Celebrities Collaborated on New Version of ‘Imagine’
While everyone stayed at home and productions for television and movies shut down, the spotlight was dimmed on celebrities. Six days into her self-quarantine, Wonder Woman actress Gal Gadot posted a video montage of fellow high-profile actors and actresses on her Instagram with the following message:
“Hey, guys. Day 6 in self-quarantine, and I gotta say that these past few days got me feeling a bit philosophical. This virus has affected the entire world—everyone. Doesn’t matter who you are or where you’re from. We are all in this together. We will get through it together. Let’s imagine together. Sing with us. All love to you, from me and my dear friends.”
She then kicked off the first line of John Lennon’s “Imagine”, which then cut to 21 other cameos of celebrities taking a turn at singing a line from the song. It was quirky, unexpected, and quite awful.
While it was sort of a novelty to hear and see some of the world’s favorite celebrities take their turns singing a very well-loved song, it came off as a bit tone deaf, both literally and figuratively.
Gadot said in her introduction that she saw a video filmed in Italy of a man playing the trumpet from his balcony. That video was organic, unplanned, and truly touching. Her video was contrived and featured Amy Adams, Mark Ruffalo, Will Ferrell, Zoë Kravitz, Kristen Wiig, and Natalie Portman, among others, over-performing a song that is perhaps flawless and never needs to be covered. The song is also about imagining a world without materialism or borders, which is ironic.
The pool of singers included some of the most liberal celebrities in Hollywood. Those ultra-wealthy famous people, in their gorgeous marble kitchens and cavernous living rooms, tried to spread the message that we are all in this together. However, people in the real world, the essential workers, didn’t get to hang out and make fun videos with their friends. These people have a bottomless pit for acceptance and crave attention, and this came off as a desperate grab for ours. It was one of the most cringeworthy things that was released during the pandemic, and remains a running joke in America today.
