The Climate Change issue has been discussed extensively throughout the last decade due to the lack of awareness and prevention from the public. Washington D.C has seen some of the most prominent protests, as citizens from the DMV area have taken it upon themselves to make a change and stand for the progress that needs to be made.
With the United States recently pulling out from the ‘Paris agreement’, there has been increased public awareness on the severity of the issue. The aim of the Paris Agreement is ‘to strengthen the global response to the threat of climate change by keeping a global temperature rise this century well below 2 degrees Celsius’, therefore by pulling out of this agreement, many U.S citizens see it as America not supporting the global effort to stop climate change.
There have been several marches with the purpose of spreading awareness about the issue and protesting to have a more global response to climate change from governments internationally. Notable celebrities have begun participating in marches and protests to use their international platform of social media to spread more awareness.
Every Friday since October 2019 actress Jane Fonda has been on Capitol Hill, protesting against climate change along with the likes of: Ted Danson, Gloria Steinem, Joaquin Phoenix, Martin Sheen, Rosanna Arquette, Sally Field and Catherine Keener. Fonda however is the most notable name as she has been arrested on Capitol Hill on several occasions, most notably arrested on her 82nd birthday. Fonda said to ABC news, “All of these young people saying, ‘Come on, adults, where are you? We didn't cause this, but it's our future that's at stake. So, I said, ‘Right, I'm not doing enough. I want to be able to [put] my body on the line and kind of role-model what the next step should look like.” She named these protests ‘Fire Drill Fridays’ and they include speeches from environmental experts and activists and Fonda herself with the final ‘Fire Drill Friday’ the first week of January 2020.
It is admirable that major Hollywood figures such as Fonda are fighting for the future, but I think what is more notable is the conversations it has opened up. As with anything, celebrities have huge influence with public issues and have the power to use their platform to advocate. We see this in statistics, on google trends the terms “climate change protests” in D.C. spiked interest every Friday in October and November due to Fonda’s efforts. Furthermore, tweets with the #FireDrillFridays are rapidly increasing, as the number of participants on ‘Fire Drill Friday’ has increased.
This opened up the conversation further as each celebrity participant brought media attention to the global issue; the protests gained media traction with 1400 articles written about it in a wide range of newspapers from ‘The Guardian’ to ‘Business Insider’. The media would have covered a large protest regardless of notable participants but these ‘big names’ in Hollywood are able to bring new light to it and educate a much larger audience that can only benefit the cause in the long run.
Celebrities advocating for global issues may be seen as a PR stunt however in most cases, PR stunt of not, the presence of the celebrity still brings lots of media attention. An example of a celebrity advocating was in 2018 when Kim Kardashian, major reality TV star, was fighting for the lives of incorrectly incarcerated African Americans. The main case Kardashian was fighting for was Alice Marie-Johnson who was given a life sentence for a first-time drug offense. Kardashian used her platform to talk about the injustice faced by African Americans in the legal system. Also, she used her higher-level connections within the U.S. political system to advocate for the release of Johnson. \
Public figures like Fonda, Phoenix and Kardashian have been able to make strides in the causes they fight for due to their large social media platforms and high-level connections. Whilst some may criticize celebrity involvement, as the media seems to focus on their involvement instead of the actual cause, many praise their involvement because it brings global awareness for specific issues, and in the majority of cases these celebrities are bringing more positive impacts than negative.
- Minna Abdel-Gawad
Editors: Sophie Gill & Kaya Isik
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