Tonedef wrote:
X-rated Bob wrote:
Bono has gone soapboxing because he can, because he's famous enough to do that.
Yes, but that's like Miss Aguilera raping the US anthem, because she can and because she's famous enough to do it.
Quod erat demonstrandum? ?
It's got an touch of vulgarity to it.
Let me restate my point.
X-Rated Bob goes campaigning for reduction of third world debt. Who cares?
Bono goes campaigning for reduction of third world debt. It makes the newspapers, it makes prime time TV news... his fame makes the difference. His fame gives him access to politicians, to leaders of industry. They can ignore me - if they notice me in the first place. They can't ignore him.
I'm not saying that the man in the street can't do anything and doesn't care. It's just that Bono, because he is famous, because he has a much taller soap box to stand on, can make his voice heard in ways that most of us can't.
Bono's not alone in using his celebrity to publicise various causes. Harry Belafonte definitely used his high profile to promote causes that he believed in. Neil Young and Willy Nelson got involved in Farm Aid. Doris Day was a high-profile campaingner for better care for dogs. Sting has used his fame to publicise various political and environmental causes. Springsteen has supported Amnesty International and also raises money for food distribution programs in his home state of New Jersey.
You can say it's vulgar, that people should just donate quietely and unobtrusively. These people may differ, and may be prepared to suffer the slings and arrows that come their way.
These things don't always make the headlines. There are other ways to make a difference and I don't knock those. There are stories of alcoholics in London who have decided to confront their problems but feel they need some councelling to help them and so they go down to some councelling centere and half way through the session they realise that the councellor who introduced himself as "Eric" and is listening to their tales of woe is one of the more famous rock stars on the planet.
I wish they'd put the same sort of effort and sincerity into their music. Then all would be forgiven.
My policy is to try to keep the artist and the art separate. Awful people can make great music and vice versa. Do we stop listening to Wagner because of his anti-semitism?
