# Stop being the expert \[famous people and political views\] **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 20, 2016, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543 "2016-11-20T16:21:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/21 "2016-11-20T19:00:10Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > I am so tired of actors, musicians, fiction writers, etc mouthing off about their political views and how that’s supposed to influence the public. How do you feel about a reality TV star with no political experience becoming our President? ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/22 "2016-11-20T19:01:40Z")
> [@astro](#): > > Having seen how accurate the experts prognostications and opinions were about the 2016 election I would be more than willing to listen attentively to my car mechanic’s opinions about the political landscape. Yes, good point I think I stand corrected. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/23 "2016-11-20T19:05:31Z")
> [@Corry\_El](#): > > Many people are more passionate about politics, in either direction, than I am, but I think they are mistaken to believe the trend I perceive toward politicizing _everything_ is good for society. > > And to me that’s the key issue. I have a problem with expressions of politics to captive audiences at entertainment and sports events where that’s not what people came to see, in fact in today’s world increasingly might have come to get away from politics. I might actually agree with you if Hamilton weren’t explicitly about American politics. I don’t really care whether celebrities express their political opinions or not. It’s clear from how someone speaks and presents information whether or not they are credible. So if they offer a thoughtful contribution I’ll listen, if they sound like idiots I will ignore their uninformed ranting. Pretty much how I deal with people in general. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/24 "2016-11-20T19:09:41Z")
> [@little nemo](#): > > i agree. The idea that somebody who’s just famous for being a television personality, for example, is qualified to function in the world of politics is ridiculous. iswydt ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/25 "2016-11-20T19:10:29Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > … So if they offer a thoughtful contribution I’ll listen, if they sound like idiots I will ignore their uninformed ranting. Pretty much how I deal with people in general. I aspire to your lofty ideal, but [the flesh is weak](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/386:_Duty_Calls). ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/26 "2016-11-20T19:12:10Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > It’s good to hear that your concern about Pence being pwned derived from your principled concern about the general level of politicaml debate in this country, and was entirely unrelated to your partisan views. I’m sorry but I must be a bit dense right now. I don’t understand your post at all. I wasn’t defending Pence or supporting him. I just said that the incident made me think about how people in some professions use their position to get their opinions across to a large group of people and I am a person who isn’t interested in hearing an actor tell me who I should vote for. Now if he stars in a movie I’m interested in then I’m good with that. As to my partisan views not sure where that comment is coming from, but do you read these boards? My partisan views are tame compared to many views expressed here. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/27 "2016-11-20T19:14:24Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > …As to my partisan views not sure where that comment is coming from… The part that I quoted. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/28 "2016-11-20T19:16:54Z")
I’m completely amused by all the people who are so \*offended \*that actors in a play might have political concerns and want to express them- there’s such an undercurrent of “shut up and just do your job, peasant”. Plays are inherently social- if Pence (or Trump) don’t want to deal with the public, maybe they should just stay home and watch TV. Or maybe not even fun for office. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/29 "2016-11-20T19:18:13Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > I just said that the incident made me think about how people in some professions use their position to get their opinions across to a large group of people and I am a person who isn’t interested in hearing an actor tell me who I should vote for. Just ignore their opinions then. I don’t see what the problem is. Unless they are lying about their background to make their opinions seem more credible. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/30 "2016-11-20T19:20:59Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > …Any other dopers tired of this? (post shortened) IMHO, actors make their living by pretending to be someone else. The sincerity they bring to their roles is paramount in convincing their audience to buy whatever words the actors may be reciting. Once they’ve learned to fake sincerity, they have it made in the land of make-believe. While the cast of this specific make-believe effort (Hamilton) are entitled to their own opinions, they chose a poor place from which to make their speech. I don’t buy tickets for plays, or attend plays, to hear actors/make-believe specialists spout their own words during, or after, the play. They should just recite the words the writers wrote and let me leave the theater deeply enmeshed in the play I paid to see. The actors could have invited the VP backstage to voice their personal concerns, instead of foisting them onto the audience. Fuck the actors of the cast of Hamilton for ruining the paid for and expected experience of the audience. I would demand a refund. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/31 "2016-11-20T19:26:29Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > How do you feel about a reality TV star with no political experience becoming our President? Yes, no political experience, but experience putting teams together and getting things done which I think is part of the reason he won. Also, from what I hear and read, he seemed to touch on issues like jobs, healthcare for instance that many Americans are very concerned about. So, he wasn’t always just mouthing off, he actually touched a nerve with some voters and people want to know their concerns are being heard. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/32 "2016-11-20T19:28:01Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > While the cast of this specific make-believe effort (Hamilton) are entitled to their own opinions, they chose a poor place from which to make their speech. \*\*I don’t buy tickets for plays, or attend plays, to hear actors/make-believe specialists spout their own words during, or after, the play. They should just recite the words the writers wrote \*\*and let me leave the theater deeply enmeshed in the play I paid to see. Either you don’t know what actually happened or you have nothing to complain about in this case. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/33 "2016-11-20T19:33:36Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > The part that I quoted. How’s that partisan he did win. If Hillary had won and the incident had happened with her vp or Pence I would still feel the same way. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/34 "2016-11-20T19:34:48Z")
