Cause Celebre: Celebrities with a cause

In today’s world, people seem to stop at nothing to get themselves famous – whether it is for five minutes or slightly longer. There is never a shortage of an eager audience either, because today’s society lives vicariously through celebrities. Who will not stop to look at Angeline Jolie, or Johnny Depp and even follow them around, if you could? Pick anyone off the street and they will most likely have a celebrity that they like. For some celebrities, their fame has crossed all borders and this is when you can tell that someone is really very famous.

So, what is the true value of fame? How would one measure its value? Perhaps the most obvious way to assess the value of fame is in seeing how it has influenced or affected something or someone.

Now, if any Tom, Dick or Harry tells you that eating meat is not good for you, chances are you will not even bother to pause and listen. You might think that Tom is a raving lunatic or suspect that Harry is an irritating salesperson trying to sell you something that you don’t ever want.

However, if it was Brad Pitt or Julia Roberts telling you that eating vegetables is better for you, chances are you would stop and really pay attention. Why? Because it is not just anyone, it is Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts! Like it or not, this is reality and this is how people think.

When Alicia Silverstone went nude into a swimming pool to promote vegetarianism recently for Peta’s advertisements, their website in fact crashed a couple of times. There were so many viewers the minute the video went online. The majority of the people just probably wanted to see what the hype was all about. But what’s important to note here is that the millions of viewers got to learn something useful as well. And this is the value that celebrities bring to a cause, because their fame allows them to do so.

Who: Celebrities
What: Worthy Causes
Weapon of Choice: FAME

There are many ways to send a message across, but it has been proven that the fastest and most effective way is using a celebrity. A celebrity, due to the magnitude of their fame, propels the cause to a much wider audience. The more famous that celebrity is, then the larger the audience will be. Their fame can even bring those worthy causes across the globe. What’s more, the message conveyed will be amplified by a hundred or thousand fold. Never underestimate the impact and influence of fame. It can work wonders.

I call “fame” a weapon because, it can be used as a very powerful tool for both good and bad. When used to channel good, it can help humanity in a multitude of ways – that a normal being like you and me can only dream of. And the downside is, when used for self-serving purposes, fame can be very destructive and even cruel. Hence, whether it is used for good or bad, – the results will reveal.

In this post, I would like to highlight a few celebrities who actually use their fame for a good cause. Some of them did not even seem to mind getting into trouble for it. These celebrities are not hired to become an ambassador for the cause, nor did they just turn up for the cause to be included in the photo shoots. No, these celebrities take their causes very seriously. Even when the cameras have stopped rolling and the paparazzi has left, they are still holding up the banners of their causes and fighting. These are celebrities who have their causes engraved into their hearts. They are a breed apart.

First on the list is the effervescent and colourful – Ms. PINK…

Pink

Pink is a long time supporter of PETA (People for Ethical Treatment of Animals) and a strong advocate of animal rights. She has always used her music videos to promote social issues and animal abuse. In one of her latest music videos, “Raise Your Glass” – she draws our attention to the brutality of bullfighting and milking cows by reversing the roles.

For example, in the video, Pink presents a scenario whereby the matador gets plunged with swords instead of the bulls. It is not surprising to find that the video is directed by another supporter of PETA, Dave Meyers, who is also a vegan. Dave is the one who directed the famous Alicia Silverstone’s video.

Or view the video on the server at:
http://video.tsemtulku.com/videos/P!nk-RaiseYourGlass.flv

Chrissie Hynde

Chrissie has been a long time supporter of animal rights. When asked in a BBC Radio 4 show if she had turned towards vegetarianism because she did not agree that an animal should be slaughtered for food, this was her reply -

“Yes, it’s a principle and also you don’t need it, so why would you want to kill something if you don’t have to? It’s a very simple principle.”

Hynde turned vegetarian in 1969, age 18. In 1983, she met Linda McCartney, who encouraged her to be more public about her vegetarianism. They remained close friends until Linda’s death in 1998. It was also Hynde who organised a memorial concert in London to mark Linda McCartney’s passing.

