Recently, many U.S. Senators have grown impatient with the amount of celebrities who have been called to testify at congressional hearings. When the government was first put in place, only the people who were elected into office had the ultimate say when making important decisions. There were no celebrities influencing public opinion or bringing light to cases that might not need to be that publicized. In recent years, however, this has greatly changed. Julia Roberts, Michael J. Fox, and one member of the 90’s boy band, The Backstreet Boys are a few celebrities who have been present at recent congressional hearings. It is not that these Senators do not want the cases to be publicized, but they do not believe that many celebrities have the qualifications and knowledge needed to make decisions that will, in turn, effect the entire country. Some say that celebrities can represent the opinions of the general public. This however, is not the case. Celebrities do not have to deal with many of the problems that the average American must face. Many Senators believe that the celebrities who speak at the congressional hearings are not worried about the well being of the country and it’s citizens. They feel that celebrities are solely attempting to push their own agendas in order to make themselves more widely known.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Kumar Goes To The White House
Maybe the most logical (or illogical, depending on the way you look at it) of all celebrities in politics is Indian American actor Kalpen Modi. Co-staring in the movie, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle is the role for which he is most known. After establishing his acting career, Modi decided to quit acting for a short time. While on his break from acting, he was able to get a job as the Associate Director of the Office of Public Engagement. The Office of Public Engagement was created as a means to include as many of the nation’s citizens involved in the government. Personally, I find this very interesting. The characters Modi has played in his movies are not very serious whatsoever. The fact that he can turn off the “silliness” for long enough to have a career doing something as serious as working for the white house. I think that if more celebrities worked in positions similar to Modi’s, their presence in the government would not be a nuisance. The presence of celebrities in politics only becomes a nuisance when individuals use their power influence in ways that aren’t directly linked to government positions.
Rally To Restore Sanity
On October 30, 2010, a rally was held at Washington D.C.’s National Mall. The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert held the rally. The primary aim of this rally was to “Restore Sanity” and also to “Keep Fear Alive”. Colbert and Stewart felt that the voices of the public were not being heard. They believed that the political voices that we hear now are only those in high positions such as the president and other members of congress. I find this extremely interesting because this is one of the first times where celebrities aren’t pushing for a candidate of their choice. It’s good, for once, to see people in positions of some power to be asking people who are not in such positions to use their voice, and not just accept whatever they are given. It is people thinking for themselves, saying what they believe and not apologizing for it. In the invitation to the rally, they invite people who usually do not attend these types of gatherings. They invited the people who are always too busy; the people who have to work, who have to drive their children to soccer practice, or just have other things to do. Another thing I found interesting about this rally is that they invited people from all political parties. One of the main aims of the rally was that it was a place where people did not want to argue. It was a place where the people’s voices that were heard were not necessarily the ones that were the loudest or the strongest, but they were the voices of the average American. I think that if more rallies such as these were held, or more people had a chance to actively voice their opinion, then there would be a lot less turmoil with the government.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Blogs I read...
BLOGS I READ IN THIS CLASS!
· Current holy war
o This blog is interesting because it gives insight on a war that has been going on for longer than most people in this world have been alive. The author is very well versed on the topic. While Acquiring more and more information about the topic, the author’s opinion has changed instead of just taking the side of the majority of people.
· Immigration issues
o I chose to read this blog because it gives adequate and unbiased account on an issue that is very pressing at this time period. It is also interesting because this is one of the few issues that have been argued since the country’s origin.
· Agents in America
o With all of the “drama” surrounding UNC football and their agents, I think it’s good to learn more about what it’s really like for athletes and their agents.
Implications Post
As stated in prior posts, not too much can really be done to stop celebrity participation in political aspects of our country. Sure, to some it is annoying that people who are not politicians or people who have not received "appropriate" degrees should not be involved in the government or electoral processes. In my opinion, this “issue” isn’t an “issue” at all. The Unites States made the decision to be a democracy. Why shouldn’t everyone in the country be able to participate? The people who get behind political campaigns care deeply about the issues they are supporting. Who cares if they are a celebrity? What does a degree matter? If you really think about it, that is what democracy is. People, no matter who they are, no matter what there profession is, getting involved in the workings of the government. They aren’t harming anyone; all they’re doing is supporting causes about which they feel strongly. This is America, anyone can be what they want to be, anyone can do what they want to do (within reason). There is no deciding factor that says if or if not a person should be allowed to support a political figure (except probably felons...I doubt they want that).
Theory Post
Although it can be taken seriously, celebrities being involvement in politics is not one of those issues where the world is going to end if celebrities do not stop participating in politics. The worst thing that could happen might be that there are no Terminator movie nights and the California Governor’s mansion (some say that might not be a bad thing…). On a side note, however, what would happen if they just all left? We wouldn’t know what to do with ourselves! We look to them for everything but now they’re not telling us what to do so we don’t even know what to do and this is just depressing. Thinking for ourselves is going to be weird…I don’t know if I can do it. AH! I don’t know what I would do with myself with no more Will.I.Am music videos, t-shirts that tell me to “Rock The Vote”, or performances at the Democratic National convention. Maybe, for once in quite a while, Americans would pay more attention to the actual issues at hand and not care so much about who had a better song.
Analysis Post
Before getting into the analysis post, I thought it would be a good idea to define what a celebrity is. To me, a celebrity is someone who is widely known. I don’t really know how to differentiate between someone who is a celebrity and someone who is famous. I think ‘celebrity’ is someone who is temporarily famous-someone who is not necessarily talented in any outstanding way. For example, reality tv stars, news casters, and other such people could be taken as a celebrity. To me, someone who is famous is someone who has a special talent. A singer, actor, musician, or an athlete is someone who is famous.
