Ali Lost it All for a Cause, but Would Anyone Else Do the Same?

With the recent passing of Muhammad Ali, much is being remembered about his life and about his impact on society. His protesting of the Vietnam War, and his willingness to go to jail rather than to fight against an enemy in a foreign lane, when there was much fighting to do here at home, is what most people remember. Unfortunately, this is only a part of the story, and the rest of the tale is what sets Ali apart from most other celebrities.

Prior to his suspension from boxing, Muhammad Ali was the Heavyweight Champion of the World in professional boxing, had won the title and had successfully defended it nine times. After his last fight before the suspension, Ali boasted a record of 29 wins against no losses with 23 knockouts. At the time, Ali was dominating his sport like few others had or will have. However, according to some recollections of Ali’s life, the champ lost considerable amounts of money during the suspension, and by the time he was again allowed to fight, Ali was said to have very little to show for his dominance of his sport, and this brings up a very interesting question: how many current celebrities would be willing to sacrifice career, fame, and all that is attached to it in order to take a stand on an issue?

There are some actors who feel that they have been blackballed by Hollywood, or labeled hard to work with because they spoke out against something related to the work, but Ali’s stance had nothing to do with boxing. Ali’s protest was political in nature, and the government at the time felt that Ali’s career was the best weapon to use against Ali’s stance on a war that ultimately cost nearly 60,000 soldiers their lives, and has permanently affected the lives of many others who were involved. Again, though, one has to ask how many currently rich and famous individuals would be willing to lose everything for the sake of a political stance.

Many celebrities and famous athletes, particularly African-American ones, are condemned because they are unwilling to take a stance, though in truth, they have all probably learned from Ali’s example. These people are probably unwilling to lose their ability to work and earn a living while forfeiting much of their fortunes. This is a choice that some make, and no one can speak out against a choice that someone makes regarding the management of their own lives. However, the unwillingness of some to take a similar stance is what makes Muhammad Ali’s choice all the more astounding.

Muhammad Ali, whether or not he was being coached by the Nation of Islam to speak out against the war, ultimately was the one who spoke the words, and was the one who chose not to accept induction into the Armed Forces. Ali made the choice to stand against the government and it was this choice that changed his life forever. Other celebrities might not be willing to sacrifice everything for a cause that they feel strongly about, but Ali was, and it is this sacrifice that will place Ali’s memory into historical discussions long after his untimely passing. 

Fame Misunderstood

Today’s popular culture has borrowed much from the famous and infamous notables from years gone by, but it seems that many of today’s “famous people” seemed to have misunderstood what they were seeing and believe that they are copying. Many of today’s pop culture icons seem to have no real grasp on what it took for those who came before to actually achieve their fame and notoriety, and as such, are famous for all of the wrong reasons.

During her career, Marilyn Monroe was an accomplished actress and singer who took classes at the Actor’s Studio and studied with Lee Strasberg in order to perfect her craft.  In many of her films, she played a dumb blonde, and it became her trademark. Many of today’s pop culture celebs have heard of Marilyn Monroe, but have no idea about her career and how hard she worked to get to where she was. All they seem to know about her is that she seemed to be a dumb blonde, she was married to a famous baller (Joe DiMaggio), was romantically linked to the rich and powerful (her alleged affairs with John F. and Bobby Kennedy), and was photographed with her skirt blowing up, even though the skirt shot was a scene from a movie, and Marilyn took precautions to make sure that her privates were not shown to the public.

In attempting to become famous, young girls feel as if all that is necessary is to get involved with someone rich and powerful (or a famous baller), or be photographed half-clothed (or the extreme, be filmed having sex), meaning that they fully misunderstood what it was that made Marilyn famous. All of the things that she is known for were byproducts of her talent and hard work, and her beauty was simply an asset, and was not the product itself. Many of today’s “pop culture icons” are actually quite talented, but choose to be known for the extra instead of letting the talent rule the day.

Years ago, there was a young comic named Richard Pryor, who thought that he needed to be the next Bill Cosby (a wholesome storyteller) in order to succeed in comedy. When that style didn't work for Richard, he elected to allow people to laugh at the pain that he experienced as a youth. Pryor used profanity to illustrate what he saw and heard, but the next generation of comics heard Richard curse, and thought that cursing was the key to the success of his act. They misunderstood what Richard was truly all about.

Though Pryor would curse during his act when speaking as himself, much of the cursing was him quoting one of the many characters who he had come to know during his life. However, over the next few generations, comics felt that cursing was the act. As Eddie Murphy said in his comedy film “Delirious”, “You can’t do not cuss show. I do manage to stick in some jokes between the cusses”. The misunderstanding comes from the notion that the more cursing that is done in an act, the more “hip” a comic is, and the more likely Hollywood will take notice. Unfortunately, the reality is that there has to be some talent mixed in with the ability to use profanity and make fun of other races.

The point of all of this is that there will never be a substitute for talent. Pop Culture and Social Media have made it possible for people to become famous just for being photographed half-naked, for getting arrested while having a song on the charts or a movie on DVD, or because they are the offspring of someone who has already done all of the necessary work to be famous. While I fault no one for achieving a level of success and fame, the fear that I have is that this level of fame has the potential to have a short shelf life, and when that runs out, it will be necessary to attempt to rely on something that might not exist.