Tone Deaf Hope

According to Merriam Webster, Hope is “to cherish a desire with anticipation: to want something to happen or be true.” Ever since the World Health Organization stated that COVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus, was categorized as a global pandemic, people have begun to feed off of fear. Multiple stores across America are running out of common household items and needs. Multiple memes, public addresses, and celebrity outcries have been surfacing regarding the mass shortages of toilet paper in stores across America. The shortages are due to people stock buying supplies out of fear. Hope is the only rival to fear, and in this time it seems like that is even in shortage. Influencers, actors, and actresses are seeing this shortage from their ivory towers. They see the masses of people that are stuck in fear and pain, and they feel they can not just sit idly by. Gal Gadot saw all of this and decided to do something about it. On day six of her quarantine, she said she felt "a bit philosophical", according to “Gal Gadot shares a montage of 25 celebrities singing "Imagine" by John Lennon from isolation.” So, she brought together multiple actors and actresses to sing with her the song “Imagine” by John Lennon. On Wednesday, March 18th, Gal Gadot posted to her Instagram the video of her singing along with multiple other influencers. The video went viral, but sadly it was for all of the wrong reasons.

Gal Gadot and the other influencers are in hot water due to this single video. The video meant to spark hope and comradery has just made people upset. The Atlantic commented on the video in their article, “Celebrities Have Never Been Less Entertaining: Top singers and actors are live-streaming from quarantine, appearing equally bored and technologically inept” saying, “The celebrities definitely, definitely are not in charge right now.” For years, celebrities and influencers have used their platform to speak their truth. The Grammys, Oscars, and Emmys have been a popular place over the years for celebrities to say what they think needs to be said. With all of the social distancing that is being encouraged/enforced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more commonly known as the CDC, celebrities are having to get creative with their methods to share their truth. Gal Gadot posted the video as an IGTV video that would live on her social media page. Why did her video go so poorly? Why did it not hit off like so many other videos meant to inspire hope? The answer may be as simple as money. The celebrities that came together to make the video all are financially well off. They are not worried about the shortage to the extent that someone in a lower income is. One person commented under the video saying “We are not in this together. You’re incredibly rich and have access to the best medical care. This is some Marie Antoinette level of tone-deafness.” This one comment received 569 likes on its own. Another commenter stated, “Millionaires singing about having no possessions. Okay? Completely out of touch rich [people].” Money. According to the Bible, it is “the root of all evil”, but according to the masses, it is the difference between understanding and being completely “tone deaf” to people’s needs. This Coronavirus has created a pandemic of fear, but not one of subtly.

It is not just random comments that are being said about the celebrities’ video either. Other celebrities are speaking out against it. In the article, “Larry the Cable Guy blasts 'clueless' celebs for singing 'Imagine' as LA's homeless suffer amid coronavirus”, Larry the Cable Guy is shown making degrading comments about the celebrities' video. In a tweet, Larry the Cable Guy said, “Here’s a message from people with a lot of possessions that can take a year off of work and not flinch telling everyone outa work to imagine a world with no possessions while people are living in the street a half-mile away from ‘em.” He did not hold anything back and does not regret the words he said. Multiple of his fans responded back and forth with him regarding the issue to which he replied, “I appreciate all the awesome tweets today. Sorry I couldn’t respond to all. I have no animosity toward these folks. The song was in bad taste. [Karl] Marx would be proud of that song. And I’m not imagining no heaven. Jesus gives hope. Government can’t give people a heart change or hope.” Larry the Cable Guy wanted to make a point that the people who were singing this song could do much more than just sing a song. They could give, make donations, and insinuate real change for real people, not just post on social media about hope. The New York Times published the article “This “Imagine” cover is no Heaven” which went as far to say, “Every crisis gets the multi-celebrity car-crash pop anthem it deserves, but truly no crisis — certainly not one as vast and unsettling as the current one — deserves this.” It seems like not a single soul is appreciating what these celebrities have pieced together.

This is not the first time celebrities have used a disaster to try and create a piece of art. Songs like “We are the world” and “Do they know it's Christmas” were written with the intention to bring to light an underlying disaster that is not being addressed by the masses. The difference between those two songs and this botched cover is success versus failure. So, why did this cover of “Imagine” fail? The New York Times continued in there roast over the cover stating, “the chaotic evil of social media means borders are permeable now, and the bar for participation is distressingly low.” The stars in the video seemed to be chosen, because of their following not because of their talent. This gave the video a mix of stars who could sing and others who definitely could not. The stars in this video thought this would bring hope to their followers, but all it brought was controversy. Their followers were frustrated and offended by the star’s weak performance to show their care. This can be seen as a warning to all celebrities. No matter how famous or how influential a person is the media is a flippant thing. It is not enough to throw together a cover of an emotional song during a global pandemic to create a sense of hope. It takes action. Nobody wants to hear a cover of a song when they are being told that people are dying by the hour. To create hope, celebrities have the unique opportunity to be able to give more than the average person.

Imagine a world without this cover. Take into consideration the idea that instead these celebrities came together to give funds and resources to people in need. Sadly this was not the case. These celebrities came together and sang a song in the name of hope. Let this be a lesson for those who are in a place of influence. There is so much a person of influence can do in regards to aiding in a global pandemic. This cover may have bombed, but hopefully, the next movement of hope created by influencers will be more action-based rather than lyrically-based.