I just stood in line for 20 minutes waiting to get a ticket to see Bono's speech at Bridges Auditorium. It was a long wait as I walked through McKenna auditorium and heard several U-2 songs booming from the speakers.
During my wait in line, I thought about broadcasting Bono on YouTube and asked one of our deans if that would be acceptable. I had admittedly selfish reasons: a YouTube video is easier to break apart and analyze (and to link to!) than a speech in real-time. I didn't, but should have, asked about a transcript. I also asked about the questions that Dean of Students Jeff Huang solicited a few weeks ago. I sent one in about how ineffective Bono's Red campaign has been. Here's the major reason for my concern. MotherJones, a fellow blog, has also voiced how ineffective the campaign has been: a paltry $18 million has been raised. Accuracy in Media writer Cliff Kincaid has also questioned the effectiveness of Bono's approach. (You can be sure I'll blog about this issue more as we get closer to B-Day.)
I was informed that Bono and his organization also have selfish reasons: they won't let Claremont McKenna broadcast him, though they will allow them to simulcast his speech.
Could it be that Bono wants his organization to retain rights to his thoughts? Could it be that his collectivist impulses of narrowing the gap between poor and rich extend only as far as the rest of our pocketbooks?
It really makes me wonder whether or not Bono is as sincere as he says he is. If he cared as much as he claims to, why not shout it from the rooftops and let every single person hear about the plight of those he professes to help? And if that really were his aim, what better medium than YouTube to convey the message?
Maybe the real answer is that Bono doesn't want us to be able to analyze what he has to say and to critique him for his advocacy and failed policies. Maybe he wants us, like all the college students who will soon attend his speech, to fawn over his celebrity, over his status, and ignore his substance.
I'll be following up on this topic more as we get closer to B-Day. (How ironic that Bono comes to speak on the Eve of Halloween!) I wonder whether Bono's speech will be a trick or treat...
UPDATE: Bono's not only a crusader for the poor, he's also an architect committed to creating socially affordable appartments in a five-star, tallest tower in Ireland fiasco-to-be. Not a joke.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Broadcast Bono? No You Don't!!
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3 comments:
How dare you refer to Mother Jones as a fellow blog. The nerve...
Charles, Is CMC not allowed to broadcast the lecture, or are students not allowed to personally bring their portable recorders? Maybe CMC wants only its own official copy and recording in big bridges. Thats how they do it for the Ath. Although, they never really posted the Bill Clinton video on the website. Perhaps Pam Gann does not want people to freeze frame her stutter.
Well, you have every right to feel the way you do. However, Bono does a job that he voluntarily wants to do. How many rock stars speak to college students about poverty and the AIDs epidemic? Bono is doing a great thing by using his celebrity to voice what's occuring around the world with AIDs It doesn't matter what he does in his private life, back home in Dublin (ie: the hanover Apartments) or how he spends his money...he is doing more positive work than 99% of the population will ever do. It's easier said than done and he's actually stepping up and doing it. Thanks Bono for all you do. Lets stick with criticizing those who truely need to be criticized. For example, the Bush administration. Thank goodness we only have to deal with them for less than a year more!
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