Hollywood Celebrities: When Does Expressing an Opinion Cross the Line?

There has been a lot of backlash aimed at celebrities who have expressed opinions against the war or against President Bush. Many who have received the backlash are crying foul; they claim they have the right to express their opinions, and they claim that our country is being hypocritical because of the backlash. I say "Baloney!"

I will agree that celebrities (like all other American citizens) have a right to free speech, to express an opinion. However, being a celebrity and/or being in the public eye gives power to anything spoken or written by that person. They all know this. That is why they lend their celebrity power to help their causes. They use their celebrity power to present themselves as authority figures for their opinions expressed. In my opinion, that is where they cross the line of free speech protection.

Celebrities should also understand that because of their power and the attacks of September 11, 2001, it is not wise to speak out negatively about our country, our leader, nor our troops. It especially looks bad when they travel to another country and then bash our country. As far as I'm concerned, anyone who travels to another country to speak out negatively about our country should not return. Sean Penn had no business traveling to Iraq to speak out against the United States; I consider his actions traitorous. Madonna (as much as I like her music) can stay in the United Kingdom if she's got nothing better to do than to travel to France and openly blast our country (sour grapes for an album tanking on the charts, perhaps?). In fact, I visited MTV.com to listen to her album American Life and was going to buy it, but her remarks in France killed any desire I had to get it. As for Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins, they need to get out of the kitchen if they can't take the heat for their public remarks.

And, there are times when pictures speak a thousand words. I'm referring to this editorial cartoon by Michael Ramirez of the Los Angeles Times.


So basically, what I'm trying to say is that these celebrities need to get over themselves and stick to what they know ... entertaining. If they want to express an opinion, that is their right, but they are not authority figures and they need to stop acting like they are.