Right Now XIV
Right now, Shaun Alexander is
!!!
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...92200251_5.html
!!!
Originally Posted by http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/22/AR2006092200251_5.html
On the surface, "Punk'd" seems like a practical joke writ large, a realization of the public desire to capture celebrities "as they really are."
Not so, Kutcher says. "Punk'd," he explains, is about exploring human nature. And while having a successful "punk" is the goal, what he really loves is when he fails.
Take, for example, his favorite episode, involving Seattle Seahawks tailback Shaun Alexander. (Spoiler alert: It hasn't aired yet. Skip ahead to avoid finding out what happens.) Kutcher followed him to a charity event and set up a joke that both (a) had Alexander dealing with a snotty kid who claimed soccer players were better than football players and (b) switched the $5,000 check that was to be donated in Alexander's name for a $500,000 check.
Alexander, in response, promised to hook the kid up with a soccer star he knew. And, on the spot, agreed to cover the extra $495,000.
"Think about that!" Kutcher raves. "Everybody's jerk reaction when something bad happens is to flip out on somebody else, lose their cool or whatever it is," Kutcher says, "and I'm really so honestly impressed with anyone who goes, 'Okay, this is happening. Let me be generous in this situation. Let me be generous when somebody's taking my dignity or slashing my ego or taking my car or burning my house down or stealing my dogs or blaming me for something I didn't do. Let me be generous in this moment.'"
Not so, Kutcher says. "Punk'd," he explains, is about exploring human nature. And while having a successful "punk" is the goal, what he really loves is when he fails.
Take, for example, his favorite episode, involving Seattle Seahawks tailback Shaun Alexander. (Spoiler alert: It hasn't aired yet. Skip ahead to avoid finding out what happens.) Kutcher followed him to a charity event and set up a joke that both (a) had Alexander dealing with a snotty kid who claimed soccer players were better than football players and (b) switched the $5,000 check that was to be donated in Alexander's name for a $500,000 check.
Alexander, in response, promised to hook the kid up with a soccer star he knew. And, on the spot, agreed to cover the extra $495,000.
"Think about that!" Kutcher raves. "Everybody's jerk reaction when something bad happens is to flip out on somebody else, lose their cool or whatever it is," Kutcher says, "and I'm really so honestly impressed with anyone who goes, 'Okay, this is happening. Let me be generous in this situation. Let me be generous when somebody's taking my dignity or slashing my ego or taking my car or burning my house down or stealing my dogs or blaming me for something I didn't do. Let me be generous in this moment.'"
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/conte...92200251_5.html







