I see so many celebrities on news shows and in commercials, telling everybody not only what they think, but that they are absolutely right. Why do they think anybody cares what they think? How are they on these shows in the first place?
You ask this question from a state of utter dispassion, or do you actually care that they say these things ? If the latter, you might find it enlightening to ask yourself why you care what they say.
Celebrities get on the shows because the shows’ producers hope their presence will increase ratings - and they’re often right. They tell everyone what they think (and believe that they’re invariably right) because so many people pay so much attention to them and offer them so much adulation.
I have semi-informed political opinions and I’m willing to share them with people who are interested in what I think. If I were a celebrity, chances are good that my head would be so turned by all the attention I received day in and day out that I would believe everyone was eager to hear my opinions.
Everybody wants to share their strongly held political view. Celebrities have the chance to do it and take advantage of it.
A better question is, why do interviewers and reporters think that anybody cares what celebrities think about foreign relations?
I feel exactly the same way… the last election in the US seemed to bring out dozens of “celebrities” to talk about politics; I think a few were even on CNN. I remember wondering why there wasn’t an expert explaining stuff, and what their credentials were… it didn’t take me long to decide fame was it. Is there a large US demographic that wants to watch this for the political insight value, or is it just that they’ll watch anyone famous?
Duplicate thread. I’ll close this and direct replies to [url=http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=166679]this copy (which is on its way to IMHO).
DrMatrix - General Questions Moderator