Major Effects and Challenges of Celebrity Humanitarianism

CELEBRITY HUMANITARIANISM
Name
Professor’s Name
Course
Institution
Due Date
Celebrity Humanitarianism
Introduction
Today, stories about the suffering of different groups in the world make their way to news channels fast. For example, in the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, numerous videos have gone viral as the whole world continues to feed on the actions of Russian soldiers in Ukraine as well as the determined effort being staged by the Ukrainian forces. Videos of people scampering or scuttling for the borders and others who currently live in basements and underground parking lots are pervading the media houses. Also, social media platforms appear to showcase other short clips of the events happening in Ukraine. Cries for advocacy have also increased in intensity as the whole world is looking to the Western countries to intervene and help Ukraine. Aside from the events in Ukraine, the world has also witnessed some of the most gruesome natural disasters, including hunger, earthquakes, and disease infestation. Some of these occurrences have attracted the world’s attention as well to the point of moving global celebrities to offer to be a part of campaigns to help victims. The involvement of celebrities is believed to be done in good faith as many wish to raise awareness of some of the disparaging and horrific scenes of natural disasters. However, celebrity humanitarianism has been called to question because of its implicitness in addressing the root cause of some of the issues it seeks to address. Therefore, it is against the backdrop of such suspicion that this paper posits and seeks to showcase that celebrity humanitarianism is another type of capitalist power and not an alternate form of political agency.
Celebrity Humanitarianism
Celebrity humanitarianism mainly entails the aspect of using celebrities as the faces and ambassadors of humanitarian events. As Daley (2013) indicates, celebrities are not limited to the individuals in the entertainment sector but include every person who has managed to climb up the success ladder and thus has a ‘high public profile.’ Such individuals, including the ones in the entertainment industry, have dominated the humanitarian space, with notable names like Bill Gates, Madonna, Angelina Jolie, and Bono being heavily involved. A majority of the actions of such celebrities are directed to Africa, and as Daley (2013) indicates, the continent has been a focus for such activities mainly because of the narrative regarding its inferiority to the world’s developed nations. During the COVID-19 pandemic, a majority of African countries received aid from Western countries as their economies were badly affected. Food donations, vaccines, hospital equipment, among other products, were shipped to Africa to help cushion the effects of the pandemic. However, regardless of the aid and participation of celebrities, it is crucial to ask how much help and change the involvement of celebrities brings. The answer is not positive, as most celebrities simply end up gaining more than the people they help, which furthers their individual agendas at the expense of the needy.
One of the major effects of celebrity humanitarianism is that it transforms humanitarian...