What do you think of political comments made by entertainers?

These days it seems every hollyweird celebraty has an opinion on politics...Charlie Sheen, Rosie Odonnle, Robert DeNiro, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Dixie Chicks, Neil Young, etc, etc. The list goes on and on.
What do you guys think of political comments made by entertainers?
Good?Bad? Indifferent?

I might not agree with their opinions but I will gladly die for their right to say them.

What do you think of political comments made by entertainers?

I don't pay any more attention to them than I do the racket I make when I'm in the bathroom for ten minutes.

It's time to send celebs back to their proper and original soc-ec status: the bottom of the food chain. I damn to hell the people who raised them up out of there.

Thing is, the really smart celebs, Jodie Foster and Paul Newman come to mind, well, you never hear from them. Why is that? Because they know their opinion isn't any more enlightened than your average John Q. Citizen. They don't lord it above the little man's head.

Plus, if you've ever read accounts about what Hollyweird is really like (Julia Phillips' You'll Never Eat Lunch in This Town Again - WOW ) you'll see that celebs don't deserve all the attention they get. Because, frankly, they ain't that smart.

Forgive me California, you can stay, but Hollyweird can fall off the continent and no one will miss it.

DUST HANDS.

FADE.

It depends on where they are making their polical comments, like say at a concert you paid for....I think they should preform the show for which you paid them, and make their polical comments somewhere else.

I don't pay much attention to them either, and I agree with the poster above that they have risen too high....but that's Hollywood. However, the comments that do make me mad....I choose to punish them with my pocket book and not pay to see their shows.

The truely intelligent ones are smart enough to realize that their opinions are no more or less, I suppose, valid than my own, and therefore keep quiet for the most part.

Truely, how many of us really care what Ben Affleck, or Julia Roberts think on a certain issue, whatever it is? Being a 20 million dollar a flick movie star doesn't add anymore validity to their views, then if they were an 8 dollar an hour bagboy at your local quickiemart. To say their opinions are overrated would be accurate.

I think it's an exercise of Free Speech and therefore I support it, whether I agree with them or not.

And recently, I tend to agree with them more than not.

What do you think about it, Chezz?

They can say whatever they want...it's their right. No one is being forced to listen to them, just like no one is forced to listen to the political opinions held by any of us. But like it or not, celebrities and Hollywood have been instrumental in advancing important political and social movements.

[edit on 4/24/2006 by Flinx]

I could really care less what they have to say.
I figure they must think they are more important than the rest of us and feel the need to opine on politics.
Sure, it's their right. I think their time would be better spent making quality entertainment and devoting some of their mega-bucks to the needy.

I have to say in the strongest terms the I agree.
Yes sometimes they say really dumb things, but hey who doesn't?
Why I agree is that at least for a moment they get people who don't care, to think about important issues. If only for a moment. How many people out there just buy the 9/11 story without question, maybe Charlie Sheen got someone out there to think again. Anything that get people thinking, talking and learning about the world and what gos on in it cannot be a bad thing.

I think political comments made by entertainers are as valid as comments made by
politicians about the entertainment industry.

Why not let them speak? When people criticize celebrities for speaking their mind about politics my how they convienently forget about some stars who actually went into government.

After all Ronald Reagan became president, didn't he? He was once a Democrat, but he turned into a Republican. And he was actually president of SAG.

Arnold Schwartzenegger (The other "selected" politician in office), became governor of California.

Other notables:

Pat Paulsen, comedian. Democrat. Ran for President six times.

Former Representative Fred Grandy (R.-Iowa) ('Gopher' on the Love Boat for those old enough to remember). Elected four times to Congress.

Former Senator Fred Dalton Thompson (R.-Tenn), now D.A. Arthur Branch on Law and Order

Former Representative Ben "Cooter" Jones(D.-Ga.) (Was on the original "Dukes of Hazzard" as Cooter; forced out of his seat due to "redistricting")

Albert Dekker, Democrat, Served in the California Legislature from 1944-1946 in the 57th District (Hollywood). However, most know about his questionable demise.

So, it is fine that there is the opinon of not listening to celebrities. However, I listen to those that speak their minds and display intelligence and candor about politics (Like the recently departed Ozzie Davis. May his soul rest in peace.).

However, somebody is listening to the celebrities because they keep voting them into office!







[edit on 25-4-2006 by ceci2006]

Certainly they can speak. But their exposure in the media, TV and other, gives far more weight to their words than they truely deserve IMHO. Not to say they shouldn't speak at all, never that. After all, change would never occur if malcontents are silenced whatever their political leanings.

Originally posted by Chezz
These days it seems every hollyweird celebraty has an opinion on politics...Charlie Sheen, Rosie Odonnle, Robert DeNiro, Sean Penn, Tim Robbins, Dixie Chicks, Neil Young, etc, etc. The list goes on and on.
What do you guys think of political comments made by entertainers?
Good?Bad? Indifferent?