Whether they’ve been romantically linked, helped to raise money, or created songs that raise awareness of a certain campaign, celebrities have had a very subtle but powerful role in American Politics. For years, there has been an ongoing debate on whether or not this should happen.
Many say that celebrities don’t have the same collateral, or the same amount of credibility as a government official would when dealing with certain issues. Some claim that celebrities are stupid and they should keep to doing movies and other things. Others realize the power of their opinions and support and decide that they would love to be backed by these individuals. It has also been said that many celebrities represent the opinion of the “average” person. Being “average” is a very delicate term however. In short, it does not matter weather you think pop culture should be involved in politics. The recent and rapid rise the rate of voting for governmental elections and the rise of celebrity involvment to such elections can not be ignored.
In the past presidential election, Will.I.am, along with many other music artists created a song to the sound of one of Barack Obama’s speeches. They used the slogan “Yes We Can” to empower people. They wanted to give people hope and help them to know that change can happen
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsV2O4fCgjk). In addition to creating songs, celebrities have banned together to create t-shirts and other memorabilia. The profits of these items have all been donated to the candidate’s campaign.
Far more than anything, celebrities influence the general public because we see how glamorous of a lifestyle they live, we see the “coolness”, we see everything that we want. After seeing these things, some might say to themselves, “hey, they have things going for them, maybe I should do what they do!”. This can be good and bad. Just because someone seems to have everything, doesn’t necessarily mean they have it (“All That Glitters Is Not Gold”).
Links Used for post:
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Bono Seems Like a Great Guy...
For more than the past decade, Rock singer Bono, has had a huge influence on politics and the governor. This association has been so popular as to even be part of an episode of Entourage. In 2006, Bono spoke with President Bush and other members of Congress about his "ONE" Campaign to fight AIDS in Africa. Although many do not agree with the effectiveness of President Bush, he was quoted as saying
, “The thing about this good citizen of the world is he’s used his position to get things done,” Bush said. “You’re an amazing guy, Bono. God bless you.”
I think it's pretty cool for anyone to be given a compliment by a President (no matter how good he/she may be). I think it’s also pretty cool that Bono isn’t even from America. He knows that America has an extreme amount of potential to help impoverished areas, yet we choose to spend money on other things. Some may say that this isn’t our problem, some say that we should take care of our country and they should take care of ours. Whatever stance you take on this issue is irrelevant. The fact here is that Bono did a nice thing, not only for someone else, but for an entire separate country. That’s pretty nice. Not many people can say that they do good things on such a grand scale.
Many of the charities and causes supported by Bono have to do with the poor population of the world.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11146046/
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Lady Gaga Don't Ask Don't Tell
Three weeks ago in Portland, Maine, Lady Gaga spoke at a rally in order to repeal the "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" law. The speech was very witty and moving. She said that equality was the 'Prime Rib' of America. Personally, I don’t really understand why this is as big of an issue as it is. Why does it matter if a person is gay or not? If a man or woman wants to fight in the army, to serve their country then they should be able to do just that. Who are we to say that a person should be discharged because of their sexual preference? The type of gay person in the army would not be the type of gay person that would be flamboyant or distracting to other soldiers. In addition to this, when fighting in the army, it seems as though you should ser aside everything else. You should not think about whether or not someone is interested in you. The only thing on your mind should be whatever you are supposed to be doing while fighting. Since it’s such a big deal that another man or another woman might be interested in you, maybe women and men shouldn’t fight together. Currently, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell has not been repealed, however, many government officials and other Americans are fighting hard to repeal this policy. The link to Lady Gaga’s speech is at the bottom of the article if you want to watch.
Speech:
http://www.cnn.com/2010/SHOWBIZ/Music/09/20/gaga.gays.military/index.html?hpt=C2
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
Dinner With Diddy
The next evening arrived and I was happier than a kid in a candy store. We get to the restaurant and are ushered into a private room in the back of one of Detroit's nieces restaurants. Of course, Sean (I thought I would use is real name), had not yet arrived. Ten minutes later, when he did arrive, however, I somehow managed to remain calm. Like the cool guy he was, P. Diddy came around and spoke to us for about ten minutes. He asked me a series of questions, one of them being, "Are you registered to vote?". My first instinct after being asked this question was, "Wait...seriously? I'm 13 years old, did you really just ask me if I was registered to vote?". After starting, bewildered, at him for long enough to make myself look somewhat stupid, I responded with "No, I'm in seventh grade." This event occurred prior to thinking that it was cool to be older. That night was the night I thought P. Diddy was un-cool. Although I didn't think he was the coolest man alive, he did a lot for the 2004 election. He was been quoted saying:
Thursday, September 30, 2010
It goes without saying that Pop Culture has a huge influence on the lives of many Americans, especially the American youth. This influence can be taken as both a good and bad thing. Many celebrities have realized this, and in turn, decided to make their impact a positive one. Such influences are; Lady Gaga, Wyclef Jean, and Angelina Jolie to name a few. The celebrity with the most political pull would be Arnold Schwarzenegger, but that's only because he can actually make political decisions considering he is the governor of California. This blog will talk about the choice many celebrities have made to use their fame for a good reason. They have chosen to promote positive causes instead of just choosing to go out and party all the time. In 2004, many celebrities joined the Vote or Die campaign headed by Sean 'Diddy' Combes in order to get young people who may not have been registered to vote, the chance to do so. Although this campaign has sense ended, many more have emerged in the most recent years' presidential election. In recent years, politics has become one more of the ways in which celebrities and Pop Culture have been able to branch out from music, movies and other entertainment forms and do something else for a change. I think it will be interesting to see the ways in which this "fad" continues to grow.
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