Should Actors Publicize Political Views?

[ZannaDo]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 7:31pm

I don't know how I feel about this so I thought I'd pose the question to the board. Do you think it's appropriate for actors to publicize their political opinions? Do shows tend to care if the actors in their show express controversial political beliefs publicly? I noticed a trend of Broadway actors posting "Broadway for Justice" photos to support the Mike Brown, anti-NYPD protests and couldn't help but wondering if the shows they are in are okay with them sharing their views on this. Thoughts?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 8:04pm

I think you do know how you feel about it. You give yourself away when you frame the protests as "anti-NYPD."

Actors are citizens of their countries. Good citizens are politically engaged.

Updated On: 12/13/14 at 08:04 PM

[notalwaysontime]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 8:20pm

Broadway actors, and other celebrities, like many Americans, fell there is injustice happening in this country right now, they are lucky enough to have voices that reach a lot of people through fans and media attention, and they choose to use the platform they have to support and bring awareness to a cause they feel strongly about, and I think that's a great thing.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 8:28pm

There is absolutely nothing wrong with Actors expressing their political beliefs. Let them do it, in the case of the recent NYC police killing an innocent citizen whose only crime was selling loose cigarettes, it would be a CRIME if they didn't!
Zannado, I would hope that when the cops knock on your door and kill you for making a dumb post on BWW that there would be just as much as an outcry from the Broadway community!

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 8:32pm

I think they should be able to, the only problem is that they risk losing fans and supporters who have opposite political views as them.

[SNAFU]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 8:33pm

We are allowed freedom of speech, yet we are not allowed freedom of repercussions from that speech. If you truly believe in something, you wouldn't care.

ETA: in the case of the police homicide in Staten Island, it would be criminal NOT to speak out. SPEAK OUT LOUD! There was a f*cking full length video of the event!

Updated On: 12/13/14 at 08:33 PM

[Phillypinto]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 8:43pm

SNAFU, "If you truly believe in something, you wouldn't care." ummm they also care about their careers.

[jv92]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 8:49pm

Yes. They're citizens, too.

[ZannaDo]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 10:27pm

What if the actor's show doesn't agree with their belief?

[Pootie2]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 10:30pm

"What if the actor's show doesn't agree with their belief?"

That's ENTIRELY up to the actor, whether to buy into the fiction in relation to personal beliefs.

Edit to add: I mean when taking the job in the first place.

If a celeb ends up making controversial remarks that their employer doesn't like, then it still falls onto the actor--their risk to take.

Updated On: 12/13/14 at 10:30 PM

[Bettyboy72]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 11:14pm

Yes, but its complicated. Currently, because of social media celebs have a higher, more visible profile. Part of a celeb's success is a fan's ability to project onto them-that was how stars of yesteryear had it. A celeb risks harm to their very livelihood if they upset fans, casting directors, directors, artistic organizations, etc. They have to be concerned about that. I do believe they have a right to speak out, but they need to weigh it. Sometimes I don't care what celebrities feel.

Christine Ebersole on the other hand needs to rein it in. She's kind of a mess with the whole "truther" stuff and 9/11 was an inside job. At her last concert she was taking jabs at Obama and it was awkward. Not the time or place.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 12/13/14 at 11:59pm

We all have every right to speak out loud and proud about our political views.

One doesn't give up that right by being an actor anymore than one does by being anything else.



Updated On: 12/14/14 at 11:59 PM

[Pootie2]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 12:22am

Any individual in the U.S. need only be concerned about their personal PR. That's the only sphere in which a "should" question can even be asked.

The only true "right" is at the federal level, AKA the oft-quoted freedom of speech 1st amendment: This particular freedom has ZERO bearing on this topic. The right can only be invoked if the federal government steps in and squishes publicized opinion.

I'm reminded of a general situation where someone, somewhere was fired for airing particularly controversial opinions; an employee from a different company tweeted that that person had every right to say such things, which prompted his own company to also fire him. It led to a whole lot of chatter in certain corners of the internet, but the crux is simply--"Free speech" is inapplicable in these situations, and while everyone certainly can air opinions, the only party that cannot lay punitive action is the federal government ("hate speech" is another topic), keeping in mind that most of the U.S. has "at will" employment.

Everything else is a personal decision--for the celebs, their employers, and the fans.

[Wilmingtom]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 1:11am

This discussion has been ongoing at least since Chaplin made The Great Dictator. Brando, Redgrave, Fonda and countless others have made their political views known, suffered repercussions to varying degrees, and they all did just fine. Others of course weren't as lucky, losing their careers entirely. So it boils down to how much passion you have for your views and how much gut you have for the consequences. The word "should" has nothing to do with it.

[dramamama611]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 1:19am

Just like HAVING an opinion, expressing it publicly is a personal decision. It is no more or less an issue for any person. As an educator, I am constantly considering my public political and social persona.

Just like they have the choice, so do you: if their views are horrific to you, will that change how you will spend your money?

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 1:30am

Yep! Not one red cent to anything involving Patty The Slut Shamer Heaton.

[Sutton Ross]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 1:56am

"What if the actor's show doesn't agree with their belief?"

