I must say, I’ve really had it up to here with Hollywood’s parade of political activist poseurs. It’s time these people decided what they really want to be when they grow up. Not that I’ve ever been particularly interested in what any of them had to say about, well, anything. If I like an actor, admire his or her work, the last thing I generally want is to have my bubble burst by being shown what a totally clueless moron he or she is in real life.
People seem to have a fascination with the private lives of their idols. I’m pretty much the opposite. I’m not going to like a performance or enjoy a movie any better because the actor agrees with my politics, but it does often work the other way around. Like, I now automatically change the channel whenever I see Sean Penn’s face. Do I really want to look at it through an entire feature film ever again?
Or take Martin Sheen. Please. I’ve been a big West Wing fan for quite a while. Except for the fact that I can rarely understand the dialogue unless I record it and play it back at a slower speed, I’ve usually found it to be a bit of entertaining, thought provoking and generally enjoyable television – a real rarity.
But after being exposed to this crap, it’s going to be a little harder to take “President Bartlett†seriously. (By some fortunate coincidence, Sheen had no part in last night’s show, which was dedicated to something completely different and very serious, indeed.)
Obviously, this foolishness isn’t new. Some of us older folks will never forget this little performance by Vanessa Redgrave, for example. But it’s no longer shocking or even interesting. Time to find a new hobby, boys and girls, and spare us your inane pontificating on subjects you clearly lack the capacity to comprehend.
