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Exit, Stage Left ... Please!
Free Republic ^ | Oct. 16, 2002 | IronJack

Posted on 10/16/2002 9:15:24 AM PDT by IronJack

Now that war with Iraq looms large, the Left’s merry band of celebrity fellow travelers is out like a swarm of moths on a klieg light, disparaging the administration, casting aspersions on the military, and feigning grievous umbrage that makes Hamlet look positively upbeat. So far, we’ve heard from the regular cast: Baldwin, Sheen, Streisand, Michael Moore, Julia Roberts. Now Harry Belafonte, another dusty dummy from the crypt of irrelevance, has added his foreign policy insights, which are as useful as the Donner Party’s road map.

This crew is what you get when you drag a copy of the Communist Manifesto through Beverly Hills. As usual, the fawning media, in whom a healthy skepticism is an asset, are stumbling over themselves to give these mannequins a credibility they ill deserve. What makes anyone think that the opinions of these Howlywood harlequins is of any greater weight than that of Gus down at the Laser Lube?

First of all, I’m not sure it takes much talent to be an actor. I know that defies the conventional wisdom, which holds people like Marlon Brando and Robert DeNiro as mortal gods. But frankly I don’t see what talent is required to mumble in the dark or arch an eyebrow or spit a few epithets. Most movies are made in the direction and the editing anyway; the actors are just one tiny part of the production, albeit the most visible one.

But even if I concede that acting is a gift, pray tell how does that endowment extend into every other field of human endeavor? Why does Alec Baldwin’s view on the war with Iraq carry any authority? The fact that Alec Baldwin has occasionally played a military officer or a CIA agent does not mean that Alec Baldwin knows the Manual of Arms or cryptography. I played a Roman centurion in my junior high Christmas play. Does that mean I’m entitled to share in Caesar’s riches? Did “Tootsie” make Dustin Hoffman a transvestite?

We’re told that actors “research” their roles, and that lends them a perspective the ordinary person might not have. Yes, if that average person is sweat-glued to his Lazy Boy and never reads a book or watches anything more elevating than “World’s Worst Lawns.” The research actors do could be done by any citizen with a PC and Google. My guess is it pales beside the investigations conducted by our intelligence community. I don’t suspect Baldwin has access to the same satellite observations the CIA does.

There are few earthly glories more fleeting than those of the footlight. Monday’s Oscar winner could find himself making balloon animals by Friday, and his leading lady could be turning tricks outside the bus station for the price of a tuna sandwich. Do you see Leonardo DiCaprio headlining anywhere these days? Wasn’t that Kim Basinger selling Abdominizers at the mall last weekend? That leads me to believe that, whatever the degree of “art” required in the movie business, it has little in it that endures. I’m not sure what the value of transient talent is, but a virtue that ephemeral hardly commands much respect.

Besides, the lifestyle of these buffoons makes their opinions irrelevant. What matter is the ranting of a spoiled diva who awakens from a drug-induced slumber at 3 in the afternoon, to “breakfast” on hummingbird eggs and Malaysian kelp squeezin’s? Then it’s off to two hours with a “personal trainer” who ensures that exercise addresses those flaws the surgeon can’t. A quick “brunch” with her business agent – you know, the guy who pays all her bills for her – and then it’s on to a fitting at X Pensivo’s, whose fall footwear line costs more than a working man’s house. Back to the mansion to “read some scripts,” which basically involves having the maid read them for her. Her dope dealer drops by with the week’s Happy Sample, which she’ll need later on over at the Baldwins’ Mazola party. And the caviar delivery is waiting out by the boathouse.

Oh yeah, her press agent called. Sally Jesse has her booked for an interview next Tuesday in New York. The limo will take her to the airport at 4; the jet leaves at 5. The subject of the interview is the Republicans’ cavalier attitude toward poverty.

