Shakib controversy: Do celebrities need to have a moral compass?

Let me share two stories. 

The first one is about Ashton Kutcher and Demi Moore, two famous American actors, who are also the co-founders of Thorn: Digital Defenders of Children, an organisation dedicated to addressing child sex trafficking. They have so far saved around 6,000 kids from sex trafficking. Inspired by their actions, many small organisations have ramped up their activities and have been working to save as many children as possible. 

The other one is of Maradona, one of the greatest football players in history, who underwent a journey from glory to shame in his lifetime. After he failed a drug test in 1991, Maradona's career started to crumble. His addiction was a major cause of concern for Argentina as well because nobody in the sports arena inspired more adulation than Maradona and without a shadow of a doubt, the footballer wielded vast social influence. 

Many people claim that his addiction was especially worrisome because it sparked some kind of degeneration among the youth, leading them to substance abuse. 

It is clear from these two simple examples that celebrities or public figures, no matter whether they belong to the sports or entertainment world, or beyond, can have a significant influence on their followers and society in a greater sense. 

A number of reasons are at play behind such a notion. 

First, people perceive celebrities as idols and admire their talents and accomplishments, which play an instrumental role in the influence public figures hold over people. This is why people often get trapped in the euphemistic words uttered by renowned figures in the case of celebrity endorsements. 

Remember the case of Evaly and some other e-commerce sites that engendered continuing controversy back in 2021 for pulling wool over people's eyes and fleecing them? A good portion of the people ploughed their money into these sites as they got swayed by the words of some popular faces. What happened next? Many people were left in the lurch. In this case, celebrities negatively influenced people. 

Second, mass people, especially the youth, look to emulate these celebrities. This could be really concerning because once someone gets famous, people like to consider them through the lens of success only – turning a blind eye to other pitfalls or serious hamartia in the character. Shakib Al Hasan is a good case in point here. 

Despite the fact that he is the most consistent cricket player in this country and one of the best all-rounders in all formats of cricket, he has been making headlines for the last few years for all the wrong reasons. The latest one, to his credit of notorious strings, is his presence at the inauguration of a jewellery shop in Dubai owned by a fugitive murder suspect Arav Khan. 

In the past few months, Shakib has also been under the media spotlight as his name came up with people involved in controversial activities in the share market. Also, for not paying the due amount to his employees at his crab firm and for striking an endorsement deal with a betting website (for which he could be arraigned as well since betting is illegal in our country).   

The real problem is Shakib's actions have an invisible and powerful influence on thousands of youths who consider him a successful person and an idol (a youth icon) – meaning that people will follow him and try to imitate him. 

Now if the youth start following in Shakib's footsteps and plan to make a quick buck following his ways, then you can imagine what might happen. 

This is why celebrities, including sportspersons, film stars and cultural personalities, need to have a moral standing because they lead by example and the mass people are likely to become influenced by what they say and do. Known faces play a significant role in forming the character of the people. 

Public figures and celebrities need to be more careful about what they do and what kind of examples they leave for others to follow or emulate. Their moral degeneration can instigate similar proclivity among other people and result in a serious consequence called "anomie". 

A term introduced by French sociologist Émile Durkheim, anomie is a total breakdown of societal norms and instils a sense of an insatiable will and an absence of legitimate aspirations among people. What we see in Shakib is a reflection of this "insatiable will" and if his fans start following his ways, then it may inspire them to develop a penchant for illegitimate things – a desire that can never be quenched; rather it will get intense with every windfall they get. 

I do not think Shakib or any other celebrity is going to mend their ways, given their past records. So, what our youth can do is divert their attention to other good examples. We also have people like Oprah Winfrey and Charlize Theron among us who have been straining every nerve to achieve significant progress in terms of providing educational facilities to South African girls and keeping African youth safe from different contagious diseases like AIDS. They are great examples of role models.

Meanwhile, celebrities need to understand one thing – they also have some moral obligation towards their fans, followers and the society they live in. They cannot just shrug off their moral responsibility and abjure every wrongdoing on the pretext of 'individual choice.' 

As they enjoy the stardom that is mostly built on their fan following, they should also share some responsibility for setting good examples for them to follow.    

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Md Morshedul Alam Mohabat is a columnist who likes to delve deeper into the human psyche and social incongruities with a view to exploring the factors that influence these.