Chrissy Teigen has once again shown that she has her priorities in order. Everyone on Twitter has been buzzing about the Ryan Lochte debacle in Rio, and Teigen decided that she should comment as well. But, unlike others who have been making memes and stating opinions over whether they think Lochte is lying or not, Chrissy decided to say something else—something that proves just how little the entire situation surrounding Lochte matters in the grand scheme. From her Twitter:
“I personally cannot bring myself to give two sh*ts about Ryan Lochte’s gas station fight, and this is why,” she tweeted along with a link to a New York Times article about the 5 year old Syrian boy Omran Daqneesh, who was pulled alive from rubble after an airstrike in Aleppo this past Wednesday. The heartbreaking photograph accompanying the photograph shows Omran covered in dust and bleeding, to the point where he doesn’t even look real. This is the news that Teigen wants the world to focus on: things that we, as human beings, should actually care about.
She later added:
“I’m not saying we have to care about every issue at once, or we must pick and choose what to bring to light but god damn, who the f*ck cares…Stupid as sh*t gas station international incident, nope. Don’t care.”
She also voiced her opinion on the memes created around the incident, which, as memes do, have quickly blown out of proportion. Though Teigen admitted they were funny at first, she stated that they were significantly less so after she saw the photo of Omran Daqneesh. She also stated,
“No, I do not think I’m better than you because I don’t find it quite as entertaining. I just hate what we care about sometimes. We. Me too.”
Chrissy Teigen makes a great point, because while the international incident is actually important, it isn’t being shown in a way that actually matters—it’s being presented as a joke. As a New York Times article stated,
“This incident has caused so much damage to Rio’s brand abroad that I think Brazilians deserve a clear, consistent account of what happened. [The entire episode] has tapped into one of Brazilians’ biggest pet peeves—gringos who treat their country like a third-rate Spring Break destination where you can lie to cops and get away with it.”
Along with the Zika virus, reports of sewage in the water, and reports of crime, this incident could contribute to giving Brazil a bad reputation, which has serious consequences that affect the people who live there. Teigen is right that this incident shouldn’t be a joke. We should be paying attention to children like Omran Daqneesh and try to find a way to prevent another airstrike from taking more innocent lives. But we should also be aware of the jokes we do make, and the affect they may have, particularly on a global scale.