Jeremy Irons Says People Need To Drop Standard Of Living

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by Daelyn Fortney May 24, 2010
Categories: Pop Culture
Tags: .

In a recent interview with UK’s Sunday Times, Jeremy Irons discussed a world he sees as unsustainable, wasteful, and overpopulated and his belief that disease will be nature’s way of decreasing our population by one half. Those views, which are obviously shared by many eco-minded individuals, were followed by an unfortunate turn within the interview as Irons seems to point the finger at everyone else other than himself.

The actor who is currently seeking funding for a movie the likes of “An Inconvenient Truth” told the Times, “You walk down the high street and it’s just clothes, clothes, clothes. How many clothes do people need? We’re on a hiding to nothing with that. We’ve always known the City was a bubble. We can’t continue to divide the world between people who live a pie-in-the-sky life and people who are starving.”

Ironically, Irons owns seven homes.

Irons hopes to educate the public about the strain on the globe’s resources and urge people to live less extravagantly. “People must drop their standard of living [so] the wealth can be spread about. There’s a long way to go.”

The article is reminiscent of a recent story Ecorazzi posted about Al Gore, another green campaigner, who admits meat consumption is a contributing factor to climate change and that climate change will eventually cause the end of mankind yet the former Vice President can’t forgo his pork chop. When Jeremy Irons drops his extra homes and lives at a more modest level, maybe his views can be taken more seriously—especially by those of us who don’t own a plethora of dwellings.

  • http://kihope.com kristin

    and that, people, is why things won’t change. because it’s everyone else’s problem.

  • Bencat1000

    bloated excess, imperialist, luxury-loving, greed-ridden, judgemental, not-interested-in-real-change, kind of a guy…..

  • Indigo

    Another celeb saying “Do as I say not as I do”. Annoying.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=566480478 Erin

    Agree with the others. If you’re going to talk the talk then walk the walk!

    I never liked him that much anyway.

    Nothing worse than a hypocrite :(

  • Penny

    He owns 7 houses and Al Gore eats meat?- hypocritical at least!

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhaLMotfvqg&feature=player_embedded Whoever…

    He’s a great actor but honestly I’m sick and tired of these rich and famous people telling us, the average person, to make sacrifices, contribute to charity, help out people in need, etc., when in fact they themselves don’t do much.

    The fact that they use their public image to urge people to act doesn’t take any effort from their part. That’s the least they can do and no one needs to thank them for that.

    If they truly want to change things they should start by changing their habits, their lifestyle, donate their own money, roll up the sleeves and help out on the field and so on…
    It’s very easy and effortless to answer the phone in a help campaign for Haiti or something similar…

    Obviously there are some who actually do what they ‘preach’ but unfortunately they are the minority!

  • EyeDigress

    My first post didn’t show up…

    Why is Ecorazzi accepting advertising $$$ from P&G? They make Iams pet food, which is a current ad that is cycling in the right column. P&G is well known for their animal testing.

    Yes, let’s ALL walk the walk if we are going to talk the talk.

    • http://www.ecorazzi.com Michael d'Estries

      @EyeDigress:

      Thanks for the comment. While we make every effort to make sure our advertisers are in line with the site, there are still some that manage to fly under the radar. This is because we deal with a variety of ad networks and keeping tabs on each can be hectic.

      That being said, I’ll work to see what I can do about removing the P&G Iam’s ad.

      Thanks.

      • Michael Raymer

        Hey Mike,

        Since you’re here, what’s wrong with people like Jeremy Irons owning as many homes as they want? When these homes were built, they provided real people with real jobs. Maintenance of these homes also provides jobs for people. And as long as some kind of environmental sense is held to, what real harm is happening? Plenty of these stars own extensive real estate to go with some of these homes, which they bar hunters from. While I have no problem with legal deer hunting, I also have no problem with them having sanctuaries like these.

        Seriously, this whole finger-pointing thing about how environmentally conscious people AREN’T will always be the albatross around environmentalisms necks. As someone who is (in my own way) an environmentalist, it gets very tiring.

      • EyeDigress

        Thanks, I do hope that an effort is made to not promote a company who tests on animals and is so far from being eco-friendly.

  • http://www.ecorazzi.com Michael d'Estries

    @ Michael Raymer,

    Thanks for the comments.

    I personally agree with Daelyn (the author) that Irons is coming across as hypocritical with his demands for a “less is more” society — while at the same time owning seven homes himself. But it’s more because I’m suspicious of his dedication.

    Look, any other campaign or initiative not linked to the environment would rarely invite such scrutiny into the personal lives of celebrities. Unfortunately, they have to learn that when they back such talk of waste and inefficiency and call for all of us to make sacrifices, it dilutes their voice if there’s no personal show of support.

    You’re absolutely right that Irons has every right to own seven, or even 100 homes. But the guy’s lifestyle is not in click with what he’s selling — particularly this bit:

    >>”The ultimate solution, he says, is for us all to live less decadently — growing our own food and recycling instead of replacing goods: “People must drop their standard of living [so] the wealth can be spread about. There’s a long way to go.”>>

    Now, Irons could go out there and spend the rest of his life committed to the green scene, bringing in millions for important initiatives, and I would care a hell of a lot less about his “seven” homes. But to me this sounds a bit like pontificating and less like a genuine vested passion.

    But I could be wrong. Let’s hope so. Otherwise, this reads like a celebrity straight out of 2006 when green was all the rage and nobody bothered looking in the mirror before speaking.

    BTW, Michael, have you noticed the guy is in favor of repealing the fox hunting ban in the UK?

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=754430220 Remy C.

    Well I’m sure these many homes provide jobs for many people, and he’s paying for their upkeep… He’s a landlord if he owns that much property. Question is, how does he maintain them? Do they each have victory gardens or farms? Did he install solar, wind, LEDs? Many of these working actors, with the gift of photographic memory, don’t know that it also comes at the price of developing a truly analytical mind, capable of generating creative new ideas from the data accumulated, the difference between a parrot, and a prodigy! Some lose their way, like Marlon Brando, who just went off the deep end cause he got to know too much and never got a chance to process it all… Actors tend to be self-aggrandizing, thinking they are right, because might makes right, and actors can be very imposing, authoritative figures. In fact true genius all too often comes with a tremendous baggage of self-doubt, and is very fragile, vulnerable, need nurture. So the best ideas get nipped at the bud because there’s no ring of protection around the individual. I fought against Limits To Growth my entire life, that was my father’s stumbling block. He thought that in 1973, during the oil embargo, that was it, we’d run out of oil… He didn’t give credence to our ability to develop alternatives, and we have, we just haven’t gone far enough yet, and it’s been like pushing a boulder up hill with folks at the top pushing back. What he’s saying, is to the people at the top, he’s saying stop pushing back, which in itself would be a big help.

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