What is it about actors that makes them larger than life?
What is it about actors that makes them larger than life?
The media reports every detail of their lives, from the people they date to how much money they make. But do we really need to know who these people are sleeping with or what brand of shampoo they use?
Actors are for our entertainment and that’s all. They are nothing more than ordinary people, who too often present themselves as though they have wisdom beyond their field of expertise.
Robert Young was an actor who played Dr. Marcus Welby. He was often stopped on the street and asked for his medical opinion, but would you want him to operate on you?
I love watching the show “West Wing” and I like being entertained by Martin Sheen, who has played the role of the president on several occasions. To tell you the truth, Sheen makes a better impression as a president on screen than George W. Bush, but only because it’s make-believe. Hollywood writers, very well-paid writers, make Sheen look competent with rehearsed lines delivered in perfect timing, making him look plausible and credible as an expert on foreign affairs. But Martin Sheen is not the president. He is an actor, and every national crisis he deals with will be resolved in one or two episodes.
In the real world there is no dress rehearsal for the president. The press conferences, while often choreographed, deal with real-life issues that affect real-life human beings.
As I watched Bush deliver his speech on Monday I liked what he said because he was real. It might have been more entertaining had he been a polished stage actor or if I could be certain that the whole thing would be successfully worked out in a single episode.
Actors, like the guy down the street, have a right to express their own interpretations of events. But why the hell is it that the public will accept the things some actor says while paying scant attention to the things the mechanic who fixes their car says?
Actors have a right to their opinion, but it is a sad state of affairs when they have the same credibility as “real” people. Now people think Sheen is a foreign policy expert because he is playing the president, but I’m sure Saddam Hussein does not watch American TV.
Sheen wants to protest the war with Iraq, but the American public should not forget that he is an actor and no more qualified to speak on foreign affairs than my doctor. Would you believe any actor hired by San Benito County who testified to the wonderful surfing conditions here?
The same goes for the Dixie Chicks. They may not like the president, but what do they know of national security? Would you accept their advice on the proper role of our military?
Everyone has a right to voice their opinion, but we as listeners have a duty to sort out the wheat from the chaff. And remember, all that glitters isn’t gold. Hollywood is all about the facade, the image – an art form merely imitating life. Without real people to imitate, actors would not exist.
