Celebrity knocks Burning Man on Jay Leno

dragonflyannie · Post by **dragonflyannie** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:41 am

Okay, I'm pretty upset...
I'm watching Jay Leno tonight, and this actress, Heather Graham, is on there. He asks her, "so what's this Burning Man thing you just went to?" and she proceeded to basically paint a pretty bad picture of it.
Her description of it backed up what all the negative media reports have claimed it to be... basically a place where people can go naked, drink and do drugs. It really seemed that she did not like it, for she stayed for only two days and that was too long according to her. She said that people say it's a spiritual thing and you go there and your life just makes sense, but she didn't see it that way at all. Fine, then you don't belong there!!! But don't go on National television making it seem like a huge party where people run naked and do drugs. It's SO MUCH MORE THAN THAT TO THE MAJORITY OF US! Damnit. Sorry, I'm pissed.
I'm pretty disturbed, seeing as though I didn't think Burning Man should be discussed on National television without BM orgs consent. Granted, it's free speech and she can talk about whatever she wants (I guess), but I feel like she just totally ripped on the event and all the burners who hold it dear to their hearts in front of thousands and thousands of viewers.
Am I wrong to be feeling like this? That's fine if she doesn't get it, she doesn't belong there, but I'm floored that she painted such a pathetic picture of it on National television.

PetsUntilEaten · Post by **PetsUntilEaten** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 1:05 am

Hmmm. Seems to be replaying at 2am. MMMmmm Tivo.

JezebelinHell · Post by **JezebelinHell** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 1:35 am

I can't say I've ever put much stock in Heather Graham's opinions.

Alpha · Post by **Alpha** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 7:36 am

I had been told that Heather Graham was there, by friends of ours. Sadly, these friends experience Burning Man exactly the way Ms. Graham described it. They came in an RV*, stayed with swingers and doctors who were providing meds for everyone in the group, and generally just came for the party. When we offered to introduce them to our camp-mate, who did the sculpture in the 9:00 plaza, they weren't really interested in talking to an artist.

WHY we're friends with these people is another story. If I had camped with them I'd probably trash the event on national TV, too.

* Got nothing against RVs but it goes to my point that these people were in it to do the least amount of work and the most amount of partying.

Mister Jellyfish Mister · Post by **Mister Jellyfish Mister** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:00 am

Movie stars that go on Jay Leno must be pretty let down when they go to a city where nobody gives a shit about them. "I'm going home where I'm worshipped more than these other fake goddeses!"

M-Files · Post by **M-Files** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:05 am

I've never heard of Heather Graham. I wouldn't know her if she ran naked doing drugs in front of me. She's obviously famous enough at something to rate Jay Leno. What does she do - stupid pet tricks?

Whoever she is, she is entitled to her opinion and to voice it on national TV. The Burning Man (trademark) event is no different than an Ozzie Osborne (trademark) concert. Both sell tickets to the public and therefore both can be discussed (positively or negatively) in the national media. That's the price for selling tickets - you need to be prepared for public commentary.

Don't take her comments personally. She was unhappy with the event, not with you personally.

Not everybody who goes to BM sees it as a 'spiritual experience'. While I go year after year, I have never, ever seen it as a spiritual experience. If you do, that's great, but don't expect everybody to enjoy it the same as you.

Look at the bright side: If Heather what's-her-name trashes the event on national TV, great - maybe it'll deter undesirables from going.

Enjoy your burn(s).

Alpha · Post by **Alpha** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:19 am

You think telling the world that BM is a naked sex 'n drugs party will deter the undesirables from coming?

dragonflyannie · Post by **dragonflyannie** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:20 am

My concern M-files is that her description of Burning Man will draw the wrong crowd... she just told a ton of viewers about an event where you can go naked and do drugs. Think about the people who have never heard of it and now all of a sudden are curious about this place where they can go look at naked people and do drugs. Aren't those the people we are all pissed off about in all these rants on the eplaya? (the looky loos, the frat boys, etc.)
And what about the people who were curious about Burning Man for the right reasons and now hear on national tv that it's just a big dust bowl that's nothing but a big party. Hope her lovely report of the event doesn't deter the right people from attending for their first time.

I didn't take her opinion personally, I could care less what she thinks... but what I do care about is how she spoke of the event as a whole, giving it a bad image.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:22 am

Watching Leno interview anybody is kind of like watching dairy cows being milked.

Whatever... I still think she's hot.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:28 am

Yeah, like that.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:31 am

(dang, where's pj when we need him.)

PetsUntilEaten · Post by **PetsUntilEaten** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:40 am

M-Files wrote:Look at the bright side: If Heather what's-her-name trashes the event on national TV, great - maybe it'll deter undesirables from going.

I wish I cared as little as you do. Unfortunately saying nothing would have been ideal, but talking about it as a party place where a person like Heather Graham might show up & do drugs & be naked is as damaging as being Number 7 on "Wild On"'s Top 10 World Party List.

I would say that this EXACTLY where the newbies come from who don't have any knowledge of the community or event or even a relationship with a burner veteran. This is exactly why we are being overrun with more "Mardi Gras" types than we can acclimate & educate on the fly. We are working overtime to counteract a tide of people with negative outside world values.

Having watched "SuperSize Me" last night they said an interesting thing about advertizing that I think applies here. I regards to parents trying to counteract & educate their children with postive food & nutrition messages verses the messages they recieve from televsion advertizing: If a parent can impress postive messages several times at each meal they will only give them over 2000 postive messages verses 10,000 highly crafted negative food messages from cartoon characters & ads of all kinds. Parents are easily out gunned.

I feel that when "Wild on" and Heather Graham do things like this they are outgunning us with negative to messages to a huge audience.

