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Message: <blockquote data-quote="takyris" data-source="post: 1848466" data-attributes="member: 5171">Fast Learner,With respect, I disagree with that assessment.  Movie stars or other famous folks have several great ways to help causes they believe in. They can volunteer their time as a guest of honor at events, and they can donate money.  I currently work for a nonprofit, and we would kill to have a large-name celebrity either give us a boatload of money (either as a direct donation or as an endowment) or appear as a guest of honor at one of our events.If Lindsay Lohan wants to show up at one of my fundraising events, I would love to have her there. Heck, if Lindsay Lohan wants to show up on the Ellen Degeneres show and say, "I wish that everyone would give money to Tacky's nonprofit, because they do such great work with children, and they're one of the few places in the nation that provides this service regardless of the parents' ability to pay," that would make my day.  That's a great use of her soapbox.But I agree with her that for the vast, vast majority of movie stars, talking politics is a dumb idea. A nonprofit organization that helps kids is not divisive. Arguing that policy XX is a horrible policy that only evil/lazy/immoral people would support, and that policy XX needs to be torn down, is divisive.  And more than that, it doesn't help.  Did anyone look at the actors and singers in the most recent U.S. election and say, "Gosh, I was on the fence, but now that Hillary Duff has told me her opinion, I'm gonna have to go her way," on election day?Exceptions exist, of course -- there are some actors who have actually done enough research and really read up on the issues, so that they can say more than sound bytes.  But for the vast vast majority, all they end up doing is making themselves look stupid.I don't think that phrasing it as "speaking from your heart" is fair.  In fact, I think that's somewhat naive.  (I don't think you're naive, but I think that trying to pin this statement on this argument is oversimplifying the matter.)  The best way for actors to get audiences to agree with their values isn't to give them a dumbed-down oversimplified soundbyte.  The best way for actors to get audiences to agree with their values is to sign on for films or perform songs that deliver those values in their message -- the multibillion-dollar entertainment industry is a far better soapbox than an impassioned "Hi, this is the real Jessica Simpson, and I'm hoping you vote for _____" left on my voice mail.I'm not saying that movie stars shouldn't have political beliefs.  I'm saying that if they truly want to use the power that they've been given, there are more effective methods to accomplish this goal.  I'm also saying that making large pronouncements like this on your website brings in some awfully large assumptions of audience, and it's not going to help -- nobody is going to change their minds because of this message, but some people will become angry and stop reading you as a result -- and when you could have convinced people of the rightness of your position through your art instead, you've not only lost a fan... you've lost the chance to convert that fan in the future.Hmm... upon rereading, I sense some internal topic drift.  To clarify my points:-Donating money or time for non-divisive issue (like rescuing pets or working with disabled kids): Good-Becoming marketing shill for non-divisive issue: Good.  No one's going to hate you for speaking out about the need to rescue pets.-Donating time or money for your political cause: Good.-Choosing movies or songs that incorporate your personal political values: Good.-Directly appealing to people to follow your political beliefs because you're telling them to: Ineffective, divisive, and generally not a good idea.</blockquote>

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