Yeah, I'll get to the first two things in another blog. Which leaves me with Mike.. who has come out as being vegan. Why the switch? Well, I'll let him tell you.
If you didn't catch it, when asked about going vegan and what changed him, his answer was:
Uh.. Okay.“I just threw up the white flag,” he said. “Too many prison cells, too many jails, too many lawsuits, too many bankruptcies, too many women, too many venereal diseases, too many everything! I got tired…of every time my prostitute girl got back from a trip I had to sleep with her…I was a prostitute hunter.”
Now, as bizarre of an answer as that was.. I think I can explain it. He wasn't really answering "Why did you become vegan?" He was answering the overall question, "What changed you?"
And though Tyson's response got a little 'out there'.. he basically was saying that life was too chaotic, and he wanted something simple.
Fair enough. But what does this do for the vegan cause?
We all know the omnivores will have a field day with this. I've already seen a couple quotes like, "Well, it makes as much sense as the other reasons vegans use." Lucky for us, Tyson isn't really a celebrity that many people pay much attention to anymore.
And we do have a plethora of 'beloved' celebrities that help bring awareness. Ellen Degeneres, Meredith Viera, Bill Clinton, Alicia Silverstone, Woody Harrelson, and Ted Danson, just to name a few.
Still, some have waxed philosophical, asking if celebrities help or hurt the vegan ideals. Do they make it 'just another fad?'
Honestly, I don't think so. We now are in a culture where celebrities are viewed less as these 'great others.' They're more accessible. Their mistakes are public knowledge. In other words, they're just people who happen to be rich.. and these days.. many of them have no discernible talent.
The upside of that is that they're more relatable. They feel like people you could be friends with. And in some ways, I feel like that makes their lifestyle choices, also feel more accessible.
That, on top of the increased access to information.. such as documentaries like Food, Inc. and Forks Over Knives, means people are becoming vastly more aware of the food industry that we'd been blind to for so long. As a result, vegan/vegetarian eating is becoming more of an accepted practice.. and less of a 'fringe' idea.
So, I say, the more the merrier.. even the slightly crazier ones. ;)
No comments:
Post a Comment