of us feel that important problems are beyond our influence, it's truly encouraging to see that one person, fueled by boundless compassion and righteous moral outrage, can make a difference.

Let's give her the help she and the people for whom serves as a compelling champion, so richly deserve. Write a few emails. Tell them Mia sent you. That should get their attention.