celebrity endorsements
I’ve never understood the concept of celebrity endorsements of political causes, or controversial issues. Why should I feel differently about the war in Iraq because Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins are speaking at a rally to end the war? And Jane Fonda? Give me a freakin’ break. These are not people who should be getting mike time at a high profile rally. Give mike time to people who have some credibility, whose lives have been directly affected by the issue at hand. People like Cindy Sheehan, James Webb, or any one of the thousands of vets who have returned home alive from this fiasco. Hell, with what he’s been doing the last year or so with Doonesbury, Garry Trudeau has a lot more credibility than these guys do.
Just because someone makes their living acting or directing movies, or playing professional sports, doesn’t make them any more qualified to tell us what our public policy should be than anyone else. If any of them were speaking from first hand experience, I’d think differently about their opinion. Probably the nadir in this “policy by celebrity” was the response during last year’s elections to Michael J. Fox’s commercials in favor of stem cell research. Opponents of stem cell research promptly trotted out their own celebrities to attack both him and the issue.
Well woop-de-do. Our celebrities can beat up your celebrities.
I think it’s perfectly reasonable that Fox should make a commercial in favor of medical treatments that can potentially treat a disease that is devastating his own health and life. And if any celebrity who is also suffering from Parkinson’s wants to go on TV to oppose stem cell research, then more power to them, let them speak up. But I tend to tune out and ignore celebrity endorsements of any issue when the gist of their argument is that we should listen to their opinion because they’re a celebrity.
thegistofit 