I think there’s also a video on the same topic by Alanis Morrissette somewhere, but videos like this make me think about the things that celebrities choose to draw attention to. I mean, celebrities are ordinary people who also happen to be well known by a lot of other ordinary people for one reason or another.
So should they feel obligated to draw attention to various issues that they feel are important or that other people feel are important and have asked them to pimp out?
Maybe. Celebrities are people like you and me and in a way, we should all be doing things to solve problems with the world that we feel strongly about and to help right various wrongs about the place – so they shouldn’t be singled out as someone to hold up as an example to the world. Being some kind of role-model or hero-figure has responsibility and can mean always being on your best behaviour in public and not having the freedom to just chill out and be naughty occassionally.
However, at the same time, they are famous. People have heard of them. People pay to see their films, hear their music or buy their books. Their jobs are based on being known by at least a few other people and using that power to get people to buy whatever product they are promoting – be it a film, cd or carpet cleaner. From the obligation that everyone has to do their bit for issues they care about, you could also say that because celebrities are in a position of a certain power, they can use this power to draw attention to things that the common folk might not think about too often.
I guess it could be annoying though, to have people wanting you to champion various causes all the time, so there has to be a balance between private and public and making time both for yourself and also for this kind of charitable action.
