Monday, March 6, 2017

Celebrity Apprentices In Politics

Been poking around in Twitterland and I noticed that actress, Alyssa Milano has been getting some grief for having political opinions. You may recall her from films and the TV show Who's The Boss? She went on from being a cute child star to being a lovely, talented actress. While it's arguably true that her IMBD profile means nothing to her portfolio as a political pundit, I gotta argue that the same argument can be made against actors Scott Baio and James Woods. I'll further argue that it's very arguable that certain politicians should not be taken seriously for their political opinions. Think Steve King or Louie Gohmert. Hundreds more if you want to think further.

Think anybody really. The folks who devalue Alyssa for her opinions likely value Scott Baio for his. I'm just a poor, humble Ferrerman and my own opinions on politics are discounted all the time. Shocking. And I was a pretty cute kid myself.

It's not just her though. It's pretty much any celebrity and even political reporters- believe it or not. I've heard celebrities and pundits say that- with straight faces- about other celebrities and pundits who happen to disagree with them. Are you sensing a pattern? A lot of people swear an Oath of Hypocrisy when they enter the political boards. I've had my moments too.

The reality of politics is that absolutely everyone is entitled to their opinion and that's irrespective of their work history. We currently have a reality TV star in The White House. He's got a SAG card just like Reagan did and like Milano has. Tell me who is more qualified. I look at Alyssa on TV and I'm quite taken by her obvious spankability but, I'm more impressed with her opinions on Trump's travel ban EO's. (She's against both of them) Like anyone else, I'm a fan of certain celebrities for their films, music or athletic accomplishments. For their politics to complement my own is an added bonus. It's probably that way for you too. But, a celebrity's politics are not always a deal breaker for me. I like most of Clint Eastwood's films, for example, and don't let his confused politics taint that. He's still Dirty Harry to me despite his chair-talking foolishness.

Politics- to me- is simply about right and wrong. It's about money to most folks though, so when you find people who get the right/wrong aspect of it, you need to cherish them whether they are famous or not. The anti-Hollywood sentiment of the right is troubling however. When you get people talking about remaking America you have to stop and think about how most sequels and remakes this side of Godfather II just really suck. You have to question why they have to always so wrongly revisit success, without success. Well, money, of course. There's big bucks in re-doing stuff that was pretty much fine in the first place.

Trump can't Make America Great Again anymore than he could make Casablanca a great film again with Scott Baio in the lead. Alyssa Milano as as Ilsa Lund wouldn't even work. I gotta be honest here. And that's no reflection on her or him.

You don't remake the classics. You love them and hold them in your heart with all the other good memories of your life. We all get old and want our childhoods back. That's a natural feeling but, it doesn't work that way in the real world any more than it does in politics or film. America is a continuing drama. Any notion of a conservative cultural revolution is just a plot twist that must be dealt with by we the people rather than those that fancy themselves to be the "executive producers". We all have a voice in this. We should all be heard.

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