Teens' Inspiration to Recycle Comes From ... Celebrities?
Motivation to 'Go Green' comes from Hollywood stars, not their parents
Victoria Pelletier
Issue date: 10/13/08 Section: Recycling
If I told you to recycle more often, would you listen? What about if you were told by Justin Timberlake, or Jessica Alba? Would it have more of an effect on you if they were to show up on your doorstep and plead the same thing? Whose speech would influence you more, that of a regular person or of the famous celebrities?
The quote "Somtimes it's not the message, but the messenger" holds a lot of truth for this situation. Celebrities have the power to inspire as well as affect the minds of Americans. One group of adolescents in particular, the Brunswick Girl's Basketball team, were very informed in the world of celebrities and seemed to pay more attention to pressing issues only if they were spoken on by them, rather than their parents. They seemed to think that celebrities were in a way, more convincing and more informed than anyone else, and they wanted to duplicate their actions because they looked up to them as icons of the world.
Coaching the team over the summer, which ranged in ages from 13-17, it was clear how much they respected and admired certain celebrities, especially when it came to sending a positive message to help the earth's energy crisis. During discussion of the quickly changing earth and how "Going Green" has become more important, they confessed that their only motivation to help came from watching MTV. 17 year old Anna Madeno, admitted that her parents wanted her to start recycling and conserving energy, but she did not feel motivated. It wasn't until she saw a short 30-second clip by Paris Hilton between a commercial and her favorite TV show (The Real World: Hollywood), that she felt the dying urge to listen, simply because of her status.
"It's kind of annoying when my mother asks me to recycle, or remember to turn of all the lights in the house, and stuff like that," Madeno said. "I don't really like being told what to do, and no one wants to hear stuff like that from their mom when they're this age. Whenever MTV is on, there is always a celebrity telling everyone to recycle, and I listen to them more because I look up to them a lot. It's not that I don't look up to my own parents, but celebrities have some sort of power that makes everyone want to be like them, and I really admire them all and how they come on TV to promote saving the environment and doing things to help."