What fucking difference does it make? You are all insane.
I believe this could very well be the correct assessment of the situation.
People tend to give actors credit for having brains, when most of them don’t—at least not in the area of public relations. When you’re a multi-million dollar property and your job is to be in the eye of the public, you hire people to think for you.
It would not surprise me in the least, if a conversation of this type tool place:
Affleck: That genealogy show found out that one of my ancestors was a slave owner, that’s pretty funny, huh? Hardy har har.
Agent or PR Guy: Uh, Ben, baby, you don’t want to hurt your chances of landing that next big blockbuster role, do you? Email PBS, tell them you’re embarrassed about the slave thing and ask them to pull it from airing, ok?
Affleck: Whatever you say, boss.
And, the thing is, that kind of response is, in most cases, the smart one to use (unless it’s revealed and blows up in your face). The actions of one’s ancestors should not reflect upon you…but, in many cases, it most certainly does, if you’re a public figure. My guess is that a not-insignificant percentage of the movie ticket-buying public would harbor this thought in their tiny hamster brains: slave-owning Affleck ancestor = Ben should be banned.
I’m even of the opinion that celebrity handlers encourage most bad behavior in their entertainer-clients, owing to the adage that any publicity, good or bad, gets their property in the public eye, and that’s a good thing. “Oh, you punched that guy in the nose, did you, Ben? Did you make sure the paparazzi were around to get it in People Magazine?”
But, slave-owner ancestor?—that’s a different animal. You can’t put a positive spin on that.
Ben Affleck (if that’s his real name?), the alleged actor and entertainer, doesn’t exist without a public following. He may be popular, or unpopular, based on what other people think. What the ticket-buying people think is especially important to their careers.
[QUOTE=soonerblue]
Affleck is an actor, creative people are often anxious and filled with self-doubt … even Meryl Streep.
[/QUOTE]
I saw part of a genealogy show with her and when she was young she let Nazis take one of her kids.
Point taken. I understand that aspect of it.
And then a dingo ate the other one?
If only news of his slave owning heritage had leaked out sooner, we could have been spared his casting as Batman.
I would guess the celebrity guests pick and choose what family stories are aired on Finding Your Roots. I don’t see the problem with Affleck not wanting to feature the slavery-holding ancestors.
Finding Your Roots overall is a good show to “advertise” genealogy to the general public, even if it is loaded with political comments. Family history in of itself can become a very political topic, filled with surprising finds.
Did anybody watch this week?
LL Cool J’s segment was interesting. It’s amazing what they were able to do with genetic genealogy testing.
He and his mother found out that his maternal grandparents, with whom he and she lived when he was a child, were not her biological parents. They’ve long since passed away but they never told her she was adopted. However, by matching her DNA results with the results of others in genealogical databases they found her biological parents and several relatives.
While it doesn’t change the emotional kinship, it was interesting.
I saw it too. I was worried they had stumbled upon a sordid story of infidelity. So I was glad when it wasn’t that.
Unlike B-B-B-Benny and the slaves I was glad they gave them the option whether to reveal that on television or not.
I wonder what most genealogists do when they find out there was an adoption: if they prefer to go with the adopted line or the biological or both. I’m pretty sure we all have at least a case of false paternity in our bloodline.
I’ve been enjoying the new season. When LL Cool J’s family secret was uncovered, the host mentioned he’d spoken to LL & his mother about whether they wanted it discussed on the show. They did.
Ty Burrell (of Modern Family) came to Episode 1 with a family rumor of African-American blood. It was true–he was descended from a former slave who made it to Oregon from the South & successfully claimed a homestead–by herself. He was happy & proud–but less happy when genetic testing revealed he was also descended from her owner. (Probably from her slave mother & that owner.) Still, that was history–so made a grimace & accepted it.
Has any modern celebrity suffered from revelation of the deeds of a long dead ancestor? I’ve always thought Affleck was a lightweight–the cover up attempt just confirmed that opinion.
(Most of my people were Irish bogstompers from the Famine era & later. But one grandmother’s line goes 'way back. It appears that some of the early arrivals (mostly from the north of Ireland) may have had slaves. But they quickly left that world behind & ended up Methodist pioneers in Indiana.)