Pen-Elayne on the Web

Double-Digit Conflation

Wil's back! See link #2 at sidebar - that first BlogRoll section is pretty much the folks whose blogs inspired me to take this particular plunge, and of those names Wil's the only "movie star." His Stand By Me costars, at least the ones still around, have had varying degrees of success, from Jerry O'Connell's "#1 movie" to Corey Feldman's reality-show turn to some obscure program starring Kiefer Sutherland, but of 'em all (and they do seem like nice guys, at least their personas) there's nobody I'd rather read than Wil. Particularly the latest entry, which occurred after he'd decided it wasn't worth the aggro he got from trollboy assholes with nothing better to do than play "target the celeb" and he was going to step back from the 'puter and work on his book and career. Fortunately, he seems to have received enough good vibes from those of us who enjoy his writing that his energy appears somewhat renewed, certainly on the political writing end. Wil's sharp and astute and, like a number of other actors, a committed activist.

And see, this is what gets me. The whole "pile on the famous person" mentality might be fun when it's someone whose actions seem to invite ridicule or is financially so far above us mere mortals that nothing we gossip about could ever touch them, but isn't that also true of non-famous people who are filthy rich and crazy? By that token, the non-filthy-rich and non-crazy ones have got to outnumber 'em, whether they've been in movies or TV or whatever. And if they happen to be politically active, how does that suddenly make them lesser in the eyes of some critics? Do they suddenly lose their citizenship when they get their SAG card?

I respect a number of celebrities who voice political observations that make sense to me. I think it's neat that they can use their fame factor to call attention to subjects that might otherwise be ignored were it not for their presence. If I were famous, I'd do the same thing in a heartbeat. And I look forward to the time when their fellow citizens stop automatically and unthinkingly conflating "celebrity" with "politically naïve" the way some idiots conflate "anti-war" with "anti-American."