Celebrity Analysis - Case Study Example

Celebrity Analysis: Brad Pitt Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Overview: 3 The concept of celebrity and social activism 3 Brad Pitt’s social activism efforts 5 Theoretical perspective: the Circuit of Culture model 7 Analysis of Brad Pitts’ Social activism based on Circuit of Culture model 8 Regulation 8 Production 10 Representation 12 Consumption 14 Identities 16 Conclusion 17 Reference List 18 Introduction In the modern day society, celebrities tend to get high attention in the public purview through the media. Some celebrities have however used their positions of influence for social activism (Wheeler & Kapoor 2012). Indeed, an important and growing subset of celebrity includes celebrities who have taken advantage of such privilege to promote policy and public attention on a range of political, social, cultural, economic, and environmental issues. Yet, different scholars have used divergent viewpoints to examine the roles of a celebrity and in the process raised questions along the lines of whether celebrity activities can actually represent social movements or cause on behalf of the public realm. Drawing from current media reports, it is indeed perceivable that celebrities in the 21st century have actively participated in charity giving around the world, specifically in developing countries. Certain celebrities have managed to become ambassadors of goodwill in their hope of promoting a social cause. Based on Circuit of Culture theory model (Curtin and Gaither, 2005), this paper examines Brad Pitt’s efforts in promoting the social cause. Overview: The concept of celebrity and social activism Following the rise of public awareness on promoting human rights and awareness of climate change, celebrities have become important vehicles for influencing discourse and act. Some researchers such as Boykoff and Goodman (2009) feel that the celebrities’ amplified and prevalent voices contribute significantly to a greater social good and catalyse public cooperation towards resolving common social problems. Marwick and Boyd’s (2011) view a celebrity as an intricate cultural construct. According to them, a celebrity is a content word that denotes a ‘famous person’ (Marwick & Boyd 2011). In popular sense, celebrity is a personal quality, where one is either a celebrity of not. Keats (2013) opines that celebrity is a cultural phenomenon or the state of being, such as celebrity culture or publication. Similarly, cultural studies perceive celebrity within different contexts; as part of the mass cultural industry, as the climax of independent individualisation, and as a semiotic system. Marwick and Boyd’s (2011) take this perspective to argue that celebrity is a genre of “discursive effect” and “representation,” or a commodity that is tradable through publicity, promotions and media industries that collaboratively generate these “discursive effects” and “representation.” To this end, celebrity is essentially a cultural formation with social functions. Turner (2004) applies this assumption to suggest three basic scholarly definitions of celebrity: (a) a manner through which people are represented and discussed (b) process through which an individual is transformed into a commodity, and (c) a component of culture that is persistently reformulated and rewritten. There is a long history of celebrities, who shape public opinion and institute behaviour change. Among the celebrities who have managed to get the public spotlight for their efforts in eradicating poverty in and promoting a sustainable future. William Bradley Pitt (Brad Pitt) and Angelina Jolie are among the long list of Hollywood celebrities whose charitable efforts are becoming increasingly famed by the media (Look To The Stars 2014). In this regards, since celebrity as a noun is the prevailing term applied in the public and scholarly discourse, the term could be applied in reference to Brad Pitt’s efforts and public discourses in promoting environmental awareness and human rights. Brad Pitt’s social activism efforts While Hollywood as a cultural institution has a certain link to politics within the historical context, it has an intimate link to the new globalisation era where celebrity involvement in Charity work has intensified. Indeed, in the recent past, an augmented crescendo of Hollywood celebrity interest in charity work is evident. Within this perspective, it could still be argued that celebrities such as Brad Pitt are not just development advocates, who leverage their high profile visibility to promote awareness of social problems. Rather, they are development activists who set up own organisations of directly get involved in non-governmental organisations. Brad Pitt is an actor and movie producer, who has played leading roles in award winning movies such as “The Departed” (2006), “12 Years a Slave” (2013), “Vampire” (1994), among others. As of 2013, Brad Pitt was reported to have spent some $5 million in donation to charities. Celebrity activism on behalf of the poor has become increasingly popular over the last two decades. As perceived by Biccum (2011), accompanying the indications and outcome of this popularity is the increased participation of individual celebrities advocating for the optimised visibility of the developing country issues within the entertainment industry in all. Debatably, poverty has increasingly become popular while at the same time Hollywood has become politicised. This has appeared to signify a shift in events where celebrity involvement in advocacy for development