Action-packed philanthropy

WHICKER What does NBC's new show "The Philanthropist" have in common with philanthropy? Let's take a quick look. The June 24 premiere episode titled "Nigeria: Part 1" introduced us to CEO Teddy Rist (played by James Purefoy, Mark Antony in the HBO mini-series "Rome"), who NBC describes as a "billionaire playboyturned vigilante philanthropist." Both parts of the description were equally exhibited throughout the 60-minute show, with the playboy part often in danger of overshadowing any good that the producers were trying to bring out in their main character. (Actually, toward the end, I thought that they should have called the show "The Philanderer.")

Mr. Rist partly narrates his story to a young, skeptical, female bartender while downing a seemingly endless chain of hard liquor shots. While in Nigeria for business, Mr. Rist encounters a hurricane that floods his hotel and forces an evacuation of the town. Awakened from sleep after an implied night of partying, Mr. Rist sobers up enough to rescue a young boy, which marks a turning point in his selfish, hedonistic life.

From there, our hero discovers a new world — one in which there are hurting people with big problems — and is forced to confront the memory of the death of his son. Determined to do something for the poor Nigerians, Mr. Rist launches a personal crusade to deliver a box of vaccines to a jungle town. Bribing corrupt officials, doing business with a pimping drug lord (in more ways than one), and getting arrested, Mr. Rist becomes convinced that he'll have to deliver the vaccines himself. Following is his action-packed encounter with drug enforcers, a dirt-bike ride that makes him good target practice for jungle rebels, various injuries, getting lost in the jungle, and being bitten by a poisonous snake. Finally and miraculously, Mr. Rist stumbles into the makeshift field hospital, where he delivers the vaccines and is cared for by a formerly doubtful doctor, who, Mr. Rist claims in his narration, repays him with a tryst.

Do you see the philanthropic connection yet? To be fair, we do see Mr. Rist having some emotional moments where he might be really having a change of heart, and his reckless desire to do some good in the world makes us think that he might just be getting it. It's just too bad that the show's writers and producers didn't make that more of the focus. Instead, they wanted to make Mr. Rist into some sort of James Bond character with a huge bank account.

Lest I dive into a TV-bashing tirade or turn this into too much of a review column, let me start pointing out some comparisons between the show and the real world of philanthropy. Let's see. Well... there aren't any.

According to Steve Gunderson, president and CEO of the Council on Foundations, "One of Council's board directors captured the show's essence perfectly by saying, 'The Philanthropist is to charitable giving as The Pink Panther is to police work.'"

Whereas "The Philanthropist" might be entertaining to a few people as a television show, other than the lead character's eventual desire to do some good with his money, the show does nothing to display what really happens in the philanthropic community. We at the Southwest Florida Community Foundation live in that world every day. Our excitement doesn't have to come from being shot at, from trudging through jungles, being bitten by snakes, or any of the other over-dramatic events portrayed in the show. Where workers in philanthropy and people who give freely of their wealth and of themselves get their excitement is in the mission itself — helping. That mission, and the action-packed excitement that it delivers, can be shared by anyone — whether you have five dollars to give, or five million.

So, what did I ultimately think of the show? Simply this: watching philanthropy isn't nearly as exciting as doing it.

The Southwest Florida Community Foundation has been supporting the communities of Lee, Charlotte, Collier, Glades and Hendry through endowed funds for 33 years and during that time has provided more than $39.5 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves. For more information, please call 274-5900, or visit our W e b site at www.floridacommunity.com.