Snoop Dogg | Photo Credits: Corbis.
This week, Caitlyn Jenner was the first trans woman on the cover of Vanity Fair. She revealed her new chosen name to the world and became the most notable celebrity to ever publicly transition to the gender they identify as.
Obviously, it was a major moment in LGBT history and trans visibility. But did you know that Akon put solar panels in Africa? And that overfishing and overpopulation are still a thing that's happening? Because Snoop Dogg and Connor Cruise think you should be aware of that, and not of some minor celebrity gossip story like "former Olympic athlete and super-wealthy reality star publicly transitions."
The two took to social media to remind us all that more than one thing is happening in the world at once. Because you, and the media, are only capable of caring about one thing at at time, and no more. If people care about Caitlyn Jenner and trans issues, they obviously don't care about anything else, in any way, ever.
Snoop Dogg posted a meme to Instagram with a photo of Akon and a transphobic comment about Jenner's transition.
The text in the photo reads, "Shout out to Akon! He is about to supply 600 million Africans with solar power. Im really upset that this isnt major news but that science project bruce jenner is #society"Snoop captioned the pic, "News flash. @akon tune in to ggn for some real news." (GGN is the rapper's weekly talk show, which in the past has focused on such significant worldly issues as Seth Rogen's upcoming projects and Jamie Foxx's beef with T.I.)
(And for the record, Akon's incredible charitable work did in fact make the news.)
Meanwhile, on Twitter, Tom Cruise's 20-year-old son Connor went on a Twitter rant for the ages, complaining first about Caitlyn Jenner's Arthur Ashe ESPY Award win, and then reminding us all that war and poverty are still in existence, therefore we should stop being happy for a trans person. He has since deleted all the tweets -- a sign you really, truly stand behind your words there, buddy -- but E! Online has the transcript.
"Really?? Winning the AA award for courage?? Ashton is gonna come out and yell PUNK'D," Cruise tweeted. "Don't get me wrong. Do what you feel like doing and don't let anyone stop you. But everyone is taking this way too seriously...There are so many more important things that should be talked about...And SO MANY MORE IMPORTANT PEOPLE that actually deserve an award."
(He declined to suggest any nominees for next year.)
"I'm totally supportive of people staying true to themselves and finding true happiness in whatever way they can," he wrote, possibly putting himself in the running for the ultimate "I'm-supportive-BUT" statement.
"There are just way more things that we as a nation and as a planet should be talking about and working on. ... Like the fact that we are overfishing and in 30 years there will be no more fish. Seems dumb but 85 percent of the worlds protein is fish. That's one of thousands of things that should be of a higher importance than what is currently being gone over. ... Or what about the fact that our planet is becoming less habitable on a daily basis. Yet the population is increasing at an alarming rate ... Or the fact that we all can't even get a long on earth lol. We fight and kill each other. We have war and poverty. This needs to change."
Yes! So true. As a planet, we need to make huge changes to eradicate war and poverty and make sure our children's children's children will have a livable environment. And overfishing -- definitely an issue. We bet Connor hates people like this:
Oh wait, that IS Connor. On a spear-fishing trip a month ago. That he posted about on Twitter and Instagram. Hmm.
Speaking of Instagram, what important issue is Snoop Dogg championing over there today?
Oh.
The two are absolutely correct that people in the world are suffering, and we could all be doing more to raise awareness and make conditions better for our fellow man. But -- like Snoop and Connor -- people are capable of caring about more than one thing at once, including Caitlyn Jenner.