The Met Gala: Eat the Rich

Is the world becoming a dystopian reality?

What is The Met Gala?

For those of you who don't know, The Met Gala is an annual fundraising gala for the benefit of the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute in New York City. It marks the opening of the Costume Institute's annual fashion exhibit. It's known for its extravagant outfits and is attended by celebrities, designers, and other high-profile figures from various industries.

This year's theme was "The Garden of Time", based on a short story by J.G Ballard. It tells the story of an aristocratic marriage whose manor is being surrounded by a mob, so they use the magical flowers of their garden to slow down time, but eventually they ran out of flowers and the people are able to finally reach them. Interesting choice of theme, a bit ironic, isn't it?

Why are people comparing The Met Gala to The Hunger Games?

So, The Met Gala has been a trending topic on social media this past few days. But people aren't talking about who the best dressed was, they're talking about how the event "its not art for art's sake, it's an elaborate display of wealth"

The Hunger Games is a dystopian novel series set in a future world where the country of Panem, comprised of a wealthy Capitol and twelve poorer districts, holds an annual event called the Hunger Games.

The comparison is based on wealthy people representing "The Capitol" and the rest of us being "District 12". While people and the planet are suffering, these celebrities decide to spend insane amounts of money on just meaningless and extremely lavish events, and even though they actually have the platforms and means to make a change, they choose to remain silent and show an insane out of touch attitude.

Is it really just a TikTok sound?

The topic was also spiced up by a video posted by influencer Haley Baylee on TikTok (link) where she was showing off her Met Gala look with a Marie Antoinette (Sofia Coppola, 2006) sound saying, "let them eat cake". This simple TikTok doesn't seem very controversial, but people found it offensive and took it as a way of mocking.

The phrase allegedly comes from Marie Antoinette, it's believed that when she was told that the French peasants were suffering due to a lack of bread, she callously responded with "let them eat cake." The saying is used to demonstrate the ignorance and indifference of the ruling class towards the struggles of the poor and starving.

Even though Haley Baylee has clarified what her intentions were with that video, people still criticize her and claim she knew what she was implying with the sound.

So, do we blame them?

The world is experiencing a time of global crisis; war, hunger, poverty, climate change, are just some of the many difficulties humanity is facing. Should celebrities and people with influence in our world be criticized for not using their platforms and wealth to help? The answer depends on your morals. But in my personal opinion, they should. If you have more means than the average person, then you should use them to help others and to help the world heal.