Imagine There's No Cringe Celebrity Moralism ... It's Easy If You Try

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Imagine There's No Cringe Celebrity Moralism ... It's Easy If You Try
On the absurdity of empathy instruction   
Samuel Forster
Dec. 16, 2021

There are essentially two types of moral grandstanding performed by celebrities. Both are irritating and unbecoming, but their manifestations are quite distinct.

The first type is run-of-the-mill virtue signaling. This is when celebrities do something ostentatious like posting a picture of a superfruit açaí bowl or promoting a hashtag for some amorphous social movement that aims to appear aesthetically transgressive while also being politically unassailable. The unspoken message is that their sociopolitical priorities, as evinced by their public conduct, stem from an unwavering decency that you ought to find inspiring.

The second type is more blunt, and at a time when social theater exists almost entirely in the virtual realm, a realm where millions of devotees can fit in the palm of a hand, high society notables feel compelled to exercise this option with increasing regularity. Grandstanding of this sort is deliberately direct and didactic. Perhaps the best example in recent times is the ensemble performance of “Imagine” coordinated by Hollywood sweetheart Gal Gadot. In this situation, the celebrity is telling the commoner—explicitly and unabashedly—that the world is in need of a more virtuous public, and that noblesse oblige demands guidance from society’s chosen few. ...

Here, an examination of a recently released Masterclass on empathy led by Pharrell Williams is instructive. Throughout the course, which features wandering monologues from a mélange of other stars, Williams waxes eloquently about the transformative social impact that attends his heightened empathy, suggesting ways that laymen might mold themselves in his image.

    You’ve gotta start thinking about others. That’s when you can start asking questions about other people and what their experiences might be, and how you might be able to help, if they need help.

Those of you who breathe with your mouth closed will find the course unmoving. ...

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