When Sherri Shepard was cast in Cinderella, tons of people bitched on this board "Argh! Her beliefs dont line up with my own! The producers are horrible!" and blah blah blah blahhhh. But, her time there was fine, and there was no huge drama because they are professionals, and can separate professional and personal.

Also, it's not an anti-police issue. It's about inequality, injustice, intolerance, racism, anger and a very serious concern about where the hell this country is headed.

[Fan123]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 3:12am

[Slight detour ahead] Personally I'm not into boycotting the work of actors (or other workers) if they publicise controversial or offensive beliefs. If I really want to make a response, I'll argue back (in whatever relatively ineffectual way I can), but I'm not going to interfere with someone's making of an honest living just because I disagree with them on a matter not directly affected by their work. One could argue that a handful of boycotters aren't really going to interfere with a person's professional success anyway, but if that's the case, there's no real point in doing it. On the other hand, if boycotting does have real power and does succeed at ruining somebody's career, that's hardly an outcome I could take pride in. It could be argued that the person could get another job in another industry, but there'd be no particular reason not to boycott their work in that industry as well, so… where would it end.

But practically speaking, it's up to the actor whether they want to risk it.

Incidentally, I'm not sure I'm comfortable with the idea of “you're entitled to freedom of speech* *(but of course there will be consequences)”. It feels a little 'let a hundred flowers bloom' to me. I'm sure the posters here expressing the idea meant something much more moderate; my wariness mostly comes from how I've heard/seen the idea expressed elsewhere. (With regard to freedom of speech I'm thinking about what that idea might and/or should mean, not the specific laws of any particular country.)

Updated On: 12/14/14 at 03:12 AM

[1000songs]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 3:58am

This is a really silly question.

When you do La Cage you are showing an opinion, when you do Billy Elliot you are showing an opinion etc. When you Radio Golf you are showing an opinion etc. Opinion is what makes us human and having one is golden. For instance La Cage is really questioning what is family what is marriage and if I was gay and wanted this I would do it.

[The Other One]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 8:11am

Finding Namo and Betty Boy: Basically you are saying that actors should be free to publicize their politically correct political views, but should keep their conservative or controversial views to themselves.

It doesn't work that way.

Daniel Sunjata is also a 9/11 conspiracy theorist, by the way. And although I don't appreciate Patricia Heaton's cold political pronouncements, I did notice that her Emmy nominations stopped once she started making them and I do find that hypocritical of a business that still mourns those who suffered the blacklist.

Actors do have a right to publicize their political views, and it should not affect the work they get UNLESS their behavior creates a hostile work environment.

I, personally, would be quiet about mine because I rarely see the politicization of issues doing much more than heightening divisiveness. I've had it!

[LarryD2]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 9:12am

And although I don't appreciate Patricia Heaton's cold political pronouncements, I did notice that her Emmy nominations stopped once she started making them and I do find that hypocritical of a business that still mourns those who suffered the blacklist.


That's a post-hoc argument. Heaton was nominated consistently throughout her run on EVERYBODY LOVES RAYMOND, winning twice. Since the end of that show, her subsequent work hasn't been as good. I'd say THAT is the reason she's not receiving award nominations (and for someone on the "Hollywood blacklist", she never seems to have trouble finding consistent work).


As to the question at hand: I get the feeling that there are many who wish we'd go back to the days of Michael "Republicans buy sneakers too" Jordan, but it's just not going to happen--and it shouldn't. As others have said, good citizens are politically engaged. I vote with my wallet when someone says something I cannot support, and I would recommend others do the same.

[The Other One]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 9:28am

By the way, the casts of "Father Comes Home From The Wars" and "Our Lady of Kibeho" both completed their curtain calls at recent performances by holding their hands up a la Michael Brown.

I did not see the Ferguson situation through the black vs. white lens many others did, but I was moved by the grace with which these actors made their political statement.

[PalJoey]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 10:37am

After the jailing of the Hollywood Ten for refusing to cooperate with the House Un-American Activities Commission, actress Myrna Loy, directors John Huston and William Wyler, and screenwriter Philip Dunne formed "The Committee for the First Amendment" and organized a group to fly to Washington and protest HUAC's actions.

The committee included Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Henry Fonda, Gene Kelly, John Garfield, Edward G. Robinson, Judy Garland, Vincente Minnelli, Katharine Hepburn, Paul Henreid, Dorothy Dandridge, Jane Wyatt, Ira Gershwin, Billy Wilder, Sterling Hayden, June Havoc, Evelyn Keyes, Marsha Hunt, Groucho Marx, Lucille Ball, Danny Kaye, Lena Horne, Robert Ryan, Jules Buck, and Frank Sinatra.

In October 1947, the group traveled to Washington. After each witness was sworn in, he or she was asked the same question:

"Are you now or have you ever been a member of the Communist Party?"










Many of the actors who participated in the protest were punished by the studios.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 11:07am

Finding Namo and Betty Boy: Basically you are saying that actors should be free to publicize their politically correct political views, but should keep their conservative or controversial views to themselves.

I never said that, basically or otherwise.

[Feste]

Posted: 12/14/14 at 1:16pm

All citizens should use whatever voice they have, even if others disagree. Truth and ignorance will both show themselves. Remember, politicians work for us.