#Blockout2024

The growing protests against Israel’s war on Gaza have now spawned a cyberspace movement that has erupted in the past few days, targeting celebrities who are seen as being insensitive towards, or even supportive of, the death and destruction in Gaza. 

 

The campaign that took off after the Met Gala in New York, USA on May 06 has earned the names: Blockout 2024, celebrity block list and digitine. The idea is to block famous celebrities on social media networks such as Instagram, X and TikTok.

 

The Blockout 2024 is an online movement where social media users are carrying out a digital boycott of famous celebrities ranging from Hollywood actors to social media influencers for their silence on Israel’s war on Gaza, or in some cases, their purported support for the war. Various TikTok, Instagram and X users have begun circulating lists of celebrities and their businesses to block. 

 

The point of the move is to reduce the earnings the celebrities make through ads on social media platforms. I read that social media users were upset when images of the lavishly dressed celebrities surfaced online at the annual fundraiser. They pointed out that some of these celebrities had never made online statements or addressed the continuing war on Gaza, where Israel’s relentless bombardment has killed more than 35,000 people, most of them women and children. 

 

On May 07, a video surfaced of TikTok influencer Haley Kalil, lip-syncing the words “let them eat cake”, outside the Met Gala. Kalil has 9.9 million followers on her TikTok account @haleyybaylee.

 

Those infamous words, often attributed to Marie Antoinette, the queen of France during the French Revolution, have in popular imagination become synonymous with an elite so disconnected with the lives of citizens unable to find even bread that they suggest cake as an alternative. 

 

Kalil’s video stirred anger because of the backdrop of the starvation crisis in Gaza. Insufficient food has been on the rise over the seven months of war.

 

Only two days before the Met Gala, Cindy McCain, the head of the United Nations World Food Program (WFP) said in a news interview that northern Gaza is experiencing “full blown famine”.

 

Users online have now started calling the Blockout, the “digitine” or the digital guillotine, leaning into the French Revolution reference.

 

Besides Kalil, other celebrities on the blocklists include Israeli actor and former soldier Gal Gadot, American media personality and socialite Kim Kardashian, American actors Zendaya and Noah Schnapp, American singer Taylor Swift and British singer Harry Styles. 

 

While there have been online movements in the past to unfollow some of the celebrities that are now being blocked, experts have said blocking is more effective as a protest strategy than unfollowing.

 

The effect of unfollowing on a celebrity’s overall audience and engagement metrics is minimal, Eddy Borges-Rey, an associate professor in residence at Northwestern University in Qatar told Al Jazeera. His research work examines social media and algorithms. 

 

“Social media celebrities heavily rely on high visibility and engagement to attract and maintain advertising deals”, he said, adding that when someone unfollows a celebrity, they simply stop seeing the celebrity’s posts in their feed. 

 

The content can still indirectly show up through their search pages or algorithm-driven feeds such as the Instagram Explore page or the “For You” pages on TikTok and X. Since even non-followers view the celebrity’s content if they have not blocked the celebrity, this does not significantly hurt the celebrity’s reach. 

 

On the other hand, “if someone blocks the celebrity, they completely cut off all interaction with their content”, explained Borges-Rey. This decreases the celebrity’s audience size, leading social media algorithms to deprioritise their content. As more people block a celebrity, their posts become less visible across the platform, even to those users who have not blocked the celebrities.

 

“A reduction in visibility can lead advertisers to perceive the celebrity as less valuable, potentially cutting back on the amount they are willing to pay for ads on the celebrity’s profile, thereby directly affecting their ad revenue”, he added.

 

While the Blockout started only a few days ago and the number of people who have blocked a particular account does not show, celebrities have started to lose followers. 

 

On Saturday, NPR reported that Taylor Swift (right) lost roughly 300,000 followers on TikTok and about 50,000 followers on Instagram over the past week.

 

“They [celebrities] live off of our attention”, an X user @DrKarimWafa posted. “If they don’t have any, they cease to exert their influence”.

 

 

162 Million Cases and Gal Gadot's Tweet

Covid-19 is still going strong – and still surging. The global caseload has now surpassed 162 million. No prizes for guessing which country was the main contributor yesterday. Again.

