It all began with the John Lennon song, “Imagine”, sung by celebrities on their social media accounts. This whole singalong, spearheaded by Gal Gadot, who has starred in a myriad of successful movies ranging from “Wonder Woman” to “Fast and Furious”, was meant to allow these celebrities to lift the spirits of millions across America. Instead, it turned sour fast.
“It felt like they were teasing us from their very luxurious homes”, said Emily Chinn, a senior at San Mateo. She further notes that, because lives are on the line due to coronavirus, the song is not as useful as monetary donations. And so, the general public opinion of this could be summed up to the phrase, “Thanks…I guess”.
In the midst of a pandemic, as people are losing their jobs and risking their lives, a song sung by people who live isolated in mansions is not the most inspiring. That is because the impact of COVID is disproportionate. Those who have money can hide away in their houses, get easy access to COVID testing, and don’t have to risk their lives in order to feed their family. And this fiasco just showed how out of touch these celebrities are. But the question lies in their essence: do they still have influence over their general audience?
To answer this question, we first have to distinguish between celebrity and influencer, because in these past years, the lines have been blurred. A celebrity, in the traditional sense, is someone who has gained fame through their talent, whether it be music, movies, shows, or, in the traditional sense, writing. An influencer, on the other hand, is someone who creates their content, or their work, for a specific audience. Within that audience, they have considerable influence. For example, the Kardashian/Jenner family, they are indisputably influencers, and yet they are considered celebrities as well despite the lack of a specific talent.
Once we have identified and grouped the famous people, then we analyze the shift or lack of shift towards their behavior during the pandemic. Traditional celebrities, like Gal Gadot, especially the more famous ones, are generally taking social distancing and mask-wearing very seriously. But their lack of awareness is seen in their attempts to relate and influence the general public. Ellen Degeneres, a famous talk show host, jokingly compared her home to where she was isolating to “being in jail” during one of her live broadcasts.
Viewers like Emily “don’t know why the celebrity thought [the comparison] would be funny”, and felt the comment to be insensitive, considering many people actually in prison are testing positively to the coronavirus while Ellen resides in her multi-million dollar home safely with her wife. Another instance of the shift towards the behavior is that people are now noticing how accessible COVID tests are to celebrities, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. Many authorities were limiting the number of tests, only testing those who showed symptoms, contrasting sharply with the numerous celebrities showing their testing process or that they had tests done despite very few of them showing any symptoms. So while there are people who are working in-person wanting to get tested but can’t, celebrities are basically flaunting the fact that money is buying health. These tone-deaf actions and comments have caused a wave of backlash, and there’s even a New York Times article with the title “Celebrity Culture is Burning”. Even with these instances, at least these celebrities are taking coronavirus seriously, albeit their actions may be performative.
Mr. Ortega, a Sociology teacher at San Mateo High, said that “sadly, much public good is done by philanthropic capitalists, who give many tangible things and soft things, but who expect something in return”. This can be in the form of political connections, “clout”, or money. But since our country lacks nationwide health coverage and consistent economic stimulus, it is often up to celebrities to help out. In terms of COVID, Mr. Ortega hopes that they will bring “positive attention to COVID”. How influential these celebrities still are seems hard to tell, especially since these types of traditional celebrities are giving way to the new kids on the block–influencers.
WIth their social media blowing up with photos from parties and hanging out with different friends, influencers have been showing “a complete disregard for the pandemic as a whole” commented Chinn. This younger generation of social media personalities mean that their audience are also younger, which means their actions toward their pandemic influences teenagers and kids. With 200,000 lives lost, millions infected and million more unemployed, this reckless behavior is unsettling. On TikTok, a popular platform and a cause of concern for national security, and on Instagram, a group of influencers with the likes from Charlie D’Amelio, the most followed person on TikTok, to Nikita Dragun, a Youtuber with a focus on makeup who has had her fair share of controversy, have been hosting parties where people were seen without masks. They then proceed to post the photos on social media with few real repercussions, except comments that occasionally elicit a subpar and obviously insincere apology before they attend another party a few days later. Despite all this, their popularity is still gaining traction, merchandise continues to sell out, and paid sponsors are pulling through. Seemingly, they still have influence over their audience, but the trend may be slowing down, because now the question has become: will these influencers, as Chinn describes, continue to be “put on a pedestal?”