The paparazzi photographer has become synonymous with the superficial world of celebrity. They make their living from selling snaps of stars eating, walking and hopefully looking less than polished. And unfortunately, we seem to have a voracious appetite for these images; newspapers regularly feature images of starlets caught in the wind, walking their dogs, or looking chubby at the beach on their front pages alongside actual news stories to ensure that people will pick them up off the newsstand.
Celebrities are often heard to cry about their lack of privacy, with such cries often falling upon unsympathetic ears. We, as the public, sometimes feel that compromising a private life if a reasonable price to pay for the hefty salaries and perks of the lifestyles of the rich and the famous. There are even rumours that celebrities have their public relation teams alert paparazzi to their locations to ensure maximum coverage in the disposable glossies. In some ways it is mutually beneficial for both parties; it’s certainly a complicated relationship.
We’re all familiar with the hugely public meltdowns and attacks on the paparazzi, from Hugh Grant’s Baked Bean Gate to Britney Spears’ umbrella attack, but recently celebrities have been using the constant surveillance of the paparazzi for loftier pursuits. The main image depicts British actor Benedict Cumberbatch on location in Wales last week filming the current series of BBC’s Sherlock. Pursued from his trailer on set by the pesky paps, he hid his face behind a handwritten note (in the image above) proclaiming “Go photograph Egypt and show the world something important”, referring to the current violence and political unrest throughout Egypt sparked by a military backed government coup in early July.
Cumberbatch isn’t the only celebrity getting involved in this new form of activism; couple Emma Stone and Andrew Garfield, of The Amazing Spiderman fame, took the opportunity to mention charity websites that specialise in helping orphans and people living with cancer respectively when recently snapped leaving a restaurant. The stars held up signs with links to www.wwo.org (the Wordl Wide Orphans Foundation) and www.gildasclubnyc.org (a charity creating cancer support communities), saying;
What a classy way to redirect the gaze of the public and utilize the unique platform that celebrities hold to speak about issues and influence people. Hopefully other celebrities will follow suit, and let’s hope that fans will lend their support and engagement to the charities and social issues that really deserve our attention.
This article originally appeared on the Urban Times.
So great to see. Really wish more celebrities would use their platforms to encourage activism in the right places!