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.
6 comments:
with the greatest of respect he was part of a group who threw things (Allegedly as you say) at a royal vehicle and the same group of people were attacking the vehicle itself, its great now to say whats all the fuss about but ask yourself this the royal protection officers were well within their rights to discharge their firearms if they felt the royals were in immediate danger and in a tense situation like that it could very easily happen would you then if he had been shot by a officer doing his job be saying whats all the fuss about no one got hurt!!
The best point of view that I've read on that event so far.
Agreed.
I agree 100% with this note. More people do more harm than a kid of 21 years(exactly my age too), and receive no punishment, yet a simple protest for the common interest is punished severely.
This is completely outrageous and despotic.
I feel admiration for the Gilmour family, and this sentence for Charlie makes me feel sad for them because none of them deserve it.
I must say that I'm no fellow citizen of theirs, not even in the same continent, yet I stand up by their side, proudly supporting this excellent family.
Cheers from Mexico, from a fellow Gilmour admirer, and a peace seeker.
Excellent piece, and very well balanced. The claim that CG didn't need to go on the demonstration because of his family's wealth is a red herring. If anything he'd be more of a hypocrite if he took the attitude to his friends of "I'm alright, my parents will pay for me". I've known straight people go on gay rights marches - if you believe in a cause, then you turn up and you back it.
Obviously Charlie had done wrong, and there needed to be a punishment in the courts for that. However, is the 16 months in keeping with what he's alleged to have done? Not based on other comparable cases, and I doubt there will be many involved in the demos that will get anything close to this sentence. As such he's been hard done by, and laid out as an example in the public eye. Courts should not hand out sentences based upon who someone's father is - it should be proportionate to the crime committed.
Wonderful piece btw. There is an element of hypocrisy in some of the negative responses towards Charlie Gilmour. Had he not been captured swinging from the Cenotaph, had he not been the son of a famous rock star, he would simply have been one of many angry young students causing mayhem that day. And what good did the peaceful anti-Iraq war march of 2003 achieve anyway? He has simply been made into a scapegoat. Of course he has some growing up to do, he'll probably regret that moment of idiocy for all his life. i just hope that he doesn't leave prison with his fighting spirit broken, 'punished' out of him.
Wonderful piece btw. There is an element of hypocrisy in some of the negative responses towards Charlie Gilmour. Had he not been captured swinging from the Cenotaph, had he not been the son of a famous rock star, he would simply have been one of many angry young students causing mayhem that day. And what good did the peaceful anti-Iraq war march of 2003 achieve anyway? He has simply been made into a scapegoat. Of course he has some growing up to do, he'll probably regret that moment of idiocy for all his life. i just hope that he doesn't leave prison with his fighting spirit broken, 'punished' out of him.
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