lindalove

I think it's annoying when celebrities think that whatever thought they have on politics is somehow gospel since they're famous. But sometimes I wonder - do the opinions matter more when the person expressing them is famous and more people will hear them? Anyway, here are a few articles on celebrities in the new right now for their activism or personal views where I think they seem sincere and will do some good.

Brad Pitt on Marriage Equity

Oprah's Angel Network

One Campaign - started by Bono

I do think that sometimes issues will get swept under the rug unless really pretty people talk about them. At the same time, I get annoyed when some celebrities who obviously don't know much about the topic try to sound involved.

I also know that a celebrity getting a horrible illness helps raise awareness (Michael J Fox and Parkinson's; Brooke Shields and PPD). And if that causes people to raise more money for research, that's a positive.

Carno

For the most part I think that celebrities are dumbasses and should be accorded less attention than athletes.

Great. Another celebrity who is raising little hellions. Although his idea never to marry until everyone can is noble I guess.

But I think he's probably just playing the altruism card so that he can easily dump Angelina Jolie when she gets old and tired

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maleficent

brad pitt doesnt seem to be inthe same league as oprah -- brad doesn't want to get married... been there done that ... doesn't want to do it again.. divorce is a pain.. besides how many times has angelina been married -it's not like she's been known to make it work.. it's just easier in the long run...


there are a few celebs, susan sarandon, tim robbins, and barbara streisand who are very vocal on issues that i'm not sure they're close to being experts on - and i wish they'd either follow thru on their promise to leave the country or shut up.. either one would be good...

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hambone

I am torn here. While I don't think just cause a celebrity takes a stand on something that they are more important than the average Joe and should be elevated to a higher moral ground or seen as this amazing person with great convictions, they should still be allowed to hold such an opinion and do all in their power to draw attention to it.

The difference between normal folks like us and the celebrities is that they have a much bigger audience to speak to who are willing to listen. I am only referring to those celebrities with a genuine belief in the cause they appear to back. I think it can definitely be trendy for a celebrity to latch onto a humanitarian effort for publicity. I am only speaking of those who do these things for the same reasons you or I might...to hope to make a difference.

They just happen to have a larger chance of seeing their impact since one move by them can be multiplied over and over by admirers, who may not have correct intentions (or may) but contribute to the cause none the less.

So in short, the opinions themselves do not matter more, they just have a much higher soapbox than the rest. This goes both ways, and they can spread crackpot theories, or really do some good.

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lindalove

I think some celebs do know more about some issues than a regular person. They have money to travel and leisure time to do it in. I'm sure Angelina Jolie knows a heck of a lot more about the plight of third-world people than I do--she's always there.

Cynthetiq

Just because I live in NYC where I see plenty of homeless people, drug addicts, and alcoholics doesn't mean that I know their plight.

When i travel to third world countries and if I stay in 5 star hotels it doesn't bring me any closer to knowing their plight. I'll accept that she's more aware of their plight but unless you've been really impoverished one can never know the plight of poverty.

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filtherton

I think that everybody is entitled to express their opinion, including celebrities.

aberkok

Yeah, a lot of this alledged "I'm a celebrity and therefore my opinion is more important" attitude...I just haven't seen evidence of. They just happen to have a large audience. They are no less entitled to voicing their opinion than anyone on this board, for example.

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spectre

This has always been an annoyance to me, mainly because the celebs that speak out usually aren't experts, and most of the time, they're just talking out of their ass about topics they really know nothing about. Yes, they can reach out to a larger audience and get their attention, but do we always need to hear a celebrity's opinion on every topic?

It reminds me of the joke Dave Chappelle told from a standup act, "I remember right around September 11, Ja Rule was on MTV. 'We got Ja Rule on the phone, let's see what Ja's thoughts are on this tragedy.' Who the fuck cares what Ja Rule thinks at a time like this! This is ridiculous! I don't want to dance! I'm scard to death! I want some answers that Ja Rule might not have right now. You think when bad shit happens to me in the crib I sit there, 'Oh my god this is terrible! Could somebody please find Ja Rule! Get a hold of this motherfucker so I can make sense of all this! Where is Ja!?'"

