Today, I watched an announcement on line made by Lady Gaga, which is about a policy called “don’t ask, don’t tell”. Don’t ask don’t tell is a law that was created in 1993 that prevents gays to serve openly in military. Since then, 14,000 Americans have been discharged from the armed forces, refused the right to serve their country and sent home. Here, I do not want to talk about the law itself, but this video. In the video, Lady Gaga was wearing her white wig, and relatively conservative make-up (compared to her previous make-ups) and a black suit with a strange tie. The video is more like a show rather than an announcement. Gaga was trying to be very serious in the video but the way she talks and looks making people think about her previous music videos like Paparazzi, Telephone and her dramatic acting. She was making a serious announcement based on a very serious political issue in the video but I was not very comfortable about it, after I showed it to my friends, they told me they have the same feeling as mine.
More and more entertainment stars begin to involve in political issues. The most common phenomenon perhaps is Image Ambassadors or setting up funding or donating to Charities. Celebrities use their fame to enlarge their impact in politics and help other people who need money or care. It sounds a win-win situation that both celebrities and poor people can get what they want. However, the reality is not that simple. There are some interesting examples. There is a Hollywood movie star; he is very famous for Kong Fu movies. His movie is a good combination of bloody, violent and inhumane. Most of his movies are rated as R or at least PG-13 and a lot of kids imitate his Kong Fu to fight with other kids in schools. However, this star is Unite Nations Massagers of Peace. Every time he gives a speech in public places about taking non-violent action in political areas, all what I can think about is the violent scenes in his movies. Another example is about a so-called International movie star, she sets up a funding program in Hong Kong to help starving kids in Africa. She claimed that she has donated a lot of money and collected other donations from other celebrities. No one has really taken her claim seriously until one day, someone started to investigate her funding and found out she not only took her own donation back to herself, but also took other people’s donations too. Also, there are a lot of stars or other celebrities are even evading taxes now.
Celebrities have right and power to influence other people especially their fans or followers for sure. Most of them know how much influence they have and how to use it to benefit themselves. What I want to say here is that due to the power of media, they should be responsible, should ask themselves if they are qualified enough to influence other people.
You have a good point, Skylar, about the potential for positive and negative influence that celebrities have. With great power comes great responsibility, and some celebrities have mustered their vast resources to show their immense ability to advance the public good. Angelina Jolie has won several UN humanitarian awards for her efforts to assist refugees in developing countries, as well as chairs a nonprofit seeking to fund education for children affected by conflict. In a perfect world, celebrities, like politicians, would be held to a higher standard for social responsibility, though people within these realms have proved time and again their own fallibility. It would be ideal if people in positions of influence were introspective enough to examine how their actions impact the general public.
ReplyDeleteHowever, with few exceptions, I do not believe many celebrities are more qualified than your average citizen to voice their stance on controversial issues considering the undue influence they exert. Nevertheless, freedom of speech in this country guarantees their right to voice their opinions, regardless of how hypocritical, ill-informed, or ill-reasoned. Since there is little the American public can do to filter or prevent celebrities from using their fame to express political views, the only option is for the public to use more discernment in judging the value of these messages. As individuals, our social and cultural development are not determined solely by messages received from one source, nor by the means by which they are communicated ala technological determinism. As the public sphere, we also have responsibility to educate ourselves and make informed judgments, regardless of who the communicator may be.