We’re finally getting a look at the inner-workings of Fyre Festival now that not one, but two documentaries have been released chronicling the infamous 2017 scam.
While it became something of a sport to poke fun of the rich kids who blew an outlandish amount of money on the opportunity to have a ‘luxury experience’ and party with supermodels, the Netflix documentary also highlighted where people really deserve our empathy.
One of those people, is Maryann Rolle, the local Bahamian restaurant owner who catered for the Fyre Festival organisers and unlucky attendees. In her emotional retelling of the Fyre Festival mess, Rolle tells the cameras that she paid her local workers with US$50k of her own savings after Billy McFarland and his crew split without paying anyone.
Being able to communicate the visible hurt and damage the Fyre Festival inflicted on Rolle is a powerful call to action for people. When we are made to hear out the victims of suffering, empathy can be ignited and harnessed to make actual good things happen.
Maryann Rolle definitely got people to care, and outrage for her heart-wrenching story quickly became a trending topic on Twitter.
Justice for Maryann Rolle. #fyre pic.twitter.com/sgckvyObiG
— BG (@TheBGates) January 21, 2019
The best thing to come out of the Fyre Festival documentary is that money has been crowdfunded to reimburse Maryann Rolle, and then some.
Rolle started the GoFundMe campaign herself, and it’s now trending and raised nearly AU$200 thousand from 4,546 people in just seven days. In the message on her campaign, she admits “my only resource today is to appeal for help.”
“It has been an unforgettable experience catering to the organizers of Fyre Festival.” She wrote. “Back in April 2017 I pushed myself to the limit catering no less than a 1000 meals per day. Breakfast, lunch and dinner were all prepared and delivered by Exuma Point to Coco Plum Beach and Roker’s Point where the main events were scheduled to take place. Organizers would also visit my Exuma Point location to enjoy the prepared meals.
Fyre Fest organizers were also checked into all the rooms at Exuma Point Resort.
As I make this plea it’s hard to believe and embarrassing to admit that I was not paid…I was left in a big hole! My life was changed forever, and my credit was ruined by Fyre Fest.
My only resource today is to appeal for help.
There is an old saying that goes “bad publicity is better than no publicity” and I pray that whoever reads this plea is able to assist.”
It’s extremely uplifting that people came through to help Maryann Rolle, and it demonstrates the sheer power that documentary filming can have to bring people’s stories alive to the greater public. Fyre Festival is a punchline, but it robbed Rolle of her savings, and the hundreds of local people hired as labourers for the festival still haven’t seen a cent.
This crowdfunding campaign is the kind of empathy-resulting-in-action that we need for so many more people who are suffering around the world, and it’s important to keep telling and listening to their stories.