If We Stop Paying Attention, Maybe They’ll Go Away
Celebrity worship amazes and confounds me. The fact that the media and so-called regular folk actually spend any amount of time pondering the opinions of celebrities sickens and discourages me. During my days working Marketing/Promotions in radio, I met many a celebrity musician and have yet to understand what, beyond the desire to study a musical instrument, separates them from anyone else. Many of them were nice, regular folk while others were utter dicks (actually, it was just Joe Perry from that group; the rest of the guys were cool). What have most of these celebrities done that has earned them the right to air their personal politics on national television? Why is their opinion valued when the opinion of a regular, blue-collar guy from the Midwest is discounted as uneducated and uninformed?
More to the point, why the fuck do we so-called regular folk give a shit what they think? They’re fucking entertainers, nothing else. Remember those pathetic fucktards from High School who lived and breathed the Drama Club? Same fucking people. Don’t get me wrong, I worked the light board in the drama club in High School and count several “drama fags” amongst my friends, but I also know that these overly dramatic people are the last ones I’d trust to give me a straight answer untinted by their eye for the dramatic, let alone allow them to define my opinions for me. I can also state, for a fact, that these dramatic folks are no more intelligent than the average joe on the street and, in fact, are often times the most naive people around. How can anyone honestly think that just because these people entertain us with their music and acting that they are somehow qualified to force their opinions on us merely because they have the media’s attention? And what would make anyone think that their opinions are somehow accurate or valid? Just because they may be richer or prettier than the average person does not make them knowledgeable, intelligent or particularly trustworthy. Allow me to present some data here:
Sean Penn, who I remember as stoner Jeff Spicoli from Fast Times At Ridgemont High, has seen fit to publicly air his views about Iraq and Iran and who recently attempted to rescue folks in NOLA in leaky boat clogged with his entourage. His credentials are astounding. Altough he briefly studied auto mechanics, he skipped college for theater work. I’m sure all his vast experience on sets and in trailers has truly exposed him to the rigors of life most people face. I guess having the money and free time to be able to jet about the world somehow makes his opinion more valuable than those of the folks in the trenches of day-to-day life. Or maybe it was nailing Madonna for a few years that earned him the wisdom to believe that his opinion is so valuable, that he must share it with the world.
How about perpetual spokeswoman, Sally Struthers? Amazingly, she never attended a college either. Yet still, her experience as the voice of Pebbles on the “Pebbles and BamBam Show” really gave her the grounding in economics and African culture to act as shill for the Christian Children’s Fund. I distinctly remember her fat ass demanding my money for starving children in TV ads all during my formative years. Somehow watching a bloated celeb spending a few minutes in the dirt with starving kids before heading back to her hotel room didn’t make much of a positive impression on me. One can only assume that her extremely whiny voice, as detailed on “All In The Family”, was identified by the charity as being one that could annoy people into giving, if only so she’d shut up.
And while I’m at it, let’s look at Scientologist spokesman and cradle-robber (I’m just jealous; I’d love to be nailing some young chick when I’m his age), Tom Cruise. Besides having attended seminary for a year when he was 14, Mr. Cruise’s education never extended beyond high school. Amazing how these people who attempt to lord their knowledge over all us “unclean” folks have very little formal education with which to back up their statements. The very fact that this asshole is an active follower and recruiter of the so-called religion of Scientology, vomited-forth by a B-list Sci-Fi author fer crissakes, only lends credence to my belief that I hardly need take any of his advice on psychology or pharmaceuticals seriously; it helps if you’re not exhibiting signs of insanity before you start trying to convince others that they don’t need therapy.
I guess the point I’m trying to make is: don’t listen to these talking heads or take their opinions seriously just because they happen to be entertainers. Just because they can take direction well or strum a guitar nicely doesn’t mean that they are smarter, more educated, or more in touch with the real world than you or I. Just like with a politician, any political/medical/life advice some entertainer spouts shouldn’t be taken with a grain of salt, it should be taken with an entire salt-lick.
That being said, I would never do anything but defend their right to their opinions and to voice them as they see fit. The hardest part of the First Amendment is allowing those whom you consider utter morons the right to speak freely. I also don’t begrudge the fact that some of these assholes actually think they’re trying to do good for society. If Celine Dion is willing to part with a cool million to help victims of a hurricane, good for her. If Sean Penn really wants to help rescue people, good for him. I just wish they’d shut up about it instead of using it as publicity. The best kind of charity is the kind that’s done anonymously. If your celebrity will prevent you from doing something charitable because the fucking media will turn it into some sort of circus, then just work behind the scenes with your power and money to get your goals accomplished. Then silently slink back to your home in the Hollywood Hills and don’t spout off in the papers and on television about what a great person you are and how much of a fuckstick whatever politician you don’t happen to like may be. Do your bit because you want to help, not because you have some other agenda.
But then again, just like all those uppity fucks back in High School, you people don’t have any fucking clue how to be something less than a spotlight-seeker. Maybe you could do us all a favor and just shut the fuck up. Then again, maybe if we all stopped giving a shit about your fucking opinions, the spotlight would fade and you’d run off to do your fucking jobs where the spotlight is always on and focused on your egos. So let’s do that, people. Let’s finally realize that these people are overpaid drama geeks and that they are no better or more informed than we are. Let them rot in their incestuous little society and when they pop their faces into real-world affairs, let’s just pretend that they’re the children trying to sneak into the adult’s after-dinner discussion; pat them on their heads and send them on their way back to the land of make-believe. If we stop feeding their need for attention, perhaps they’ll go away.
