The Rush to Pick a Side

In light of the most recent global conflict, the Israel v. Hamas War, people around the world, from regular citizens to celebrities, have taken to the internet to express their points on the conflict at hand. Celebrities have come in with a variety of stances, with celebrities like Gigi Hadid, whose father is half-Palestinian,  supporting the Palestinian cause, others like Natalie Portman, who is Jewish and born in Israel, speaking in sympathy for Israel, and also others remaining neutral and just offering their support for the suffering people. Although celebrities’ intentions may be to bring focus to a major issue, their comments and the results only help reinforce the idea that celebrities should not involve themselves in issues, especially in world conflicts that do not concern them. 

Oftentimes, celebrities’ various announcements of support are ridden with misinformation. For example, Jamie Lee Curtis and Justin Bieber, both who have posted an image of the atrocities at Gaza but labeled it as Israel, which was later deleted when followers pointed out their mistakes.  However, the damage is still done, both in misleading their audience and also a hit, albeit typically shallow and quickly forgotten, to their reputation.

One may argue that because celebrities have big platforms, they should utilize the audience they have to publicize an issue at hand. While celebrities do help bring attention to conflicts, they typically generate a surface-level of engagement where fans are interested in an issue not because of the actual ongoing conflict, but rather because their favorite celebrity has a stance on the issue, so they want to follow along. Although this is a valid way of concern, it is inherently shallow because it is only based on the information the celebrity preaches. This, coupled with the fact that celebrities are likely to spread misinformation, can result in their endorsement causing more chaos and confusion than good.

Furthermore, as celebrities become more popular, their voice typically gets more restricted in the process. As celebrities get big, they naturally end up taking sponsorships, being brand ambassadors, and similar positions which require their actions to match along with the brand they are representing. No longer are they just representing their own opinion, but also keeping up a brand image, representing what the brand would like. To a certain extent, whatever the celebrity says or does is somewhat controlled by whichever brand they are representing, and their words also do end up reflecting the brand. Thus, celebrities may present warped opinions, filled with vague hints and misleading points as to cater to the wishes of their sponsors. 

Ultimately, the root of the issue of celebrities picking and publicizing a side is more of an issue with society rather than the celebrities themselves. Social media perpetuates the idea that you must pick a side without nuance. Looking across instagram, you can often find many comments below the posts of any celebrity who has not yet spoken up about the conflict at hand criticizing the celebrity for not speaking out. A similar scenario is seen across every global issue that emerges, such as the Turkey-Syria earthquake or the women’s rights protest in Iran. In less complex issues like the ones mentioned above, publicizing the issue to increase awareness and donations towards the cause does help, although still then it should not be required of people to publicize a cause they have little knowledge or experience with. But when it comes to a heavily complex issue rooted in cultural and political history, having celebrities be pressured into stating their own stances only brings harm. Most celebrities fail to understand the full complexity of the issue, In the case of the Israel v. Hamas War, many celebrities from both sides fail to acknowledge the 50+ years of history behind the issue. Overall, especially in this scenario, pressuring celebrities to speak up about an issue does nothing to actually solve an issue. If someone really cares about a cause, they would actually involve themselves into the issue rather than drag celebrities on the internet for not talking about the issue. 

Just because someone is famous does not make them an ideal role model. Understand that celebrities are popular for their looks, acting, or singing, and not exactly their understanding of world issues. Rather than rely on the words of a celebrity to bring light to an issue, individuals should be in charge of keeping themselves and those around them informed through valid news sources and trustworthy points of information.