through charity work has intensified. Brad Pitt’s non-profit organisation called Global Green promote global shift towards sustainable environment. In 2009, Brad Pitt was honoured with the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit trade organization, for promoting sustainability buildings and designs, in respect to the housing concept promoted and implemented by Pitt’s foundation called “Make It Right Foundation.” His unwavering commitment to helping humanitarian causes across the globe continues to be recognised and famed by the media (Look To The Stars 2014b). In November 2005, Brad Pitt, along with Angelina Jolie, went to Pakistan to witness the consequences of Kashmir earthquake. In 2006, they travelled to Haiti to show support for Yele Haiti Foundation that promoted quality health, education and sustainable environment. In 2007, he donated to three non-profit organisations in Darfur and Chad, which had been affected by wars in Sudan. As a result, he started an organisation that seeks to focus global attention on genocide, and which seeks to stop such vices (Look To The Stars 2014b). In 2009, Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie started the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which seeks to eradicate poverty and conservation of natural resources and wildlife. The Jolie-Pitt Foundation made donations worth millions of dollars to a French medical humanitarian organisation called Doctors Without Borders (Medicins San Frontiers), with the view of enabling it to provide aid to more than 60 countries to individuals whose survival is threatened by catastrophe, armed conflicts, malnutrition and epidemics. Brad Pitt's celebrity status, his charitable actions and the role of the media can be conceptualised through the Circuit of Culture theory. According to Baykoff and Goodman (2009), the model guides in analysis of the relation of the celebrity and the public, the regulators as well as takes account of their mode or performance and the claims they make regarding the social course. Theoretical perspective: the Circuit of Culture model Du Gay et al (1997) first proposed the circuit of culture model, in their analysis of the Sony Walkman. The researchers examined the gadget based on five ‘moments’: consumption, regulation, production, representation, and identity. The model seeks to demonstrate the interconnectedness between these ‘moments’ in order to show how they could be articulated simultaneously (Qiu et al 2014). The model is concerned with construction or explaining how meaning and value of cultural phenomenon can be established, sustained, as well as changed (Curtin & Gaither, 2005). With respect to understanding a Hollywood celebrity, these distinctive five moments facilitate the process of constructing and exchanging meaning in relation to her publicity effort in promoting social cause (Marwick & Boyd 2010) Figure 1: Circuit of Culture (du Gay et al., 1997). Celebrity involvement in issues of social concern has illustrated the interconnectedness between production and consumption, and regulation and representation. The model uses the idea of articulating the levels of practice to the question of cultural meaning generated and imbued at each dimension of the cultural circuit (Harrington & Bielby 2001). The five interlinked dimensions that are connected in producing and circulating meaning through language create a significant framework for considering cultural meanings of the celebrities holistically. Hence, it can be applied and adapted in the in-depth analysis of Brad Pitt’s celebrity status, and his role in promoting human rights and sustainable housing (Leve, 2012). Analysis of Brad Pitts’ Social activism based on Circuit of Culture model Regulation The regulation moment consists of tools used for controlling cultural activity. It may vary from legal and formal such as laws and institutionalised systems to the local and informal controls of the cultural expectations that create and delineate a culture in the generally understood sense of the term (Curtin and Gaither, 2005). du Gay (1997) views regulation as an evolving process of re-regulation and de-regulation that changes responsibility and implications on the public. In the words of Leve (2012), regulation of meaning can be thought of as a process of mutually determining meaning due to the links between culture, state or economy, and where limits are set and pressures exerted. Keats (2013) opines that regulation demands the need to create new regulatory bodies that institute and enforce regulations to support the consumers. It is within the’ regulation moment’ that meanings are generated, which govern what should the public should view as acceptable or right. Simply put, regulations assists in creating the context within which public relations occurs. When meaning is constructed in an ongoing process, the meanings are ultimately changed and challenged. In this regards, whet is viewed as acceptable or expected in a society's cultures are determined by the groups with social status such as celebrities (Hall1997). In the case of Brad Pitt, regulations consists of the formalised government or organisational regulations and policies that pertain to celebrity endorsements by the media, organisational activities or the international regulations regarding participation of non-profit organisations in charity work. According to Leve (2012), the regulations are intended to create order regarding how representations, productions, consumption, and identity should flow. At the same time, the