Reading Angelina’s Diary: Celebrity Advocacy and the Media in International Development

Image via Institute for Policy Studies

In the 1930s, Charles Lindbergh gained notoriety for flying solo over the Atlantic Ocean, and then subsequently used his fame to lead the isolationist movement in the United States. Though not an Oscar winner, his activism continues to serve as a prime example of how celebrity involvement in politics and social movements has been a prominent part of American culture for nearly a century. Celebrity activism is not new a phenomenon, however, over the last few decades celebrities have gained a certain level of legitimacy as champions of development and humanitarian issues, most notably through the operation of the media.

In recent years, celebrity involvement in the development sector has become more active as Hollywood’s tenants are seen partnering with NGOs, the United Nations, university economists, and charities to bring awareness of the challenges facing the world’s poor to Western audiences. Celebrities like U2’s Bono, actress Angelina Jolie, and Microsoft’s Bill Gates have taken on the task of being ambassadors of the ‘Third World’, and in doing so have attempted to tell the stories of the ‘Global South’ for audiences of the ‘Global North’. The presence of celebrities in communicating development issues is expanding as internet connections, media industries and mobile phones increasingly reach ‘Southern’ nations, thus it is crucial to understand the implications of celebrity advocacy in the international development sector, as celebrities are likely to become more involved in the communication of development issues.

Celebrity Advocacy and Media Implications

Image by Iggy Roberts/AP

The work of ‘celebrity’ (in the singular tense as a reference to the celebrity industry) in development deserves attention among other development actors, as well as on an academic level by the Development Studies discipline. Let’s dive into some of the literature. Outlining the political economy of a ‘charity-celebrity-corporate’ complex, Brockington argues that “celebrity works in development because it facilitates access to elites, because the powerful want to meet the famous” (2014, p. 103). By highlighting examples of celebrity advocacy through advertising campaigns, such as the aforementioned names of Bono and Angelina Jolie, who posed in a Louis Vuitton campaign that used the power of images of celebrities in ‘Third World’ countries to check off the luxury brand’s corporate social responsibility, the inner-workings of the ‘charity-celebrity-corporate’ complex are illuminated as going far beyond pure philanthropy (2014, p. 100).

There is also the ‘new development advocacy’ idea, which refers to the visible increase in new development actors in the ‘Global North’, specifically American celebrities and well-known private philanthropists like Bill and Melinda Gates, as well as the “metropolitan government funding of development advocacy in the guise of development education and development awareness” (Biccum, 2011, p. 1333). Arguing that new development advocacy is modeling a form “entrepreneurialised activism that promotes market-based solutions to development”, Biccum states that the celebrity connection to this idea is an expression of neoliberal subjectivity (2011, pp. 1333-1334), which is not far from Brockington’s ‘charity- celebrity-corporate’ complex.

Goodman and Barnes describe the linkages between celebrities, the media, and development through what they call ‘star/poverty space’. The creation of star/poverty space facilitates an illusion of ‘expertise’ and ‘authenticity’ of celebrity advocates of development, thus giving them an “elevated voice and authority...through poverty tours, photoshoots, textual and visual diaries, websites and tweets” (Goodman and Barnes, 2011, p. 69). Focusing on two specific modalities for star/poverty space creation – 1) the photoshoot of celebrities in the ‘Third World’ and, 2) the textual descriptions that accompany them – Goodman and Barnes conclude that the star/poverty space presents the ‘materialities of authenticity’ of development celebrity (2011, p. 73). In doing so, they speak to the point of market-focused partnerships with brands through a perceived corporate social responsibility, referring to the “(industrial) celebrity-consumption-compassion ‘complex’”, again similar to Brockington’s ‘charity-celebrity-corporate’ complex, reinforcing the trend in the literature about the neoliberalist nature of celebrity activism (Goodman and Barnes, 2011, p. 72).

