When most people talk about celebrities it is usually related to their latest fashion statement, the new movies they are starring in, or the new song they released. However, what is becoming increasingly more popular for celebrities to be associated with is humanitarian and development work. Through their use of songs, documentaries, and publicized field missions, the celebrities that partake in humanitarian work utilize their fame to attract people to support certain relief efforts and organizations. A movement first started by Jackie Coogan in the 1920s (Babkenian, 2011), celebrity humanitarianism is becoming increasingly more popular with names such as Bono, Oprah Winfrey, and Angelina Jolie serving as modern day examples of celebrities who are involved with humanitarian works. Of these “humanitarian celebrity’s,” Angelina Jolie, who is heavily involved in humanitarian work around the globe, has a great amount of criticism and praise for her work. Along side Brad Pitt, she has seen increasing popularity due to her work in the field of development, and is noted for being one of the most active celebrities in regards to humanitarian and development work, especially in the field of the refugee crisis around the world.
I would like to clarify that celebrity humanitarianism is a term that is coined for celebrities being involved in development work and the two are relatively interchangeable. Through this essay I will cover the history of Angelina Jolie’s involvement in development work, the pros and cons of her development work, and finally, provide my own personal opinion of the topic of her development work. My thesis is that, although there are some positive aspects of Jolie’s work mainly found within her humanitarian ef...
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United Nations Refugee Agency, 2013b. “Good Will Ambassadors.” Retrieved from: http://www.unhcr.org/pages/49db77906.html
Ramsdale, Suzannah, 2013. “Angelina Jolie: How She’s Become An Inspiration To Us All,” Marie Claire UK. Retrieved from:
http://www.marieclaire.co.uk/blogs/543046/angelina-jolie-how-she-s-become-an-inspiration.html
Her memoir starts off in Darfur in 2005, where in her late 20’s, she hits rock bottom while managing a refugee camp for 24,000 civilians. It backtracks to her internship in Rwanda, while moving forward to her challenges in Darfur, in addition to her experiences in post- tsunami Indonesia, and post-quake in Haiti. By sharing her story, Alexander gives readers an opportunity to go behind-the-scenes into the devastations that are censored on media outlets. She stresses that these are often the problems that individuals claim they are educated on, but rarely make it their priority to solve. However, that is not the case for Jessica Alexander as she has over 12 years of experience working with different NGO’s and UN operations. As a result, Alexander earns the credibility to critique the multi-billion-dollar humanitarian aid industry. From her painful yet rewarding work experience, Alexander gives an honest and empathetic view of humanitarian aid as an establishment and a
In some ways, Kellie’s depiction was entirely bias and unfair, as to the choice of footage used; there was no indication of the various charities that aim to alleviate poverty within Australia, including: Salvos, Anglicare and St Vincent de Paul. This is entirely symbolic of how the media falsely depicts those in poverty, with the pure aim of entertaining the audience, showing a complete lack of empathy. Similarly, the concept of disrespect was evident in tourists that we saw at the public restaurants we visited throughout the journey; some were excessively drinking, whilst others were littering or using obscene language at local Khmer people. From a personal perspective, a lack of understanding between any individuals, whether they are disadvantaged or advantaged, contradicts Christian values and ideals, making the producer and the other tourists somewhat disrespectful and uncompassionate towards the Mt Druitt and Cambodian community
Oprah is one of the most well known and revered celebrities worldwide. What make Oprah distinct from mainstream celebrities is the entwining of the person and the product of Oprah. In each chapter, of Oprah: The Gospel of an Icon, Lofton compares materials from Oprah's many productions and religious culture. Lofton specifically focuses on the prosperity gospel as practiced by many churches and preached by Oprah, who gives gifts and fills pages of her magazine with products intended for a better life. Lofton also discusses celebrity culture and contemporary evangelism and how the brand Oprah thrives on the inseparable nature of religion and American capitalism
