Activism Awareness Essay

Do you think celebrity activism is a positive or negative thing? That’s the question. To me, I think celebrity activism has a very positive effect on society and should become more popular. More celebrities should become activists because activists have a long successful history, celebrity activism helps draw attention to all different kinds of issues & activism gives celebrities an opportunity to use their wealth for the good of something greater than themselves. Celebrity activism really helps out the less fortunate and gives back to the community. Since a lot of celebrities got their fame from the fans & paparazzi, they should be thanking them anyways. As you can see, celebrity activism should be applauded as it stimulates awareness and attracts attention to all different kinds of purposes. First off, celebrity activists have been successful for a while. According to the authors of the article, celebrities have a â€Å"long history of using their fame to support their favorite causes and charities,† which shows that is has been successful. (Chittom) This is an important statement because it shows that celebrities that actually devote time to helping out causes and events result in a strong and positive way. Since celebrity activism has been around for a while, that must mean something. Activism wouldn’t be around for this long if it was pointless and is ineffective on society. For example, the article states that in the 1980s the overnight success of Band Aid and USA for Africa raised significant funds for famine relief in Africa. If that much progress was made in the 1980s, imagine how big of an effect celebrity activism has on the world today. Secondly, celebrity activism helps raise awareness for many different causes. This being said, celebrity activism helps draw attention to â€Å"environmental, medical, political, and social issues.†(Chittom) One well known activist who raised awareness for all kinds of categories is an Irish singer, Bono. He was part of a music group called Band Aid. The group had a top selling single and all profits went to famine relief in Ethiopia. In two decades, Bono has become the busiest and most involved celebrity activists. Bono has been involved in raising awareness for multiple of the categories I listed above, along with a whole bunch of other activists. So if people think celebrity activism only helps out only one cause, they’re wrong. As you can see, celebrity activism helps out a big variety of problems and issues. Lastly, celebrity activism gives celebrities a chance to use their fame for something else besides benefiting themselves. Activism is â€Å"an opportunity for celebrities to use their wealth and notoriety for something greater them themselves.† (Chittom) This means that way too many celebrities care about themselves. They don’t give any consideration for the people who are less fortunate than they are. Maybe they don’t have the time, but they might just be ignorant instead. Activism allows celebrities to get involved and work for something to help make a difference for others. So, the bottom line is if celebrities chose activism, it would let them help out other people instead of just caring about themselves. Now, celebrities lack at being spokespeople for events because their busy careers and lifestyles doesn’t allow them to fully commit or it results in celebrities showing â€Å"negative publicity.† (Belanger) This being said does weaken my argument and point of view because it is all true. A lot of celebrities don’t have spare time whatsoever. Some celebrities have every day of their life planned for the next year ahead or maybe even more than that. But being said from the two authors who said this, they also stated that there is a positive side to activism, since they have such a â€Å"high profile status,† (Belanger) they can bring attention to many kinds of causes. So even though celebrities might not be fully committed, even a little bit of dedication can help make a change. To sum everything up, celebrity activism is a very good thing and increase and become more common. Celebrities should consider participating in activism because it really does help in giving back to society. Since celebrities are so popular, it can help draw attention to events that originally not get a lot of attention. Now that you’ve hear my argument, do you think celebrity activism is a positive or negative thing?