The view from inside the cashmere castles of the insulated jet set is a little different than that from underneath a broken-down minivan. Aside from politicians, there probably isn’t a group of people on earth more out of touch with crap-stained reality than these pampered posers. Legend has it that Barbara Streisand has rose petals sprinkled into her toilet water. Problems are what “the help” has. Babs’ biggest worry is that her farts won’t be perfumed.

Lest we suspect that their howling is indeed driven by some humanitarian motive, I feel compelled to point out that this same crowd seemed oddly silent when their poster child, Bill Clinton, was bombing aspirin factories in Somalia and refugee convoys in Kosovo. Apparently, the only bad war is a Republican war, one that is justified by the cold-blooded murders of 4,000 of our countrymen. If it’s to divert attention from a Democratic sex scandal or other Capital Hill hijinks, war is just what the script calls for. So aside from being vacuous, their criticisms are duplicitous.

The tactic here is obvious. Since America is terrified of anonymity, any association with the glitterati, regardless of how tenuous, accords the empty masses a brief illumination they would otherwise lack. They can become one – at least ideologically – with someone “important.” Perhaps during the association, they’ll get a chance to actually touch the hem of one of their gods’ bathrobes. No one dares question Michael Moore because he’s important. Peasants don’t upbraid their betters. If he says war with Iraq is wrong, then by Sam Goldwyn, it is wrong! Never mind the informed opinions of military experts and intelligence agents who point to a growing menace from the increasingly unstable Iraqi regime. A disheveled tugboat of a movie maker says we have no business in Iraq. That ought to be enough to turn those ships around and ground those airplanes!

The tactic is visibility. If Gus stands on a soapbox and rails against Saddam Hussein, a handful of passers-by might hear a couple of words over the street noise. But if Rosie O’Donnell belches some platitude about giving peace a chance, she is on every talk show from coast to coast, and every magazine in the checkout line. Would you rather advertise your product on a kid’s party balloon or the Goodyear blimp? Visibility sells.

Which is fine if you form your opinion from talk shows and tabloid newspapers, and are willing to trust the opinions of ill-informed blowhards. But if you want the facts, and want to make your judgment based on evidence a bit more solid, visibility isn’t enough. It doesn’t really matter if some silicone starlet raves on about an issue any more than it matters if a star football player endorses a certain brand of colored water. The product – and the issue – speak for themselves. And frankly, I don’t relish the notion of the Screen Actor’s Guild vetoing American foreign policy.

These folks are experts on one thing: making themselves look like something they’re not. Lying is their stock in trade, harmless enough when employed to entertain the masses at their modern-day Punch and Judy shows. But their paltry calling becomes downright dangerous when it creates the illusion of knowledge in heads so hollow they whistle in a strong wind.

One thing every good actor knows is when it’s time to leave the stage. There’s nothing more pathetic than one whose talent is so meager all he can do is play the Fool.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: actors; hollywoodbanality
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I've never understood the credibility assigned to people whose abilities don't justify it. Nowhere is this truer than in the front men for the Socialist Left. Maybe it's time we reserved our admiration for someone more deserving, such as the countless men and women who make our society work on a day-to-day basis. Or the khaki-clad heros who leave their homes to go in harm's way. Heck, the guy who sweeps up at the Barber College deserves more respect than toney phonies with perfumed toilet water.
1 posted on 10/16/2002 9:15:24 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: IronJack
Keep your entertainment day jobs, stay out of politics....
2 posted on 10/16/2002 9:19:08 AM PDT by hfartalot
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To: hfartalot
Keep your entertainment day jobs

Doing card tricks at kids' parties ...

3 posted on 10/16/2002 9:21:04 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: IronJack
here's a link to a site who equaly loathes these Hollywood morons. http://www.nomoreafleck.com
4 posted on 10/16/2002 9:47:58 AM PDT by Moleman
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To: IronJack
That was good. Give us more.
5 posted on 10/16/2002 9:56:08 AM PDT by hang 'em
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To: Moleman
I get "Page cannot be displayed."
6 posted on 10/16/2002 9:59:45 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: hang 'em
That was good. Give us more.