celebrities may create own policies and regulations that institute order on how their image should be promoted, or the order of philanthropic activities that plan to engage in (TechJournal 2011). While some celebrities have managed to propagate powerful social, political and economic interest, some celebrities such as Brad Pitt have managed to develop international policies intended at alleviating poverty and promoting human rights. Brad Pitt has used his fame to draw attention to the humanitarian issues, after the Hurricane Katrina trigger more philanthropic activities in Haiti (Zijlma 2014). Indeed, as elaborated by Wheeler and Kapoor (2012) celebrity activism seeks to represent a form or democratising foreign policy processes, through forms of diplomatic practices, such as public diplomacy. By managing to operate within the framework of globalisation, Brad Pitt has poverty reduction program in Africa a matter of international agenda. Additionally, Brad Pitt’s support for charities in war-torn Darfur has managed to place international focus on the human rights abuses, famine, as well as instigated public reforms to address such inequities of poverty and wealth. Similarly, the media have cited Brad Pitt for having effected legal mechanisms to bring peace resolution to war-torn Darfur (Look To The Stars 2014b). Production The moment of production describes the process through which producers of cultural products fill them with meaning. Curtin and Gaither (2005) refer to this process as encoding. In respect to celebrity work, production could be depicted as the planning process where a public campaign is designed with the image of the celebrity and executed with message of promoting social development. According to du Gay (1997), generating economically successful product requires that the cultural values and meanings be considered. Upon acceptance that culture forms a framework of the ways in which the targeted public will think, form attitudes, and act, it should also be considered that in the process of managing such cultural processes, satisfaction, and helpful meaning can be the ultimate outcome. In the process of addressing vital theoretical aims regarding production of meaning, the Circuit of Culture proposes that meanings are generated at a range of sites and circulated through a range of processes and practices. Technological limitation play a critical role in the process since what is generated is partly reliant on the available technology. At the same time, organisational or national cultures presents the setting in which the production occurs. This may include public expectations and attitudes. For instance, while Brad Pitt’s “Make It Right Foundation” may invest in communication campaigns, it is the cultures within the society that will determine whether the celebrity is placed in high esteem in society (Look To The Stars 2014b). The organisation is, therefore, prompted to fulfil their objectives cost-effectively. For instance, “Make It Right Foundation” raises awareness on sustainability buildings and designs globally through an extensive network of websites with content for the public and the media. Afterwards, production generates meaning that arises from organisational values, logistics and structure (Look To The Stars 2014b). According to Baykoff and Goodman (2009), celebrity genres and the media construct who is hot and who is not, as a result shaping determining the quality and quantity of exposure they get in respect to the climate change or human rights statements they make. In the same case, Brad Pitt’s relies on the media to create his image as ‘hot”, which adds strength to the quality and authenticity of the statements he makes regarding poverty elimination and supporting the less fortunate. Indeed, the Washington Post has portrayed Brad Pitts as one of the world’s most attractive men, giving him an edge in increasingly engaging in social issues internationally. Representation Representation describes the shape, outline or appearance an object assumes and the meaning imbued in that object. As stated by Curtin and Gaither (2007), the meaning is not socially constructed. Therefore, producers put the meaning into cultural artefacts intended for a particular target audience. The objective is to pass a particular meaning by presenting the artefact to the audience using a range of dimensions. The format, content and the technique of distributing the distributing the artefact will communicate the preset meaning (Dong 2008). Leve (2012) suggests three theories of representation: reflective, intentional and constructionist. Reflective theory refers to the use language to denote an already existing meaning. Intentional is where language is applies in expressing the producer’s intended meaning, while constructionist is where meaning is created using the language used in passing the message (Hall1997). The three theories of representation are relevant for study of celebrity phenomenon as a commodity, since each has importance in the practice of those devoted to creating and upholding the value of the commodity. As commonly used, representation could be a description of a phenomenon or a substitute for something. Additionally, it may stand for something else other than itself. Leve (2012) describes them as signs that may be real or unreal or represent a similar image to different audiences. When it comes to a celebrity, public relations professional encode meaning in campaign materials by outlining particular target audience, inscribing the key messages and selecting certain communication