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filtherton

If being an expert were a prerequisite to express one's opinion then the tfp wouldn't exist. Casual conversation would cease altogether. You couldn't even talk about the weather unless you happened to be a meteorologist.

The problem isn't that celebrities aren't experts. The problem is that people are sheep. Anyone who works in advertising could tell you that.

spectre

They're more than free to express their opinions, it's just when they're calling press conferences and even worse, testifying in front of congress or something along those lines. It is a problem since there are people who are actually qualified to talk about these issues being passed up so that this week's current favorite celeb can get more face time.

Does it work? Sometimes. Other times it ends up just becoming a showcase for how much of a dumbass the celebrity is. If I was in congress and had to listen to some of the crap that is spewed by them without any real knowledge on the subject, it'd kill any chance of my supporting their cause. Which is reason 154,658 that I should never hold a public office.

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lindalove

So... Unless someone has been poor, they're not allowed to talk about poverty? If someone hasn't experienced something, they can't have an opinion on how it should be handled?

longbough

Let's be precise.
The fact that Brad and Angelina are not getting married to protest the lack of provision of gay marriage (...well literally for anybody in love which can include pedophilia, polygamy, bestiality etc) doesn't offend me. It amuses me.

If I decided to do the same thing I should expect most folks to make fun of me too.

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Cynthetiq

Anywhere in my quote above, do I say someone cannot talk about poverty? Does the word TALK appear ANYWHERE in my quote?

Just because I live in an Orthodox Jewish community doesn't mean I know their plight, hardships or their issues. I can be more aware than you or someone who doesn't live or visit the community about issues that affect them, such as Passover Kosher Coca-Cola which is very different than Kosher Coca-Cola.

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Psycho Dad

Damn straight. If you don't like it here, use your celebrity to buy a new life somewhere else. Average people who cling to ever word you say and buy every movie, book, record, DVD you make can't do that.

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Willravel

I feel the same way about celebrities as I do about politicans. Most of them are famous or infamous people that use their fame as a somewhat larger soap box to push their adgenda. It's not good or bad. It just is. George Cloony has some good toughts despite the fact that he is not an expert on foriegn policy. Arnold Swarezzen...eh....Shwartsenn....hmm...Governor Arnold really has absolutely no experience being a governor but he was elected to make those decisions just the same. We vote for politicans based on how well they can get our votes, and we support celebrities based on how much money they can get from us at the box office or the ratings they can get from us on the neilson box. Either way, we sort of democratically choose them to talk out of their asses. I don't think Bush is any more or less qualified to talk about homeless people than Susan Sarandon.

We as a society should put more weight in the words of experts, but we don't. They're not as fun.

warrrreagl

This week, I'm teaching my Music Appreciation class about The Beatles (duh) and this very topic came up. The Beatles were the vanguard of the first wave of popular musicians to get involved in politics, and the music of the 60's became irrevocably linked to the protests and politics of the 60's.

As I told the class, I believe that we paid more attention to celebrities back then because so few of them spoke out. When you saturate the AP wire with every moron's blathering opinion, people stop listening.

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Toaster126

Celeb opinions are (usually) more influential than a normal persons. Why? They have more people listening to them and more time and money. So in that respect, their opinions are definitely more important. That doesn't imply they are more right or knowledgable about anything. It just means they have more influence.

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docbungle

Haha. This is humorous. Celebrities can make movies. They can sing songs. Be the source of tabloid fodder.

But they can never. Ever. Say how they really feel about things. Or use the money they've earned to help causes that they believe are right. That's just....un-american!

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Seaver

Traveling to Asia does not give you any knowledge on how to economically develope a region that does not include environmentally or socially ruining the area. Being driven around in a limo, then getting out into the mud for a picture does not give you an education on 3rd world bank loan structure.

