Bono's dilemma

Discussion in 'Movies, TV and Music' started by obie, Dec 4, 2004.

  1. obie

    obie New Member

    Nov 18, 1998
    NY, NY
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This story is linked on the front page of BBC.com this evening:

    Bono pledges to spend the rest of his life fighting poverty (actual BBC headline)

    "Rock singer Bono has pledged to spend the rest of his life trying to help the impoverished around the world."

    Now I'm relatively well-known as a big U2 fan, and I've seen them a couple dozen times, but this is the guy who just got into a verbal bitchslap with Justin Hawkins over the "Well tonight thank God it's them" line in the Do They Know It's Christmas remake. Bono, sir, if you are going to pledge your life to eradicating world poverty, then you can start by not acting like the most arrogant, self-aggrandizing rock star on the god-damn planet.
     
  2. dfb547490

    dfb547490 New Member

    Feb 9, 2000
    The Heights
    He seems to be pretty good at fighting any prospect of his own poverty.
     
  3. 655321

    655321 New Member

    Jul 21, 2002
    The Mission, SF
    I don't give a flying ******** what his bank account looks like. Bono has spent a large amount of his recent history traveling around and using his fame to get people to talk about pretty important issues. Any celebrity who decides to take the spotlight off of themselves and talk about a good cause is okay in my book...good lord, we hate the self-obsessed side of fame, but then we all make fun of a celebrity who decides to take a social cause seriously.
     
  4. bojendyk

    bojendyk New Member

    Jan 4, 2002
    South Loop, Chicago
    I want to criticize him, but then I think of the millions that he's raised in the Bill Gates-Bono Foundation, wherein Bill Gates pledges a dollar for every cliche in U2's catalog.
     
  5. CHICO13

    CHICO13 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 4, 2001
    SECTION 135
    Club:
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    Agree 100%
     
  6. Footix

    Footix Member

    Dec 11, 1998
    Left Of The Dial
    Was just about to type the same thing. I've seen him speak up-close on the social issues he's passionate about, and his sincerity is obvious. Further, I don't think a dying kid in Sudan gives a flying fukc from where his help comes from.

    If Bono wasn't Bono, he'd never get his points heard by anyone. Seeing he's got a seemingly direct line to The White House and 10 Downing St, I wouldn't change anything he's doing at all.

    And for the arguement that someone here is bound to come up with, that he or other celebrities use charity as a publicity ploy, if it raises awareness one bit, who cares? I'd so rather Chris Martin bore people with Fair Trade yappin' than Lenny Kravitz trying to get me to shop at The Gap.
     
  7. obie

    obie New Member

    Nov 18, 1998
    NY, NY
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I understand what you're saying, but to me, the difference here is between saying "I know I'm famous and I want to use that fame to do some good," which is obviously nice and good, and saying "I am going to dedicate my life to this", which is obviously not true and said just for posturing. I'll believe that he's dedicating his life to it when he disbands U2.

    Bono's life is dedicated to being a rock star. Fighting world poverty is a hobby for him -- a nobler hobby than playing GTA San Andreas all day, but still just a hobby.
     
  8. CHICO13

    CHICO13 Moderator
    Staff Member

    Oct 4, 2001
    SECTION 135
    Club:
    The Strongest La Paz
    Nat'l Team:
    Bolivia
    Or maybe at this point in his life he wants to switch these two around. I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.
     
  9. 655321

    655321 New Member

    Jul 21, 2002
    The Mission, SF
    Well, his "hobby" raises alot of awareness and money. How you can find fault in that sounds like your own issue...
     
  10. MLSNHTOWN

    MLSNHTOWN Member+

    Oct 27, 1999
    Houston, TX
    I think that it is just a matter of using the wrong verbage. He isn't dedicating his life to that cause. If he did, he would disband U2, never tour again, and spend all of his time, energy, and most of all, give up most of his money to that cause. But he doesn't.