In the essay “Spare Change”, the author, Teresa Zsuaffa, illustrates how the wealthy don’t treat people facing poverty with kindness and generosity, but in turn pass demeaning glares and degrading gestures, when not busy avoiding eye contact. She does so by writing an emotional experience, using imagery and personification whenever possible to get to the reader’s heart. Quite similarly, Nick Saul writes, in the essay “The Hunger Game”, about how the wealthy and people of social and political power such as “[the community’s] elected representatives” (Saul, 2013, p. 357) leave the problem of hunger on the shoulders of the foodbanks because they believe “feeding the hungry is already checked off [the government’s] collective to-do list” (Saul,
Marshall P. David (1997). Celebrity Power; Fame in Contemporary Culture. May 16, 2010. Electronically retrieved from
The audience knows Angelina Jolie as an excellent actress. She is using her celebrity influence to push for worldwide action toward the Syrian refugee crisis through emotional articles, essays through newspapers, magazines to share her experience with the audience. Angelina Jolie spent time with a Syrian refugee family during a humanitarian trip and said that the conflict in Syria has "created a wave of human suffering." Syrians are suffering from the bombs, chemical weapons, rape and massacres (Jolie, 44). For example, she mentioned a story in her essay “A new level of refugee suffering: Complementary”a family of eight children with no parents, their father had been killed and mother was taken by ISIS (Jolie, 44). Angelina Jolie is very emotional when it comes to the fight against the refugee crisis, in her article “A new level of refugee suffering: Complementary” she recalls the stories which she heard from the Syrian refugees which made her speechless and very emotional toward helping these refugees to raise the issue to the world and helping them to defend the country and resolve the refugee crisis (Jolie, 45). Angelina Jolie evokes – “ How can you speak when a women your own age looks you in the eye and tells you that her whole family was killed in front of her, and that she now lives alone in a tent and has minimal
There are many celebrities who support and promote causes and charities to create awareness about peace, humanitarian causes, poverty, and illness in the world. Does celebrity activism really have the intention to help others or do celebrities get involved in it because they want to enhance their reputation? Although some celebrity activists do not have a good reputation because of their bad behavior, they contribute to society by giving donations or by supporting good causes. Celebrity activism matters because celebrities are powerful tools who raise awareness of good causes. Celebrities have the power to attract people’s attention, for instance, their fans, to influence them to support the important causes.
Lofton, Kathryn, and Brenda R. Weber. "The Legacies of Oprah Winfrey: Celebrity, Activism and Reform in the Twenty-first Century." Celebrity Studies 3.1 (2012): 104-105. Print.
Barnett, Michael, and Thomas G. Weiss. Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2008.
Richardson, Elaina. "Bono: A Global Rock Star and Activist." Oprah.com. Oprah, Feb. 2002. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
Moeller, Susan D. Compassion Fatigue : How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War and Death. 1 ed. New York: Routledge, 1999.
Giving to others through humanitarian projects is not only inclusive of providing monetary solutions for food. Philosophies and intention to reach specific goals are also associated with the needs of others. The Hunger Project is designed with the central goal of eradicating poverty. However, it is found that this is not done only by feeding the poor, but instead through empowerment initiatives that allow others to change their lives. When looking at the approach used to The Hunger Project, it can be seen that the ability to provide empowerment to others will assist in changing lives through donations. The impact which is made by making a donation creates an initiative not only through the power of changing lives of those in need. It also alters the socio political landscape and the global society at large. This impact is one which can redefine the overall functions in the globe, specifically by eradicating poverty.
Malala shared her story at the United Nations to the narrative that directs attention toward equality and rejection of dignity.... ... middle of paper ... ... Retrieved from http://www.alistapart.com/articles/writeliving Watts, P. (2013). Analysis of Malala Yousafzai’s speech to the UN General Assembly. The presenters' blog.
Media crews that infiltrate an impoverished society do not often consider the harm that they may be causing. In many cases, film or similar forms of media, such as photo-journalism, are used to capture the suffering of individuals in poverty. Often times, the suffering is recorded and then ignored. The people involved with the ad or image move on and they produce a product that they believe will increase cash donations. This action begs the question, are the increased donations worth leaving an orphaned child or diseased family to
Fry, Elizabeth. “A Childhood Biography of Oprah Winfrey.” About.com, a part of The New York Times Company, 2010. Web. 3 April 2010.