Celebrities Mount Their Soapboxes in Opposition of Bush

Author: Suzanne Mozes

As the war with Iraq rolls on, a less organized campaign against the very officials initiating the "shock and awe" campaign unfolds on our home ground with celebrities leading the battle cry.
As the months built up to Bush's declaration of war on Saddam Hussein's regime, celebrities emerged from their mansions to discourage our administration from supporting this "unjust war." In October, Sean Penn took out a $56,000 ad in The Washington Post urging President Bush to sever the cycle of "bombing [which] is answered by bombing, mutilation by mutilation, killing by killing."
Several days later Susan Sarandon told cheering protesters in Washington, D.C., "Let us resist war. Let us hate war in all its forms."
In December, over 100 celebrities signed an anti-war letter and mailed it directly to President Bush, including Martin Sheen, who plays America's president on "The West Wing." Kim Basinger, Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Lange, Mike Farrell, Matt Damon, Mia Farrow, Ethan Hawke and Dave Matthews were among other notable signatures. At the press conference presenting this letter, Sheen explained, "We love our country enough to risk its wrath by calling attention to its dark spots, to the area that it's blind to that will eventually cause a great sickness."
January gave way to a host of benefit concerts including Chuck D. of the rap group Public Enemy. Ani DiFranco and Saul Williams were among other musicians who simply use their concerts as a soapbox for their opinions. R.E.M. and Pearl Jam have voiced their opinions as well.
The Oscars this year provided the perfect forum for clebrities' political outbursts. Micheal Moore, by far the most raucous winner, asserted, "We live in a time with fictitious election results that elect fictitious presidents. We live in a time when we have a man sending us to war for fictitious reasons."
Unfortunately, Moore was not as creative in delivering his acceptance address as Marlon Brando was in 1973. Brando set a precedent in this public forum by using a woman clad in traditional American Indian attire to accept best actor for his role as "The Godfather."
Let's just skim some of the highlights of Oscars over the past 30 years.
Jane Fonda followed suit in 1979 by imploring America on behalf of the deaf, as did Richard Gere for Haiti in 1993 and John Irving for abortion in 2000.
Now, however, the backlash against these vociferous superstars seems to have waged a new warfare of words on American soil.
The Dixie Chicks sing a sad ballad attesting to this counter-reaction. In early March, Natalie Maines interrupted the trio's performance to tell a London audience, "Just so you know, we're ashamed the President of the United States is from Texas." Literally cut at the vocal chords, the band returned to the United States to find their music, concerts and radio play-time boycotted, in addition to a ban on the radio in Texas.
Web sites such as http://www.boycott-hollywood.us and http://www.famousidiot.com have been popping up along with online petitions speaking out against the loud, yet so pretty, Hollywood of anti-war sentiments.
But why does it matter if celebs speak out? It's free speech, isn't it? Well, apparently, we want to read what comes out of their mouths. But then why the sudden turn around?
According to Neal Gabler, a prominent writer on societal attitudes and reactions to famous personalities, told The Star Tribune that the same society that dotes on these beautiful people's very words also feels a resentment towards this minute faction.
He explained, "Entertainers symbolize something about American life that many Americans resent. They have so much money and they're so conspicuous about it. The idea is that all celebrities are spoiled and naive and fundamentally not serious."
The debate, which centered more on the issue of ill-informed celebrities speaking out, arose on CNN's "Crossfire" in late January between human rights advocate Bianca Jagger and Jonah Goldberg, columnist and editor of National Review Online, with hosts Tucker Carlson and Paul Begala.
Carlson cited Sheryl Crow who claimed at the American Music Awards that the war was "based on greed, and there's huge karmic retribution that will follow. I think war is never the answer to solving problems. The best way to solve problems is not to have enemies."
Comments such as Crow's, along with other "airhead" celebs, undercut their peers' meaningful efforts.
Yet, Jagger strongly ended the debate by introducing President Reagan as vital evidence of the power of celebrities. "He was a celebrity. He was an actor." So, as the wars, here and abroad, drop bombs and explosions of strong words, our celebrities use their soapboxes to promote a very worthwhile and noble cause.
So, why cut them down when they really are trying to do something good? If anything, we like a little controversy in our lives.