Why I support Charlie Gilmour
If you know me personally you are going to think you know the answer right away. It seems simple enough. His Father is my all time favorite musician whose voice makes me melt and whose guitar playing can heal me every time. His Mother is an author and lyricist who has the ability to take me to another world, inside someone else’s mind to find some truth in humanity. Both are great story tellers, both are masters of their craft, and lets face it neither one is bad to look at. So yes, it is no secret I am a fan of the Gilmour/ Samson clan. That however is not the reason I support Charlie Gilmour and feel that his 16 month sentence is a grave injustice.
No rational soul can argue the fact that on the day of the protests Charlie acted foolishly. That really is not part of the debate. I don’t care how much money and privilege you have or who your parents are. A 21 year old is a 21 year old period. Give me one person that can look back at that age and have no bad decisions and no regrets to reflect on. That being said Charlie has been jailed for what really? They did not charge him for swinging on the Cenotaph, which is what upset people the most to begin with. From my understanding Charlie Gilmour is in jail for kicking a window (but not breaking it), possibly being the person who threw a garbage can at the royal convoy (no one was hurt), and some general stupid behavior. This type of behavior was displayed by hundreds that day. None so far have received the punishment that Charlie Gilmour has. He deserved to be arrested, he deserved to be punished. He did not deserve 16 months behind bars. He was sentenced based on who he was, not what he did. All the prosecution saw was a good looking, rich kid with a famous name. That was all they needed. The press coverage that Gilmour receives based on his name alone will surely scare away your average young student protester from standing up for what they believe in. Charlie Gilmour is being used as a political pawn. This is class war fare rearing its ugly head. The proof can be found in several newspaper article comments and a few twitter cretins who have nothing better to do than harass his mother.
This case is a true example of the downside of celebrity. Charlie’s parents can not be blamed for his actions, yet his sentencing in a way is a punishment of their success. Some question why Gilmour was even protesting to begin with. With all the family’s money why would he even bother to worry about student fees? Could it be that Charlie was standing up for a principle that he believes in? Whether he is directly affected by the matter or not, can’t someone, yes even someone with lots lots of money still have principles? It may be easy for people to forget that this family is in fact quite normal and human. Their privilege simply comes from being really good at their jobs. There truly seems to be a strong resentment for success in this world these days. Will their children have advantages? Of course they will, and that is just the way things are. There are tons of doors open for the Gilmour kids that are not open for your average person. That does not mean that they still don’t have to prove themselves on their own merit. If Charlie did not have the intelligence to be at Cambridge he would not be there. He made a mistake. A mistake for which he will be paying a long time. This is not the kind of payment where money is the currency. No amount of money can heal his shame, or the tears of a mother crying for her son.
I can’t tell you if I agree with Charlie politically. We don’t even live in the same country. I’m sure if we sat down we would agree on some things and not on others. None of that matters anyway. The issue is not of politics but of principle. The fact is, when you take away the ability of a people to stand up and speak their minds, you take away their freedom. Through scare tactics they are using Charlie Gilmour to do just that. Hopefully Charlie will learn from this and not be scared away from standing up in the future. He knows now he’ll have to do it in a different way. Hopefully, even with a target on his back he will turn this in to a positive experience and make a difference in this world.
If you know me personally you are going to think you know the answer right away. It seems simple enough. His Father is my all time favorite musician whose voice makes me melt and whose guitar playing can heal me every time. His Mother is an author and lyricist who has the ability to take me to another world, inside someone else’s mind to find some truth in humanity. Both are great story tellers, both are masters of their craft, and lets face it neither one is bad to look at. So yes, it is no secret I am a fan of the Gilmour/ Samson clan. That however is not the reason I support Charlie Gilmour and feel that his 16 month sentence is a grave injustice.
No rational soul can argue the fact that on the day of the protests Charlie acted foolishly. That really is not part of the debate. I don’t care how much money and privilege you have or who your parents are. A 21 year old is a 21 year old period. Give me one person that can look back at that age and have no bad decisions and no regrets to reflect on. That being said Charlie has been jailed for what really? They did not charge him for swinging on the Cenotaph, which is what upset people the most to begin with. From my understanding Charlie Gilmour is in jail for kicking a window (but not breaking it), possibly being the person who threw a garbage can at the royal convoy (no one was hurt), and some general stupid behavior. This type of behavior was displayed by hundreds that day. None so far have received the punishment that Charlie Gilmour has. He deserved to be arrested, he deserved to be punished. He did not deserve 16 months behind bars. He was sentenced based on who he was, not what he did. All the prosecution saw was a good looking, rich kid with a famous name. That was all they needed. The press coverage that Gilmour receives based on his name alone will surely scare away your average young student protester from standing up for what they believe in. Charlie Gilmour is being used as a political pawn. This is class war fare rearing its ugly head. The proof can be found in several newspaper article comments and a few twitter cretins who have nothing better to do than harass his mother.
This case is a true example of the downside of celebrity. Charlie’s parents can not be blamed for his actions, yet his sentencing in a way is a punishment of their success. Some question why Gilmour was even protesting to begin with. With all the family’s money why would he even bother to worry about student fees? Could it be that Charlie was standing up for a principle that he believes in? Whether he is directly affected by the matter or not, can’t someone, yes even someone with lots lots of money still have principles? It may be easy for people to forget that this family is in fact quite normal and human. Their privilege simply comes from being really good at their jobs. There truly seems to be a strong resentment for success in this world these days. Will their children have advantages? Of course they will, and that is just the way things are. There are tons of doors open for the Gilmour kids that are not open for your average person. That does not mean that they still don’t have to prove themselves on their own merit. If Charlie did not have the intelligence to be at Cambridge he would not be there. He made a mistake. A mistake for which he will be paying a long time. This is not the kind of payment where money is the currency. No amount of money can heal his shame, or the tears of a mother crying for her son.
I can’t tell you if I agree with Charlie politically. We don’t even live in the same country. I’m sure if we sat down we would agree on some things and not on others. None of that matters anyway. The issue is not of politics but of principle. The fact is, when you take away the ability of a people to stand up and speak their minds, you take away their freedom. Through scare tactics they are using Charlie Gilmour to do just that. Hopefully Charlie will learn from this and not be scared away from standing up in the future. He knows now he’ll have to do it in a different way. Hopefully, even with a target on his back he will turn this in to a positive experience and make a difference in this world.
