You’re an artist! Do as I say!

NB: Putting this up here so no one misses it. This is not an invitation to start a debate about Israel and Palestine. Ceasefire now. No anti-semitism or Islamophobia tolerated.

I’ve noticed an odd trend of late.

I subscribe to Nick Cave’s Red Hand Files, and a couple of years ago someone wrote in informing Nick that he was no longer able to listen to any of Nick’s music because Nick had not issued a statement about the women protesting the murder of Mahsa Amini, the young woman who died after being beaten by the morality police.

A few days later, I was browsing Instagram. One of the artists I follow there is Skin from Skunk Anansie. Someone had commented on her most recent post, also demanding to know why Skin wasn’t saying anything about Mahsa Amini and suggesting that Skin wasn’t a proper feminist.

Nick Cave very graciously replied saying that the women of Iran have his full support, while Skin pointed out that she had spoken out condemning the actions of the morality police. She also added, somewhat trenchantly, that this was her personal page and not a news page, and that her readers shouldn’t presume to tell her what to post.

The current situation in Israel and Palestine has caused a strong increase in this kind of behaviour. All over IG, I’m seeing people posting on celebrities pages demanding that they make a statement. Just a couple of notable examples I saw recently were people posting on Nick Cave’s page saying that Israel was waiting for his support, and several people posting on the page for a popular comedy troupe, just losing their shit because the troupe hadn’t made a statement about Israel and Palestine yet. There were lots of threats to unfollow the page, with many people expressing that they were “so SO disappointed” in the troupe. And once again I found myself utterly confused. Disappointed in them for what? What – exactly – did they think a statement from the troupe was going to accomplish? Do they honestly believe that the people and organizations responsible for the world’s atrocities are going to stop just because a celebrity told them to? Or is it that people think that buying an artist’s products means that the artists now owes them something?

I want to be very clear that I am in no way disputing the seriousness of these issues. My confusion is about why people feel that pestering celebrities is an effective way to address these issues. If you genuinely care about women’s issues in Iran, or the suffering of civilians in Israel and Palestine, or any of the myriad issues that are plaguing our world right now, there are so many other options for effecting change.

Take part in a protest. Participate in a letter-writing campaign. Sign a petition. Get involved with local activist groups. Donate money to charities that support your cause. Petition elected officials at all levels to take action.

The flip side of this is that many celebrities do make statements about issues they care about, only to find themselves getting screamed at because no matter what they say, someone loses their shit at them for saying the wrong thing in the wrong way about the wrong subject at the wrong time. Damned if you do and damned if you don’t.

That’s not to deny the very powerful influence that the arts have, and always have had, when it comes to social change. Artists from all walks of life have used their art to draw attention to social issues, mobilize people into action and inspire them to keep going in the face of opposition. But not all artists choose that route, and no amount of haranguing is going to change that.