On Monday, Monica Hesse of the Washington Post wrote a piece titled “Celebrities are our new first responders” about celebrities inserting themselves in events across the country that are deemed divisive in nature; and, like actor Martin Sheen said a decade ago, many confuse “celebrity with credibility.”
How very true, but Hesse’s article mainly focused on left-wing celebrities – which makes sense considering the Hollywood elite are mostly liberal and the first to jump on any social bandwagon. For instance, Beyonce’s response to the shooting death of Alton Sterling:
As could be expected, Beyoncé was both the most provocative and the most action-driven in her response. “It is up to us to take a stand and demand that they ‘stop killing us,’ ” she wrote on her website, after Sterling’s death but before the Dallas shootings. “We must use our voices to contact the politicians and legislators in our districts and demand social and judicial change.” She provided links to help readers find their representatives’ phone numbers.
Hesse defended Beyonce among the critics who said she overstepped the bounds when she made those comments, stating that Beyonce only had social power as opposed to “zero political power.” (Umm are you sure about that? I mean, her husband Jay- Z says he texts the president, so there’s got to be some influence there, in addition to all the fundraisers they’ve done for Obama.)
Instead of being a well-informed American citizen, many prefer to get their news and information – or even where they should stand on an issue – from celebrities. Why? Because they are “cool” which is also why Obama won so the youth vote as he was viewed as a “cool” president. How pathetic. The less informed prefer to get their information via Twitter or Facebook because it was tweeted or retweeted by their favorite celebrity; besides, who else would know more about women’s health, pay, and equality other than Hermione Granger herself – 26 year old actress Emma Watson, whose speech at the United Nations was seen almost 8 million times after she made it in the fall of 2014.
Again. How pathetic.
Hesse continues:
Our Twitter feeds are clogged with the action-free “thoughts” and “prayers” of politicians who never seem to know what else to do after another senseless act of American violence. But there’s Amy Schumer writing pointed pro-gun control commentary for her television show, and vocally partnering with her senator cousin (Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.) to pass reform. One might not have agreed with her position, but at least she had a position. At least it wasn’t another mealy “we mourn for the victims” uttered by one of the representives we have sent to the Capitol specifically to do something.
Help us, Amy Schumer. You’re our only hope.
If someone’s relying on Amy Schumer for help, there’s a bigger problem than first realized.
And check out the long list of “long-standing relationship with activism: John and Yoko’s famous bed-ins, or, Harry Belafonte, whose singing career was accompanied by a legacy of civil rights activism and who was a friend and confidant of Martin Luther King Jr. He made appearances at rallies and marches, he bankrolled protest movements, he traveled around the world supporting left-wing causes. Today, most celebrities make their speeches from behind keyboards rather than podiums — one notable exception being Jesse Williams, the “Grey’s Anatomy” actor who made Black Lives Matter a cornerstone of a recent BET Awards speech, who has been cited as his generation’s Harry Belafonte.”
Hesse also mentioned the Dixie Chicks, Alyssa Milano, Patricia Arquette or “any of the other celebrities currently fumbling their way awkwardly to some kind of dialogue.” And for good measure – Hesse put a “dash” of conservatism in the list – Stacey Dash – the only conservative listed among these celebrities. Of course one wouldn’t find many conservatives on such a list because they tend not to be as outspoken on the “social justice” issues and calling for protests which usually end violently.
