Hollywood Reality
It is impossible to walk into a local grocer or airport without passing innumerable magazines listing the whereabouts, tragedies, and successes of “Hollywood’s finest.” I, like many Americans, examine their lives with a fervent curiosity.
After spending just a few days on the set of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, though, I now see these celebrities in a different light…perhaps even a different category. Plenty of celebrities use their fame to improve communities and benefit organizations, both regionally and internationally. Very few actually use their livelihood to drastically change the future of a family. I am working side by side with those very few.
On site, the members of this Hollywood crew are either covered in dust, sporting hard hats, driving 18-wheelers, carrying hammers, or all of the above (and quite possibly all at once). So why isn’t anyone chasing them with a camera (other than me)? Why isn’t a reporter pounding them with questions (again, other than me)? Maybe it’s because their difficult workdays and decades-long marriages and unwavering teamwork just aren’t that… sensational.
As for me, after spending a week on this site getting to know Hollywood types who are caring, compassionate, and down-to-earth, I think passing by “People” magazine without even a flip-through will be a cinch.
Parker Swann
p.s. creative, llc
