It is interesting in a way. It features a bunch of actors whom we are accustomed to seeing on television or in movies. They are the faces of the performing arts, but they are not the real power brokers in the world of images. Those people -- the studio directors, producers, broadcast executives, playwrights and so on -- don't seem particularly interested in sharing their mugs with us. And, if they were interested, nobody much would care.
That's the deal with selfies. The can be revealing on occasion, but but generally they are superficial.
Prominent people have learned that posing for selfies is part of their job description. Below we see the Queen of England being included in a young person's selfie. She's probably as old-fashioned and starchy as a person can be, but she understands that she must roll with the new reality.
Think about it: If Richard III were the king of England today, do you think he'd agree to be the background element in some kid's selfie?
2014
Serious things happened this year. There were wars, revolutions and elections. An Ebola epidemic ravaged several African countries. Two commercial airliners fell out of the sky.
Some of these things are grist for selfies. Here are a few I found while scrolling around the internet.
Ukraine
Several Russian soldiers posted selfies from eastern Ukraine, giving the lie to their country's assertions that its military had nothing to do with the fighting there.
Then, on Ukraine's Independence Day in August, thousands of western Ukrainians massed, many in native costumes, to assert that they liked their country the way it was.
Hong Kong
Hong Kong students gathered by the thousands, for months, to oppose China's failure to live up to its pledge to grant truly open elections. These actions caught the imagination of the world and, perhaps more important, of other Chinese citizens who realized that they, too might prefer full-on democracy.
ISIS
The Islamic State used selfies, among other social media, to recruit volunteers to their merry band. This was effective with at least some credulous young people
Last winter, the Winter Olympic Games were held in Russia, and a sour-faced Vladimir Putin made himself available for several selfies, including one with a Canadian speed skater.
Later in the year, the oil price dropped and the Russian economy dropped like a stone. Putin did not pose for selfies.
Pope Francis
The latest Catholic Pope made himself available, humbly, for occasional selfies. Off camera, he tended to executive matters, taking out after Vatican grandees and careerists.
The New Yorker
This essential magazine carried a cover illustration last summer that was a commentary on how people's absorption with selfies -- with themselves -- causes them to miss what's happening around them.
That's the hazard with these things. Maybe we'll get over ourselves in 2015.
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