When actor Joaquin Phoenix won a Golden Globe on Sunday night for Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture for the film Joker, he used his acceptance speech to address animals rights and the effect of wasteful habits on the planet.
A life-long vegan, Phoenix has always been vocal about environmental issues, so he started by praising the award ceremony for serving a plant-based meal for the first time and then scolded his fellow actors for using too many private planes.
"It’s great to vote but sometimes we have to take that responsibility on ourselves and make changes and sacrifices in our own lives. I hope that we can do that," he said on stage.
Phoenix later declared that to help reduce waste, he would henceforth wear the same suit to every award ceremony for the rest of the year.
The outfit in question is a custom-made suit by designer Stella McCartney, who is also famous for her environmental position and refuses to use animal products in her clothing.
Clearly eager to lend support, the designer took to Twitter to praise Phoenix. "This man is a winner ... wearing custom Stella because he chooses to make choices for the future of the planet," she said. "He has also chosen to wear this same tux for the entire award season to reduce waste. I am proud to join forces with you."
And that’s when things started to go wrong.
Twitter lit up in outrage at McCartney's wording, with one user responding: "I wore the same boots throughout all of Desert Storm working on the flight deck of the USS Saratoga! I realise now just how gauche that was."
Another quipped: “The humanity ... the same tux for the entire awards season ... *wiping the tears from my eyes*."
Replying to Phoenix’s request that actors dial back their use of private planes, another Twitter user said: “What an amazing sacrifice, first the request to not constantly use private jets and now this.”
In the interest of full disclosure, I must now point out that I too am a vegan, am pro-environment, and even rewear clothes once in a while. Does that make me a hero? Of course it doesn’t.
It’s what we all do, every day, because unlike actors, we are not given free outfits by famous designers. As admirable as it is for Phoenix to try to lead by example in an industry that thrives on new red carpet looks, being treated like a hero for it is laughable. What was McCartney thinking?
As we have watched fires burn unchecked across the Arctic, the Amazon and now Australia, we are all beginning to face up to the uncomfortable truth that we are all in part responsible, and must change our wasteful behaviour if the planet is to survive. But that does not make any of us a hero. That title is saved for the selfless souls who risk everything to battle the flames we have all helped light.
They are the only heroes in this debate. Not an overpaid actor in a free suit.
TEST SQUADS
Bangladesh: Mushfiqur Rahim (captain), Tamim Iqbal, Soumya Sarkar, Imrul Kayes, Liton Das, Shakib Al Hasan, Mominul Haque, Nasir Hossain, Sabbir Rahman, Mehedi Hasan, Shafiul Islam, Taijul Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Taskin Ahmed.
Australia: Steve Smith (captain), David Warner, Ashton Agar, Hilton Cartwright, Pat Cummins, Peter Handscomb, Matthew Wade, Josh Hazlewood, Usman Khawaja, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Matt Renshaw, Mitchell Swepson and Jackson Bird.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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The five pillars of Islam
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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THE SIXTH SENSE
Starring: Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, Hayley Joel Osment
Director: M. Night Shyamalan
Rating: 5/5
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
Dr Afridi's warning signs of digital addiction
Spending an excessive amount of time on the phone.
Neglecting personal, social, or academic responsibilities.
Losing interest in other activities or hobbies that were once enjoyed.
Having withdrawal symptoms like feeling anxious, restless, or upset when the technology is not available.
Experiencing sleep disturbances or changes in sleep patterns.
What are the guidelines?
Under 18 months: Avoid screen time altogether, except for video chatting with family.
Aged 18-24 months: If screens are introduced, it should be high-quality content watched with a caregiver to help the child understand what they are seeing.
Aged 2-5 years: Limit to one-hour per day of high-quality programming, with co-viewing whenever possible.
Aged 6-12 years: Set consistent limits on screen time to ensure it does not interfere with sleep, physical activity, or social interactions.
Teenagers: Encourage a balanced approach – screens should not replace sleep, exercise, or face-to-face socialisation.
Source: American Paediatric Association
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Key findings
- Over a period of seven years, a team of scientists analysed dietary data from 50,000 North American adults.
- Eating one or two meals a day was associated with a relative decrease in BMI, compared with three meals. Snacks count as a meal. Likewise, participants who ate more than three meals a day experienced an increase in BMI: the more meals a day, the greater the increase.
- People who ate breakfast experienced a relative decrease in their BMI compared with “breakfast-skippers”.
- Those who turned the eating day on its head to make breakfast the biggest meal of the day, did even better.
- But scrapping dinner altogether gave the best results. The study found that the BMI of subjects who had a long overnight fast (of 18 hours or more) decreased when compared even with those who had a medium overnight fast, of between 12 and 17 hours.