Sometimes it doesn't matter what people believe
 

Someone asked me whether it's a good idea to avoid movies with Scientologist actors, or whether anyone finds it harder to enjoy movies when they know a Scientologist is in a particular role.

I think it doesn't matter.

People believe all kinds of crazy things, for all kinds of crazy reasons. Some of our best friends believe things that we may find outrageous. Maybe even dangerous. But the things that bring us together as friends are much deeper than our beliefs: we are all people, on this planet, trying to figure this shit out. Maybe I got 3% of it and maybe you got 2% of it... but if your art is inspiring, maybe that comes from something deeper that we share as human beings.

A guy way up in my organization is a Scientologist. His belief system hasn't hindered his progress as he is an achiever. Maybe believing something or anything completely quiets some minds enough to focus on what needs to be done. I like your art idea, Pete's fiddle teacher is classically trained, quite brilliant, and a fundamentalist. All humans have a little crazy in them, we probably should cut some slack and look at what people actually do with their talents.

I can't agree more. It is so easy to define people only by the traits we dislike or think we know all about one person or another based on a limited exposure on a limited form of technology. There is much about people all around us that we don't know, and maybe if we did know that tidbit that we disliked, would it radically change they way we think about them from that point forward? Or would it really matter. I have a long time habit of getting along with people around me who can't stand each other. I have never let it define me. Nor what they think about me. These differences are what make us humans and unique in the animal world.

Why should it matter?

Like any religion,it's not contagious, but I do think T.C. is a little kookoo. It's only because he is so full of himself that I cannot watch him.

There's a very firm line in my mind between an actor and the roles they play. Same thing for the banker and what they do when they're not at work.

I watch movies based on entertainment or idea value. The personal lives of the actors have nothing to do with my enjoyment. On the other hand, my wife will not watch movies with certain actors because of gossip.

Along those same lines, I really enjoyed this interview with Christian Bale. In it, he talks about the same line.

Most of the time I think I know myself.
In reading these posts, at first I agree that actors are acting... but then

But then I think of Mel Gibson... should I pay my $ to support his beliefs. I don't think so
Yes, there are other actors in his films earning $, but that's their decision to work with him.

Likewise with star athletes... should they be "role models" or are they also entitled to "private lives"
For some reason, I find myself being more lenient and forgiving with actors,
but I do seem to hold athletes to a higher standard.
Maybe it's because young people are not yet ready to make those distinctions that are needed


But then... Is a puzzlement !

Well in the case of Mel Gibson I think there's a different line... having beliefs is one thing, being an asshole is another. After I worked with an asshole musician for a year I try never to buy music made by assholes. (It's hard to find out if someone's an asshole, but I think Roger Waters and Linda Rondstadt are on the list.)

Ummmm... Linda Rondstadt ???
I've always had a good impression there.
But then I wonder what UT knows that I don't :eek:
(no reply necessary)

She routinely has contempt for her audience. Sorry for the WorldNetDaily link but here she is saying the opposite of what I said in post #1.

http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=25665

(new post instead of edit) This is the lowest an artist can be, I think. To look out at your audience who took the time and trouble to see you, paid you nearly $100 a seat for the opportunity to do so, and say "what a bunch of assholes... I'm actually saddened to think that my work might affect them or entertain them."

She was playing to a Vegas audience when she said it, which is where her biggest bucks are made and also where a lot of Republicans go. I don't know about the fundies although moralist Bill Bennett was a big gambler.

I'm a weekend warrior musician and I know I'm playing to some despicable people in bars. I'm so happy if they care one iota about what I do. If we don't agree on much, then it's a time to stop and put all that aside and just enjoy what we do have in common.

She didn't even write any of her songs so the only reason she is there is pretty lady pretty voice. Shut up and sing you stupid cunt, so the real musicians backing you can make their union scale wages.

I struggle with that. I'm pretty sure Miles Davis, Buddy Rich, Frank Zappa, and Prince were/are perceived as pretty much assholes. Note that this is also a list of some of the greatest artists of the 20th century. Not necessarily a cause/effect relationship, but I think of it as kind of the "House" thing--when you are really good at one thing, "people skills" might not be your focus.

It's a tricky one.
I'm trying out a new mindset this year: be kind. It's not up to me to think I know better than someone else - what I see is a tiny facet of their whole personality, and they have many layers supporting and amending the belief that I have an issue with.

I can choose not to donate money to a cause I do not believe in, but to refuse pay a reasonable amount of money for something just because a small amount might be spent on something I disapprove of is over-complicating my life.