    Though I agree that "celebrities" who talk about social causes are never really a bad thing, I take two issues with when they do it:
    1) It starts with the underlying theory that we actually give a crap that he is dedicating his life to poverty. a) we all know that poverty is a problem not only in the US but in the world, celebrities typically get all "preachY" like we dumbarses don't have a clue about anything b) I don't have a press release when I dedicate my life to poverty. I really don't give a crap what Bono does with his life. If he is going to dedicate it to poverty, prostitution, illegal gambling, drug dealing, spreading the word of the lord, charity work, etc. It doesn't make a lick of a difference to me. I don't/won't judge him or his life. So do what your going to do Bono and get on with it. Don't tell me about it. If you want to appear in informercials to give you money, great. If you want to beg for foreign aid bills from the US, Europe, etc. great. Actions speak louder than words. Don't tell me your dedicating your life, just do it.
    2) Lots of celebrities bring up social causes for their own career/PR/political/whatever issues that aren't done to further the causes at all. Instead, the celebrity gets the benefit of drawing up press before a tour or some record or some movie or what have you, and it is mostly good press. I am not going to say that this is any part of Bono's motivation. I don't know anyone's motivation.
     
  11. 655321

    655321 New Member

    Jul 21, 2002
    The Mission, SF
    Bono knows that he has a platform and he's willing to use it for good.

    End of story.
     
  12. nicodemus

    nicodemus Member+

    Sep 3, 2001
    Cidade Mágica
    Club:
    PAOK Saloniki
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    To me, the celebrity dedicating his life for change more than any other is Midnight Oil's Peter Garrett. He broke the band up a few years ago to concentrate on concerns he cared about and was recently elected a member of Australia's parliament. I know plenty of celebrities have become elected officials, but most have done it much later in life after their careers were over (despite Midnight Oil not being super popular in the US recently, they were still VERY popular in Australia and Europe....I saw them in concert in Atlanta in 2000 too in front of a good sized crowd.) Anyway, this was his first successful bid in a federal government election. He tried in the 80s and was defeated and would've hung the band up then. He's been president of the Australian Conservation Foundation and has been politically active as a musician, but now he's the "real deal." It'll be interesting to follow his political career.

    For those still reading, here's his website: http://www.petergarrett.com.au/ and this is the message from the Midnight Oil site about following "pursuits outside music": http://www.midnightoil.com/index_NOTICE.html
     
  13. zverskiy yobar

    zverskiy yobar BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Mar 10, 2002
    damn and here I thought his dilemna was whether or not they were going to continue with the ashlee simpson routine..

    Bono and U2.. the worlds greatest fraud.
     
  14. NoodlesMacintosh

    NoodlesMacintosh New Member

    Aug 24, 2004
    Salt Lake City
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I thought the Feejee Mermaid in Seattle was the world's greatest fraud.
     
  15. Cascarino's Pizzeria

    Apr 29, 2001
    New Jersey, USA
    IIRC Jello Biafra finished 4th in a San Francisco mayor's race like 20-something yrs. ago. "There's always room for Jello." :)
     
  16. royalstilton

    royalstilton Member

    Aug 2, 2004
    SoCal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    ---
    in 2 and one half years you have made less than 350 posts, which probably means that you spend a lot of time thinking about what incisive and hilarious remark you can make about trenchant matters like Bono's "dilemna". you really should have come up with something more witty.

    i realize that you are under a lot of pressure, but when stuff gets complicated, you should ask for help, really. ;)
     
  17. musicl

    musicl New Member

    Jan 9, 2004
    Bono didnt want to sing line but they made him.

    Justin Hawkins is best on song anyway.
     
  18. zverskiy yobar

    zverskiy yobar BigSoccer Yellow Card

    Mar 10, 2002
    I guess I should apologize for actually having a life other then Bigsoccer... :rolleyes:

    other then that.. who said i was being funny or witty.Bono and U@ are frauds ...they very rarely actually perform without recorded backup for vocals and guitar and much of their material is blatenly ripped off from small indy bands.Their latest hit being one of the more blatant attempts at this.

