Entertainment and Politics

Why is it, that people who play pretend for a living, mouthing words that other people wrote for them, think that anyone should pay attention to anything they have to say on society, economics, or politics simply because they’re famous?

Yeah, I get it, you get lots and lots of money to dress up and play pretend on the screen.  That does not make you an expert in economics or geopolitics.  It just doesn’t.

But, they will prattle on.  Now, there are a few that are worth listening to but they’re not the ones whose arguments boil down to “do this because I’m famous and I say so” who generally promptly descend into name-calling in the face of disagreement. The ones worth listening to are the ones who can articulate the case well, make that case with fact and logic, and respond to disagreement by challenging the disagreement with fact and logic.

A rare breed indeed.

Now, some friends of mine just tend to roll their eyes and say that we should just ignore their spouting and “enjoy the movie” (or the show, or song, or whatever).  Well, maybe.  And sometimes, yeah.

But here’s the thing.  I have limited funds and time to spend on entertainment. I’d much rather spend those funds on things, and people, who don’t insult me and denigrate everything I love. And even given the massive bias in Hollywood, that still leaves more out there than I could ever afford to pay for either in money or time–particularly since Hollywood is not the only game in town.  It’s not the only way I can get entertainment. (I don’t have to just watch movies or TV shows.  I can, for instance, read books.)

So if they want my money, and my time, they’d better be damn good if they want me to ignore the insult to me and mine. “A good popcorn flick” isn’t, by itself, enough to do that. I’ll pick up one of Larry’s, or Sarah’s, or Amanda’s, or Dave’s, or…well, you get the idea…books first.  Or I might hit up a Bollywood flick (great over-the-top fun).  There are indie film makers.  There are streaming programs.  There are all sorts of places I can go and I shall not lack for entertainment.

I don’t need to support people who hate me.