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April 8, 2003
By Doug Berger
In the run up to the current conflict in Iraq, the actor Martin Sheen, who plays President Bartlet on the TV show "West Wing", told a reporter that some executives at the network asked him to tone down his remarks against the war. He claimed they said it might hurt the show. He has started to wear tape on his mouth while protesting so he won't get in trouble.
The actor Sean Penn traveled to Iraq before the conflict to look at the country himself. A few weeks ago he filed a lawsuit against a producer who he claims passed him over for a role he thought he had.
The lead singer of the country group the Dixie Chicks created a firestorm when she told an audience in the UK that she was ashamed that President Bush was from their home state of Texas. Hundreds of radio stations pulled their music from the airwaves and some former fans had events where the Chick's CDs were destroyed.
Documentary filmmaker Michael Moore was severely criticized for remarks he made about the war and President Bush while accepting his Oscar for the film "Bowling for Columbine."
Pulitzer Prize winning war correspondent Peter Arnett, who was reporting from Baghdad for NBC and National Geographic when the war started, was fired after he gave an interview to Iraqi state TV and expressed views heard on US television war coverage - that the first war plan failed and that the war planners didn't expect the Iraqis would fight as much as they did in the opening days of the war. A member of Congress and the American Family Association - a religious right front group - suggested his citizenship be revoked.
These are just some examples of intolerance toward political dissent concerning the conflict in Iraq especially toward celebrities. Commentators, people on the street, and friends of mine get mad when a celebrity makes comments against the war or against President Bush.
What's wrong with that? Why do they get to speak out and not expect a reaction?
When the reaction to the dissent borders on blacklisting the person or in the case of Arnett, wanting to revoke their citizenship, then we come close to the country we are fighting against. The over reaction is un-American.
If you believe that the person expressing the dissent should not be allowed to express their view then you are being un-American.
In a democracy all viewpoints need to be heard, even views we might find abhorrent. Anything less is simply against American values.
It is appropriate to make individual choices not to buy someone's book, not to see their movies, or not buy their music because of their views, but it is simply wrong to even suggest that others should not be allowed to buy a celebrity's product.
For years, the conservative right has been setting up the myth that celebrities have some kind of unnatural control over the hearts and minds of this country. They call them the "Hollywood Elite" and to conservatives this so-called elite is as dangerous to American values as the Communists were during the Cold War. Conservatives believe that the Hollywood elites can subvert American values through control of the media.
While celebrities do have access to the media, it isn't some conspiracy against America. Some celebrities use their ability to get time on the news and in the papers to advance causes they believe in from saving the environment to supporting the right of people to own guns.
It is only when celebrities use this access to the media to advance views directly opposed to conservatives, it is then seen as bad.
The media (television, radio, newspapers, and the movies) is controlled by large conglomerates. Access to the media is limited to politicians and celebrities. Of course, conservative politicians are concerned about Martin Sheen speaking against the war because Sheen can get the same kind of press attention as Dick Cheney. Conservative politicians don't want celebrities like Sheen to be able to express their views because the conservatives don't want views opposite theirs to be aired - period.
Maybe Conservatives should fear Sheen. During the 2000 Presidential election deadlock, one poll had more people wanting Sheen's character on the West Wing, President Bartlet, to be elected than either Bush or Gore.
A Gallup poll concerning the influence of celebrities on the views of the public found that most people claimed their views wouldn't be changed by a celebrity. Of course that isn't the point for a celebrity speaking out. It is to get the message out, allow people to get as much information, and allow them to make informed decisions about the war.
It is fine to disagree with a celebrity but it is dangerous to think they have an unfair advantage to express their views or that they need to have their ability to express their views restricted either by law or by economics.
Let's instead demand and enjoy the free exchange of ideas. Let's put democracy ahead of ideology.
