By now practically everybody’s heard how Ricky Gervais roasted celebrities at the 2020 Golden Globe awards. To say he called them out as hypocrites would be putting it mildly.
Among his illustrious critical remarks were some about climate-change hypocrisy that celebrities display every year.
What’s so special about that? Well, right-wing media and climate realists often point out the vast gap between what celebrities preach and what they do. But no one hosting an Oscar or Golden Globes event has ever called out celebrities for their climate hypocrisy — certainly not in front of them.
But Gervais threw hard punches.
“But you all look lovely all dolled up. You came here in your limos,” he began, alluding to the fact that the celebrities travel in high-emission vehicles despite asking the world to abandon even ordinary cars.
As Gervais made so explicit, most actors know next to nothing about climate change.
Gervais finished off swinging hard: “So if you do win an award tonight, don’t use it as a platform to make a political speech. You’re in no position to lecture the public about anything. You know nothing about the real world. Most of you spent less time in school than Greta Thunberg. So if you win, come up, accept your little award, thank your agent, and your God.”
He hit the nail right on the head.
What Do Celebrities Really Know?
Today, too many people treat celebrities like demigods, as if they were some sort of wisdom vending machine.
Some — like Leonardo Di Caprio, who starred in National Geographic’s movie Before the Flood, an effort to whip up climate alarm, but who have a hard time showing they’ve actually done anything to curb global warming — use their fame to propel climate alarmism, a common view among liberal politicians, mainstream media, and celebrities that the world will end soon because manmade global warming.
But what do the celebrities really know? Anything? Okay, anything other than how to memorize lines and act like people they aren’t?
Don’t get me wrong. Some actors are also real scholars. But of 29 examples listed here — in neuroscience, medicine, law, astrophysics, zoology, history, mathematics, engineering, biology, among others — most aren’t household names. And those who are? They’re more likely to have degrees in acting, education, or fine arts than the more exacting fields.
As Gervais made so explicit, most actors know next to nothing about climate change. Some probably left school or college for an acting career (nothing wrong with that!), just as Greta Thunberg left schooling for activism. A nice way for the privileged few to get rich or famous (Kids, don’t try this — your odds stink!), but not exactly the high road to scientific, economic, or even political wisdom.
Not that a layman can’t understand the broad aspects of climate change. But without serious study, people aren’t likely to have expertise on science or public policy, particularly if they haven’t gone beyond college.
“Sacrifices in Our Own Lives”
Even worse than their self-assured but largely ignorant pronouncements is their hypocrisy. They fly on private jets, generating super-high greenhouse gas emissions per person per mile — and then they scold us all for buying tickets on commercial airliners, with much lower emissions. They ride around in stretch limos getting 10 miles per gallon — and then admonish us for driving SUVs that get 20 or sedans that get 30.
Joaquin Phoenix, who won the best actor award, made the point: “It’s great to vote, but sometimes we have to take that responsibility on ourselves and make changes and sacrifices in our own lives. I hope that we can do that. We don’t have to take private jets to Palm Springs sometimes, or back, please.”
Don’t get your hopes up, though. The stars sat there, dressed to the gills, flaunting all their wealth and fame, but uncomfortable, silent, awkward — like the kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, or, maybe better, the bank robber caught in the vault.
They didn’t appreciate being called hypocrites. But it’s just as well they didn’t applaud. That would only have added to their hypocrisy.
Will more Ricky Gervaises speak up in every circle of society? Will more actors join Gervais in ridiculing and condemning climate hypocrisy? More should. Like every other hypocrisy, climate hypocrisy is morally repugnant, regardless whether the cause is right or wrong. We need a few more Ricky Gervaises to put the brakes on a doomsday cult spiraling out of control.
Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash.
louis wachsmuth says
U.S. had 14 weather disasters costing $1 billion or more in 2019 Flooding rivers, wildfires, hurricanes, severe storms and tornadoes contributed to the costly weather disasters. Bloomberg | Jan 10, 2020 By Brian K. Sullivan The U.S. had 14 weather disasters costing $1 billion or more last year, with Midwest flooding accounting for almost half of the total, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Flooding from the Missouri, Mississippi and Arkansas rivers caused $20 billion in damage out of the total $45 billion, NOAA said Wednesday in a statement. Though the number of billion-dollar catastrophes in 2019 was close to the average for the past five years, it was more than double the inflation-adjusted historical norm since 1980. The Mississippi, Arkansas and Missouri Rivers all spilled their banks in late winter and spring, inundating farms and cities, delaying planting across the agricultural heart of the U.S. and choking off freight shipments. The deluge contributed to an ongoing trend since 2010 of more costly floods across the U.S. Adding to the roll of disasters were Hurricane Dorian and Tropical Storm Imelda, wildfires in Alaska and California, and severe storms bringing hail and tornadoes across the Great Plains and Midwest. There were 119 billion-dollar weather disasters in the last decade, reaching a cost of $800 billion. That’s about double the number that occurred from 2000 to 2009. Last year was the second-wettest on record for the contiguous U.S. with 34.78 inches (88.34 centimeters) of precipitation, almost matching 1973’s all-time high. North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan each recorded the most precipitation ever. The 48 states had an average temperature of 52.7 degrees Fahrenheit (11.5 Celsius), which was the coolest since 2014 but still warmer than normal. Georgia and North Carolina had their hottest years on record. To contact the reporter on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net
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Vijay says
Something on Ricky or Golden Globe, Louis?
louis wachsmuth says
I personally do not like the Hollywood culture. I do not watch any of the popular movies. Hollywood stars are meaningless to me. I like real-life documentaries that carry me to far corners of the world and teach me something about the human experience, which of course includes the many ways six billion humans are trashing the environment. No, not much can be done, I am not giving up my automobile, so I am as guilty as the Hollywood star in a private jet. By the way, in case you missed it, great essay in the “fake news” New York Times. Yes, I know all republicans and President Trump believes the “climate change” stuff is a liberal lie designed to steal our freedoms to create a one-world socialist government, but the storms and awful climate news keeps coming.
“2019 Was the Second-Hottest Year Ever, Closing Out the Warmest Decade By Henry Fountain and Nadja Popovich Jan. 15, 2020 New York Times The past decade was the hottest on record, government researchers announced on Wednesday, the latest sign of global warming’s grip on the planet. And 2019 was the second-warmest year ever, they said, just shy of the record set in 2016. Analyses by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed that global average surface temperatures last year were nearly 1 degree Celsius (1.8 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than the average from the middle of last century, caused in large part by emissions of carbon dioxide and other heat-trapping gases from the burning of fossil fuels. “These trends are the footprints of human activity stomping on the atmosphere,” said Gavin A. Schmidt, director of the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, which conducted the NASA analysis. “We know that this has been driven by human activities….”