by Cecelia Lynch
Have we learned nothing?! Thirty years ago, the Band-Aid video showed pop stars with 1980s hair raising funds for “Africa.” But it wasn’t for Africa, even though the resulting record featured a guitar in the shape of a continent. It was Ethiopia, and the resulting “documentary” began with BBC clips of starving people lined up for food in a camp, with the usual flies swarming, hollowed eyes, and white doctors being interviewed regarding their plight. The songs, the recordings, the video — all identified all of Africa with these images of helplessness, sounding the call of the “white savior industrial complex” for a new generation. Despite the feel-good super sales of the song, controversy continues around the question of whether the effort did more material harm than good.
Fast forward to today: the just-released remix of the principal song of the 1984 Band-Aid concerts — Do they know it’s Christmas — plays to the same sentiments with many of the same stars (and some new ones, like One Direction) — and has all of the same problems. Again, have we really learned nothing??? The video opens with what was known in the 1990s as “aid pornography” (a term and debate which unfortunately has dropped from the radar screen )– [see my post on the film “When the Night Comes” and Ayesha Nibbe’s post on KONY 2012]– shots of dying people — shots that these stars would never allow of themselves. Then we see them filing into the studio one-by-one in the requisite shades, every move (but looking good, not in the throes of death) captured by paparazzi, then emotionally singing, then holding each other, giggling and smiling after they have done their good deed.
Yes, funds are needed to fight Ebola; yes, people are suffering; yes, it can be good to “do good.” But it is never good to show others’ suffering without their consent, especially when showing them stripped of dignity. And as many of our posts and those of others insist, over and over again, what we need is to target the neoliberal austerity policies that have led to the breakdown of health systems in West Africa as well as other areas of the world (including many parts of the U.S.) — see our recent post by China Scherz as well as others in our ongoing series on Ebola. Representing Africans — yet again — as helpless and without dignity while representing ourselves as knowledgeable problem-solvers (who give up nothing in our attempts to do good) IS part of the problem and NOT part of the solution. We Westerners really should have learned something by now.
*Song titles by the band U2.
the lack of self awareness in the music video, it’s really hard to watch
What is amazing about this is the way the current Ebola epidemic has taken us back to the images of the “suffering stranger.” For a moment these seemed to have been all but supplanted by the “self-sufficient stranger” of sustainable development strategies. While the “self-sufficient stranger” motif brings with it some serious problems, the return of these sorts images of Africans is truly stunning.
It’s really sad that an aging, out-of-the-news musician engages in this kind of aid-porn to get back in the news. I cannot be generous with the effort because. Clearly Bob Geldoff didn’t learn anything from his first effort. If he missed it then we would assume he would be older and wiser in 2014 and at least be sensitive to the people of Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone. The images and the lyrics don’t even make an effort to give the people a slice of humanity via some dignity! And we do remember how much – or little – of the money made it back to Africa back in the first iteration. Giving is good. Giving is necessary.. Being each other’s keepers is what humanity is about. But NOT when the survivors of such a deep crisis are struggling to hold on so bad.
This reminds me of Hancock, G. (1989). Lords of poverty: The power, prestige, and corruption of the international aid business. Atlantic Monthly Press.
It also reminds me of lyrics from Dead Prez:
“They manufacture disease, create sickness
Then they rent you the cure for the symptoms
To them it’s just business”
– Dead Prez – “Fear Not The Revolution”
This is really disappointing to see.
Efforts like the ones made by Radi-aid need more support and dissemination, check out http://www.africafornorway.no/
For the point to be made to the wider audience of viewers who still demand and/or accept the movie industry’s blatant disregard for the dignity of sufferers and the diversity of African cultures and nations WE MUST EDUCATE AND EXPOSE THIS FOR WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT IS NOT.
Here are some principles laid out by Radi-Aid:
– Fundraising should not be based on exploiting stereotypes.
– We want better information about what is going on in the world, in schools, in TV and media.
– Media: Show respect.
– Aid must be based on real needs, not “good†intentions.
This video is a representation of the constant propaganda campaign that is used to promote that Africa is underdeveloped and the West is developed. Raising money for Ebola and other “development” challenges should begin with a campaign to force the world market to respect African goods and pay African Countries a fair and equitable wage for raw resources. Then perhaps these artists can struggle with the IMF and World Bank to forgive all debt. Then there should be a campaign to arrange to turn over the capital that the western world including the U.S. and Europe made and are still making off of slavery, colonialism and neo-colonialism to African people.
I agree completely! Why was that image even necessary?! Better to show footage of valiant African doctors and medical professionals fighting to save lives. Include a statement that would educate those watching the video broadening the context.
I watched the launch of this on Sunday evening during primetime TV and I was horrified. The way they treated the Ebola victim with just 6 seconds was appalling (they had edited the video shorter for tv). In contrast, only 2 days before was the annual live fundraising Children in Need special. During that, they showed video clips (a few minutes each) about where the money was going and how it was helping the children. The stories were harrowing but in that case the children were treated with dignity and respect. We learned their stories, we heard from their families and even in the cases where the children had died, we were able to get a sense of who they were as people. So it’s possible to raise money, explain debilitating illness and retain the humanity of those you are filming. This just doesn’t seem to be a priority when it comes to images of Africa.