Mia Farrow, actress, plans hunger strike

[Communist]

Darfur genocide inspires actress hunger strike

AP - Wednesday, April 22, 2009 8:14:14 AM

http://ll.vimg.net/imagesoa/cms/images/APNews/General-Entertainment/20090422/US-People-Mia-Farrow-54aa508f-8487-481d-a2eb-e654cf7914b4.jpg?width=180&height=210&type=mm&watermark=&detectface=&faceratio=


AP

(http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:void%280%29)

Mia Farrow plans to begin a hunger strike next week in solidarity with the people of Darfur.
The 64-year-old actress and humanitarian says she will begin a "fast of only water" on Monday "as a personal expression of outrage at a world that is somehow able to stand by and watch innocent men, women and children needlessly die of starvation, thirst and disease."
Farrow was moved to begin the hunger strike after the Sudanese government expelled international aid agencies from the country last month. Farrow says she is calling on world leaders to "help build a credible peace process" to end the violence in Darfur. Her protest is part
of Genocide Prevention Month, a campaign to stop genocide worldwide.

[Dimentio]

Darfur genocide inspires actress hunger strike

AP - Wednesday, April 22, 2009 8:14:14 AM

http://ll.vimg.net/imagesoa/cms/images/APNews/General-Entertainment/20090422/US-People-Mia-Farrow-54aa508f-8487-481d-a2eb-e654cf7914b4.jpg?width=180&height=210&type=mm&watermark=&detectface=&faceratio=


AP

(http://javascript%3Cb%3E%3C/b%3E:void%280%29)

Mia Farrow plans to begin a hunger strike next week in solidarity with the people of Darfur.
The 64-year-old actress and humanitarian says she will begin a "fast of only water" on Monday "as a personal expression of outrage at a world that is somehow able to stand by and watch innocent men, women and children needlessly die of starvation, thirst and disease."
Farrow was moved to begin the hunger strike after the Sudanese government expelled international aid agencies from the country last month. Farrow says she is calling on world leaders to "help build a credible peace process" to end the violence in Darfur. Her protest is part
of Genocide Prevention Month, a campaign to stop genocide worldwide.

I don't know Mia Farrow. She might be genuinly altruistic. Or she just feel that she is needing a diet.

The main problem with Darfur is that while hundreds of thousands are dying, no single perpetrator is possible to find. The Janjaweed are fighting two militia groups, while government forces stand by. And the conflict is really caused between nomads and settlers. Its a mess.

The main reason over this outrage over Darfur, compared with the far worse situation in the Democratic Republic of the Kongo, coincides with the fact that Sudan got oil and a government which is not pro-western but pro-Chinese and pro-Russian.

Omar al-Bashir is probably a brutal gangster, but he's the gangster of companies who were not associated with the group which influenced the policies of the White House in 2001-2009. Hence, he and Sudan was targeted while Joseph Kabila in Kongo is largely left ignored.

[Communist]

here's more:
=======================

Mia Farrow is so determined to embark on a potentially dangerous hunger strike, not even her doctor can talk her out of it. The 64-year-old actress and humanitarian plans to begin fasting on Monday, and she has set a limit of 21 days -- or until her health worsens. Farrow, who will drink water only, says she approached her doctor for advice, asserting, "Please don't even try to talk me out of this."
Farrow's hunger strike is a show of solidarity with the people of Darfur. She was inspired to do it after the Sudanese government expelled international aid agencies from the country last month.
Farrow says her doctor will be on call.

In preparation, she's taking vitamins and eating fruits and vegetables, and she's gained 9 pounds.

[KC]

It's admirable but I don't see much of a point in this. If the actions carried out by the Darfur activists aren't enough then I doubt this contribution will contribute any movement on either side.

[STJ]

Whats the point of it.

[RedAnarchist]

The ego of a celebrity is often so inflated that they believe that their actions can influence many people. Sure, she may have some impact, but not as much as actual activists will.

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

:confused:

So if you're famous you're not an "actual activist?" It seems to me that celebrities can do much more than normal people by way of getting attention, though I agree with you on the inflated ego bit.


But yes while this is pretty admirable it won't accomplish much, unless she almost dies.

[RedAnarchist]

:confused:

So if you're famous you're not an "actual activist?" It seems to me that celebrities can do much more than normal people by way of getting attention, though I agree with you on the inflated ego bit.


But yes while this is pretty admirable it won't accomplish much, unless she almost dies.

Oh yeah, you can be famous and an actual activist, but there's activists out there who will be doing a lot more than she will.

[TheCultofAbeLincoln]

Ok, I understand what you mean.

In a way, you could almost say that, for example, she's getting all this attention for not eating, but people shipping food into Darfur are rarely mentioned. (and people in places which aren't as well known aren't even known of at all it seems)

[STJ]

The ego of a celebrity is often so inflated that they believe that their actions can influence many people. Sure, she may have some impact, but not as much as actual activists will.
Poor little deluded celebrity.

[Hoxhaist]

I have seen recent photos, she is skinny as a rail. I hope she survives the hunger strike, she seems frail. She was great in Rosemary's Baby but that was 1968, the other thing she is famous for is being married to Woody Allen until she found sex photos of him and their adopted daughter

[punisa]

The ego of a celebrity is often so inflated that they believe that their actions can influence many people. Sure, she may have some impact, but not as much as actual activists will.

Comrade. that "some impact" is probabbly larger then this whole board and many activists combined, let's be realistic shall we?
A single celebrity like her gets picked up by the news and media fast, an example: browsing local headlines in my country I've spotted this bit of news at least two or three times already, accompanied by a paragraph on what is really happening to people in Darfur.
This is after months of here nothing being written about Darfur whatsoever.

Let us not dismiss examples of positive influence just because the subject is not "red" or low profile.
As for ego, if we're going to put it in the psychological perspective, many activists are running all around Africa mainly because of their own ego-food, although I don't believe they are aware of it.

[An archist]

Who is she trying to put pressure on? Hunger strikes are usually a weapon of people who have nothing, to put presuure on a powerful instance who can't afford to let people die.
What does she want to achieve? The article says nothing about that. Does she want a UN intervention? or is she trying to put pressure on the fighting factions?
It's all pretty vague.