When Celebrities Attack! (And Offer Their Opinions)

“Don’t fear the terrorists.  They’re mothers and fathers.” ~ Rosie O'Donnell

Some things in life are absolutely, unquestionably predictable: the changing of the seasons, the return of the swallows to Mission San Juan Capistrano, another Lindsay Lohan arrest, and the insatiable appetite of the American mass media for all things “celebrity.”  

Seriously, now that we find ourselves smack in the midst of another election year, it is only a matter of time before the beautiful people, the rich and famous “stars” of stage and screen appear on the airwaves to offer us their gems of political wisdom, often drawn from years of experience sitting on movie sets and demanding multi-million dollar paydays from the very people that many of them decry.

Now, I never intended to write about this subject until one cloudy morning, when I popped open my laptop to catch up on the news of the world…. 

There she was, in all her hypocritical glory ... actress Anne Hathaway,  marching in New York City with the “Occupy Wall Street“ crowd, resplendent in her designer clothes, her face covered with a fashionable wool, tartan scarf, undoubtedly created just for her by some evil, sinister corporate entity. 

Ahhh, the poor, suffering member of the "99%." Through her efforts, Ms. Hathaway is worth over $58 million.  She gladly accepts millions from the big, evil Hollywood film corporations, she apparently hates Wall Street (she must keep all that $$$ in her mattress), and she rents her apartment in NY for $65,000 per MONTH. Yet the back of the sign she carried read, "Never Trust Millionaires."

Yup, Ms. Hathaway’s level of disconnect from reality was astounding.  To quote Martin Luther King, Jr., "Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

Here’s a well reasoned comment from a fine, upstanding entertainer:

“Our country is founded on a sham; our forefathers were slave-owning rich white guys who wanted it their way.  So when I see the American flag, I go, ‘Oh my God, you’re insulting me.’  That you can have a gay parade on Christopher Street in New York, with naked men and women on a float cheering….that’s what makes my heart swell.  Not the flag, but a gay naked man or woman burning the flag.  I get choked up with pride.” ~Janeane Garofalo

Someone please remind the good folks at City Hall not to invite Ms. Garofalo to be the keynote speaker at the next Rancho Santa Margarita 9/11 Patriot Day event.

Oh, don’t despair.  Insightful celebrity political commentary also comes from the other end of the political spectrum.  Referencing the Bush administration's policies regarding the war in Iraq:

“Honestly, I think we should just trust our President in every decision he makes and just support that, you know, and be faithful in what happens.” ~Britney Spears 

Or this insightful, racially insensitive gem:

“I’m not happy with the way things are.  I pray for President Obama every single day.  But tell you what.  Homey made this bed, now he’s got to lay in it.” ~Stephen Baldwin

To be fair, the “celebrity elite” have every right to express their political opinions publicly, just like the rest of us.  Indeed, my wife and I were fortunate to attend a Don Henley concert years ago, during which Mr. Henley played approximately one song for every ten minutes of political pontification.  On the way home, I’m not sure we could remember one song he played, but we sure got the point regarding his political beliefs and how he felt about those with whom he disagreed. 

We didn’t see a Don Henley concert; we paid about $150 to attend a Don Henley political lecture, with the occasional song interspersed here and there. After that, I never put another dime in Mr. Henley's pocket.  In my mind, if celebrities choose a public forum to express their political beliefs, then they should not object when those who might not have access to the spotlight choose to express their disagreement by not supporting the celebrity’s films, CD sales or concert tours.

Johnny Depp is known to be quite the liberal.  Robert Downey, Jr. leans to the right.  “Pirates of the Caribbean v. Sherlock Holmes.”  When these stars voice their political opinions, is anyone really listening?  In the deep recesses of our collective consciousness, do these opinions carry any weight on election day? 

“I truly believe that people like myself, who are in a position of entertainers in the limelight, should keep their mouth shut on politics. Because at the end of the day, I'm good at writing songs and singing. What I'm not educated in is the field of political science. And so for me to be sharing my views and influencing people of who I think they should be voting for ... I think would be very irresponsible on my part.” ~Kid Rock

Honestly, do the opinions of any of these folks influence you in any way as to whom you support or how you vote?

          Allegedly Leans Left                            Allegedly Leans Right

               Bruce Springsteen                                Bruce Willis

               Susan Sarandon                                   Robert Downey, Jr.

               Rosie O'Donnell                                    Carrie Underwood

               Beyonce                                               Adam Sandler

               Matt Damon                                         Kid Rock

               Kanye West                                          50 Cent

               Sean Penn                                            Gary Sinise

               Tim Robbins                                         Sylvester Stallone

               Johnny Depp                                         Alice Cooper 

               Sheryl Crow                                          Kelsey Grammer

               Don Henley                                           LL Cool J

               Charlize Theron                                     Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

               Owen Wilson                                         Vince Vaughn

               Ashton Kutcher                                      Jon Cryer

               Alec Baldwin                                          Tom Selleck

               Cher                                                      Gene Simmons

               Lindsay Lohan                                        Denzel Washington

               Whoopi Goldberg                                    Cindy Crawford

“America is dumb.  It’s like a dumb puppy that has big teeth that can bite and hurt you…” ~Johnny Depp

Clearly, the notoriety of some celebrities is valuable; if not, they wouldn’t be paid millions of dollars to endorse a never ending stream of products throughout the world.  But one wonders if that influence carries over to politics. 

Many years ago, I was working as a recording engineer in Los Angeles.  Late one night, I was introduced to a gentleman who was at the time sprawled on the carpeted hallways of Capitol Records. This skinny, shirtless, disheveled soul was introduced to me as “Vince,“ but I soon learned that this was the then very famous Alice Cooper, sans black mascara and fake blood.  Now, for those too young to remember, Mr. Cooper (“Vince” to his really good friends who only met him on one occasion) was a rock star in the 1970’s who subsequently became a real estate developer, restaurateur, author, born again Christian, and a seven handicap golfer.  Oh, and he’s still a rock star. 

The wisdom of Alice:

“If you’re listening to a rock star in order to get your voting information on who to vote for, you’re a bigger moron than they are.” ~Alice Cooper

Well.  That sums things up pretty well!  I must admit, there is something somewhat reassuring about a guy like Alice Cooper being the unexpected voice of reason.  

In the words of blogging pioneer Arthur Chrenkoff, “you have to be worried when a guy with too much mascara and a snake wrapped around his neck has a keener grasp of basic new millennium geopolitics than so many leading lights of the Democratic Party.”

So, what do you think?  

Do the opinions, endorsements and political commentary of celebrities influence your vote?

If so, who influences you and why?