channels. For instance, Pitt and Angeline Jolie started the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which seeks to eradicate poverty and conservation of natural resources and wildlife. The Jolie-Pitt Foundation’s website was available in several languages, including English, French, German and Arabic, indicating the targeted audience the celebrity wants to reach in addition to the global outreach of the communication channels used (Look To The Stars 2014). The homepage of the website contains an update of the amount of Africans affected by the disease, as a result passing a grim notion on the situation. The purpose is to stimulate understanding and trigger action to eradicate poverty in Africa. As stated by Curtin and Gaither (2007), representations that lead to efficient communication depend on a common understanding between different groups of people. Leve (2012) calls such a shared understanding ‘conceptual map’s, which seeks to suggest that when the public share a similar ‘conceptual map’, they are able to construct a shared culture of meaning regarding Jolie-Pitt Foundation, and hence create a social world where they share similar attitudes and approach to poverty eradication. Curtin and Gaither (2007) adds that a system that results in a conceptual map is reliant on categorising or making particular connections between the ideas and issues, which together make up mental representations that represent things in the world. Baykoff and Goodman (2009) advise that attention should be put on the media and technology forms that create celebrity performances and their identities such as the internet, newspapers, magazines, televisions and movies. In the case of Brad Pitt, his interactions with social causes and how it is constructed in the media. For instance, his leading role in rebuilding New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina has been used by the media to construct the image of Brad Pitt as a social redeemer and that celebrities can put causes on national map. Another critical image constructed is that of a man who has educated interest in architecture (Look To The Stars 2014b). This came after Brad Pitt called upon a group of experts in New Orleans to devise sustainable housing to help families whose houses were destroyed after Hurricane Katrina. This led to the creation of “The Make It Right Foundation” that is dedicated to rebuilding the lives of communities through sustainable and affordable housing. The public relations practitioners have leveraged on the success of Hurricane Katrina projects to construct an image of Brad Pitt as a champion of environmentally-friendly housing through sustainable architecture (Look To The Stars 2014b). Consumption Consumption refers to the process through which the audience encode the message (Leve 2012). In cultural studies, Harrington & Bielby (2001) defines consumption as the acquisition and utility of information content. Leve (2012) further explains that consumption represents a spot where ideology, social class, and power circulate and shape each other. Harrington and Bielby (2001) perceived consumption as a study that is concerned with certain representational formats, negotiations, rituals and moments in the social life of a certain product. In which case, consuming cultural objects can liberate, humiliate, or empower the consumers. Hence, they are the target publics for Brad Pitt’s public relations campaign. The consumers bring their networks of meaning. They actively create meaning from the message passed by the producers. Curtin and Gaither (2007) stated that consumers are perceived to have a critical creative. According to Leve (2012), circuit of culture assumes that while production generates a sequence of possibilities, these possibilities only get actualised during consumption. This makes consumption to have an important role in ascribing meaning. Hence, consumption could be viewed to be a form of production since new meanings emerge to an artefact because of use (Yang & Peterson 2004). In sum, the activities of producing directly denote the existence of consumption and consumer (Guthrie & Abeysekera 2006). Within the context of Brad Pitt’s role in creating social awareness, the aspect of ‘consumer’ is extended to include the public in poverty-stricken areas who interpret his actions, as well as the philanthropists who understand the activities of The Jolie-Pitt Foundation in poverty eradication. Baykoff and Goodman (2009) elaborate that the audience or the consumers are central in upholding the power of any celebrity representation. In their view, celebrities are by themselves representative of certain issues that the audiences themselves consume as they create social identities (Iniesta-Bonillo & Sánchez-Fernández 2007). For instance, Brad Pitt represents an intricate form of message or poverty eradication that when placed in a group of other celebrities offers ground for creating distinctions and differences. Indeed, Brad Pitt managed to bridge the gap between the distant tragedies that affect the African content to the Western audiences by fame to publicise such unfortunate events. In doing these, he has complemented the work of non-governmental organisations and non-state actors through the use of his charismatic authority to initiate equitable discourse in the global society. Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation is an example of situations where he has used sustainable housing imagery to create philanthropic activity among the public. Additionally, Brad Pitt’s support for charities in war-torn Darfur has managed to place international focus on the human rights abuses, famine as well as instigated reforms to address such inequities of poverty and wealth (Look To The Stars 2014b). Identities Curtin and Gaither (2007) describe identities as meanings that come about to the entire social networks – from the society, the non-profit organisations, the government to the public. In respect to raising social awareness, the process of identification describes the manners in which the phenomenon ultimately constructs a meaning in addition to how the celebrity’ actions, ideas, authority, looks and behaviours are understood. According to Leve (2012), identities are discursive categories generated at the crossroads of particular attributes and create particular behaviours at certain historical moments. They are created and imposed by the celebrities as a resource for causing desired performance. In the case of Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation, a typical role of the public relations professional in his foundation is establishing and maintaining Brad Pitt’s identity as a promoter of sustainable housing in underprivileged societies. In the process of production, the public relations practitioners encode the foundation’s texts, using dominant identity that they wish to pass around, and which they seek to structure ensuing discourse. Apart from striving to maintain certain organisational identities, Make It Right Foundation public relations officers often initiate campaigns through segmenting the public in order to create identities for a range of target audiences (Look To The Stars 2014b). At this stage, it should be recalled that these audiences are active creators of meaning. Additionally, the consumers create own identities that may either be conflicting or fluid. Consequently, different segments created assign own identities to the celebrity. The celebrity branding covers various identities and brands of certain celebrities that depict how they have been or need to be framed by certain media (Muschert & Carr 2006). In technical terms, the Brad Pitt's brand is created out of the role he plays in the movies as the ultimate hero or saviour. It could be argued therefore that if Brad Pitt had played certain roles other than the hero or ultimate hero, his career as a Hollywood celebrity campaigning for global poverty reduction would have been construed differently. Hence, the challenge for Brad Pitt’s public relations in the process of designing campaign is creating an identity that the public should share. Conclusion Following the rise of public awareness on promoting human rights and awareness of climate change, celebrities have become important vehicles for influencing discourse and act. Brad Pitt’s efforts and public discourses in promoting environmental awareness and human rights are relevant in this regard. The five ‘moments’ of Circuits of Culture theory (consumption, regulation, production, representation, and identity) can be used to facilitate the process of constructing and exchanging meaning in relation to his publicity effort in promoting social cause. In regards regulations, Brad Pitt has managed to adhere to international policies intended at alleviating poverty and promoting human rights. In regards to the moment of production, Brad Pitt’s relies on the media to create his image as ‘hot”, which adds strength to the quality and authenticity of the statements he makes regarding poverty elimination and supporting the less fortunate. In respect to representation, the media has represented Brad Pitt as a hero. The same image has been curved out from the roles he plays in his movies. When it comes to consumption, Brad Pitt represents an intricate form of message or poverty eradication that when placed in a group of other celebrities offers ground for creating distinctions and differences. In regards to identity, Brad Pitt’s Make It Right Foundation has served to establish and maintaining Brad Pitt’s identity as a promoter of sustainable housing in underprivileged societie Reference List Curtin, P & Gaither, K 2007, International Public Relations: Negotiating CUlture, Identity, and Power, Thousand Oaks, California Dong, X 2008, “Symbolic Interactionism in Sociology of Education Textbooks in Mainland China: Coverage, Perspective and Implications,” International Education Studies vol 1 no3, pp.14-20 du Gay P 1997, Production of culture/cultures of production, Sage in association with Open University, London du Gay P, Hall S, Jones L, et al. 1997, Doing cultural studies : the story of the Sony Walkman, Sage Publications in association with the Open University, London Boykoff, M. & Goodman, M. (2009). Conspicuous redemption? Reflections on the promises and perils of the ‘Celebritization’ of climate change. Geoforum 40, 395–406 Guthrie, J & Abeysekera, I 2006, “Content analysis of social, environmental reporting: What is new?” Journal of Human Resource Costing & Accounting, vol 10 no. 2, pp.114-126. Hall, S1997, The centrality of culture: notes on the cultural revolutions of our time (Chapter 5). In: Thompson K and Open University. (eds) Media and cultural regulation, Sage in association with the Open University, London, pp.207-238. Harrington, L. & Bielby, D. (2001). Constructing the Popular: Cultural Production and Consumption, viewed Oct 28 2014, Iniesta-Bonillo, A & Sánchez-Fernández, R 2007, "The concept of perceived value: a systematic review of the research," Marketing Theory, Vol. 7, pp427-445 Keats, E 2013, "The Circuit of Culture: A Useful Theoretical