I wish I could be more positive and solution oriented - but I just can't pull it off right now. I would have never said this before - and I know its not a rational solution - but I'm actually thinking closing the gates early is a good idea. That's how distraught I am.

BTW - her fan mail can be sent to her agent:

Heather Graham c/o Creative Artists Agency
9830 Wilshire Boulevard
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
USA

Rabbi Dali Rick · Post by **Rabbi Dali Rick** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:45 am

Yeah, but if we get rid of the looky-loos, frat-boys and ect, what will we hav to bitch about next year.

I don't believe her. I wanna see pictures of her naked drunk and passed out on the ground from all the drugs. I demand justice (jpgs anybody?)

uncomfortably,
the rebbi

sparkletarte · Post by **sparkletarte** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:53 am

I'm mixed on this. If someone is just looking for that out of BM, when they go to the site and see everything they need to bring, plus all the airy fairy talk about community and art, they may get deterred from going.

If Heather Graham said it sucks, she probably won't be going back, so neither will the people who 'want to see her naked'- she thinkgs it's stupid, so will they.

When someone who I don't care for/don't like says they don't like something, that's enough for me to think that maybe I would like it, so it may work in BM's favour. You know, like reverse psychology, one of those words I can't spell.

M-Files · Post by **M-Files** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 8:56 am

Alpha wrote:You think telling the world that BM is a naked sex 'n drugs party will deter the undesirables from coming?

Yes! Well, I didn't see the show, but it really depends on how it was said. If it was portrayed as something like naked old hippy males doing drugs and scaring away the likes of Heather Graham, then I cannot imagine anything that would scare a red-blooded corn-fed frat boy more than that image.

On the contrary, what do you think would happen if Heather went on TV saying - 'Oh yes, Burning Man was wonderful! Me and my friends went naked and did drugs all week long and were greeted with LOVE everywhere we went!' Yee haw!

Sure, ideally, nobody would go on national TV saying about anything to do with BM. But with 38,000 attendees, that ain't gonna happen. We need to deal with reality.

So Heather Graham said: "Eww, Burning Man! Yuck! Drugs and nudity and it was gross!" ? Great! Replay it over and over. Make sure every frat boy in every hog trough gets that message.

Don't let non-burners ruin your burn.

Badger · Post by **Badger** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:07 am

Whay should any of this surprise you and why would you get upset.

Whoever the hell this Heather person is is doing nothing more than what the media has been doing since Wired first ran their cover story on the event. Asking a simplistic question and spitting out simplistic answers and feeding it to an ever larger group of people who in turn hear what they want to hear about the event, show up and make assses out of themselves - usually while trashing the city and stressing the infrastructure.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:10 am

M-Files wrote:...non-burners...

BTW... did Heather use the "b" word?

dragonflyannie · Post by **dragonflyannie** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:13 am

Nope... I doubt she even knows the "b" word.

SilkenTofu · Post by **SilkenTofu** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:19 am

oh why hast thou forsaken me "RollerGirl"

Ms. Graham obviously didn't find the Black Rock Roller Disco this year

hopefully her comments will keep the party people from coming to the event..but it is sad that she didn't enjoy it, and had only bad things to say about Burningman..just goes to show that it really isn't for everyone.

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 9:25 am

No doubt John Tesh still loves us.

playasnake · Post by **playasnake** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 10:06 am

Imagine if she had said she had a great time.

next year we'd have a metric fuckload of RVs toting member of Jay Leno's Demographic out on the playa looking for Rollergirl.

At least we still have Jerry from Survivor!

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:04 am

if burningman is something deeper and more significant than a big party in the desert where people get drunk and fucked-up and have sex and get dirty and trip their balls off - then i want my money back.

i didn't pay to show up to some kind of hippie spiritual love fest church thing, mixed with mad max wannabes and fire freaks.

i don't go to burningman to cry into the light - I GO TO PARTY PARTY PARTY! and that means taxing the infrastructure and leaving little things on the ground. it means P-A-R-T-Y in the D-E-S-E-R-T with a buch of weird ass montherfuckers.

i want to see more big-ass RVs, more tourists, more frat-boys - MORE GEEKS with cameras freaking out the freaks.

i want to see the whole damn thing toned down so far that no one will ever be able to say burningman is anything more than a party party in the desert.

burningman needs all the heather grahams of the world... they are the life-blood.

unjonharley · Post by **unjonharley** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:08 am

Maybe this thead should be pached into Jay's web site¿¿¿¿¿¿¿¿

dragonflyannie · Post by **dragonflyannie** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:08 am

You have got to be kidding me.

dragonflyannie · Post by **dragonflyannie** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:09 am

My reply was to Bronco, not unjonharley.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:11 am

i couldn't be more serious.

Simply Joel · Post by **Simply Joel** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:18 am

Heather who?

never heard of her...

not going to start now... unless she lap dances for me.

dj big E · Post by **dj big E** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:37 am

HEather graham's giving partyers a bad name dammit . I stay the whole week And party hard the whole time. I also make costumes, help build large art instalations interact participate. keep my moop to myself. I even sat down for a bunch of assholes at the man this year. Anyways bm is a place for me to party , interact, push the bounderies purge my self of the years bs. HEather graham just doesn't know how to party wright. lmao Anyways she was only theyre for 2 days that sums it all up wright theyre.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 11:40 am

Do we reallly care what the owner of this simper

thinks about us?

Bob · Post by **Bob** » Wed Sep 29, 2004 12:00 pm

I care... but for the sake of accuracy, I'd like to see the (tran)script... or maybe an MPEG...

Celebrity knocks Burning Man on Jay Leno

Celebrity knocks Burning Man on Jay Leno

Hollywood

.....Heather Heather Graham and On Drugs, mmmmmmm.....

~

nuthin but a party

Lmao