First published on 06.02.2011.
The main focus on the events in Egypt has been on the mass of demonstrators taking to the streets and squares to protest against the Mubarak regime. Yet as in other areas I have looked at in this blog the role (or non-role) of celebrity activists is salient as a lens into the nexus between politics and culture.
Khalid Abdallah in Tahrir Square during the Arab Spring. (Democracy Now)
One theme that needs further scrutiny is the apparent difference in the level of activism between older and younger celebrities. The major celebrity from an older generation that has gained attention is Omar Sharif the Oscar winning star of Lawrence of Arabia and many other movies. What is striking in his comments is his desire for both change and stability. On the one hand, he says that President Hosni Mubarak should have resigned. ‘Given that the entire Egyptian people don’t want him and he’s been in power for 30 years, that’s enough’. And he added: “The president hasn’t improved the standard of living of Egyptians. There are some people that are very rich — maybe 1 percent — and the rest are all poor trying to find food.’
Yet he certainly is worried about moving the Mubarak era. As he told AP: “I personally don’t know what they will do afterwards. Who will they bring, who will take his place, who will be in charge of the country?” This fear was magnified if it was the Muslim Brotherhood, that gained from the exit of Mubarak leaves.” “They were trapped and now are starting to come out. They have 20 percent of the population, and it’s frightening for me.”
This cautious on the one hand and on the other hand attitude can be contrasted to theenthusiastic young celebrity protestors, some of whom have gained prominence in other countries. A case in point is Khalid Abdullah described by the BBC who repeatedly interviewed him as a ‘British-Egyptian’ actor (the Kite Runner is his best known film, and he was honored at the 2010 Cairo film festival) who rather than looking down at ‘Liberation Square’ like Sharif is in the square. Besides Abdullah’s distinctive characteristics his role also raises the question of whether celebrity activists who have gained some measure of fame abroad can go home again – a theme that I will return to next week.
If the shifting agency of celebrity activism needs to be looked at further however so must the embedded context in which celebrities have had to operate in Egypt. What jumps out here is the tight grip of the state. As I have pointed out in earlier writings a wide number of Egyptian celebrities dating back to Umm Kulthum in the 1960s have been mobilized for the interests of the state.
What is different about Egypt under Mubarak is the personal nature of this grip. Rather than just promoting celebrities because they adhere to the interests of the state Mubarak’s family has taken on the role of celebrity activist. The best – or worst – illustration of this phenomenon is the endorsement of Suzanne Mubarak, the wife of Egyptian president as a goodwill ambassador for the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization.
The Egyptian first lady may be committed to good causes, as other individuals in this role are. Indeed, she has won a number of awards for he work. Yet, in witnessing the pent up demand for change I can’t escape the conclusion that having her as a goodwill ambassador is just one more indicator about how pervasive the hold of the Mubarak regime has been.
As in other parts of the world, a healthier format would be to have prominent celebrities with no state links exclusively appointed to this role, especially from the younger generation of activists on such prominent display over the last few weeks.
