September 07, 2005
Beyond Parody
For anyone who though the portrayal of Sean Penn in Team America was a little exaggerated...
Behold! Satire is dead!
Sean Penn's rescue bid sinks
EFFORTS by Hollywood actor Sean Penn to aid New Orleans victims stranded by Hurricane Katrina foundered badly overnight, when the boat he was piloting to launch a rescue attempt sprang a leak.
Mr Penn had planned to rescue children waylaid by Katrina's flood waters, but apparently forgot to plug a hole in the bottom of the vessel, which began taking water within seconds of its launch.
The actor, known for his political activism, was seen wearing what appeared to be a white flak jacket and frantically bailing water out of the sinking vessel with a red plastic cup.
When the boat's motor failed to start, those aboard were forced to use paddles to propel themselves down the flooded New Orleans street.
Asked what he had hoped to achieve in the waterlogged city, the actor replied: "Whatever I can do to help."
With the boat loaded with members of Penn's entourage, including a personal photographer, one bystander taunted the actor: "How are you going to get any people in that thing?"
More on Penn and his personal photographer here
And the ABC's Weblog "The Shallow End" takes the piss out of Penn...and gets ragged on by its snippy readership.
"You certainly live down to your monniker, shallow. Penn does make a better actor than a skipper, but at least he tried. That's more than can be said of most people from the top down."
Talk about your bunches of humourless gits....
Posted by Quentin George at September 7, 2005 09:32 PMWhen I read about Penn's failed rescue attempt a couple of days ago, I knew he would end up on your site.
Personally, I don't see what the big deal is. If he was one of the other dozens of would-be rescuers, no one would give a toss. Just tabloid fodder.
Although, I've personally never forgotten to secure the drainage plug on a boat, I've heard of it happening to some land-lovers...
Posted by: Engels at September 8, 2005 12:06 AM