Celebrities and Politics

A little discussion has been hatched in the Pearl Jam thread about political views of celebrities and I posed a question about how everyone feels about these views and whether it affects their choices in music, movies, TV, etc..

My point of view was that I simple don't have the time or energy to figure whether I am allowed to like a song or movie or whatever based on the poltical views of the artists.

So what does everyone think? Does it affect the way you enjoy our country's artist efforts or is it something completely irrelevant? Or maybe somewhere in between?

It's somewhere in between for me. I mean sure it can be annoying sometimes, especially when it seems their intent is more to incite than inspire. Sean Penn comes to mind. But just because they're famous actors or athletes doesn't mean they're dumb and incapable of having sound opinions. That's unfortunately a common assumption. And I like when they poke fun at it, like Alec Baldwin does on 30 Rock.

I don't really let it impact my opinion of their talents. I'd like to think I'm smart enough to listen to what they have to say (should I so choose) and form my opinion regardless of whether I think they have a nice beat to go with it.

All that said, this is one of the greatest SNL skits ever:

oTD7FP1mAYk

As I said in the other thread I really don't care. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and if they want to voice them - fine with me. I don't base my views on what my favorite band or actor thinks.

As I said in the other thread I really don't care. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions and if they want to voice them - fine with me. I don't base my views on what my favorite band or actor thinks.

Yeah I mean our political views overall are quite different. And despite some similarities our musical tastes aren't the same (Tool??). Plus you kind of wanted Steve Mariucci to be our head coach...but you've still got a good fan site :)

Yeah I mean our political views overall are quite different. And despite some similarities our musical tastes aren't the same (Tool??). Plus you kind of wanted Steve Mariucci to be our head coach...but you've still got a good fan site :)

Just good? ;)

Just good? ;)

Anthony Mix would run a better one :)

The only time an entertainer's politics affects my opinion as to their performance is when they overtly tie their performance to politics (Michael Moore anyone??). If you USE the public entertainment forum to further your political agenda, then I will probably not endorse it with my dollars.

And, just to be clear, I have no problem with people expressing opinions through song or performance. If they choose to do so, and I don't agree with the opinion, I will just avoid the piece.

For the most part I don't really care about an actor or musician's personal life or political views unless it truly effects their work. For instance, I think Tom Cruise is nuts but I really like a lot of his movies and I think he's a very good actor so I don't care about the couch jumping, prescription bashing antics.

However, I won't go so far as to say a person couldn't do or say something that is so bad that I can't stand to see/hear them. If I suddenly found out that my favorite actor was a child molesting Nazi I might have a hard time enjoying his work.

Anthony Mix would run a better one :)

damn, you got me there

It has been over 4 years sense I last went to see a movie but its not all politics. Its more that I feel that actors and those celeberties are all really a bunch of snobs and look down on everyday people as second class or not to their level. Just look at who they date, how they act at award shows on the red carpet etc... and allot of them talk politics and really have no clue. On a late night show Ted Dancen (spelling, the guy on cheers) sad that we loose x amount of rain forest everyday. At first I thought wow what a big problem but then I did a little math. I forgot the exact number but using what he said we would have cut down all the woods in the world in like 6 or 7 years. I then thought maybe he just got his numbers mixed up but I read an interview of him and he said the same thing.