Watch Game Of Thrones’ Joffrey Blast Celebrity Culture In This Thoughtful University Speech
"Being a faceless member of a mob, I soon realised, is far more comforting than teetering on a brittle pedestal one inch off the ground."
His face might generally evoke the urge to slap it, but Game Of Thrones‘ Joffrey Baratheon — better known to his real world friends as Jack Gleeson — is decidedly more likeable in real life. In November last year, the 21-year-old — who’s currently studying theology and philosophy at Dublin’s Trinity College — made an announcement that he’d be retiring from acting, stating that “the lifestyle that comes with being an actor in a successful TV show isn’t something I gravitate towards.” That’s not the kinda thing you often hear from famous folks, whose life philosophy tends to skew more towards the “Any publicity is good publicity” side of things.
More recently, the actor further touched on his conflicted feelings with celebrity life in a speech at Oxford University titled ‘I Hate Celebrity Culture‘. Donning his best suit, Gleeson delivered a scathing indictment of this “strange new echelon of society”, describing the nutty origins of our modern celebrity culture, its dehumanising effects, and the extent to which the public’s admiration and imitation of celebrities is PRETTY MUCH DESTROYING THE WORLD.
“Since the show’s aired, I feel I’ve been given an insider look to an ever pervasive and yet often mysterious aspect of society, namely our culture of celebrity,” began Gleeson. “Feeling somewhat within but also very much abstracted from modern celebrity culture, that feeling has provoked a lot of reflection within me about my position within the thing. I feel like some of these reflections are somewhat unique in that I’m straddling the cigarette and books of a student, simultaneously with the cocaine and prostitutes of a celebrity.”
“It was an atmosphere from which I instantly wanted to retreat,” he says, reflecting on his newfound fame following Game Of Thrones‘ unanticipated success. “I detested the superficial elevation and commodification of it all, juxtaposed with the grotesque self involvement it would sometimes draw out in me. Being a faceless member of a mob, I soon realised, is far more comforting than teetering on a brittle pedestal one inch off the ground.”
“What’s ironic is that you see celebrities endorsing things like musical tampons and appearing in advertisements for lavender-scented teeth whitener, wielding goods whose sell-by dates ironically outlast there’s,” he continues. “While this form of cannibalistic consumerism doesn’t appear inherently damaging to the consumers themselves, the effect it has can sometimes be profound.”
Watch the full 30-minute speech below, which also includes a sweet Peter Andre gag alongside the epic truth-talking.