Alex, so how’s the weather

brent(inWorship)s last blog post..I Hate That About Me!

Q: Do you respect or disrespect people who are so starstruck that they would vote based SOLELY/ALMOST ENTIRELY on what their actor would do?
(This is not to be confused with people who love the actor in question AND arrive independently at the same conclusion–in other words, what the actor said has little/moderate influence.)

“If Damon’s hope is to bash the right so that the left will win, then he needs to be accountable for his actions. If I, or others choose to blindly follow him, then I, or others should be held accountable for my actions.”

The above seems contradictory to me. If Damon needs to be held accountable for his actions, exactly what is he accountable for? Are you saying that he’s responsible for the way people vote based on what he says? If so, why do you go on to say that people who follow blindly need to be held responsible for their actions? Who exactly is responsible for this one action of voting?

“Should Damon encourage a talking point? Absolutely. Should he, or any of us in our political opinion be gospel? Nope. ”

Are you saying that Damon should be held responsible for the fact that his political opinion is considered as gospel by fans? It’s a state of affairs that he and other stars have no control over.

Also, if you persist in saying that you don’t hold Damon any more responsible for his influence on others than we do for our individual circle of friends and family, then you ought to perhaps stop investing so much weight and moment to what amounts to a mere opinion that he has and that he’s voiced. I truly don’t think that any of us go about our daily lives spouting opinions here and there about various issues, and then, after our friends/family listen to us, we’re responsible for how they conduct their affairs in reaction to what we said. They’re adults. We’re adults. The only time where I’d agree that we need to be especially careful in even voicing our opinions is when we’re dealing with children. You seem to be likening the starstruck fans to children, even if you don’t say so or will agree to the comparison. And that IS insulting, no matter how they would see it.

In the end, I think you’re blaming the wrong source. All this is a problem only because of people who are so starstruck that they would follow blindly where their star leads them–no other faction of people would be influenced one way or the other by what a mere actor said. You can’t seriously be holding the star responsible for what their fans do. I agree that that state of affairs is sad (that actors hold so much undue sway over certain people) but it’s not something that should be laid at the door of the actors.

Susan

“I don’t think actors should be held any more responsible for their influence on fans than any one of us should be for our influence on people who like us.”

Ummm, I agree. Everyone has to take responsibility for their own actions. No where in my comment did I dispute that. Here’s the issue though. I may affect 20-30 people who care for me and respect me. Damon can affect 100’s of thousands that care for him and respect him. Even more than that, Damon is an iconic figure, which means that his thoughts are taken as gospel in people’s minds. Many people live star struck and what stars say, goes. That’s scary. Besides, we are talking about Damon here…not the sheep.

“you seem to be insulting the people who would agree with Damon based on his fame/acting skill alone (for being incompetent at independent thought)”

Insulting? Hardly. Many would be proud to say they are voting like Damon. They love him, they idolize him. What he says is gospel. That’s what many people do with people of his popularity. Should Damon encourage a talking point? Absolutely. Should he, or any of us in our political opinion be gospel? Nope.

“if there are people like that in the world, then should Damon be held responsible for their decisions? Should you be? Should I be?”

Yes to all of the above, based on action. If Damon’s hope is to bash the right so that the left will win, then he needs to be accountable for his actions. If I, or others choose to blindly follow him, then I, or others should be held accountable for my actions.

“what did you mean by “inauthentic chaos”?”

What many people do(and in my opinion, Damon has done here) is to create hype so as to encourage some sort of action. When the hype is so strong that it creates chaos, that concerns me. When i said this, my point was to say that people are reacting over hype, not because of what they believe, but because of what someone else has said they should believe. That is my beef with this.

By the way, let me add here. This goes for any side of the coin. If a conservative chose to make a video like this (which they have) I would react the same way. Show me those videos and I’ll tell you the same thing.

Also, so you know, I am voting independent…

People like Damon and others who have followers, need to be cautious

brent(inWorship)s last blog post..Sitting In A Chair In The Sky!

But more than that for me is the responsibility of influence. Damon has a huge influence on people. He’s a famous actor and to do what he did here is completely irresponsible. Whether his cause is good or bad, it creates inauthentic chaos. Herding sheep. What scares me is that people do listen to this and agree based on the speaker and who knows, he could be herding them right off a cliff.

Response:
I don’t think actors should be held any more responsible for their influence on fans than any one of us should be for our influence on people who like us.

Why place the blame on the “shepherd” and not on the “sheep” who would follow blindly? On one level, you seem to be insulting the people who would agree with Damon based on his fame/acting skill alone (for being incompetent at independent thought), and it also leads to another question: if there are people like that in the world, then should Damon be held responsible for their decisions? Should you be? Should I be?

This last is a question I have for you: what did you mean by “inauthentic chaos”?

brent(inWorship)s last blog post..Dear blog