We Have Opinions that Matter
It always bothers me when fans tell celebrities and musicians to keep their opinions to themselves because “no one cares what you have to say.” Why do people think celebs and artists can’t have an opinion on things outside their work?
We are all human and as humans we all have opinions on what happens in the world. Why does it matter what career a person has on whether or not they can share that opinion. If we choose to listen or watch something from a particular celeb/artist then are we not in some way agreeing with who they are, therefore caring about their opinions. Why should it be a bad thing for these people to voice more personal opinions on social media or even through their work? If we all respect each other’s opinions I don’t see why it would be an issue. Especially if it is someone you admire or look up to.
I will admit that there was once when I found out something about a particular band I use to like that made me change how I felt about them. Although I felt betrayed by this band’s political beliefs I didn’t go and attack the band on social media. Instead I unfollowed them, removed their songs from my music collection, and moved on with my life. Every now and then I come across their music on the radio, or elsewhere. I can’t help but think about how I use to have so much respect for the band, and how now I would not seek their opinions. I don’t think we have to agree or like the opinions of celebs/artists yet we should not be aggressive towards them and shove our beliefs onto them. It would have been easy for me to message them and be hateful, but that would have changed nothing. They would keep to their beliefs and would be no less by the lost of one fan. So if I’m capable of knowing and understanding this why can’t other people? No one is forcing us to listen to or watch particular celebs/artists, so we can choose to just stop if we truly don’t agree with their personal beliefs.
“I’m a person who’s always been politically active and passionate about people’s rights. I marched against the [2004] Republican Convention. And as my career has expanded, it’s been important for me to not stifle that voice. Because you want to be popular, you want people to hire you, and I have to make sure I don’t do it less because I’m an actor.” — Kerry Washington, Elle, April 2016
There is always that one person who is so backwards thinking they feel the need to rant on social media after a celeb/artist posts something meaningful. By meaningful I am referring to things about school shootings, racism, equality, and any other number of things supporting justice for all. What bothers me the most is that the “troll” truly believes that the celeb/artist should not be allowed to speak on such topics just because of what they do for a living. Why does voicing concern for these important topics warrant such a response from someone? Maybe there was a time in the past when it was okay for celebs to not voice their opinions but we are living in such a messed up time. These days all celebs have a platform to share their opinions and I think they should feel that they have the right to speak out against such injustice. When there is a president currently in the White House calling people derogatory words it is very important to have every voice for justice free to speak against such cruelty.
“I am not just an actor, I am not just a Latina, I’m not just an activist, I’m not just a director, a producer, a creative person. I’m all of these things, and I’ve finally come to a place in my life where not only is it okay for me to feed all of those things, but everything gets better when I do. I’m not going to stop being a person in the world because I’m afraid people aren’t going to see me as an actor. — America Ferrera, Vulture, March 2017
