The Face of Hope
Sunday, Sep 13, 2009@ 22:40 PM ET/PT
The Foundation takes a satirical, often absurdist look at the celebrity of charity. Failed real estate developer Michael Valmont-Selkirk (MIKE WILMOT) became the head of the late tobacco titan R.J. Selkirk’s Foundation through a twist of fate: he knocked up the old man’s granddaughter at a charitable golf tournament, and was given the job in an effort to bestow upon him some sheen of respectability.
For the most part, it hasn’t worked. Michael longs to be admired and respected in philanthropic circles, to be embraced and loved by rich and poor alike, both in the streets of Montreal and in the boardrooms of his fellow charities. But try as he might, he’s largely dismissed as the uneducated, uncouth regular Joe that he is. Although he pledges to work side-by-side with his fellow charities, his competitive and corrupt nature gets the better of him. He’s the kind of guy that spends a night on the streets to raise money for the homeless and sympathize with their plight, but ends up smoking crack with them instead.
The Foundation takes a sharp-tongued look at the greedy world of giving. Michael Valmont-Selkirk is the inadvertent creation of the likes of Bono, Madonna and Angelina Jolie. He wants to be wealthy and admired and get lots of press trying to make the world a better place, but he doesn’t want to work that hard while doing it. Or really sacrifice anything. Or spend much time understanding the underlying issues. He just wants to skip ahead to the awards ceremonies and after parties.
