I must admit that the response caught me by surprise. Most of the comments tended to follow one or both of these themes:
- How dare you suggest that the free-speech rights of Hollywood actors should be suppressed!
- The free-speech rights of Christian leaders should be suppressed.
Multiple misinterpretations later, I decided it was time to give it one more try. I shall attempt to lay out my view as a logical sequence of statements. Please make sure you understand each statement as I meant it before proceeding to the next.
- Of course entertainers enjoy the same free-speech rights that every American is supposed to have.
- I do not get upset when entertainers exercise this right, even when I disagree with the view being expressed (which is most of the time).
- [Pay careful attention to this one, because it is the foundation of the point I was trying to make] Our culture grants far more weight to the political opinions of entertainers than those opinions would receive on their own merits.
- [This one is important as well] Most entertainers are fully aware of the preceding point, and make every attempt to use their celebrity to influence political outcomes. "Support this policy, not because I've appealed to your mind with a series of persuasive arguments, but because you like my acting/singing/whatever."
- Politicians are all too happy to exploit entertainers' willingness to leverage their celebrity, and thus we're treated to the spectacle of entertainers headlining political rallies (which is fine) or being invited to give testimony to starry-eyed congressfolks on some bill that's being debated (which is silly, unless the entertainer actually is an acknowledged authority on the topic of debate).
- [And here we finally get to Sam Elliott] So many entertainers follow this course that it's surprising (and in my opinion refreshing) to come across one who declines to play the game.
- We say that "all [people] are created equal," but the reality is that in our celebrity-obsessed culture, the political opinions of entertainers are somehow "more equal" than yours or mine.
Okay, I'm ready for some to shift the attention away from entertainers to some other disliked demographic group again. Whatever.
Whether or not you agree with my seven statements above or not, please understand that I was trying to make a cultural observation, not a political one.
8 comments:
Here's a guess that Sam Elliott's political leanings encompass just a little bit of both the two major political parties in the United States - he strikes me as liberal in all the right places & conservative in all the right places - but mostly he's made up of what he himself has experienced to be fair & good for the majority of people. & that's prolly how he votes. Count me as another one as appreciates his silence in the matter. So often when a celebrity opens up as to their political beliefs, one becomes appallingly aware of how vapid & meaningless their thoughts really are. Although I doubt such would be the case with my hero, Sam Elliott, I admire & respect him all the more for sticking to his profession as opposed to thinking his profession & popularity serve as a more viable soapbox than your average person's. Long live Sam Elliott.
Thank you, Lucky from Wyoming! You made my day.
I know this is an old post, but I just googled this question and your blog discussion came up. I am questioning how one determines who is entitled to have a say and who isn't. Your basic belief seems to be that actors only gain attention through their fame from acting and, therefore, should not exploit that to have their views heard above the roar of others who are not as celebrated. I understand the feeling, but I disagree with your conclusion. No one is listened to unles they have gained a platform from which to be heard and people want to listen to what they have to say. I presume you believe it's okay for Sam Elliott to tell me to eat more beef of buy Dodge trucks, and I should do so because he suggested it, but if he suggests what candidate or charity to support, his voice should not have as much authority. I used to feel this way too. Then I realized that I was working to gain that fame in what I did so that I could step up on that platform and be heard. Every politician, pundit, blogger, newspaper, etc. has done the same. The fact of the matter is, many of our actors, those well known and not, are very intelligent. Some have degrees in neuro-physics. Others have graduated with other than acting or sports communication degrees from places like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and MIT, to name a few. Some have been presidents, governors, lawyers, legislators, congresspersons, senators, and ambassadors, and many have done quite well in those positions. The conservatives most beloved politician, Ronal Reagan, was nothing more than a second tier actor, whose only political experience before becoming governor was in the Screen Actors Guild. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and entitled to be heard to the extent people want to listen to them. merely because they are entertainers and have gained their platforms through that medium is no reason to exclude their voices and pooh-pooh their opinions on things, just because you disagree with them.
Thanks for your comments, Paladin51. I've pretty much given up trying to make the point that in an ideal world, arguments would be evaluated on their own merits, with no points added or deducted on account of who's making the argument.
We live in the real world, not in an ideal world, though. In the real world, it seems that people exercise their critical thinking skills in inverse proportion to how much they like the person they're listening to.
This is not a good thing, but human nature being what it is, there appears to be no cure. Alas.
There... I've restated my thesis in a different way. Time to sit back and watch as person after person misinterprets me yet again. Not being famous myself, I have no ability to disable my readers' critical thinking skills. :-)
Sam Elliott is wondeful and I would love to hear his opinions on many topics. Being in Alaska I would likely never meet him nor be able to find out those opinions. If he ever does decide to express is beleifs I will be all ears.
Free speech is something your beloved government promises you. I doubt you have any reason to believe them. Nobody but statists are going claim you have any rights you cannot protect yourself. You ought to know by now your rights can only be protected by you. If you can't protect them, you don't have them.
Sam is my all Time favorite Actor. I Wonder if he is doing the Voice on Trumps ad about Biden being to weak to run the Country.
Hello, I'm the FNG here but I would like to inject my thoughts on the subject here. I enjoy observing the programs Mr. Sam Elliot is involved in. I reckon I kind of value his opinion on issues also. I recently heard him narrate a Biden campaign video. It sounded well with the scenes presented in the video, so it is what it is. I now regress to a political statement made by a female actress of fame mainly because of her father's credits to the profession. Known to the world as Ms. Hanoi Jane a handle that will forever hang around her neck, especially when what she did. Initiated doubts of America's presence in Nam as being unnecessary. Which instigated further violent protests by America's youth of the time proclaiming American soldiers were over there blatantly killing innocent bystanders civilian children and such. Yes, it was a controversial confrontation of cultural entities. When peace was being preached by certain celebrity figures of the time. Collapsing the American idealogy of the time that America leaving Vietnam as victors. Instead of leaving the confrontation as America did like whipped pups with the proverbial tails between our legs. Fast forward to the present Mr. Elliot's political affiliations should be is alone and not for public consensus. TANGO YANKEE
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