‘Celebrity power’ put to good use

Most show biz stars are in the business just for themselves. They love the fame and absolutely revel in the fortune, and if they think of helping anybody else, it’s usually just their relatives, close friends, alalays and other members of their inner circle.

Happily, a few stars have become more aware of the power of celebrity status to help many others and make the world a much better place to live in. At the top of the list are luminaries who are truly luminous, because they not only brighten viewers’ lives with sparkling performances, but also enlighten attitudes with their inspiring example.

These days, stars “pay it forward’’ by supporting charities and other worthy causes not just with endorsements, but with their financial contributions as well –sometimes running into the millions of dollars, like Oprah Winfrey’s school for girls in Africa, and Brad Pitt’s home-building program in the US south.

On the local scene, Pitt’s home-building campaign has been mirrored, if in a smaller way, by Julius Babao’s own project for Gawad Kalinga, funded in a most creative way: Julius sold some paintings he’d collected through the years and asked artist-friends to donate their own works to an art auction.

Other celebrities, local and foreign, have been plugging for other causes, including campaigns for the environment, against violence, hunger, human trafficking, sexist discrimination, exploitation of women and children, etc.

All of these should be supported, so stars and starlets who have yet to discover the potency of their celebrity power shouldn’t remain clueless and ineffectual, and quickly commit themselves to causes that have yet to find champions in the media.

Those relatively unsupported causes include greater appreciation for the value of the arts in people’s lives; the benefits of a good education for the long term; organ donation; adopt-a-family; promotion of good values; good manners in today’s world; respect for senior citizens; the support of Filipino artists over foreign “imports’’; young people’s early immersion in media; responsible use of new media; cooperatives; campaigns against corruption in government and business; “green’’ initiatives to save our planet, etc.

As you can see, there’s no dearth of key causes and programs to support. Of these, however, we’d like to focus most emphatically on the need for more stars to join the campaign to make many more people aware of the dangers of smoking, especially among the youth.

The health hazards of smoking have been all too obvious for many decades, but not enough people are kicking the habit, so “model’’ celebrities should show the way. They should also convince producers and directors to stop depicting smoking as a desirable, fun or “in’’ activity.