Wonder Woman star Gal Gadot’s tweet on Wednesday about the current escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine drew a backlash from fans. 

The Israeli actress and former Miss Israel (left) had posted: “My heart breaks. My country is at war. I worry for my family, my friends. I worry for my people. This is a vicious cycle that has been going on for far too long. Israel deserves to live as a free and safe nation. Our neighbors deserve the same. I pray for the victims and their families, I pray for this unimaginable hostility to end, I pray for our leaders to find the solution so we could live side by side in peace. I pray for better days”. 

The comments attracted thousands of responses – now switched off – leading to her name trending on Twitter. 

As far as I'm concerned, it’s her personal opinion and she’s entitled to express it. What’s wrong with that? 

Anyway, the Israel-Palestine strife is a conflict that is never-ending and as long as the "status quo" remains, the cycle of bloodshed will keep repeating. What with the US maintaining its large-scale military, financial, and diplomatic support for Israel – no way will the Israelis respect Palestinian rights, knowing they can count on the Americans to back them to the hilt. 

Expect the Israeli repression to continue. As well as the violence to accompany it.

Liverpool on Thursday beat Manchester United 4-2 and boost their chances of a Champions League place. 

It was the Red Devils who struck first – in the tenth minute – but Diogo Jota equalized twenty-four minutes later. Then, Roberto Firmino put his side on top with a well-taken double either side of half-time. Liverpool conceded another goal before Mohamed Salah wrapped up the points with a late breakaway strike for his 21st Premier League goal of the season. 

It’s a real nice feeling to have when the Reds notched another victory. They are unbeaten in seven Premier League games (W5 D2), the longest current run without defeat in the competition. The Reds had lost six of their seven league games prior to this run. 

The win takes Liverpool fifth in the Premier League. If they win at West Brom on Sunday they will close to within one and three points respectively of FA Cup finalists Chelsea and Leicester, who still have to play each other on May 18.

Gal Gadot's Itsy-bitsy Income

Oh, the Gal Gadot-starring/Patty Jenkins-directed action spectacular had on June 16, 2017 already earned $517 million worldwide.

There’s no doubt Wonder Woman is the feminist superhero movie the world didn’t know it needed.

So, why did Wonder Woman herself only earn $300,000?

Compared to how much the film has made, it's an itsy-bitsy drop in the vast ocean.

While Gadot's pay cheque is reportedly on par with what Chris Evans took home for his first appearance in Captain America, it's also considerably less than many of our other favorite comic book characters when they too were making their start in their respective franchises.

Henry Cavill (Superman, Man of Steel), Christian Bale (Batman, Batman Begins) and Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man) all reportedly earned between $9-40 million for their superhero performances.

Sure, Gadot was an unknown quantity. But can we please have more faith in the power of strong and authentic female characters, and the professional actors who bring them to life?

Yes, $300,000 is very much humongous by my standards – of course lah, I am almost destitute! – but really, she deserved more. Lots more.

I was at the Gamuda Toastmasters meeting today in Damansara Perdana, PJ where I was offered a speaking slot. I was advised just a day before.

Nonetheless, I delivered a CC#3 titled “You Will Never Know”.  And I was the sole speaker.

And yes, it was a good meeting!

Wonder Woman: The Movie

Wonder Woman was a cinematic experience that is just amazing! The box office receipts provide additional ample proof. If you don't believe me, that is.

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I certainly enjoyed the movie. Still, I won’t have a write-up about this film because I didn’t have that intention when I stepped into the cinema.

I only wanted to revel in the epic blockbuster. And I loved it. Immensely.

There are only two words to describe Wonder Woman. Epic awesomeness! And I’m referring to both the actor and the movie.

There’s no doubt about it – Gal Gadot is every inch the movie star.

Wonder Woman Wows Audiences Except

Image credit: http://screenrant.com/wonder-woman-movie-posters-gal-gadot/

“Wonder Woman” starring Israeli actress Gal Gadot, is wowing audiences everywhere and shattering box office records in the US of A and elsewhere.

