Joe and Nelly sit in front of a laptop reading comments from the internet.
Joe sighs.
“Look at this, Nelly. The audience thinks we’re just another scam. Another hustle.”
Nelly raises an eyebrow. “A scam? After all this?”
Joe scrolls.
“Listen to this one. ‘Look at Matt Damon. He’s just another common thief.’”
Nelly laughs. “They’re calling Bourne a thief now?”
Joe throws his hands up.
“Even Jason Bourne! The world’s greatest CIA super-spy, hunted across Europe, saving the day. And the guy playing him is getting paid twenty million dollars to pretend he knows kung fu.”
Nelly smirks. “Don’t forget the genius.”
Joe nods dramatically.
“Right! The smartest mathematician in the world. The prodigy from Good Will Hunting solving equations nobody else can solve.”
He points at the screen again.
“And the mathematician is still… Matt Damon.”
Nelly leans back in her chair.
“So what are the critics saying, Joe?”
Joe shrugs.
“They say if Matt Damon is such a genius, such a super-agent, such a hero… maybe he should get a real job instead of being paid outrageous sums pretending he is one.”
Nelly laughs.
“Careful, Joe. Hollywood might send Bourne after you.”
Joe shakes his head.
“If Bourne shows up, I’ll give him a keyboard and say, ‘Okay genius, solve the debt crisis.’ Then we’ll see who the real mathematician is.”
Joe and Nelly sit in a quiet room after the lights and cheers of a charity event have faded.
Nelly looks tired, staring at an old poster from WE Charity and the massive youth rallies of WE Day.
Nelly sighs.
“Joe… you know what the Bible says?” she asks quietly.
“‘All men are liars.’ That’s Book of Psalms 116:11.”
Joe raises an eyebrow. “That’s a pretty dark verse to quote after a charity show.”
Nelly shakes her head.
“I believed them. I stood on those stages telling kids we were changing the world. I even gave a million dollars away… trying to do the right thing.”
Joe leans back.
“You mean when you donated the money from that concert for Muammar Gaddafi?”
Nelly nods.
“I thought if I gave it to Free the Children it would help kids. Schools, clean water, all that.”
She gestures at the poster again.
“But then the scandals came. Investigations. Politicians fighting over the charity. Suddenly everyone looked like they were getting rich while the kids were just… the marketing.”
Joe smirks a little.
“That’s the celebrity charity machine. Stadium lights, big speeches, cameras everywhere. Makes everyone feel like a hero.”
Nelly folds her arms.
“Yeah… but the Psalm was right. You trust the wrong people and you start wondering if the whole thing was just another show.”
Joe shrugs.
“Maybe the problem isn’t charity,” he says. “Maybe the problem is when charity turns into a brand.”
Nelly looks at the empty stage through the window.
“The kids deserved better than a brand, Joe.”