> [@Riemann](#): > > I aspire to your lofty ideal, but [the flesh is weak](https://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/386:_Duty_Calls). Okay, well I admit it’s really more of an ideal than anything else. Though I think I’m getting better. I guess I’m just thinking, if you really believe in your heart that a certain viewpoint will make for a better world, I can’t hold it against anyone for using whatever platform they have for expressing that viewpoint. Some of our best entertainers are profoundly political. And expecting entertainers to shut up about _anything_ is just a fool’s errand. [QUOTE=doorhinge] Fuck the actors of the cast of Hamilton for ruining the paid for and expected experience of the audience. I would demand a refund. [/QUOTE] Do you think it’s reasonable for anyone to attend that show and _not_ expect shit to get political? That musical is an SJW rallying cry and anyone surprised by a brief, polite political statement written by the notoriously outspoken director should probably do their research before going to see the show. The idea that such a diplomatically worded statement, at the end of the musical, during a curtain call, could completely ruin one’s experience is absurd. Just so we’re clear on[what was actually said](http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/watch-hamilton-casts-powerful-plea-to-mike-pence-w451521): > [@](#): > > However, upon the show’s curtain call, the cast and crew of Hamilton, led by actor Brandon Victor Dixon, had a strong message to deliver to the VP-elect. “There’s nothing to boo here, we’re all here sharing a story of love,” Dixon said. “We have a message for you, sir.” > > “Vice President-elect Pence, welcome. Thank you for joining us at Hamilton - An American Musical. We, sir, are the diverse America who are alarmed and anxious that your new administration will not protect us, our planet, our children, our parents, or defend us and uphold our inalienable rights, sir. But we hope this show has inspired you to uphold our American values, and work on behalf of ALL of us,” Dixon said. > > Dixon, who plays Aaron Burr in the production, then again thanked Pence for attending a show featuring a “diverse group of men and women of different colors, creeds and orientations.” “We don’t have to fight one another. The beautiful part of this country is… we don’t have to agree, but we gotta live here, baby, and share with one another,” Dixon added. For all the people crying about how our culture is overly sensitive to criticism, to get worked up about something so benign seems hypocritical. FWIW, Pence has stated he wasn’t offended at all. But let’s all get outraged on his behalf, by all means. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/35 "2016-11-20T19:34:57Z")
> [@Patx2](#): > > Yes, no political experience, but experience putting teams together and getting things done… Which is true for most successful celebrities, including the cast of Hamilton. ---
**Author:** ![Patx2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/73ab20/32.png) [@Patx2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patx2)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/36 "2016-11-20T19:38:59Z")
> [@Lightnin](#): > > I’m completely amused by all the people who are so \*offended \*that actors in a play might have political concerns and want to express them- there’s such an undercurrent of “shut up and just do your job, peasant”. > > Plays are inherently social- if Pence (or Trump) don’t want to deal with the public, maybe they should just stay home and watch TV. Or maybe not even fun for office. Actually, I don’t think Pence had a problem with it. ---
**Author:** ![Corry\_El](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@Corry\_El](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Corry_El)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/37 "2016-11-20T20:52:18Z")
> [@Spice\_Weasel](#): > > I might actually agree with you if Hamilton weren’t explicitly about American politics. That might actually be a good rejoinder except the show, while nominally about the history of politics, is still a show people come to see expecting a show, not a lecture about _today’s_ politics. It’s not even a matter of any political inference that can be drawn from _the show_. It’s an extraneous political lecture. I’m simply expressing an opinion, which is that I don’t feel it’s productive to spread politics into everything and have to listen to political messages and lectures while attending any and every public event. The contrary opinion would be ‘no to me it’s fine, make every public event political’. But the fact that this musical happens to be about long past politics is not actually a rational point, IMHO, somehow undercutting my point. It’s basically irrelevant. And while one can’t prove counter factuals, I’m quite convinced more left leaning people would feel as I do if the intrusion of politics into entertainment and sports was dominated by actors/athletes expressing right wing views. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/38 "2016-11-20T21:01:44Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > Agreed! A Hamilton show is no place for fighting with the Vice President of the United States! Nobody fought with Joe Biden. He wasn’t even there. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/39 "2016-11-20T21:06:32Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > Either you don’t know what actually happened or you have nothing to complain about in this case. Hahahaha. IMHO, you must be a Democrat. The cast made a speech to the VP while the audience was still present. The cast of Hamilton was still playing to the audience. I have no problem if the cast passes along their personal comments backstage, or anywhere other than post-play on stage. If these asshole cast members chose to degrade my personal, play-viewing experience, then I’m demanding my money back. Fuck the cast members for ruining the experience for me. Assholes! ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2016, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543/40 "2016-11-20T21:11:09Z")
> [@doorhinge](#): > > Hahahaha. IMHO, you must be a Democrat. > > The cast made a speech to the VP while the audience was still present. The cast of Hamilton was still playing to the audience. I have no problem if the cast passes along their personal comments backstage, or anywhere other than post-play on stage. > > If these asshole cast members chose to degrade my personal, play-viewing experience, then I’m demanding my money back. Fuck the cast members for ruining the experience for me. Assholes! Even as you’ve grabbed your coat and are heading to the exit? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/stop-being-the-expert-famous-people-and-political-views/772543.md?page=3)