I honestly wish that celebrities and politicians could remain in their separate spheres without crossing into one another’s “territories.” I feel this way because I believe that celebrities have a dangerous amount of influence in American culture, and our country’s political sentiment has become more and more negative over the years. Darrell M. West indicates just this in the beginning of his novel Celebrity Politics when he says, “we cannot aspire to having a political system of philosopher-kings because today we have the ‘celebrity king and queen’ in our star-ladened politics” (West 1-2). Americans are already blinded by celebrities, which makes it nearly impossible for the public to consider a political figure without also weighing their celebrity status in one way or another.
Thus, I fear that because of Americans’ deep-seated admiration (or possible obsession) with celebrities leads many American citizens to support political causes simply because their favorite superstar is wearing a “Save the Whales” shirt. Cynical though I may be, I find it safe to assume that a majority of celebrities have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to American politics or the economy, and yet stars have a terrifying amount of influence over the American public. I can’t help but worry that celebrities have some sort of ulterior motive when they voice a political opinion or make an appearance at a fundraiser. Yes, celebrities have hearts and care about causes, but there are also celebrities that attend a political event for publicity’s sake and nothing else. A great deal of Hollywood’s A-listers (and even B- and C-list!) do not even have a high school education, and yet there are countless instances in which these men and women (and children) offer their opinion on the current presidential administration or economic crisis or a natural disaster abroad. I can’t help but think that they honestly have no idea what they are talking about in the least.
While I admit that my research skills may not be ideal—I googled “dumb celebrity quotes”—and I found a very fitting example from Mariah Carey. She said, “Whenever I watch TV and see those poor starving kids all over the world, I can't help but cry. I mean I'd love to be skinny like that but not with all those flies and death and stuff” (2spare.com). It is comments like this that make Americans look ignorant since celebrities are so often “voicing their opinions.” I do not have the slightest interest in watching a movie in which Hilary Clinton plays a struggling single mother raising 3 kids, nor do I have any interest in listening to Angelina Jolie’s take on the current crisis in Egypt. And yet, celebrities continually step out of their place on the silver screen and up to the podium in front of government officials and the like.
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