Meg Corcoran |
There's a storm brewing in the entertainment industry, one that is sending celebrities to war. No, theirs is not a war fought on a dusty battlefield in Iraq.
Instead, their war is being fought on a freshly polished stage. It is a war of words, volatile words that stretch beyond the Hollywood Hills all the way to the White House.
With loud voices magnified by large microphones, even the hearing impaired are hearing them clearly. Why can't we all just get along? What was the agenda of Dixie Chick Natalie Maines when she took to that London stage on March 10th and uttered, "we're ashamed that the President of the Unites States is from Texas?" If she was against the war, couldn't she have just said "Hey, Londoners, I'm against the war. Enjoy the show?"
When Michael Moore took to an even bigger stage on March 23rd and accepted his Academy Award, couldn't he have just said, "Hey, hold onto your hats, folks, but I'm against the war?" Did he have to call the President of the United States fictitious? Did he have to call the war fictitious? More importantly, couldn't he have just thanked his third grade teacher and walked off the stage?
Apparently, the answer to these questions is no. When celebrities are given a stage, the rest of us might as well just take a seat. This could take a while. They've got something to say, dammit, and they've got decades worth of political experience to back it up.
Well, they've got something to say, anyway. The question remains, what, exactly, qualifies them to say it? In the entertainment industry, self-expression ranks right up there with self-importance. Celebrities make their living through communication, through the declaration of (they think) thought provoking words, words they believe will have everyone on the edge of their seats even as they're being booed off the stage.
The right to express one's self is one that celebrities won't give up without a fight. Thanks to the First Amendment, they have the right to say whatever the hell they want.
How they are helping in the peace efforts
is not the point. Truth be told, they're not. They're just using
their rights as Americans to speak freely and possibly encourage
others to see things their way (isn't that all any of us want?).
Yet, even in America, words, like actions, have consequences.
The Dixie Chicks have angry tractor drivers to contend with. Antiwar speaker Tim Robbins has National Baseball Hall of Fame president Dale Petroskey to deal with. When Petroskey cancelled the Bull Durham 15th anniversary screening, was he symbolically driving a tractor over Robbins and co-star/significant other Susan Sarandon's antiwar proclamations, or does the man just not like the movie?
Petrosky claims Robbins and Sarandon's antiwar statements, "ultimately could put our troops in even more danger." Isn't censorship somewhat of a danger?
Celebrities must now ask themselves the hard question. Is standing up for a cause worth getting run over by a tractor? The war in Iraq will continue with or without the opinions of the famous. Because of this, the fight in the entertainment industry has shifted somewhat, and instead of asking for peace, they are fighting for freedom.
What is music and film, after all, if not freedom of expression? The freedom to express one's self was hard won, and if not for that fight, there would be no entertainment industry.
Creative minds would grow idle without the right to express ideas and inspire others. The world would grow even smaller without the big stage and screen to widen it.
Perhaps now is the time to applaud everyone's
right to speak freely, if not the words
they speak. While inflicting one's opinions on others during such
a sensitive time often gains fury instead of fans, the right to
express those opinions is a battle truly worth fighting. Only
time will tell if the ones with the biggest microphone win.
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