As the title suggests, I would like to express my thoughts on the issue of celebrity involvement in development aid. We did briefly mention this in the Monday’s lesson, but I want to explore this phenomenon a tiny bit closer. I would like to explore a bit closer an opinion voiced by Ludmila in the class and share more ideas that I got based on the reading and discussion.
First of all: it is undeniable, that celebrities do often engage in third world countries and raise awareness about the issues of these countries among the people of the developed world. In Chapter 2: A Brief History of Aid (Dead Aid), which was one of the readings for the lesson, the author argues that celebrity engagement in development aid has somehow made it a joke nobody takes seriously anymore, since instead of a sophisticated debate there are concerts and shows. I would like to point out that development aid (according to the said book) did not work before celebrities noticed Africa, so it doesn’t feel completely fair to blame it on Bono and other celebrities, that it is not working now.
I would also like to elaborate further on what Ludmila mentioned. In short, Ludmila argued that we (“we” meaning people just slightly over twenty years old) were born into a highly skeptical world. She mentioned images of naked little African kids from the TV commercials. I would like to pile up on that and remind us what probably all Czech mothers say, when they feel like their child is being ungrateful: “What would the children in Africa give for this!” Leaving aside that the children in Africa probably wouldn’t want to wear an ugly Christmas sweater and that saying such a thing can probably be considered slightly racist, somehow there is this thing inside us, telling us that somewhere in Africa there are people who are less fortunate than us and it is important to help them somehow. I am very positive that I have gained this way of thinking mostly by seeing the poor African babies everywhere since I was a little girl, my mother’s constant “African children would love to eat the mushroom soup” and other things like that. I do however wonder: when did this start? Development aid is no new phenomenon, but somehow I feel like the general public’s need to help those less unfortunate in the Third World region is quite new. I do wonder if maybe the TV commercials, the posters, billboards and yes, the celebrity involvement has something to do with that.
After the lesson I did some additional research into the topic of celebrities and aid. I must admit, I was surprised by how much has been written (even on academic level) about it. I would like to share my main conclusions. Celebrities often use their name to create a brand, having a brand is useful, because whatever they put their brand on, people will buy. Some celebrities like to put their brand on a perfume or jewelry, others like to put it on a charity project to help to raise HIV/AIDS awareness in Third World countries. It is in a way very sad, that the general public doesn’t really care about issues such as clear water, until a celebrity comes along and funds a charity focusing on clear water access for everyone. The thing is, once a celebrity draws attention to a certain issue, for this example let’s say hunger in an African country, people want to help. There are campaigns where people can buy an item and a part of their payment will then go to charity. I never completely understood why should I buy a random product made in Italy, China, Taiwan, etc., in order to help Africa. Why not help Africa by buying an African product?
If the question is whether or not celebrity involvement into development (or any other kind of) aid is good or bad, I do not see a simple yes or no answer. It is clear that celebrity activity attracts attention. I also believe that this can pressure the authorities to come up with more effective ways to help developing countries. Personally, I would see one of the main upsides of celebrities in the field of development aid as the people who help raise awareness about issues such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, and so on. I also believe that without celebrities and their involvement in these things, most people sadly wouldn’t know about the Third World reality. Of course that the image the celebrities offer is most likely not complete and it is in a way designed to mostly make the celebrity look good, but as long as they keep trying to actually help, I would not dare to condemn them.
First of all: it is undeniable, that celebrities do often engage in third world countries and raise awareness about the issues of these countries among the people of the developed world. In Chapter 2: A Brief History of Aid (Dead Aid), which was one of the readings for the lesson, the author argues that celebrity engagement in development aid has somehow made it a joke nobody takes seriously anymore, since instead of a sophisticated debate there are concerts and shows. I would like to point out that development aid (according to the said book) did not work before celebrities noticed Africa, so it doesn’t feel completely fair to blame it on Bono and other celebrities, that it is not working now.
I would also like to elaborate further on what Ludmila mentioned. In short, Ludmila argued that we (“we” meaning people just slightly over twenty years old) were born into a highly skeptical world. She mentioned images of naked little African kids from the TV commercials. I would like to pile up on that and remind us what probably all Czech mothers say, when they feel like their child is being ungrateful: “What would the children in Africa give for this!” Leaving aside that the children in Africa probably wouldn’t want to wear an ugly Christmas sweater and that saying such a thing can probably be considered slightly racist, somehow there is this thing inside us, telling us that somewhere in Africa there are people who are less fortunate than us and it is important to help them somehow. I am very positive that I have gained this way of thinking mostly by seeing the poor African babies everywhere since I was a little girl, my mother’s constant “African children would love to eat the mushroom soup” and other things like that. I do however wonder: when did this start? Development aid is no new phenomenon, but somehow I feel like the general public’s need to help those less unfortunate in the Third World region is quite new. I do wonder if maybe the TV commercials, the posters, billboards and yes, the celebrity involvement has something to do with that.
After the lesson I did some additional research into the topic of celebrities and aid. I must admit, I was surprised by how much has been written (even on academic level) about it. I would like to share my main conclusions. Celebrities often use their name to create a brand, having a brand is useful, because whatever they put their brand on, people will buy. Some celebrities like to put their brand on a perfume or jewelry, others like to put it on a charity project to help to raise HIV/AIDS awareness in Third World countries. It is in a way very sad, that the general public doesn’t really care about issues such as clear water, until a celebrity comes along and funds a charity focusing on clear water access for everyone. The thing is, once a celebrity draws attention to a certain issue, for this example let’s say hunger in an African country, people want to help. There are campaigns where people can buy an item and a part of their payment will then go to charity. I never completely understood why should I buy a random product made in Italy, China, Taiwan, etc., in order to help Africa. Why not help Africa by buying an African product?
If the question is whether or not celebrity involvement into development (or any other kind of) aid is good or bad, I do not see a simple yes or no answer. It is clear that celebrity activity attracts attention. I also believe that this can pressure the authorities to come up with more effective ways to help developing countries. Personally, I would see one of the main upsides of celebrities in the field of development aid as the people who help raise awareness about issues such as HIV/AIDS, poverty, and so on. I also believe that without celebrities and their involvement in these things, most people sadly wouldn’t know about the Third World reality. Of course that the image the celebrities offer is most likely not complete and it is in a way designed to mostly make the celebrity look good, but as long as they keep trying to actually help, I would not dare to condemn them.
No comments:
Post a Comment