The Lady Of Myanmar Deserves More International Fame
Monday, May 11, 2009 at 02:13PM 
While the world may fawn over celebrities like Hannah Montana and Angelina Jolie, someone truly deserving of great fanfare seems to go completely unnoticed.
Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the fairly elected leader of Myanmar, has carried the weight of injustice in a dignified and principled manner. Her longstanding illegal detention has revealed an individual that people can, and should, rightly look to as a heroine; someone worthy of international fame.
Since late April, American theaters have been packed with moviegoers lining up to see "Hannah Montana: The Movie". Girls from six to sixteen have successfully convinced their parents to feed their hard earned dollars into the Disney adolescent money making machine.
The movie focuses on a young girl (Miley Cyrus)who has become so wrapped up in her rock alter ego, Hannah Montana, that she has to return to her Tennessee roots to find her true identity.
Despite the fact that the film has neither substance nor edifying value of any kind, parents of young girls have already spent over $75,000,000 for their children to view the film and there is a good chance that they will spend more.
The movie teaches young girls that being a national celebrity requires one to be an important role model. The unfortunate truth is that in America today young Miley Cyrus needs also to be rock star Hannah Montana to be successful.
Our culture of celebrity worship is also reflected in the result of a recent national survey (Respect America) that ranks Michelle Obama, Kate Winslet, Oprah Winfrey, Queen Latifah, Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Angelina Jolie and Halle Berry as the most admired positive role models for young American girls.
Not to diminish the accomplishments of these women but there is a real world outside of the faux world of Hollywood. Female role models exist for young people to emulate but its up to all of us to highlight their accomplishments and increase their notoriety among our children.
At the same time theatres overflowed with young girls for the film's opening, an obscure news story from across the world was being reported by the Associated Press.
Myanmar's Nobel Peace Prize winning opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, known as "The Lady" by diplomats at the United Nations, fell gravely ill and the Myanmar military junta acted to prevent her from recieving proper medical care.
Ms. Suu Kyi's story is one of the most heroic in the world today. She has been under house arrest in Myanmar for sixteen of the last twenty years and has watched her country become ravaged by the most corrupt and brutal military dictatorship in the world.
Ms. Suu Kyi's crime was her landslide victory in the last national elections that were held in 1990. However, the military never let her take office and she remains under house arrest to this day.
The military junta through its human rights abuses, brutality and economic mismanagement has created a country that is one of the most undeveloped in the world today,and the outlook for the future is poor as well. According to a recent report in the Financial Times, the International Monetary Fund considers Myanmar's financial prospects and potential for development to be "bleak".
As her country remains in economic shambles and as the military continues to repress her fellow citizens, Ms. Suu Kyi continues to follow in the path of Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King by advocating peaceful demonstrations and passive resistance against the junta to advance the cause of basic human rights and democracy in Myanmar.
Entertainers should not be confused with those that dedicate their lives in an attempt to improve the human condition. The media promotes our entertainment and bolsters entertainers to role model staus among our children. But it needs to do more to advance the compelling stories of real life role models that act for society’s gain. The Lady of Myanmar deserves more international fame.
(This article also appears on the website, Asia Chronicle News. Mr. Smith is a contributing author.
For more on Myanmar Read:
The United Nation's Historic Failure In Myanmar
In Myanmar, “Its Not Power That Corrupts, But Fear”
Reader Comments