Nepotism is defined by google as “the practice among those with power or influence of favouring relatives, friends, or associates, especially by giving them jobs.” Now, I could talk for days about the number of students at the university who have been recipients of nepotism. Your dad has a doctorate and is a professor at another University, your mum knows someone in the industry who allows your LinkedIn to be connected with hundreds of professionals. Sadly, nepotism is not just in Edinburgh, it is in the wider world and will follow us throughout our careers.
I have recently been enlightened about Brooklyn Beckham and his photography career. In particular, the photograph of an elephant. Is it even an elephant, though? He captioned the work with “elephants in Kenya. So hard to photograph but incredible to see”. See what Brooklyn? I cannot see the elephant. It is caught in the shadows. I mean, how is this man able to publish a book of pictures that are absolute rubbish? Which is currently on sale on amazon selling for just under £37.
As someone who has never had the opportunity to go on safari in Kenya, it would have been nice to see the photos of such. I will stick to the work of David Attenborough. Now, as the oldest child of Posh and Becks, such an iconic couple of the early 2000s, it is unsurprising that he is cashing in on his name. And he is not the only individual to do so.
Lily-Rose Depp is a ‘nepo-baby’. Daughter of Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis, it is unsurprising that Lily-Rose has been enjoying a prosperous career in both acting and modelling. Now Lily-Rose has herself discussed nepotism and does feel it is slightly unfair to tarnish someone with the label as a ‘nepo-baby’ just because their parents are in the industry.
Now I see her point, her career does depend on her work ethic, skills and talent. However, her foot was in the door from conception. Individuals do have to have talent (or really just be conventionally attractive) to be successful, but being born with certain surnames allows you to skip so many steps on the career ladder.
However, I definitely think that there are two different types of nepotism babies. Ones like Brooklyn Beckham, producing photography books with the worst photos possible. But, if you are the child of actors brought up around acting, it is likely that you will be interested in the industry and potentially have talent. Still, it all links back to the fact that their foot is already in the door. But there is a future generation of ‘nepo-babies’. North West, Stormi Webster and Bambi Fury. Sadly, nepotism on a large scale will not be ending any time soon.
Image Credit: “Lily-Rose Depp Cannes 2017 (cropped)v2” by Georges Biard is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