A sometimes overlooked aspect of celebrity in the development space is the competence of celebrities to address and communicate on development issues, as well as their legitimacy when they do so (Dieter and Kumar, 2008, p. 259). Citing the influence of U2’s Bono and his collaboration with Columbia University economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs, who will be referenced again below, Dieter and Kumar argue that celebrity activists, though well-intentioned, may be “doing more harm than good to the peoples of Africa” (2008, p. 261). While approaching the issue of aid effectiveness writ-large, they echo the sentiments of the scholars mentioned above about the commercialization and marketization of celebrity involvement in development issues, emphasizing the risk of self-interest on behalf of celebrities, as well as their lack of skill and expertise to solve development issues, let alone accurately communicate them to audiences (Dieter and Kumar, 2008, p. 263).

So what are the risks and benefits of celebrity activism in international development? While celebrities have achieved success in bringing media attention and funds to specific causes, the risk to civil discourse by a celebrity-dominated media is one that cannot go unacknowledged (West, 2007, p. 2). “Media fascination with famous spokespersons drains attention from experts with detailed knowledge, and risks the skewing of civil discourse toward solutions”, argues West. Though West emphasizes the risks associated with celebrity advocacy, he does caveat the other side of coin, stating that the ability of celebrities to raise money and attract media attention to certain issues and campaigns certainly has its benefits. Bono, for example, helped convince world leaders at the 2005 G8 conference to issue loan forgiveness for African countries burdened by the Structural Adjustment Programs instituted by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (West, 2007, pp. 8-9). While this acknowledgment of the potential benefits of celebrity advocacy is noted, there is a real danger in putting so much weight in celebrity voices when it comes to important issues that can affect public discourse.

MTV’s “The Diary of Angelina Jolie and Dr. Jeffrey Sachs in Africa”

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In 2005, MTV aired a documentary-style short film titled “The Diary of Angelina Jolie and Dr. Jeffrey Sachs in Africa”. The documentary follows celebrity ‘A-lister’ Angelina Jolie and world-renowned economist Dr. Jeffrey Sachs as they visit a remote Kenyan village in an attempt to spread awareness about Sachs’ poverty alleviation efforts. “Rich nations have seen fit to look away from extreme poverty, but do you know that we can wipe it off our planet in just 20 years?” asks Jolie less than a minute into the film. The actress – who began working with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as a Goodwill Ambassador in 2001 and was appointed as the UNHCR Special Envoy in 2012 – is seen harvesting crops, carrying water buckets on her head, and playing with children as Sachs tells her about the problems facing the village in terms of disease, food insecurity, infrastructure, and other developmental disparities.

The purpose of the visit to Sauri, the Kenyan village featured, was to showcase the model of Sachs’ experimental ‘Millennium Village Project’ (MVP). In 2005, Sachs created the MVP as a series of model villages across the African continent in which he and his team at the UN would work on targeted measures to address the root causes of poverty, in conjunction with the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The documented visit to Sauri, one of the villages included in the MVP, would show ‘Northern’ audiences and potential donors how the MDGs could be achieved.

Celebrity recruitment in his development efforts is not a new technique for Sachs. In 2005, Sachs published a bestselling book ambitiously titled The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time, in which the foreword is written by Bono. Sachs is also known to have worked with notable investor George Soros and high-end fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger on the MVP as well. Thus, the inclusion of Jolie in his visit to Kenya does not come as a surprise. Yet, the danger cautioned by West about the risk to civil discourse in the elevation of celebrity voices on issues they are not equipped to speak on becomes evident in one review of the film, which boldly states that “Ms. Jolie”, not Dr. Sachs, “is dead right when she says that putting money into village-level programs could do much to alleviate poverty”. This begs the questions: Who is the audience supposed to listen to when they watch the documentary – Ms. Jolie, Dr. Sachs, or the people of Sauri themselves?

