Celebs,
politics strange bedfellows
By Gerry Wachovsky
On-line Forty-Niner
Show
business, isn’t it grand? The glitz, the
glamour, the fame, the pretentiousness —
what more could anyone want? Seriously,
folks, acting and singing are not the hardest
jobs in the world and one does not have
to be a rocket scientist to have a successful
career in this industry.
As of late, so many people in show business
have been making absolute fools of themselves
by voicing their asinine and often ridiculous
opinions on pressing issues — even worse,
they do this in front of not only the national,
but international audience. Hollywood and
politics sure do make for some strange bedfellows.
Consider the “Material Girl,” Madonna, and
her recent support of the budding music
career of Osama bin Laden’s niece, Waffa
bin Laden. That is right — Miss bin Laden
is currently working with one of Madonna’s
producers on a record deal and she hopes
to “release a single by the end of the year.”
Now don’t get me wrong here, Waffa does
not in any way support her uncle’s goal
of obliterating the United States, but nevertheless,
her last name is bin Laden! What’s next,
Adolf Hitler’s grandson pursuing an acting
career?
I guess it is not too surprising for Madonna
to make odd business decisions, however,
as her recent movie “Swept Away” (which
had a production budget of $10 million)
enjoyed a whopping worldwide gross of $598,645.
Madonna is not the only one in the world
of music who is guilty of idiocy. Fred Durst
recently demonstrated this at the Grammy
Awards. After brushing the pre-scripted
dialogue of the show aside and ad-libbing,
Durst said, “I just really hope we’re all
in agreeance that this war should go away
as soon as possible,” making millions of
viewers collectively scratch their heads
and wonder if ‘agreeance’ is actually a
word. According to Jesse Sheindler, the
North American editor for the Oxford English
Dictionary, ‘agreeance’ was a word that
once existed, but “passed out of circulation
in 1714.” Since Fred Durst is so skilled
in the lexicon of yesterday, perhaps he
and his band, Limp Bizkit, should release
their next album in Middle English?
The celebrity-absurdity-in-the-political-arena
trend continues in the world of film. For
example, take esteemed director Steven Spielberg’s
recent trip to Cuba, where he wined and
dined with dictator Fidel Castro. This bizarre
duo did not just schmooze, however, as their
dinner and talks went on for eight hours
(yes, eight hours). Even stranger, Spielberg
described his night with the murderous dictator
as “the most important eight hours of my
life.” Is he living on the same planet as
we are?
Did he realize that he was in Cuba, a country
that makes it a crime for its citizens to
write critical letters about the government,
a country where it is illegal to speak about
the economy, a country where many of its
citizens are on the brink of death from
starvation? I guess all of this slipped
his mind.
Carole King must have forgotten this as
well, when she reportedly serenaded Fidel
Castro with her song, “You’ve Got A Friend,”
during her 60th birthday party in Cuba in
2002.
Even comedian Janeane Garafalo, of all people,
has expressed her disgust for the United
States and its leadership. When Bill O’Reilly
of the Fox News channel asked Garafalo in
an interview if George W. Bush is more dangerous
than Saddam Hussein, Garafalo callously
responded with, “Equal.” She attempted to
rationalize this ludicrous statement with
her own brand of rhetoric, as most liberals
often do, but she failed miserably.
How can one equate George W. Bush with Saddam
Hussein, a man who (until just recently)
severely oppressed and killed his own people?
Placing a vicious dictator on the same level
as the president of the United States is
not just dumb, it is absolutely preposterous.
I could easily suggest that perhaps these
celebrity cretins should stick to what got
them famous in the first place and leave
the political statements and rhetoric to
the professionals, but I digress. Hopefully,
they will continue to speak their silly
views, as it is just so damn entertaining
when they embarrass themselves in front
of millions!
Gerry Wachovsky is a business major at Cal
State Long Beach. He can be reached at senorbucho@aol.com.
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