    If U2 was a corporation they would be akin to a microsoft or Nike.Souless ********************s with no originality.

    but I guess other soulless ********************s love them for that...
     
  19. NoodlesMacintosh

    NoodlesMacintosh New Member

    Aug 24, 2004
    Salt Lake City
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    So they rip off small bands...such as?...

    And even if they do, well, is it their fault they can take a mediocre idea and make it good? How is that a fault? Shakespeare ripped off and took over ideas all the time. He seems to be liked for it more than anything.

    Age of Empires was good...
     
  20. royalstilton

    royalstilton Member

    Aug 2, 2004
    SoCal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    ---
    please give a couple ( you said much of their material ) of examples: the song that they ripped off and the indie band that performed what they stole.

    while you are doing your research, please remember that U2 has been around for 25 years. Joshua Tree was 1987. you were what? 10? what did you know???

    also, brian eno and daniel lanois have produced several of U2s songs/albums, and their production techniques have been copied over and over.

    sorry, fellow, but i think you've memorized the sacred indie texts and are now spewing.
     
  21. Dignan

    Dignan Member+

    Nov 29, 1999
    Granada
    Club:
    FC Dallas
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I believe the riff for Vertigo is taken from something by Sonic Youth. Its not really a rip off just more of a derivation, using the original as inspiration. And U2 are not trying to hide this.

    I believe it was Picasso who said "all artists borrow, great ones steal." The fact is all art is predicated upon previous events or artefacts of art, that the artist then takes, reworks, adds his/her own perspective to and essentially makes their own. That is what U2 did, and has been doing as well as every other artist of the 20th century. If anything it was a tribute to Sonic Youth, and how they influenced U2.

    Heck, Bob Dylan was copying Woody Gurthrie. But that does not make Dylan any less great. Pretty mcuh all rap in the last twenty years are working off of various Parliment/Funkadelic bass lines. This is how music gets made.

    As for the claims that U2 are phony and just doing this for themselves. You can think that. But that is your own problem.

    And you will never know how much Bono and the boys give away of their own income to help the less fortunate. That is private.

    Whether you like him or not, Bono is a Christian who believes that God has given him a platform to make the world better. With the fame and wealth that he has, he has already done more for bettering the world porportionally than me or anyone on these boards. He is not perfect, but at least he is trying.
     
  22. NoodlesMacintosh

    NoodlesMacintosh New Member

    Aug 24, 2004
    Salt Lake City
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Maybe I'm not right on with these quotes, but:

    "Imitation is the greatest form of flattery."
    --Anonymous

    "Imitation isn't the greatest form of flattery, it's plagiarism."
    --Red Skelton
     
  23. MeridianFC

    MeridianFC Member

    Jul 26, 1999
    Washington, DC USA
    So if I understand correctly some folks would be happy if Bono would shut up, sit on his ass, and just be plain wealthy, ******** everyone else?

    Bono = pompus ass? Sure.

    Bono = doing something for his fellow man? Ain't no doubt.
     
  24. royalstilton

    royalstilton Member

    Aug 2, 2004
    SoCal
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    ---
    what does ******** mean? i know what **** means. ;)

    to me, it's all about the hair. self respecting philanthropists don't have long hair. except Biblical characters, expecially Moses, not the Charlton Heston Moses, though. his hair was long enough, i guess, but i just wasn't impressed by his accent. sounded pretty 20th Century to me. what do i know?

    i like Bono's accent. nothing like a working class Ulster accent to round out ones résumé...
     
  25. obie

    obie New Member

    Nov 18, 1998
    NY, NY
    Club:
    New York Red Bulls
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    No. For him, or for any other person, to work toward such a goal is noble. To say that he will "dedicate his life" to this is posturing. That was the original point, lost somewhere throughout this entire sorry thread.
     

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