I didn't say this thread.. just in general. I was just trying to get people credit for what they actually said. How did you know I wasn't making the point for you instead of Todd?
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12:28 AM
Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
Originally posted by Telegram Sam: I guess I should just get used to every topic being polarized and politicized in that manner, but I'd rather watch a midget jump up and down on Oprah's couch.
Little Person! "Politicly Correct". Hey, you're right! Everything does get politicized! DOH!
I think it's rather arrogant that they expect that there opinion is worth more than others - that they are somehow "enlightened" - just because they're celebrities. At least that's how they come across.
I don't know if they do think that. It's no different than you or me saying these things, except we don't constantly have a camera following us around. They just have a way to make their view available to millions.
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01:33 AM
Toddster Member
Posts: 20871 From: Roswell, Georgia Registered: May 2001
I think it is a responsibility for someone who has acheived some level of celebrity to take a stand for what they believe in.
I disagree. At least to the extent that the use of celebrity is a blanket statement. I have no problem with someone who has achieved fame by helping others to state their opinion on the subject they are experienced at. But I DO have a problem with someone who became rich and famous by being seen in a diner by a hollywood magnate and made into a star and then have to listen to that ignorant idiot (who may very well be a great on screen talent) drone on about how the rest of us don't get it.
Tim Robbins is a perfect example. I LOVE this guy on screen. He is a talented and gifted actor. But when he opens his mouth in an interview it is like listening to a 3rd grader trying to discuss political policies. He is simply out of his depth and it shows!
Hey, I too would look like an idiot if I tried to talk about...I dunno, botany. I don't know an oak from a magnolia. But what you are saying is that by virtue of some celebrity I might gain in life it's fine for me to talk about botany as if my opinion on the subject matters. No way.
What does the book say, "Shut up and sing"?
Damn right.
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12:19 PM
Telegram Sam Member
Posts: 231 From: Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Registered: Apr 2006
Do you have strong beliefs about botany? Apparently not, yes?
Go back and read the quote of mine that you are replying to. Of course I don't want to listen to Paris Hilton talk about macroeconomics, unless it's on a night-vision video camera. But I have to respect artists who take the time to educate themselves about a topic and become an advocate. Obviously you think Tim Robbins is an idiot, but it seems that anyone who doesn't lockstep in your opinion can catch that pejoritive from you, so I'll raise you a Toby Keith.
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08:11 PM
May 11th, 2006
Raydar Member
Posts: 41355 From: Carrollton GA. Out in the... country. Registered: Oct 1999
Originally posted by Telegram Sam: But I have to respect artists who take the time to educate themselves about a topic and become an advocate.
I just question how much "education" they've gotten. I suspect probably no more (and quite possibly considerably less) than anyone here. There may be a couple of us who are political science majors (God knows I'm not.), but for the most part, what it comes down to is we're all armchair quarterbacks - sideline observers - offering our opinions. Every one of us who hasn't been there is really nothing more than that.
Which is okay, as long as we recognize it. Where the problem comes in, is when one of the armchair quarterbacks (who just so happens to have a couple of Academy Awards on his/her mantle, and half a billion dollars in the bank) feels the need to subject all of the "great unwashed" to his/her opinion, and expects to be taken any more seriously than anyone else, when in reality they are just speculating like the rest of us.
Sort of comes down to who can yell the loudest. And having a bunch of money and free time at your disposal, and a gaggle of reporters who fawn over your every move, enables you to yell pretty damned loudly.
[This message has been edited by Raydar (edited 05-11-2006).]
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02:55 AM
Telegram Sam Member
Posts: 231 From: Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Registered: Apr 2006
It also comes down to who are you listening to. These people aren't coming door to door and sitting in your living room prostelyzing about various items of varied import. They are coming through your TV set, which you have control over. If you don't want to listen to them, don't. Is it more a matter that you don't want other people to hear that message?
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11:23 AM
Songman Member
Posts: 12496 From: Nashville, TN Registered: Aug 2000
Originally posted by Telegram Sam: If you don't want to listen to them, don't. Is it more a matter that you don't want other people to hear that message?
Sort of... When there are some people so weak minded that JUST because these people are saying it they think it is true... I mean, they are actors, for God's sake! They make their living pretending to be something they are not...
To use an example that I used in another thread. If I said the sky were blue, and Tom Cruise stood beside me and said it was red. There would be some people who would look up and say "Ok, Tom said it was red so I guess it is." That isn't so bad when you are dealing with the color of the sky, but when it comes to world politics or how woman have babies then it becomes dangerous. Yes, they have the right to state their opinions. One of the problems is when they state their opinions and then get a public backlash against it and then try to bring up 'freedom of speech'. I'll see your Toby Keith and raise you a Dixie Chicks. Apparently only celebrities have the 'freedom of speech'. If you disagree with them in any public way, and especially if you boycott them they try to say you are un-American and infringing on their 'freedom of speech'. They fail to remember that we have the freedom too and can say they are ridiculous.
My problem is not with anyone saying whatever they feel. My problem is with how they react to opposing opinions and how they use their celebrity status and money to overwhelm people who disagree with them, thereby effectively censoring the other ideas. Which brings us right back to the subject of this thread and Tom Cruise's threats against opinions that disagree with his own.
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11:56 AM
Blacktree Member
Posts: 20770 From: Central Florida Registered: Dec 2001
how they use their celebrity status and money to overwhelm people who disagree with them, thereby effectively censoring the other ideas. Which brings us right back to the subject of this thread and Tom Cruise's threats against opinions that disagree with his own.
Yup.
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03:18 PM
Telegram Sam Member
Posts: 231 From: Carmel-by-the-Sea, California Registered: Apr 2006
I'd say that pretty much crystallyzes the argument, and I can see where that comes from. We're speaking about two seperate issues, and the politcal activism that was alluded to earlier in the thread falls outside of this issue. So don't necessarily mark me down as being in disagreement with you, as I think we still had to define the issue.
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08:54 PM
fierogtowner Member
Posts: 1610 From: Tampa, Florida, United States of America Registered: Aug 2005
In the movie, Matt Damon is basically a retard. He has just enough mental acuity to say his own name. And he does so very loudly. (think of Animal from the Muppet Show)
BTW, I had another more subtle reason for posting that. You see, in the movie Team America, the heroes put a bunch of crusty Hollywood actors out of their misery.
[This message has been edited by Blacktree (edited 05-12-2006).]
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10:38 PM
fierogtowner Member
Posts: 1610 From: Tampa, Florida, United States of America Registered: Aug 2005
See the problem? There are many accounts of Smith's story. The Church of LDS even contradicts Smith!
And yes, it makes fun of it and pokes holes in it. Just like it did with Scientology. It would be stupid to bring up scientology in an episode without ridiculing it.
Yes, Scientologists believe Xenu is the ruler of the "Galactic Confederacy", who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of people to earth in "space planes" that were exact copies of Douglas DC-8s, "except the DC-8 had fans, propellers on it and the space plane didn't.", stacked the people around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls then clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the living, causing the problems you see today.
)
