This is a story that I learned many years ago, but I find it so funny, and so sweet, that I’m sharing it now.
Somehow, I became aware of a fundraiser that Wendy Molyneux [molly noh] was doing on GoFundMe.
Wendy Molyneux is an Emmy-award winning TV writer and producer, known for her work on the terrific animated TV show Bob’s Burgers, which I love, as well as The Great North and Deadpool 3.
In 2013, sadly, at the age of five, her beloved nephew had lost his life to leukemia.
A few years later, the movie Entourage was about to hit the big screen. This movie was based on the hit HBO TV series Entourage, about a young movie star, Vincent Chase, and all the people around him, including his old friend-turned-assistant Turtle, as they navigate their lives in Hollywood.
Now, Wendy Molyneux really, really hated Entourage. She joked to her husband that someone would have to pay her $10,000 to go see the movie version.
And in March 2015, she set up a GoFundMe account to raise money for CureSearch, a non-profit dedicated to pediatric cancer research. She promised that if she raised $10K, she’d go see Entourage. She hoped to raise a few hundred dollars this way.
Here’s a lightly edited version of what she wrote on her GoFundMe page:
If you know me at all, you know there are two things I hate: pediatric cancers and the television show Entourage. I am attempting to raise 10K to donate to CureSearch. Find out more about CureSearch here. In exchange for that I will go see the movie Entourage. Watch the terrifying preview of Entourage here. It’s just that simple. Please give five dollars or ten thousand dollars. Or please don’t because I really don’t want to see Entourage. It’s up to you: give some money and help children with cancer and make me see Entourage, or keep your money and I won’t have to see Entourage.
No matter how much this makes, all of the money will go directly to CureSearch. I will not use the money even for my own ticket to see the worst movie of the year and possibly our lifetime. But if I don’t make ten thousand dollars for CureSearch, I will not see Entourage. If I make $9,999, will I see Entourage? No, no I won’t. I hope you don’t give any money, honestly, because of how much I hate Entourage. Okay, it’s your decision. Cancer and me not seeing Entourage, or forcing me to see Entourage in a THEATER FULL OF PEOPLE WHO ACTUALLY WANT TO SEE ENTOURAGE and money to cure pediatric cancers.
Then a few days later, she writes with an update:
Well, just eight days ago, I was just like everyone else, a simple girl from Indiana who wanted the internet not to pay $10,000 dollars to make her go see Entourage. Back then, I was so innocent. I thought the internet was a charming place filled with kitten memes and strangers complimenting each other in comments sections, but now I know it is a hellish wasteland filled with dark-hearted sociopaths who think nothing of sending me to see Entourage two times just so they could satisfy their selfish ends of someday finding a cure for pediatric cancers. What a nightmare!
In the end, she raised more than $33,000, so much that she had to attend four separate screenings. In fact, one of the people who donated online was Jerry Ferrrara, who played Turtle, one of the main characters. He gave $1500 and who wrote on his contribution, “It’s a great cause. Hope you enjoy the movie Wendy.”
I love this story, with someone finding a way to use her own unique gifts to make a contribution to the world.
If you want to read all the posts from Wendy Molyneux, I’ll post a link in the show notes.