They're americans. They can say whatever they want, have whatever opinion they want. That's what freedom is all about.

Unless you're asking "Should we take away the freedom of speech from celebrities".

But their exposure in the media, TV and other, gives far more weight to their words than they truely deserve IMHO

Maybe the problem isn't the celebrities. Maybe the problem is the average american citizen who cares more about a celeb's sex life than american foreign policy. We give people power by supporting them. This goes for anyone. Politicians, Celebrities, or otherwise.

Plus, You can look back to documents from 50 years ago that said exactly this. That in order to get the average citizen dissociatiated from foreign policy they would get the people hooked on sports, celebrity, and tv. This is all planned, it's nothing new. Germany did it, Rome did it, Russia did it, China did it.



[edit on 28-4-2006 by tsensel]

sadly, they get more air time than they often deserve when they are complaining about the state of affairs. I don't always agree with them but they have that right. What I don't like is when a celebrity starts talking about how this politician or that politician is stupid or dumb. More often than not, the celebrity has a high school diploma and maybe a year or two of college under their belt.

Originally posted by Crakeur What I don't like is when a celebrity starts talking about how this politician or that politician is stupid or dumb. More often than not, the celebrity has a high school diploma and maybe a year or two of college under their belt.

What does having an education have to do with being able to tell if someone is stupid or not.

Most kids can spot a stupid person before they are even out of grammar school.

In case you haven't noticed; Most of the time, Stupid people usually act, speak or look stupid.

You would have to be stupid not to notice stupid people.

As an aside; I know people with Phd.s that are so stupid, I can't believe it and I know others that have little or no education that are brilliant.
Also being articulate is no indication of intelligence either.

neither entertainers nor politicians have a corner on the stupid market, but both should be able to express their stupidity any way they see fit and they usually do.

[edit on 28-4-2006 by whaaa]

They're people with opnions like anyone else. WHy can't they express them? I know if I could get on tv I would let loose with so much stuff I would be sent to Gitmo without even a note being left behind so my family doesn't worry.

Of course, my rant on tv would be links to ATS/PTS and links to websites that list the pedophiles supported by Republicans, pedophiles in office under republican party, ones in jail for being pedophiles(Both elected and appointed, like govs, judges, senators, cabinet members), the list of the 34+ scandals under Bush Admin, the republican from Georgia who admitted to having sex with mules then said it was ok because everyone in Georgia did it, which they disagreed and didn't vote for him in the next election, stuff like that. Actually am thinking of making a little pamplet with all the different links and putting them in peoples mail boxes before the next election

Originally posted by ceci2006
Why not let them speak? When people criticize celebrities for speaking their mind about politics my how they convienently forget about some stars who actually went into government.

After all Ronald Reagan became president, didn't he? He was once a Democrat, but he turned into a Republican. And he was actually president of SAG.

Arnold Schwartzenegger (The other "selected" politician in office), became governor of California.

Other notables:

Pat Paulsen, comedian. Democrat. Ran for President six times.

Former Representative Fred Grandy (R.-Iowa) ('Gopher' on the Love Boat for those old enough to remember). Elected four times to Congress.

Former Senator Fred Dalton Thompson (R.-Tenn), now D.A. Arthur Branch on Law and Order

Former Representative Ben "Cooter" Jones(D.-Ga.) (Was on the original "Dukes of Hazzard" as Cooter; forced out of his seat due to "redistricting")

Albert Dekker, Democrat, Served in the California Legislature from 1944-1946 in the 57th District (Hollywood). However, most know about his questionable demise.

You forgot Sonny Bono (that guy who used to sing with Cher )

And Gov. Jesse Ventura (wrestling entertainer)

There are probaly more than even I can remember.

I actaully remember the Pat Paulson for President campaign.

The bottom line for me is not a person's celebrity status but what they are saying. If it has a ring of truth to it, I listen. If it sounds like bs, I change the channel.

Entertainers, especially comedians seem to really pick at politics though. I found Billy Meier, John Daily, and Steven Cobert to be funny. But there are other comedians that poke fun at politics (Letterman, Leno). They do bring out points though and THEY ARE people just like any one of us, no more or no less - thus having the right to have an opinion, they're just a little more interesting to listen to, if they have the sense backing them up.

tonight's Bill Maher should be a doozey. Ian McKellan and George Clooney.

they are always spouting off in a listenable and humorous way.

They can say whatever they want and often do. Some of them get confused about what they're actually doing though and once I can only see your views when I look at you (Tim Robbins, Dixie Chicks, etc) you have lost all value as an entertainer to me. Ba-bye...