Tuesday, October 7, 2008

No celebrity is going to tell ME how to vote

Yesterday I was watching the Ellen Degeneres Show. I've watched her show for a couple years now and usually enjoy it. Yesterday I turned it off in the middle. In disgust. This is probably the 10th time I've done that this year and I'm almost to the point that I'm going to stop watching it altogether. I turn if off everytime Ellen, or one of her guests, uses the show to promote their political views. Yesterday it was Julia Louis-Dreyfuss telling the audience how to vote on Proposition 8.

When was it that celebrities began to promote themselves as political experts?

Why is it that Ellen, Julia, and the likes of Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, Sting, rapper Kanye West, the Dixie Chicks, etc., etc., etc., think that their political opinions carry any weight at all with voters?

Do they have political science degrees? Do they even have degrees at all? Brad Pitt doesn't. He dropped out of college (where he was majoring in journalism) to become an actor. Ellen doesn't either; she dropped out of college (communications) to go into comedy. Kanye West? Dropped out after one year of art school . You can research the other names I mentioned if you want; I've lost interest.

You may argue that it's Ellen's show so she has the right to say whatever she wants, to invite her choice of guests to appear on the show, and the right to allow them to express their political opinions (although I betcha she "screens" those opinions first).

You're absolutely right.

But since I originally started watching Ellen's show not for its political messages, but for its entertainment value (in general, she's hilarious), I have the right to stop watching it when it ceases to entertain me.

1 comment:

Heather and Spencer said...

I love Ellen too, but I have stopped watching during the election time. I will probably start up again after the election. However, she did have McCain on a while back and she asked him about the whole gay marriage thing, they were both respectful of each other and he pretty much said "I think this is one issue where we will agree to disagree."