We’re all dealing with the fallout of coronavirus season as best as we possibly can, though some of us are certainly suffering more than others. On Thursday, U.S. jobless claims rose to a staggering 281,000, and that’s probably only a taste of what’s to come as the markets reel from the longterm effects of a global pandemic and the self-isolation guidelines.
Yes, hard times may be ahead for America and the world at large, and the only thing that could make them harder is a bunch of well-intentioned but nevertheless ill-advised celebrities getting together to sing John Lennon’s “Imagine”.
https://twitter.com/sidetolaufer/status/1240429770137100291
OK, look. There’s no need to be too snarky here. Obviously, this is an unprecedented situation and every day is a new experiment in what it means to be a good person in this difficult time. In that sense, Gal Gadot is in the same boat as every last one of us, no doubt.
But in another sense, people like Gadot, Sia, Amy Adams and Jamie Dornan are in a very different boat. They all have millions of dollars to tide them over until self-quarantine season is up, at which point most of the same jobs and professional opportunities will be right where they left them. They’re fortunate, but that’s a privilege very few people around the world will have and no level of “imagining” will change that. Maybe that’s why this feels like the “thoughts and prayers” of celebrity action — a nice sentiment that ultimately rings hollow.
It’s not really helped by the fact that “Imagine” is about as “thoughts-and-prayers-y” as songs get, musing wistfully about a fairy tale utopia that has about as much resemblance to the wartime reality it was written for as it does to our current pandemic.
Plenty of celebrities have found ways to use their influence and resources for substantive good. Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively donated a million dollars to food banks. Musicians like John Legend and Jon Foreman are dropping live concerts on Facebook Watch to provide your feed with a little bit of respite from COVID-19 news. There are plenty of ways for every single one of us to help each other out in this time. If you’re considering texting all your extremely well-to-do friends to put together a karaoke video for release, maybe consider a collective donation as well.
