Celebrities have long been involved in political activities. From rock legends like Bruce Springsteen to Academy Award winners like Barbara Streisand (West, Orman). The list of celebrities engaging in political activism to political campaigning goes on and on. I personally see no problem in celebrities doing what they do when engaging in these activities. From the readings in "Celebrity Politics," mostly all the celebrities talked about did things that greatly helped many different groups of people and organizations and influenced many others to pay closer attention to issues that concerned society at certain periods of time. Today, celebrities like Shakira, Juanes, and Angelina Jolie continue to engage in social activism to help people around the world.

Although I think it is a good thing that many celebrities take part in activities that call for social change, the idea of celebrity politics is something that may not be as good. The fact that celebrity and politics have become something so similar in today's society may not be conducive to politics as a whole. Yes, politicians are public figures just like celebrities, but when the American public starts caring about politicians lives the way they do about celebrities lives, that leaves little room for caring about actual American policy issues. West and Orman explain this more thoroughly when talking about "gossip journalism." Reporters would speak about governmental issues but quickly moved on to talk about politicians personal lives (West, Orman). This is seen a lot more today with so many news outlets reporting about everything having to do with politicians. Now, it is not surprising to see the face of a very public politician on the cover of magazines and tabloids, but what is reported is nothing more than the superficialities that surround celebrities.