I freely admit it. I have a pet peeve. Actually, I have several. But this one involves celebrities and politics.
My pet peeve involves celebrites who use their star power to soapbox about their political beliefs. Now I fully agree that everyone has a right to the good old first amendment -- but my theory is that performers/actors etc. are popular for a reason, (their talents) and when they start to use their positions to bash politics, the president, or promote the leader of Abu Dhabi (I don't care which), I lose my patience. Yes, they're famous ... but does that necessarily make them more enlightened in the area of politics than your average Joe-citizen? So why should I be forced to listen to their impassioned drivel?
Case in point. Monday night, Barbara Streisand performed to a sold-out crowd in New York. During the performance, she apparently took a lengthy break to do a mock comedy routine with a Bush impersonator that apparently got "a bit too long." Now, I understand that there are comedy "bits" in the entertainment industry, but apparently, this was going a bit over the top, as audience members began heckling Streisand from the crowd when the president bashing "bit" got lengthy.
Her response? "Shut the %$#@ up!" Now that's classy. Maybe if you have to resort to cursing at your own fans, it's time to just do what they paid you to do in the first place -- sing -- not soapbox.
8 comments:
I just fell in love with you all over again, Babe!
I think we should take all the actors who have played a military role in the movies, get them together and form their own platoon. Then we'll send them over to Iraq and see how long they last! :)
Hee hee hee! Good one honey! :) We were just chatting about this in the office (When I say "we" I mean the enlightened women of our newsroom of course) and concurred that the "cool" celebrities are the ones that support their causes in quiet, classy ways. Like Angelina Jolie (who gives millions to children's humanitarian organizations) and Bono (crusades against world poverty and has been nominated for the Nobel Prize twice). These stars actually DO something about their beliefs, instead of spouting off at the mouth in uneducated ignorance. Would you all agree?
As I stated my case, with me being one of the enlightened women of course, those in a position to do some good in this world with all their fame and influence should by all means do so. They are role models and many look up to them. Use that fame and fortune to make a difference (Spider-man quote: "With great power comes great responsibility.") Angelina Jolie and Bono are indeed great examples. And talented stars too!
I was just going to chime in with my support for Bono, but I guess great minds think alike! As for Angelina Jolie ... well, I'm a Jennifer Aniston fan, so I have illogical biases against Brad's latest leading lady.
As for Babs...hey, if you can't take criticism, don't criticize!
I totally agree with you on this. My hubby and I were just talking about this the other day. Just because they have an audience doesn't mean we want to hear what they think. I can't really think of any other career where individuals would think they need to share their views with the world. Imagine if my garbage man decided to start spouting off his political views from the truck every Friday morning!
Ha!! That's great Sabra! Too funny! I never thought of it that way!
I was impressed that the online media didn't put ole Barb front and center with her unclassy act... why give the woman more coverage than she deserves? I actually had to go looking for the story online the night you posted this, and only found it on Entertainment news in a sub-section of my SBC browser. What a loser! Good piece on this, Kate!
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