But the film isn’t getting as warm a reception from some countries due to Gadot’s Israeli heritage. Lebanon was not the only country to ban the film last week.

Wonder Woman had been dumped from the Nuits du Cinéma film festival in Algeria.

Jordan banned a screening of Wonder Woman, warning domestic theaters not to show the film until and unless an official government decision is made to permit its screening.

And according to The Jerusalem Post, the Tunisian Association of Young Lawyers had filed a lawsuit, labeling Gadot a “champion Zionist". The suit reportedly led to the suspension of the summer blockbuster, which was set to hit theaters on Thursday.

While these countries referenced the reasoning being that Gadot is from Israel, they haven't been successful in banning any of her past films, including "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice" and "The Fast and Furious" franchise.

Movies that starred Israeli-born actress Natalie Portman also have had no problem screening in Arab nations, according to The Atlantic.

The 1959 original version of "Ben-Hur" was banned by all Arab League states because lead actress Haya Harareet was an Israeli. "Exodus" (1960) was banned in Syria and Egypt, along with all of Paul Newman's other films, because of the actor's support of Zionism and Israel. Jordan banned the films of Danny Kaye and Elizabeth Taylor in the 1950s and early 1960s because Kaye contributed money to Zionism and Taylor was labeled a "Zionist agent" – the same term similarly used to describe Gadot.

[Note: Zionism is defined as a Jewish nationalist movement, which goal is to form a Jewish National state in the ancient homeland of the Jews, Palestine].

These countries won’t know what they’re missing. Oh well, we will just keep Gal Gadot to ourselves.

The $150 million-budgeted superhero epic earned $205 million in the US and its overseas cume amounted to $230.2 million – that’s $435.2 million worldwide in just under two weeks of play. So yeah, it's officially a super hit!

Reuters pic

The annual Pride Parade was replaced with a Resist March as tens of thousands of people marched in Washington, Los Angeles and other US cities yesterday for LGBT rights.

Many of those attending said they felt their community was under threat from the Donald Trump administration.

They should know they're not the only ones.

Gal Gadot, Wonder Woman

Image credit: http://comicbook.com/dc/2017/02/21/wonder-woman-gal-gadot-audition/

Lebanon has banned the movie featuring DC Comics’ superhero, Wonder Woman – all because its lead actress is an Israeli.

What foolishness is this?

Anyway, to add to the Lebanese loathing, Gadot also served for two years in the Israeli army.

In 2014, she had received a deluge of attention for a Facebook post in which she shared anti-Hamas sentiments, calling members of the Palestinian militia "cowards".

A billboard advertising the "Wonder Woman" film, is pictured near an army post in Beirut, Lebanon on May 31, 2017. Photo credit: Mohamed Azakir/Reuters

Moreover, Lebanon has a boycott against Israel in place, preventing citizens from buying Israeli products, traveling to the country, or being in contact with Israelis.

I’m sorry that the prohibition took place.

Perhaps, the Lebanese shouldn't just stop there. They should ban everything and anything that's Jewish too.

I don't care about her nationality. I only know Gadot is super sexy!

Image credit: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/3AdoQr8QeUc/maxresdefault.jpg

The movie Wonder Woman is the first female superhero film since 2005’s box office dud “Elektra,” and the first to be directed by a woman, Patty Jenkins, whose budget was more than $150 million.

Since her inception in 1941 in DC comic books with her patriotic red bustier embossed with a golden eagle and blue shorts with white stars, Wonder Woman has become a symbol of female empowerment in a comic book world dominated by male superheroes like Batman, Superman and Iron Man, and by male fans.

Reviews for “Wonder Woman” have been glowing, scoring a rare 97 percent positive rating on aggregator Rotten Tomatoes with critics praising its humor and positive spirit.

Jenkins, the director, said that behind the fun, “I hope that we can use a character who stands for something so needed right now... and to inspire people to be heroes in their own lives".

Today, Liverpool FC celebrates their 125th birthday!

It was June 03 1892 when the club was officially recognized by the Board of Trade as 'Liverpool Football Club and Athletic Grounds Limited'.

This document is now regarded as the birth certificate of Liverpool FC: