Sean Penn does good things, says stupid shit

[greysfang]

Single Sean Penn lives in Haiti

In a tent working at a camp helping displaced earthquake survivors. He’s been there since a week after the disaster in January and has left only 3 times – for the Oscars, to lobby in Washington on behalf of Haitian relief, and for a fundraiser.

Penn tells Vanity Fair – the issue with Elizabeth Taylor on the cover – that he was inspired to do more and give more after his son survived a life threatening brain injury. Now that he’s single, having split from Robin Wright, he has the independence to make this commitment.

As for Robin Wright…

“She’s a ghost to me now.”

Apparently everyone loves Penn in Haiti. Even the army people. Said Lieutenant General P. K. Keen, deputy commander of the U.S. Southern Command

“My politics are not in line with Sean Penn’s. But we are allied in trying to save lives and alleviate human suffering. He is a doer and not a talker...and I respect that immensely. In a humanitarian crisis you can be a neutral—always pinching your knuckles white. Or you can operate an NGO the way Mr. Penn does.… He intuitively knew how to both work with the U.N. and break its bureaucracy down.... I applaud the leadership he has shown. He doesn’t have to do this.”

Penn reveals that Keen’s approval means more than his Oscar when recounting the commendations he received recently, presented to him by the general:

“Keen gave me this look in the eye—a look of pride. It meant more to me than any movie award.”

And he says he’s not leaving any time soon:

“There is no exit for me until there is more life than death. I can always see light in any situation. It’s just the way I’m made. I’m capable of making foolish commitments. Of being a fool. But I can see the light very clearly in terms of the ‘big picture’ for Haiti. There is a strength of character in the people who have, by and large, never experienced comfort. That’s exactly the character that our Main Street culture lacks and needs in the United States. In other words, we need Haiti.”

Look, I think it’s great what he’s doing. I think it’s amazing how invested he is, how much energy and presence he’s put into it. And I don’t want to be the bitch who sh-ts on someone else’s altruism. Obviously it’s a wonderful goal. But you have to wonder if his personal relationships don’t hold up because he doesn’t invest and isn’t as present in them the way he is outside of them.

Click here for more information about Penn in Haiti and to watch a video of him on site.

Sean Penn in Haiti for Vanity Fair 03june10

I'm not even gonna rag on him for saying that stupid shit about Robin, he's doing some good stuff right there.

[GaPeach]

oh screw him, Robin stayed by his side all these years and all he's done is cheat on her and treat her like crap.

Dude charity begins at home, you should have started with your own family.

glad your helping out somebody.. ya punk

[Syd]

Still don't like him.

[Jackie M]

I greatly applaud his actions in Haiti, but he still makes me sick.

[Brookie]

Not a fan.

[sluce]

Love the thread title!

Good for Sean.

[GaPeach]

^^ I think it should say "stupid shit" does good things in Haiti

[Doctora Pepper]

I don't like Sean in any way, but I think the Robin thing was out of context. Here is a longer Huffpo article:

Sean Penn talks about his divorce and its benefits to humanity, life in Haiti and his son's skateboarding accident in the July issue of Vanity Fair. The interview is not online yet, but you can read an excerpt here and VF sent out the following press release:
New York, N.Y. --"She is a ghost to me now," Sean Penn tells Vanity Fair contributing editor Douglas Brinkley of actress Robin Wright Penn. "We spent all those years together.... Now she's just gone."

Brinkley travels to Haiti, where Penn talks about Robin, their son Hopper's life-threatening skateboarding accident, and what he's doing to help rebuild the nation post-earthquake. When Penn was presented with a military coin and several honorary certificates of commendation for his service in the Haitian crisis, Lieutenant General P. K. Keen "gave me this look in the eye--a look of pride," Penn tells Brinkley. "It meant more to me than any movie award."

When Hopper sustained a head injury in a skateboarding accident, Penn and Robin pulled together at the hospital, praying for their son, Brinkley reports. "He underwent risky surgery due to intense bleeding of the brain," Penn says, "and he pulled through." Brinkley reports that Hopper's brush with disaster was life-changing for his father. Feeling a karmic debt had to be repaid, Penn started the painful process of re-assessing his life's priorities. He drove out to Palm Springs to spend time with T Bone Burnett, the composer-producer who helped Bob Dyl*an find Jesus in the 1970s.

Since January, Penn has lived full-time, with the exception of a couple of brief trips--one to Washington, D.C., to testify on the Hill for more Haitian relief--in a tent not much bigger than an army surplus locker. Penn--along with the organization he started with Sarajevo-born philanthropist Diana Jenkins--was recently made official "camp manager" of Port-au-Prince displaced persons facility that has housed some 50,000 earthquake survivors. "I wanted to give back something more to help struggling people, but I didn't know how to best do it," Penn tells Brinkley. "I was for 20 years in a relationship with Robin and 18 years with children. I didn't have time to commit to anything--for real--in places like Iraq, except to denounce the war. But now I'm single. I can lend a hand."

Penn had been Hopper's guardian, he tells Brinkley, and "he had just gone back to being with his mother on an experimental basis. I was putzing around at home, missing Hopper....I had never been to Haiti before. I couldn't fathom the high death toll. So, like everybody else, I started tracking the news. I saw all those traumatized people getting Civil War medicine on TV. People were being given ibuprofen or alcohol for amputations. Hopper had been saved by IV pain medicine. It comforted him so much."

Penn has been in Haiti for five months, but is scheduled to shoot a movie in August. Penn, though, is committed to Haiti for the long haul and says he plans to return as soon as possible. "There is no exit for me until there is more life than death," he tells Brinkley. "I can always see light in any situation. It's just the way I'm made. I'm capable of making foolish commitments. Of being a fool. But I can see the light very clearly in terms of the 'big picture' for Haiti. It's a pretty damn distant light. But the brightness of the Haitians' eyes is enough to make you giddy. There is a strength of character in the people who have, by and large, never experienced comfort. That's exactly the character that our Main Street culture lacks and needs in the United States. In other words, we need Haiti." Penn calls his work there "a reciprocal thing....They have returned to me something I had lost--my humility."

Despite different backgrounds and, in some cases, political leanings, Penn's work is widely praised. "In a humanitarian crisis you can be a neutral--always pinching your knuckles white," says Keen, who ran the Ranger Task Force during the 1991 Gulf War. "Or you can operate an NGO the way Mr. Penn does....Mr. Penn has brought both international attention and resources to Haiti. He intuitively knew how to both work with the U.N. and break its bureaucracy down. He's proved a willing candidate to collaborate with us. I applaud all the leadership he has shown. He doesn't have to do this."
The July issue of Vanity Fair is currently on newsstands in New York and L.A and will be available on national newsstands Tuesday, June 8.

Sean Penn: Robin Wright 'Is A Ghost To Me Now'

I guess the way I interpreted it was just to have someone in your daily life for so long and then no longer have them around the house, or just around to talk to, makes life feel emptier.

[rollo]

Well, good for him at last. He seems to be making a real difference.

[kingcap72]

"I was for 20 years in a relationship with Robin and 18 years with children. I didn't have time to commit to anything--for real--in places like Iraq, except to denounce the war. But now I'm single. I can lend a hand."

I get what he's trying to say, but it's probably not the best idea to talk about your marriage and kids, and then follow it up with you didn't have time to commit to anything 'real.' It comes off like he's saying that his marriage and kids weren't anything 'real' to commit to.