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This study examines the United Nations' (U.N.) cultivation of celebrity ambassadors, specifically international film celebrities as activists for social and global political causes. Two questions were explored during a qualitative meta-analysis of the literature: 1) Do film stars qualify as leaders? 2) Why does the global film actor have power in the sociopolitical milieu? Through the qualitative metaanalysis of the literature utilizing the concepts of charismatic leadership, referent power theory, and the three-stage transfer model theory, this article seeks to understand why the United Nations strategically appoints film celebrities' like George Clooney and Angelina Jolie as Goodwill Ambassadors. In addition, the authors considered several environmental analysis techniques and focused on the political environment. The research of the literature revealed that global film stars are effective components in the U.N. mission of raising awareness for its global sociopolitical agenda. In the decades since Danny Kaye emerged as the first U.N. Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF in 1953, the ambassadorial services of film stars has evolved. Celebrities have transitioned from politically neutral figureheads into more independent advocates that at times are at odds with U.N. policy. However, implications of this study conclude a more in-depth analysis is needed to determine the extent to which the celebrity U.N. Goodwill Ambassadors are effective leaders, and whether they effectively manage the causes they advocate, toward tangible transformative change.
Keywords: Celebrity, Ambassador, Meta-analysis, Referent, Charisma, Power, Film, SPELIT.
Introduction
Celebrities have become a ubiquitous global presence as a result of television, motion pictures, and social media. The phenomenon of celebrity is inextricably woven into the fabric of modern culture through the rise of the visual (Barry, 2008). Brockington (2012) points out that there is a modern spread of the celebrity and this propagation is a consequence of mass media. Including "the film industries of Hollywood and Bollywood, the proliferation of newspapers and glossy magazines, television and its channels, and the Internet" (p. 9).
As the focal point of this study the question must be addressed, what constitutes a celebrity? There are four conceptualizations of celebrity discussed in this section; however, only one is used in this study for the purpose of meta-analysis. The four conceptualizations of celebrity include: (1) the basic definition utilized in advertising; (2) the proverbial "fifteen minutes of...