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The luckiest lady in town at the moment, must be Christina
Lawson of Zabeel Properties. She's the one who got to
speak to Brad Pitt recently, about his brand new design
project - an 800-room, five-star attraction, right here
in Dubai. We're awaiting its arrival with baited breath,
I'm sure, but let's be honest here… we already
have a hundred luxurious building developments to get
excited about. What we're really looking forward to
the most, at least, what the ladies here are looking
forward to the most, is the Jolie-Pitts rocking up in
town.
"It's safe to say Pitt will be a regular in Dubai
while the hotel and resort is being constructed,"
said the paper this week. And I'm sure my heart was
not alone in its little ceremonious flutter.
We wanna see Ange and little Shilo, skiing in the Mall
of Emirates. We wanna bump into them in H&M as we're
trying on trousers. We wanna spot her and Brad dining
out in Jonny Rockets, putting us on the map for a city
devoted to improving family life. We already know that
they can lure in the masses based on looks alone, but
will a glamorous extension of their glitzy lives in
the form of another hotel really be enough to satisfy
us?
Most of us won't even be able to afford to step inside,
once it opens. And what can they possibly offer that
we haven't seen before? No, what we really need is a
proper, famous, Hollywood family in town, something
real and sought-after that hasn't been dug out of an
ocean, re-modeled in marble, or made out of sand. We
need to admire some real people for a change, not more
reconstructions, blueprints and promises. Our modern,
media-influenced society actually likes to know, deep
down, just a little bit, that celebrities, Hollywood
and major media influences approve of something, before
we really buy into an idea these days. Oh come on…
it's true.
Now that Brad and Ange are involved, perhaps we can
expect some real changes. Maybe Bruce Willis will jet
in and finally save Satwa. Perhaps Lindsay Lohan will
realize that Dubai's serene spas and beaches, combined
with our delightful lack of chemically imbalanced people,
is the medicine she really needs to sort her life out.
The world will listen and the world will join her. Where
they're all supposed to stay when they get here, of
course, is another matter.
Brad and Ange are family people, at the end of the day.
They might not be planning to bring up their ever-expanding
brood on our shores, full-time, but the fact that they've
already snagged a spot on the Palm, and now want to
construct an enticing, showbizzy entertainment development
is probably not the most intriguing thing in this story.
The press should make a bigger deal out of the fact
that this highly-admired and devoted couple obviously
see our city as a place for families. This is the point
that stands out, to me at least, especially in a time
where anger is mounting over traffic, impending taxes
and the knocking-down of Satwa homes to make way for
a more sparkling city. It's not all bad if Brangelina
- the biggest globe-trotting do-gooders, get the plan
behind it.
"He is not going to be the face of the project
but will actually be a part of the design and overall
feel of the building. He will 'be' a part of Dubai when
it's complete," reported the Gulf News earlier
this week.
Hollywood is so last season. New York is so passé.
To the couple who can go anywhere in the world, and
throw their money and fame in any direction they please,
Dubai is worth some serious time and investment. They've
bought into the vision. They've envisaged the dream.
What this means for the future of Dubai is not another
five-star development project. It means that the world
is waking up to the fact that we are the future. And
that's a pretty nice thing to know, as the dreaded summer
makes us wonder what the heck we're all doing here.
Posted: 05 June 2008
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