James5

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed or to email alerts. Thanks for visiting!

I haven’t got round to watching Live Earth yet, but I did listen to bits of it on the radio on Saturday. But found some of these quotes from a Washington Post article quite amusing:

“If you want to save the planet, I want you to start jumping up and down!” Thus Madonna revealed her plan to combat global warming.

Matt Bellamy of the band Muse mocked the event as “private jets for climate change.

From what I’ve heard it seems to have been a pretty effective event, the organisers say it’s “raised awareness” and it should encourage people to debate the issues and change behaviour. But it’s still very easy to knock these big rock star events - so I may as well add my bit of venting (all of this is hastily typed on the train home so excuse any inaccuracies) - I’ll just post two points for now.

Firstly, I’m thinking there are two main groups of people who go to or tune into these sorts of events - Live8, MPH, Live Earth - 1) People who like the bands and 2) People who support the campaign. I think the organisers would like the first group to think about changing their behaviour and the second group to be encouraged in their changes. While I’m sure the second group gets a big buzz from the event, I’m not sure the educative function is working quite so well. I know after the big MPH concert I certainly didn’t get the impression from my immediate peers or the larger group I was standing with that the concert resulted in any sort of major change for the audience. Quotes like the next one from the Washington Post show a similar claim could be levelled at Live Earth.

“I’m not even sure who Gore is,” said Georgie Simpson, 35, from Ipswich, in eastern England. “I saw Gore on TV,” added Sue Bourner, 38, a health service manager from Hampshire. “But frankly, I think it’s cheeky of Americans to come over here and lecture us. They are the worst polluters.”

However, the power of celebrities is staggering. Madonna fans now know that she ‘cares’ about climate change and they should too. It’s sad but true that the way people follow their favourite celeb means celeb involvement and subsequent media attention probably will result in some change in some people who hadn’t heard of these things before.

Secondly, (and keeping in mind the point above) the lifestyles of the bands/people involved in these events is so massively out of kilter with the general population - in terms of it’s effect on the environment - that I find it very unconvincing when the Black Eyed Peas and Madonna start advocating a climate change revolution. I know it’s not good to judge and all that, but honestly, the auspicious living of the big rock stars/actors/etc I find in many ways totally antithetical to what the whole movement is about. Though obviously maybe those living on a dollar a day would say similar things about my way of life - not sure what the real answer is, here just going with my gut that doesn’t like the Hollywood lifestyle.

Those two points are my main gripes with these big campaign events. Hopefully I’m not being too much of a downer/hypocrite - I do attend my own fair share of Funk-a-thon’s to fundraise for my favourite causes and still have massive ways to go in doing my bit for the environment. In many ways, however, it feels like Live Earth may do more for the celebrities involved then the celebrities do for the Earth.

UPDATE: For more upbeat coverage check out Grist.

Popularity: 3% [?]