Brad, Angelina and the rise of ‘celebrity colonialism’

 

General Culture

“Over the past six weeks a Western security force has effectively taken over the small African nation of Namibia. A beach resort in Langstrand in Western Namibia has been sealed off with security cordons, and armed security personnel have been keeping both local residents and visiting foreigners at bay. A no-fly zone has been enforced over part of the country. The Westerners have also demanded that the Namibian government severely restrict the movement of journalists into and out of Namibia. The government agreed […] This Western security force […] is the security entourage of one Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, the celebrity couple better known for living it up in LA than slumming it in Namibia. They reportedly wanted their first child to be born in Namibia because the country is ‘the cradle of human kindÂ’ and it would be a ‘specialÂ’ experience. […] It may sound shocking, but in truth Pitt and JolieÂ’s trip to Namibia is really only a more extreme version of todayÂ’s ‘celebrity colonialismÂ’, where celebs go to Africa (or some other poor part of the world) to make themselves feel ‘specialÂ’. Africa in particular has become a stage for such moralistic poseurs - and their posing can have a detrimental impact on the people who live there.” - source