Years ago I remember all of the stink about the Dixie Chicks and how the squirrelly-little lead singer Natalie Maines (who sounds more like the whines of a tortured cat than actual singing) made some remarks about George W and the war in Iraq, and there was a big hoopla that followed. What really struck me, though, wasn't necessarily the comment, but rather, the nutty foot-in-mouth syndrome that resulted when the following happens:
A celebrity/actor/singer makes a nutty comment that has NOTHING to do with their craft!
I don't know why this isn't more common sense. If you're a singer... sing, and be quiet about politics. If you're an actor... act, and shut your mouth about politics. For crying out loud, I pay to see Matt Damon jump from rooftop to rooftop trying to recover his lost memory, not to hear his snooty opinions about politicians. Unless you are a political pundit full-time, well, don't give up your day job to let us know what you think. We don't care! You just come across looking stupid, you alienate people, and your sales go down the toilet! There are seriously actors that I will not support or watch simply because I can't stand political remarks and comments they've made.
A recent example I can think of, oddly, was Dr. Andrew Weil, the bald, bushy-bearded health and nutrition guy. I really used to enjoy him and his teaching, but I was listening to one of his books the other day, and for no reason at all, he starts ranting and railing about stem cell research and how terrible the opposition of the so-called "religious right" is. What the heck? One minute he's giving valid nutritional and scientific data, the next he's spewing out his political views. I seriously stopped listening and I won't listen to anything else he has to say. Why? BECAUSE I WANT TO HEAR HIM TALK ABOUT NUTRITION, NOT HIS INANE POLITICAL VIEWS!!! It's not just because I do believe that stem cells represent the very earliest - and viable - stage of human life, but it's because I didn't get the audio book to listen to him talk about that. I got it to listen to science and nutrition, not pushy appeals for Josef Mengele-style human experimentation on human life and inane political accusations.
(and for the record, I'm NOT a part of any "religious right" - I consider myself more of a "religious removed-from-politics". Politics revolt me, and no one, left or right, fairly represents Christianity, so I'd prefer to separate my beliefs with anything going on in Washington - especially from characters like Sarah Palin. I've studied enough history to know that when Catholics and Anglicans run the State, that it's the genuinely faithful Christians who live peacefully and believe the truth of the Bible that are the most heavily persecuted, tortured and killed. But I'm getting off-topic...)
Dr. Weil - when you read this, do me a favor: talk about vitamins, nutrition, supplements, exercise, probiotics, organic farming, raw milk, clean water, etc. Leave your sophomoric political views out of things. You lost my support. And this goes for all of you singers and actors. To put it another way...
(sing to the melody of Stevie Wonder's most awesome "Higher Ground")
Singers.... keep on singin'
Actors.... keep on actin'
(and keep your politics out of it!)
BTW - I've long wondered what it would look like if Dr. Andrew Weil and butter-cooking woman Paula Deen had a child. Well, via the magic of Photoshop, here you go!
A celebrity/actor/singer makes a nutty comment that has NOTHING to do with their craft!
I don't know why this isn't more common sense. If you're a singer... sing, and be quiet about politics. If you're an actor... act, and shut your mouth about politics. For crying out loud, I pay to see Matt Damon jump from rooftop to rooftop trying to recover his lost memory, not to hear his snooty opinions about politicians. Unless you are a political pundit full-time, well, don't give up your day job to let us know what you think. We don't care! You just come across looking stupid, you alienate people, and your sales go down the toilet! There are seriously actors that I will not support or watch simply because I can't stand political remarks and comments they've made.
A recent example I can think of, oddly, was Dr. Andrew Weil, the bald, bushy-bearded health and nutrition guy. I really used to enjoy him and his teaching, but I was listening to one of his books the other day, and for no reason at all, he starts ranting and railing about stem cell research and how terrible the opposition of the so-called "religious right" is. What the heck? One minute he's giving valid nutritional and scientific data, the next he's spewing out his political views. I seriously stopped listening and I won't listen to anything else he has to say. Why? BECAUSE I WANT TO HEAR HIM TALK ABOUT NUTRITION, NOT HIS INANE POLITICAL VIEWS!!! It's not just because I do believe that stem cells represent the very earliest - and viable - stage of human life, but it's because I didn't get the audio book to listen to him talk about that. I got it to listen to science and nutrition, not pushy appeals for Josef Mengele-style human experimentation on human life and inane political accusations.(and for the record, I'm NOT a part of any "religious right" - I consider myself more of a "religious removed-from-politics". Politics revolt me, and no one, left or right, fairly represents Christianity, so I'd prefer to separate my beliefs with anything going on in Washington - especially from characters like Sarah Palin. I've studied enough history to know that when Catholics and Anglicans run the State, that it's the genuinely faithful Christians who live peacefully and believe the truth of the Bible that are the most heavily persecuted, tortured and killed. But I'm getting off-topic...)
Dr. Weil - when you read this, do me a favor: talk about vitamins, nutrition, supplements, exercise, probiotics, organic farming, raw milk, clean water, etc. Leave your sophomoric political views out of things. You lost my support. And this goes for all of you singers and actors. To put it another way...
(sing to the melody of Stevie Wonder's most awesome "Higher Ground")
Singers.... keep on singin'
Actors.... keep on actin'
(and keep your politics out of it!)
BTW - I've long wondered what it would look like if Dr. Andrew Weil and butter-cooking woman Paula Deen had a child. Well, via the magic of Photoshop, here you go!
 |
No comments:
Post a Comment