As for the OP, like Pico I try to separate actors from roles. In fact I often get a crush on an actor for a specific role but have no interest in watching/ reading their interviews or promotional pieces. Actually, I've just been scanning my mind for examples and found that when I am really fascinated by a role, I usually do watch the actor in other situations. Damn. That's because all the ones that immediately come to mind have made a big impression on me. Blackadder, Dr Peter Venkman, Cher Horowitz, Han Solo (see below), Captain Jacks (Sparrow, Harkness, Morgan) Tim Bisley, the 10th Doctor etc etc.

I remember with deep, deep shame when Six Days, Seven Nights came out. I refused to see it because Anne Heche was playing a straight woman. I decided she was "Selling Out" (because of course there are so many LGBT roles out there) and anyway I wouldn't be able to believe it. What an arse. Apart from anything else I didn't even take into consideration that Heche is bisexual. But worse, I looked at sexuality first and profession second.

I don't think I really missed out on anything by not seeing the film though :)

Of all the dumb chick flicks out there, I have to admit. I liked that one.

I consume entertainment to be entertained. If the entertainer is a total ass in real life, that's usually going to turn me off consuming their stuff.

But the line is a difficult one to define. For me, Mel Gibson is on the wrong side of it. Tom Cruise isn't.

Vick is on the wrong side of the line, but his product is not personal like an actor's, so I'll watch him play. You can't even see his face, really.

lol

The second time I read your post, this jumped out at me as really chuckle worthy.

Celebrity Sci entol ogists have no idea of the twisted reality of the inner workings of their "religion". These celebrities are pampered, catered to, and given perks like Misc cavi ge enjoys. They are clueless as to how families are torn apart or people are thrown out the door (thereby losing their salvation) when their funds are sucked dry, or how guilt and threats are used to control.

I see too much in the way of glazed over eyes, hyperactivity, lies, manipulation and broken promises from these people on a daily basis. The bottom tiers, the grunts, the "public", the staff and the incredibly neglected children of the above...they are my neighbors, my children's friends, my landlords, my grocers, the steady stream of zombies marching up and down the sidewalks near my home.

They don't know any better (aren't allowed to know any better). I speak to them when I can...you DO have the right to question, and you DO have the right to have doubts and you DO have the right to make your own choices.

And I go to their businesses, rent houses from them, watch their movies, listen to their music and invite them into my home. They're all victims of an enormous, ugly con :mad2:

Mel Gibson is an abusive asshole. I will never be able to enjoy anything he is in again.

Like the Waltons. ;)

most artists are assholes.

The whole I am not going to watch that movie because so-and-so is in it and he is an asshat is stupid. I go to be entertained. I could give a rats ass what they think about in their personal life. Sports figures are as much entertainers as are actors. And they are as screwed up as any collection of actors in the entertainment business or for musicians. And this supports what I said earlier, what you think you may know about a person from a news report or some repeated screw up they made the news about is hardly "knowing" who that person is and what they stand for in the rest of their life.

I guess it depends on what kind of actor they are. Some actors, like Jack Nicholson or Chris Walken, are always themselves with a different name in movies. Others are the character they portray. If they can become the character, it's easier to ignore their asshattery.

Like Tom Cruise. He's just NOT a good actor. So, it's easy to not like his movies for a variety of reasons: personal and professional. :bolt:

Turning it around a bit...
I think my opinion of the actor is heavily colored by the scripts/films they elect to do.
Sure, there are times someone has to take a role just for the $,
but over a career it is their own personal choices they make.

My example is Dan Aykroyd and Steve Martin.
They were both comics and enjoyable in their youth,
but to me Aykroyd is still making the same films over and over, while Martin has "matured"
in many ways and has no longer the same public personality.
So now, I'll pass on an Aykroyd, but expect to enjoy anythingdone by Martin.

Maybe not the same idea as in the OP,
but I think such decisions play a part in how I spend my $

Exactly. Asshats often choose asshat mainstream roles that make them lots o' money because of appeal to the unwashed masses. I have no respect for that: it's not acting, it's not art. Their personality is dim, so picking enlightened or brilliant roles doesn't enter into it (and often they would suck at it anyway.)

But I don't like a lot of the crap movies out there.

:lol2:

So you love Jane Fonda? Admit it....

I think Mel Gibson is a pretty good actor - or can be. Two of his more entertaining roles were in "Conspiracy Theory," with Julia Roberts and Patrick Stewart, and in "The Million Dollar Hotel," with a lot of interesting actors, including Bono.

The more I know about an actor (good or bad) the harder it is to suspend disbelief when I walk into a theater.