Joker actors Robert De Niro and Joaquin Phoenix, Green Goblin actor Willem Dafoe, Star Wars actor Adam Driver, and Thor: Ragnarok’s Cate Blanchett are among the two hundred plus Hollywood celebrities and scientists who have signed their names to an editorial demanding radical changes to society after the Covid-19 crisis.
In the op-ed published to French paper Le Monde earlier this week, the Hollywood elite make clear they want to radically transform society in order to address “the ongoing ecological catastrophe.”
It calls this “ongoing ecological catastrophe” as a “direct existential threat” that will “have immeasurable consequences.” One of those consequences they claim is “the massive extinction of life on Earth.”
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The group of signers claim the “pursuit of consumerism and an obsession with productivity have led us to deny the value of life itself.” The letter also stated, “Pollution, climate change, and the destruction of our remaining natural zones has brought the world to a breaking point.”
Thus they want to radically transform society which includes “a profound overhaul of our goals, values, and economies.” They also detail the “radical transformation we need – at all levels – demands boldness and courage.”
In their editorial they demand that the citizens of all nations call on their leaders, and push them to re-engineer society for the sake of the environment, “We must act now. It is a as much a matter of survival as one of dignity and coherence.”
Some of the more prominent signees include Star Wars actor Adam Driver, James Bond actor Ralph Fiennes, Die Hard actor Jeremy Irons, Joker actor Joaquin Phoenix, and Inception’s Marion Cotillard.
Related: Actresses Piper Perabo and Diane Lane Arrested During Climate Protest
Deadline provided a translation of the editorial which is titled “No To A Return To Normal.”
“The Covid-19 pandemic is a tragedy. This crisis is, however, inviting us to examine what is essential. And what we see is simple: “adjustments” are not enough. The problem is systemic.
The ongoing ecological catastrophe is a meta-crisis: the massive extinction of life on Earth is no longer in doubt, and all indicators point to a direct existential threat. Unlike a pandemic, however severe, a global ecological collapse will have immeasurable consequences.
We therefore solemnly call upon leaders — and all of us as citizens – to leave behind the unsustainable logic that still prevails and to undertake a profound overhaul of our goals, values, and economies.
The pursuit of consumerism and an obsession with productivity have led us to deny the value of life itself: that of plants, that of animals, and that of a great number of human beings. Pollution, climate change, and the destruction of our remaining natural zones has brought the world to a breaking point.
For these reasons, along with increasing social inequalities, we believe it is unthinkable to “go back to normal.”
The radical transformation we need – at all levels – demands boldness and courage. It will not happen without a massive and determined commitment. We must act now. It is as much a matter of survival as one of dignity and coherence.”
The Daily Wire provided a full list of all the signees:
“Lynsey Addario, senior reporter
Isabelle Adjani, actress
Roberto Alagna, lyric singer
Pedro Almodovar, director
Santiago Amigorena, writer
Angèle, singer
Adria Arjona, actress
Yann Arthus-Bertrand, photographer, director
Ariane Ascaride, actress
Olivier Assayas, director
Josiane Balasko, actress
Jeanne Balibar, actress
Bang Hai Ja, painter
Javier Bardem, actor
Aurélien Barrau, astrophysicist, honorary member of the Institut universitaire de France
Mikhail Baryshnikov, dancer, choreographer
Nathalie Baye, actress
Emmanuelle Béart, actress
Jean Bellorini, director
Monica Bellucci, actress
Related: Spike Lee Explains His View On Coronavirus: “The Earth Was Angry At Us”
Alain Benoit, physicist, Academy of Sciences
Charles Berling, actor
Juliette Binoche, actress
Benjamin Biolay, singer
Dominique Blanc, actress
Cate Blanchett, actress
Gilles Bœuf, former president of the National Museum of Natural History
Valérie Bonneton, actress
Aurélien Bory, director
Miguel Bosé, actor, singer
Stéphane Braunschweig, director
Stéphane Brizé, director
Irina Brook, director
Peter Brook, director
Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, actress, director
Khatia Buniatishvili, pianist
Florence Burgat, philosopher, research director at Inrae
Guillaume Canet, actor, director
Anne Carson, poet, writer, Academy of Arts and Sciences
Michel Cassé, astrophysicist
Aaron Ciechanover, Nobel Prize in chemistry
François Civil, actor
François Cluzet, actor
Isabel Coixet, director
Gregory Colbert, photographer, director
Paolo Conte, singer
Marion Cotillard, actress
Camille Cottin, actress
Penélope Cruz, actress