Model for Studying Social Media," Selected Papers of Internet Research 14.0, 2013: Denver, USA Leve, A 2012, “The Circuit Of Culture As A Generative Tool Of Contemporary Analysis: Examining The Construction Of An Education Commodity," Paper Presented at Joint AARE APERA International Conference, Sydney 2012 Look To The Stars 2014, Angelina Jolie Charity Work, Events and Causes, viewed 28 Oct 2014, Look To The Stars 2014b, Brad Pitt Charity Work, Events and Causes, viewed 28 Oct 2014, Marwick, A & Boyd, D 2010, "I tweet honestly, I tweet passionately: Twitter users, context collapse, and the imagined audience," New Media Society, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 114-133, Muschert, G & Carr, D 2006, “Media Salience And Frame Changing Across Events: Coverage Of Nine School Shootings, 1997-2001,” J&MC Quarterly vol 83 no 4, pp.747-766 Qiu,J, & Gregg, M, Crawforf, K 2014, "Circuits of Labour: A Labour Theory of the iPhone Era," JOurnal for Global Sustainable Information Society vol 12 no 2, TechJournal 2011, Celebrities, eBay join forces to promote charitable causes, viewed 28 Oct 2014, Wheeler, M & Kapoor, I 2012, "Should celebrities promote charities?," New Internatioanl Magazine, viewed 28 Oct 2014, Yang, Z & Peterson, R 2004, "Customer Perceived Value, Satisfaction, and Loyalty: The Role of Switching.” Costs Psychology & Marketing, Vol. 21 No. 10, pp.799–822 Zijlma, A 2014, “Celebrities and Africa: Celebrities Making a Difference in Africa,” About Travel, viewed 28 Oct 2014, Read More

There is a long history of celebrities, who shape public opinion and institute behaviour change. Among the celebrities who have managed to get the public spotlight for their efforts in eradicating poverty in and promoting a sustainable future. William Bradley Pitt (Brad Pitt) and Angelina Jolie are among the long list of Hollywood celebrities whose charitable efforts are becoming increasingly famed by the media (Look To The Stars 2014). In this regards, since celebrity as a noun is the prevailing term applied in the public and scholarly discourse, the term could be applied in reference to Brad Pitt’s efforts and public discourses in promoting environmental awareness and human rights.

Brad Pitt’s social activism efforts While Hollywood as a cultural institution has a certain link to politics within the historical context, it has an intimate link to the new globalisation era where celebrity involvement in Charity work has intensified. Indeed, in the recent past, an augmented crescendo of Hollywood celebrity interest in charity work is evident. Within this perspective, it could still be argued that celebrities such as Brad Pitt are not just development advocates, who leverage their high profile visibility to promote awareness of social problems.

Rather, they are development activists who set up own organisations of directly get involved in non-governmental organisations. Brad Pitt is an actor and movie producer, who has played leading roles in award winning movies such as “The Departed” (2006), “12 Years a Slave” (2013), “Vampire” (1994), among others. As of 2013, Brad Pitt was reported to have spent some $5 million in donation to charities. Celebrity activism on behalf of the poor has become increasingly popular over the last two decades.

As perceived by Biccum (2011), accompanying the indications and outcome of this popularity is the increased participation of individual celebrities advocating for the optimised visibility of the developing country issues within the entertainment industry in all. Debatably, poverty has increasingly become popular while at the same time Hollywood has become politicised. This has appeared to signify a shift in events where celebrity involvement in advocacy for development through charity work has intensified.

Brad Pitt’s non-profit organisation called Global Green promote global shift towards sustainable environment. In 2009, Brad Pitt was honoured with the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit trade organization, for promoting sustainability buildings and designs, in respect to the housing concept promoted and implemented by Pitt’s foundation called “Make It Right Foundation.” His unwavering commitment to helping humanitarian causes across the globe continues to be recognised and famed by the media (Look To The Stars 2014b).

In November 2005, Brad Pitt, along with Angelina Jolie, went to Pakistan to witness the consequences of Kashmir earthquake. In 2006, they travelled to Haiti to show support for Yele Haiti Foundation that promoted quality health, education and sustainable environment. In 2007, he donated to three non-profit organisations in Darfur and Chad, which had been affected by wars in Sudan. As a result, he started an organisation that seeks to focus global attention on genocide, and which seeks to stop such vices (Look To The Stars 2014b).

In 2009, Brad Pitt and Angeline Jolie started the Jolie-Pitt Foundation, which seeks to eradicate poverty and conservation of natural resources and wildlife. The Jolie-Pitt Foundation made donations worth millions of dollars to a French medical humanitarian organisation called Doctors Without Borders (Medicins San Frontiers), with the view of enabling it to provide aid to more than 60 countries to individuals whose survival is threatened by catastrophe, armed conflicts, malnutrition and epidemics.

Brad Pitt's celebrity status, his charitable actions and the role of the media can be conceptualised through the Circuit of Culture theory.

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