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Friday 27 November 2015

How thick are celebrities?

Why do so many celebrities feel a need to support dodgy causes?

Björk, David Bowie and a host of musicians, actors, artists, novelists and leading figures in the creative industries have called on negotiators at next week’s climate summit in Paris to reach a deal that staves off dangerous global warming.

The letter to the French foreign minister and the UN climate chief in charge of the talks is signed by a selection of A-listers from the British cultural scene, including actors Steve Coogan and Emma Thompson, musicians Damon Albarn and Guy Garvey, and writers Ian McEwan and Philip Pullman.


Do they not see how diminished they are in the eyes of a significant number of people? All publicity isn’t necessarily good publicity – look at the endless ridicule Bono has attracted over the years.

As professional artists they are just the kind of people who ought to see the human weaknesses, folly and ambiguities behind most promoted causes. Keen human insight ought to come with the artistic territory.  Yet as far as one can see it doesn’t and many professional artists appear to be completely oblivious to these things, often seeing far less than ordinary folk who might otherwise admire their achievements.

The climate game isn’t anywhere near to being a major public concern in spite of the endless hustling and the colossal sums spent pushing the narrative. At a personal level celebrities cannot be genuinely worried because they are cushioned from even the most dire of predicted disasters. Neither are they really concerned about the fate of unknown people in a distant future. Nobody is - such a remote and theoretical altruism isn't an aspect of human nature.

In their position I’d prefer to leave my ignorance in the background and perhaps most celebrities do that. Perhaps it is a statistical effect and all we are seeing are a small percentage - a few dedicated poseurs who close their eyes and stick their fingers in their ears if a chosen cause isn’t quite kosher. Like clockwork toys they strut their stuff because once wound up they cannot do otherwise.

Or maybe the ludicrous plonkers are simply thick.

5 comments:

Sam Vega said...

"How thick are celebrities?"

It's difficult to quantify without doing rigorously scientific tests, but I would have thought: as pigshit, as mince, as two short planks (in some cases four) and as shit in the neck of a bottle.

Demetrius said...

In order to become this kind of celebrity, you largely need to have almost a one track mind, a lot of self belief perhaps verging on arrogance a do it now attitude and a desire always to be ahead of others. This is a bad fit for thinking about and acting on complex scientific, political and such issues and decision making. Pity that Cameron is a celebrity himself, but there you go.

James Higham said...

Why can they not see? Don't they ever read, explore, listen?

Derek said...

I wonder if their managers are part to blame. Though so many celebrities, actors in the main, appear to have a poor personality outside of a script and character to play, that their own weaknesses are apt to make them fall foul of propaganda that leads them (like a script) into the 'Al Gore' limelight. Poor dears. There must be a few exceptions, though none spring to mind. Probably because they've kept quiet. Or I don't follow their careers. (More likely the latter).

A K Haart said...

Sam - my research suggests the pig shit metric is about right.

Demetrius - I agree. They also seem to attract ego-strokers which can't help.

James - the short answer is no they don't. As we know, research takes time and a desire to know the truth. Many celebrities seem to have neither.

Derek - maybe that's it - they see life as a bundle of scripts to be learned but not analysed.