Alfonso Cuaron, director
Willem Dafoe, actor
Béatrice Dalle, actress
Alain Damasio, writer
Ricardo Darin, actor
Cécile de France, actress
Robert De Niro, actor
Annick de Souzenelle, writer
Johann Deisenhofer, biochemist, Nobel Prize in chemistry
Kate del Castillo, actress
Miguel Delibes Castro, biologist, Royal Spanish Academy of Sciences
Emmanuel Demarcy-Mota, director
Claire Denis, director
Philippe Descola, anthropologist, CNRS gold medal
Virginie Despentes, writer
Alexandre Desplat, composer
Arnaud Desplechin, director
Natalie Dessay, lyric singer
Cyril Dion, writer, director
Hervé Dole, astrophysicist, honorary member of the Institut universitaire de France
Adam Driver, actor
Jacques Dubochet, Nobel Prize in chemistry
Diane Dufresne, singer
Thomas Dutronc, singer
Lars Eidinger, actor
Olafur Eliasson, plastic artist, sculptor
Marianne Faithfull, singer
Pierre Fayet, member of the Academy of Sciences
Abel Ferrara, director
Albert Fert, Nobel Prize in physics
Ralph Fiennes, actor
Edmond Fischer, biochemist, Nobel Prize in medicine
Jane Fonda, actress
Joachim Frank, Nobel Prize in chemistry
Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, actor
Marie-Agnès Gillot, star dancer
Amos Gitaï, director
Alejandro Gonzales Iñarritu, director
Timothy Gowers, Fields Mathematics Medal
Eva Green, actress
Sylvie Guillem, star dancer
Ben Hardy, actor
Serge Haroche, Nobel Prize in physics
Dudley R. Herschbach, Nobel Prize in chemistry
Roald Hoffmann, Nobel Prize in chemistry
Rob Hopkins, founder of Cities in Transition
Nicolas Hulot, Honorary President of the Nicolas Hulot Foundation for Nature and Man
Imany, singer
Jeremy Irons, actor
Agnès Jaoui, actress, director
Jim Jarmusch, director
Vaughan Jones, Fields Mathematics Medal
Spike Jonze, director
Camélia Jordana, singer
Jean Jouzel, climatologist, Vetlesen Prize
Anish Kapoor, sculptor, painter
Naomi Kawase, director
Sandrine Kiberlain, actress
Angélique Kidjo, singer
Naomi Klein, writer
Brian Kobilka, Nobel Prize in Chemistry
Hirokazu Kore-eda, director
Panos Koutras, director
Antjie Krog, poet
La Grande Sophie, singer
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Ludovic Lagarde, director
Mélanie Laurent, actress
Bernard Lavilliers, singer
Yvon Le Maho, ecophysiologist, member of the Academy of Sciences
Roland Lehoucq, astrophysicist
Gilles Lellouche, actor, director
Christian Louboutin, creator
Roderick MacKinnon, Nobel Prize in chemistry
Madonna, singer
Macha Makeïeff, director
Claude Makélélé, footballer
Ald Al Malik, rapper
Rooney Mara, actress
Ricky Martin, singer
Carmen Maura, actress
Michel Mayor, Nobel Prize in physics
Medina, rapper
Melody Gardot, singer
Arturo Menchaca Rocha, physicist, former president of the Mexican Academy of Sciences
Raoni Metuktire, Raoni’s Indian chief
Julianne Moore, actress
Wajdi Mouawad, director, author
Gérard Mouroux, Nobel Prize in physics
Nana Mouskouri, singer
Yael Naim, singer
Jean-Luc Nancy, philosopher
Guillaume Néry, freediving world champion
Pierre Niney, actor
Michaël Ondaatje, writer
Thomas Ostermeier, director
Rithy Panh, director
Vanessa Paradis, singer, actress
James Peebles, Nobel Prize in physics
Corine Pelluchon, philosopher
Joaquin Phoenix, actor
Apple, singer
Iggy Pop, singer
Olivier Py, director
Radu Mihaileanu, director
Susheela Raman, singer
Edgar Ramirez, actor
Charlotte Rampling, actress
Raphaël, singer
Eric Reinhardt, writer
Resident, singer
Jean-Michel Ribes, director
Matthieu Ricard, Buddhist monk
Richard Roberts, Nobel Prize in medicine
Isabella Rossellini, actress
Cecilia Roth, actress
Carlo Rovelli, physicist, honorary member of the Institut universitaire de France
Paolo Roversi, photographer
Ludivine Sagnier, actress
Shaka Ponk (Sam and Frah), singers
Vandana Shiva, philosopher, writer
Abderrahmane Sissako, director
Gustaf Skarsgard, actor
Sorrentino Paolo, director
Sabrina Speich, oceanographer, Albert Defant medal
Sting, singer
James Fraser Stoddart, Nobel Prize in chemistry
Barbra Streisand, singer, actress, director
Malgorzata Szumowska, director
Béla Tarr, director
Bertrand Tavernier, director
Alexandre Tharaud, pianist
James Thierré, director, dancer
Mélanie Thierry, actress
Tran Anh Hung, director
Jean-Louis Trintignant, actor
Karin Viard, actress
Rufus Wainwright, singer
Lulu Wang, director
Paul Watson, navigator, writer
Wim Wenders, director
Stanley Whittingham, Nobel Prize in chemistry
Sonia Wieder-Atherton, cellist
Frank Wilczek, Nobel Prize in physics
Olivia Wilde, actress
Christophe Willem, singer
Bob Wilson, director
Lambert Wilson, actor
David Wineland, Nobel Prize in Physics
Xuan Thuan Trinh, astrophysicist
Muhammad Yunus, economist, Nobel Peace Prize
Zazie, singer.
With the world still reeling from the current pandemic, what do you think of these demands by some of Hollywood’s most well-known actors? Does it make sense at all, or is this just an opportunistic move?