The MTV special is a prime example of celebrity involvement in ‘Third World’ awareness – a famous influential actress presents ‘Northern’ audiences with stories from a developing country, that she and Sachs blanketly refer to as ‘Africa’, in the hopes of broadening understanding of how ‘they’ live. Including zoomed-in camera shots of vulnerable ill patients in the local hospital and barefoot women carrying wood on their backs, the film is strategic in positioning Jolie and Sachs as ‘us’ and the Kenyan villagers as ‘them’. For added effect, the film utilizes somber music during the hospital visit to invoke a potential sense of pity amongst the audience, in contrast to the more upbeat background music when Sachs and Jolie are at the school after free lunch has been given to the children, with the assumed intention of invoking hope and a sense of empowerment.

Aside from the imagery and the music of the documentary, the copy and narration on the part of Jolie reinforces the ‘othering’ paradox, as well. “If we give them a chance, they will support themselves forever”, states Jolie. This statement specifically uses ‘othering’ language: “we”, as in the ‘developed’, and “they” and “themselves”, as in the ‘underdeveloped’ or ‘developing’. The language used throughout the film perpetuates the white-savior complex in a very stark manner. Intended for Western audiences, the word choice is heightened by the personal interview-style reflections from Jolie throughout the film. “So now, we are sending you a message from the people of Sauri: we are here, we are alive, and we are fighting back”, Jolie proclaims.

Angelina Jolie often serves as the go-to subject of analysis regarding the topic of celebrity advocacy for development issues, as she is incredibly active within the media about the efforts and causes she supports. In August 2021, she created an Instagram account to bring awareness to the crisis in Afghanistan following the United States’ failed withdrawal of military troops from the country, leaving thousands of Afghans displaced. “I’ve come on Instagram to share their stories and the voices of those across the globe who are fighting for their basic human rights”, she wrote in the caption of her first post, which featured an image of a handwritten letter from a teenage Afghan girl to Jolie. Her digital activism, along with media projects like the short film by MTV, are all examples among many of how the power of the media elevates celebrity voices in the development sector.

Power, Knowledge and Discourse in Celebrity Advocacy

French philosopher Michel Foucault. Image via Encyclopedia Britannica

The harmful implications of celebrity advocacy in the international development sector, which are reinforced by the media, are evident in the case study presented above, and throughout the endless emerging mediums of information-consuming platforms. Studied more broadly in the last twenty years, these implications can be found rooted in foundational Development Studies theories. Foucault’s discourse on knowledge and power is arguably the most directly related theory to the harmful risks involved in celebrity provocation in development, as it reinforces the questions of legitimacy posed by many of the scholars referenced above, which highlight the dangers of public discourse being shaped by non-expert actors. Foucault’s focus on the relationship between knowledge and power is rooted in how power operates in what he calls an institutional apparatus and its technologies, or techniques.

Below is an excerpt from Hall’s discussion of Foucault’s theory of knowledge and power that explains the argument in a more concrete way:

Knowledge linked to power, not only assumes the authority of the ‘the truth’ but has the power to make itself true. All knowledge, once applied in the real world, has real effects, and in that sense at least, ‘becomes true’. Knowledge, once used to regulate the conduct of others, entails constraint, regulation and the disciplining of practices. (Hall, 1997, p. 76)

This description of Foucault’s theory strengthens the arguments posed by West, Dieter and Kumar, Brockington, and the main argument posed here regarding celebrity influence over public discourse. The media serves as an apparatus for the knowledge and power held by celebrities and development experts. Angelina Jolie and Jeffrey Sachs are both well-known individuals in their own right, but when they join forces, they create a powerful narrative that is inexplicably linked to international development. They are able to shape public discourse in ways which most people are incapable of doing due to the apparatus of the media. Does this mean that the messages they are sharing with the world are true? This is still up for debate.

While not all narratives proliferated by celebrities about development causes are inherently negative or harmful, the lack of expertise and detailed knowledge on behalf of celebrities about such complex topics makes their messages inauthentic and illegitimate. Yet, the power that these messages hold can be incredibly transformative and impressionable on ‘Northern’ audiences.

I argue that in an attempt to bring awareness to development causes and humanitarian crises around the world, the media serves as a catalyst for harmful development narratives by giving celebrities the power to influence ‘Northern’ audiences despite their lack of expertise and detailed knowledge on such issues.