I dont care how much they pretend they care, I dont care how long they stayed in their 5star resort claiming to be roughing it. All celebrities do is raise cash for an issue, and the vast majority of problems in the world can not be solved by throwing money at it.

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longbough

sounds good to me

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"I do believe that, where there is only a choice between cowardice and violence, I would advise violence. Thus when my eldest son asked me what he should have done, had he been present when I was almost fatally assaulted in 1908, whether he should have run away and seen me killed or whether he should have used his physical force which he could and wanted to use, and defended me, I told him that it was his duty to defend me even by using violence." - Mahatma Ghandi

little_tippler

I think this is just bungling everyone who is famous into the same bag and calling them crap.

I think that the opinions of high-profile people are not necessarily more important. But sometimes they have a point and they do good things. I think it's good to take your celebrity and try and do something positive with it. So long as that's what they're trying to do.

I also thing it's unfair to automatically assume that all celebrities are air heads and having nothing minimally intelligent to say. They're still people like the rest of us.

I don't think you have to experience all kinds of suffering first hand to be able to help people in that particular situation. There's a difference between trying to help and have other peoples' voices heard, from a third person point of view, and actually getting up and assuming that you know what those people have gone through and speaking as one of their own, which I think is not what most of the "celebrities" are doing.

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Seaver

Kind of like this douchebag. Flies over to Iraq to be a human shield for Saddam. Opposing the war is one thing, but offering to give your life so a ruthless dictator can live is quite the other.

But he was just trying to help. Me? I'm doing my part by never seeing a movie with him ever again.

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Toaster126

While I appreciate your sentiment, Jolie is not a good target for this rant. Do some looking into it and I think you'll be surprised. Now Sean Pean being a assclown during the Katrina aftermath is much better to make fun of.

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kutulu

Wow, you have them figured out. How do you know what they do when they are out there?

I think that in general people are just jealous that when a celebrity speaks up, they get listened to.

spectre

Are there times when it is warranted for a celebrity to speak out? Yes. Michael J. Fox speaking about Parkinsons at a congressional hearing is perfectly fine by me. He knows about it. I have no problem with it. What I have a problem with are things like the Senate's Environment and Public Works subcommittee on the subject of mountaintop mining. One of the experts brought in to speak about it, that's right, you guessed it, the Backstreet Boys' Kevin Richardson. Yes, you read that correctly. He was invited in front of congress to speak about a topic that was based around the effects about contaminated water from the dirt and rocks that end up in nearby water sources. This is why it annoys me, they bring in a Backstreet Boy when they should be listening to a geologist, what happens as a result is that, yes, the celeb's voice is heard, but the point is marginalized because a celebrity is easy to dismiss since that celebrity is likely to not be an expert, and in a lot of cases, not really even know what the hell they're talking about.

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shakran

First, who says the celebrity thinks his opinion is any more gospel than you think yours is? Just because you get on TV or in the movies does not mean you have to check your opinions at the door.

Let's flip that around. I think it's no more annoying for celebrities to have an opinion than it is for you to have an opinion, because everyone is entitled to have one no matter what their star status.

kutulu

Do you think they just brought him in, listened to him only, and then made a decision? Not everyone who testifies in front of congress is an expert. Furthermore, if all they did was bring in scientists congress would die from boredom and probably not understand half of what they told them. They are politicians, not scientists.

I did a little digging on Richardson and his statement:

It turns out he was born and raised in that area and in addition to that, he started a foundation that works on environmental causes in the area. He may know more than the average person about the issues facing the region. But of course, he was a singer in a shitty boy band so what can he possibly know?

Eweser

My frustration with celebrities and opinions is that followers believe every word they say. I'll admit that I'm not a very wordly person, but I'm not going to believe what someone tells me automatically because that person is famous. Some celebrities do come across as believing their opinion is gospel, but maybe some of the blame should go to the people and their inability/reluctance to think for themselves.

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