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The trailer for new web-based reality show From Top to Bottom LA starts off like many others: attractive twenty-somethings drink, dance and party around a pool, posing for smartphone photos in bikinis and boardshorts. Then, the party ends and a voiceover explains the show's very different conceit. The camera will follow five creatives who all live in Downtown LA and work on a clothing line, Dirty Denim, as they interview the down-on-their-luck homeless men and women of the area. Cut to Bob, a ex-railroad worker from Pittsburg who suffers from depression and is in a wheelchair. When the video's narrator speaks about how Bob had to have his legs amputated three years ago because of his diabetes and he begins to cry, it's completely heartbreaking.
We're torn on From Top to Bottom DLTA. On one hand, the buy-one-and-we'll-give-one-to-the-needy aspect of their denim business is great. And the stories of the homeless in this city are rarely told, so any attention and funding this draws to their plight will be commendable. On the other hand, it does feel a bit exploitative. Your thoughts?
· From Top To Bottom DTLA [YouTube]
· From Top to Bottom DTLA [Facebook]