There’s really no need to be cruel. Acting requires a lot of talent AND hard work, training, and education. It’s a skill just like other skills. It isn’t “playing pretend.” Theater and drama CAN be a very good force in the world and CAN work for social justice and change.
And since when did someone have to be formally educated to be smart?
Actors are told what to say, how to say it, when to say it, what to wear when they say it, where to stand when they say it, what to do when they say it, and so on. Truly, they need to exorcise their emotions, more than their intelligence, to give the writers and directors what they want.
There is very little objectivity or truth in movie and play scripts; this is especially true in works that are designed to call for social awareness or change. Writers of these works use hyperbole and poetic license to advance their cause. Because of people like Michael Moore, viewers can not even turn to documentaries for truth and objectivity.
I don’t believe I make the point that only college-educated people are smart. The point I make is that one does not need much of an education to be an actor. As long as a person can read and memorize lines, he or she has a chance to be successful, because the rest of the acting functions will be provided for them by the director/writer/producer, etc. The fact that Maher and Garofalo failed at acting speaks volumes, as far as I am concerned. Does one need to be convincing in their portrayal of a character? Yes. But that success depends more on the emotional talent than it does on the intellectual acumen. Maher and Garofalo seem like intelligent people. I don’t know them personally, and I don’t agree with them on the political issues, but their implied intelligence has done nothing for their acting careers.
The intelligent James Woods could have done more constructive and worthy things for the world if he used his high IQ and went into the field of science, for example. Again, he earned his choice of scholarships to various polytechnic institutes.
I think what is cruel is when politicians use the popularity of actors to get votes. For some reason, many people in this country put actors high up on a pedestal, and politicians take advantage of this worship of false gods to win elections. People who cast a vote, because a celebrity stood next to a candidate on the stump, really need to take a hard look at how they make decisions in life.
Hollywood is a lie. Special effects, dramatic effect, poetic license, hyperbole, and editing make sure that the objective truth is hard to find. This is why we viewers are told to suspend belief for a few hours if we truly want to be entertained by a movie.
Of course literature can be a tool to bring awareness to an issue. But one can not discount the bias of the author or the agenda he or she tries to push. An objective critical analysis needs to be applied to the author’s theme, and that analysis consists of clearing the smoke to see if there is an objective truth, as opposed to mere moral relevance.
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