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| Celebrities And Politics: Idiot Savants Or Just Plain Idiots? |
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| I don't know about you, but I never tire of hearing celebrities make stupid political statements. Whether it be a musician, an actor or a director, hearing the often ill thought out and horribly formulated arguments that Hollywood's elite frequently utter always brings a tear to my eye and a flutter to my heart. You see, it is totally clear that celebrities only know as much as they want to know about whatever political topic that they dare to open their mouths about, and when they do, hilarious gaffes are expected to occur. |
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| One great place to hear these celebrity faux-pas is HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher," which is basically an uncensored version of Maher's cancelled ABC show, "Politically Incorrect," where he talks politics with a panel of celebrity and pop-culture icons. Last Friday's episode starred funnyman Richard Belzer, who is currently in NBC's "Law & Order: S.V.U.," and is a frequent Republican basher. After making an absurd comment that not all wars are rooted in politics, he was asked by the panel to name a war that was not politically motivated. Incredulously, Belzer replied, "World War II." Unable to elaborate on his non-sequitor, he hunkered back down into the depths of his chair. More importantly, however, now it is clear to me why the Belz is a comedian: with comments like those, there wasn't a dry-eye in the house! |
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| Sean Penn is no stranger to political comments, and while the following was not quite a political statement, it really demonstrates Penn's lack of humor and need to kiss ass for acceptance in Hollywood. At the Academy Awards in January, host Chris Rock made a joke about the seemingly omniscient actor Jude Law. "Who is Jude Law," Rock opined in an obviously sarcastic lead-in: "Why is he in every movie I have seen in the last four years. He's in everything!" This jibe apparently angered Penn, who when presenting the Best Actress award clarified that Law is one of the "finest actors" of our time. In a related story, Penn will be starring alongside Law in an as-yet-untitled film where he is set to play Jude's bitch. Spicoli, what happened to you? |
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| Even rapper (read "wigger") Eminem has gotten in on the uttering of silly political statements. His latest release, "Encore," got loads of attention for a song entitled "Mosh," where Marshall Mathers takes aim at President George W. Bush, the war in Iraq and other pressing issues. In one line, Eminem states the following gem: "Let the President answer on high anarchy / Strap him with an AK-47, let him go / Fight his own war / Let him impress daddy that way / No more blood for oil, we got our battles to fight on our own soil." Aside from the tired and oft-used "this is Bush's daddy's war" argument, one particular assertion in that stanza is quite ponderous: if this war really was all about oil, then why are oil prices skyrocketing? Furthermore, we do have battles to fight on our own soil, but the last time I checked, terrorists aren't going to wait for us to be ready for them; they'll attack us whenever they want. With the recent successes in Iraq and in surrounding countries that are now denouncing terrorism in droves and even considering democracy, Eminem's asinine comments now seem to be more fallacious than ever. |
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| Here's a suggestion to celebrities: why don't you leave the political talk to professionals like myself? When celebrities make statements that are nonsensical and just plain wrong, they are, in actuality, screwing themselves by alienating fans that might disagree with them. Apparently they don't see the danger in that. On second thought, celebrities, please, keep making imbecilic political statements; after all, Americans do need continuous amusement. |
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Copyright Gerry Wachovsky, 2005, and Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved. |
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Letters To The Editor Regarding This Article: |
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Back |
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Racist Writer Should Resign From Newspaper |
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(from April 5, 2005) |
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Keep Celebrities From Making Political Speeches |
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(from April 14, 2005) |
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