Should Celebrities be Responsible?
In
the wake of recent events where Indian celebrities were in news for the wrong
reasons; I am writing my thoughts down. Should the celebrities be held
responsible for their behavior, actions, and endorsements? Should they be subject
to higher standards of moral behavior? They possess the power to influence
people from different walks of life: young and old, educated and uneducated,
literate and illiterate, rural and urban, lawyer and sweeper, madam and maid alike.
Does this power as a corollary requires them to follow utmost standards of
conduct and character?
Maggie Noodles
The
first refers to the Maggie noodles being banned by the Indian government for
higher than permissible levels of Lead and MSG (Monosodium Glutamate). The
concerned celebrity here was much respected (for her poise, elegance,
unblemished conduct as a star) madhuri dixit. In the advertisements for the
brand she has portrayed Maggie’s oats noodles as a healthy breakfast
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLrIkW1SYtw). Obviously, on the controversy
becoming a nationwide concern with the social media outburst from one and all
and an amazing speed at which the consumers responded by shunning the product
even before it was formally banned by the government, it spilled dirt on
Madhuri Dixit’s spotless image. She was issued a notice by the government
authority (Food and Drug Administration in Uttarakhand) to explain her claim in
the ad. Advertisements, by other companies, featuring her were withdrawn quietly.
Should she have been sent the notice? Should she be responsible for a product
in whose manufacturing she had no role to play? Probably yes, a product that
you are blatantly endorsing without verifying its credentials, knowing very
well that many mothers would take your word to be true and feed their
unsuspecting children a product which otherwise in their wildest of dreams they
would not (Obviously, this quick adoption of Maggie was also due to its ease of
preparation), makes you responsible; celebrity or not. As in with rights come duties, so does
responsibility come with power to influence.
Car Accident
Recently, hema malini, a renowned Bollywood actress of the 70’sand 80’s and a sitting MP
was in a car accident. Her Mercedes collided with an Alto. The accident left
the actress injured and with a broken nose. While the family in the Alto lost a
2 year girl and 5 others were hospitalized for fatal injuries.The times of India quotes
the police as saying, "The
impact of the over-speeding was such that after colliding with the Alto on the
Jaipur-Agra national highway near Dausa, the Mercedes turned in the opposite
direction, skidded for almost 50 metres and jumped over the road divider before
coming to a halt, police said. Only a small portion of the Alto came in
contact with the Mercedes, but the impact was enough to kill the girl and badly
injure other passengers of the Alto." It appears, on analyzing the media reports
that the Mercedes was speeding which hit the Alto and this catapulted into
chain of events resulting in the death of the child. It was also reported that
the MP was immediately whisked away for medical attention while the other car
passengers had to wait for medical recourse. After 5 days, Hema Malini tweeted "My heart goes out to the child who
unnecessarily lost her life and the family members who have been injured in the
accident. How I wish the girl's father
had followed traffic rules, then this accident could have been averted and the
little one's life saved", which came under flak. She put the blame on the
girl’s father for not following traffic rules. While he has categorically
claimed and the police also have not refuted that he had followed all rules and
it was the Mercedes which was over speeding. He has further questioned whether
a person who is influential can make any claim and get away with it. What is
important is the discussion about attitude, behavior, believing and being
responsible with the realization that they possess a power to influence
societal behavior.
A point in case is also an advertisement
featuring Alia Bhatt, a present day commercially successful actress, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4pjdO9-HNU) asking for a gentle shopkeeper’s help in
watching out for her car, in her absence. When the shopkeeper stops a person
from driving away with the vehicle, she appears and ridicules him that I asked
you to watch only. Imagine with this backdrop and in today’s environment when
people hesitate to help a damsel in distress for various reasons (including
chances of her duping/robbing them) this advertisement will further dissuade people
from helping genuine women for fear of ridicule or being made fun of for being
simple and gullible.
Every profession has
its ethics and etiquette and so should celebrities set such standards for
themselves. A wanton greed for amassing wealth at whatever cost has never been
and will never be a recipe for long term success, regard and respect besides
love and affection of the public. Celebrities cannot absolve themselves by
claiming that they are also human. In fact, they are alien to much of the daily
drudgery of the common man. No doubt,
the celebrity status brings its own stress and tension. However, the least they
can do is to uphold moral conduct and be responsible for their actions as they
are not just their own, their actions influence many and define the fabric of
the society even if in a minute way.
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No doubt celebrities r living gods for many and as such a word spoken by them is bible for many n no doubt most of us follow their footsteps without thinking that they r only acting in endorsements as they r being heftly paid for that... So any person whether celebrity or not should be held accountable of whatever they speak or enact on public media to influence people's thoughts n sales of advertised products.
ReplyDeleteWell said.
DeleteVery true this blog shows unrevealed face of celebrities they must not be doing that kind of commercials and blogs because people use to follow them all because of their positive image in the society.
ReplyDeleteThey do not have fear of any one because they have power, money, ego because of public popularity and support.
ReplyDeleteThis is what it appears to be
DeleteI agree that the celebrities in general need to be cognizant of the impact before speaking up in public,the incident involving Hema Malini in a road accident and her comments thereafter are in poor taste and were uncalled for- feel sorry for the family that had to bear the loss of their daughter.
ReplyDeleteIf I understand it correctly, the comparisons made in the article are about two ‘acts’ in advertisements by acted by different celebrities and one real-life response by a celebrity.
I have somewhat different views on the roles of these actors in commercials. First the 'maggi' and 'perk' advertisements are using celebrities as just another instrument of mass appeal .. had it been some lesser know or relatively unknown face ,not Madhuri Dixit for Maggi would the govt authorities have sent notices ? Second are the celebrities who merely 'act' in the advertisements truly 'endorsing' the product they advertise ? Would anyone acting in such ads be qualified enough to verify that the product is fault free and safe for intended use - probably a difficult ask - so why can't we take the ads as an acting gig and leave it at that - else we may see mounting liabilities and big disclaimers before the ads that could take the fun out of ads
These are the kind of thoughts I intend to provoke. Agreed that people should recognize that Celebrities are only acting in advertisements. However, there is a huge mass of populace who fail to acknowledge this because of their love and adulation. This is definitely a good suggestion that a strip on the side mentions that these are not the views of the celebrity. It will definitely have some impact.
Deletei agree that the celebrities are prayed as gods in India. people look at them and admire then they should not do such adds that are not meaningful to them and the celebrities are with the power, money and full public support so they cannot be touched . They act in the endorsements to show off themselves but not for the people concern
ReplyDelete