Thanks. I've got a few more simmering in the pot.

7 posted on 10/16/2002 10:01:39 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: IronJack
Sorry, try this!!
http://www.nomoreaffleck.com/

8 posted on 10/16/2002 10:02:10 AM PDT by Moleman
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To: IronJack
Hearty BUMP for "IronJack"!

Wordsmith extraordinaire!

9 posted on 10/16/2002 10:07:05 AM PDT by N. Theknow
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To: Moleman
HAHAH! Great site! I highly recommend it. In fact, I offered this piece to the webmaster.
10 posted on 10/16/2002 10:23:54 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: N. Theknow
Wordsmith extraordinaire!

Thanks for the compliment. But with these phony posers, the stuff writes itself.

11 posted on 10/16/2002 10:25:02 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: IronJack
I've always suspected the reason why so many in Hollywood lean towards socialism is due simply to the shallow nature and lack of intelligence of most actors and actresses. Once they get an initial amount of fame, their obsessive need to be recognized and revered does not allow them to be satisfied by being know simply for their acting. They want to be thought of as smart and compassionate too. Since socialism is much easier to understand, despite its complicated rhetoric and terminology, than the concept of a free market economics, the dumb, shallow Hollywood actor will naturally gravitate towards that line of thinking (much like naive college kids). It's always been my contention that it more important to these people to be famous than rich. That is why, despite having to give up a lot of their wealth under socialism, they would support it because they would still have a privileged position in society.

PS- Excellent article.
12 posted on 10/16/2002 10:28:49 AM PDT by Welsh Rabbit
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To: IronJack
Well done my friend! Well done indeed!

Glad to see you back!

13 posted on 10/16/2002 10:31:22 AM PDT by Bigun
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To: IronJack
Glad you like it!!
14 posted on 10/16/2002 10:31:27 AM PDT by Moleman
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To: Welsh Rabbit
I've always suspected the reason why so many in Hollywood lean towards socialism is due simply to the shallow nature and lack of intelligence of most actors and actresses.

Let's face it, these people are NOT intellectual luminaries, by and large. Most of them are pretty faces, and not much more. Their profession makes no great demands on their brainpower. Thankfully.

Once they get an initial amount of fame, their obsessive need to be recognized and revered does not allow them to be satisfied by being know simply for their acting.

I think you've touched on an important aspect of their existence: guilt. They know that they are no better than anyone else, and that their elevated status is ill deserved. SO they try to prove their social worth by making inane comments on subjects about which they know nothing. That makes them easily maniuplated by the liberal power-brokers in Hollywood, and it validates their aggravated sense of ego. Just like the Kennedys, they know they don't deserve what they have, so they try to redeem their ill-gotten success by an inflated pretense of social conscience.

15 posted on 10/16/2002 10:37:04 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: Bigun
Always good to hear from you, old-timer. You run those Dems outta Texas yet?
16 posted on 10/16/2002 10:37:44 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: IronJack
I think you've touched on an important aspect of their existence: guilt

Exactly. They make an obscene amount of money by doing what is essentially their hobby. They don't have a clue about making millions by working twenty hour days to launch a new business, or years of study and research to develop a revolutionary new concept that will improve life for all. And unlike professional athletes, there is no concrete scoring system to prove their worth (other than the box office, but that is fickle and fleeting, no matter what their acting abilities; they depend on others to choose their movies).
17 posted on 10/16/2002 10:49:40 AM PDT by Welsh Rabbit
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To: IronJack
Excellent and quite accurate! IronJack bump!
18 posted on 10/16/2002 10:54:00 AM PDT by glory
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To: Welsh Rabbit
Insightful analysis. Made even moreso by the fact that it concurs with my own! LOL!
19 posted on 10/16/2002 11:03:41 AM PDT by IronJack
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To: glory
Thanks, glory. Whatever happened to "stars" who knew when to keep their mouths shut?
20 posted on 10/16/2002 11:04:30 AM PDT by IronJack
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