To exemplify how passionate Hynde is about vegetarianism, she even opened her own vegan restaurant in her hometown of Akron, Ohio in 2007. It is called “The VegiTerranean“. The restaurant, which opened in November of 2007, serves fusion Italian-vegetarian food. It has been named as one of the eight best vegetarian restaurants in the USA by PETA. Now, who would have thought that a vegan restaurant would really work in a small Ohio town? I guess, it does help when the owner is someone famous.

However, even Chrissie’s fame did not spare her from being arrested. There was a report of an incident that took place in New York at GAP in the year 2000, where Chrissie and other PETA supporters slashed leather clothing in protest of the company’s importation of leather goods. This time Chrissie was carted off by the police. And this is not the only time that Ms. Hynde had tangled with the law in her bid to save animals.

Sir Paul McCartney

“If slaughterhouses had glass walls, everyone would be a vegetarian.”

Those are Sir Paul’s famous words and he needs no introduction. Paul is a legend and I am not even referring to his time with The Beatles. I am talking about his devoted work against animal cruelty. Apparently, it was a fishing trip that turned Paul into a vegetarian.

“Many years ago, I was fishing, and as I was reeling in the poor fish, I realized, ‘I am killing him — all for the passing pleasure it brings me.And something inside me clicked. I realized as I watched him fight for breath, that his life was as important to him as mine is to me.”

The real change took place when Paul and his late wife, Linda, fixed up their farm in Scotland. They started looking after their own animals and began to understand them. They found that they could not kill and eat the animals that they were caring for. Their passionate advocacy even led Linda to market a range of vegetarian products under her own label. Paul went onto narrate a powerful documentary for PETA entitled, Glass Walls. I had blogged about this film in a previous post. You can read about it here.

“When Linda and I brought our family up not eating meat, the original reason was our deep love of animals. Once we got the idea that many cultures’ cuisines contained meat-free dishes, we began to explore various options and soon found ourselves with a huge repertoire of healthy, and most importantly, great tasting food.”

Paul and Linda’s vegetarian way of life has certainly influenced their daughter, Stella McCartney, who is the most high profile designer for vegan fashion. Vegan fashion is clothing and accessories made from cruelty-free sources, that means, no animal products were used in making the garments and gear, and no animal was harmed. In fact, Stella has made high fashion with compassion into a trend that looks good and saves animals.

“Then what happens is that you really get into it and start becoming activist because you realise that what you’re doing is helping to save these poor animals from getting shunted into a slaughterhouse. And so the spiritual side of your life changes.” Paul McCartney

Benji Madden

Famous for being the back-up vocalist and guitarist of the band that he co-founded with his twin brother, Joel. But what some may not know is that Benji is also a vegetarian and would not hesitate to speak up for animals’ rights. Benji and Joel have both worked with PETA and even donated an exclusive track from their album to PETA.

Benji and his bandmates never pass up the chance to help animals by doing things like taking part in demonstrations against KFC along with their tour routes, and inviting PETA along on the Honda Civic Tour to show videos and pass out stickers to all their loyal fans.

In their efforts to promote vegetarianism, the twin brothers also created special vegan and veggie burritos for a Denny’s All Nighter in Los Angeles. The burritos are available in Denny’s Allnighter Rockstar Menu.

Would you have guessed that underneath all those tattoos and body-piercing lies a man who has a soft spot for animals and can cook as well?

Well, some of you might think that these celebrities are little extreme, but at least, they are real. They are true to themselves and their beliefs. They make no apology for doing what they can in saving other life forms on this planet.

There are many famous vegetarians across the globe. I am just sharing the few who have caught my attention, because they truly “walk the talk”. It is not for show. It is their lifestyle and who they are.

Please watch and take the message to heart.

Tsem Rinpoche

Or view the video on Youtube at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tEGSBBxlmPw