Voices: Getting in on the Peace Act
With media coverage saturating Bush's war against Iraq - a war that hasn't even happened yet - I didn't want to add yet another column to the mix.
Yet with an issue this large looming above our collective consciousness, how can I write fluff about celebrities, for example. I mean after all, the reason everyone keeps talking about the war is because we can't see the forest through all these trees of propaganda.
So ... let's compromise.
On Monday, an antiwar advertisement featuring actress Susan Sarandon and former ambassador to Iraq, Edward Peck, debuted in Washington, D.C. and on New York television stations. Funded by the advocacy group True Majority, the 30-second spot presents Susan Sarandon pointing a sharp inquiry at Peck.
"Before our kids start coming home from Iraq in body bags and women and children start dying in Baghdad," she says, "I need to know, what did Iraq do to us?" Peck's reply - "Nothing." Iraq had nothing to do with the tragedy of September 11, 2001, he suggests, and nothing to do with Al Qaeda. He further opines that rather than reducing the threat of terrorism, an attack on Iraq will serve only to increase it.
Timed to counter Bush's anticipated State of the Union plug for military action, the ad will no doubt ruffle a few feathers. Many a threatened birds will likely object Sarandon's presence, slinging the old backlash that because someone is a famous actor she is necessarily uninformed and has no right to exploit her fame to affect public opinion.
If you don't remember the rumbling when Sean Penn went to Baghdad a month or so ago, perhaps you recall the shrieking when 100 "bloody Hollywood liberals" under the collective moniker "Artists United to Win Without War" signed a petition against Bush's war policy in December.
"Will someone tell Martin Sheen that he's not really the president," one young man wrote at mtv.com in response to the actor's comments at a press conference. Oh, ha ha ha. It's funny all right, but I think Martin Sheen knows the difference - I haven't actually compared their salaries, but I'm guessing Sheen gets paid more per episode of the West Wing than Bush gets paid in a year. While we've pulled out Martin Sheen as an example - he was politically active long before he became famous. Is he's just supposed to stop now because he's reached a unusually high status level?
It's so easy for those with differing political views to insult actors - What do they know about foreign policy? The only thing they really care about is their image, their career? What do you think politicians care about? Serving their constituents? Please. Some of the most well-read people I've met, happened to be actors. They are curious by nature, always watching and listening to the world around them, absorbing details about the people with whom they come into contact. The wealthier ones have traveled to countries I'll probably never have the opportunity to see. And they can see through the bad acting put forth by self-serving politicians just as readily as you and I.
Why should we listen to celebrities on issues of foreign policy? Maybe we shouldn't. Maybe we should be making up our own minds. But it's a personal decision and personally I'd trust Susan Sarandon over George W. any day. She's demonstrated a history of acting according to values that I can appreciate. What I've glimpsed of the president's values, I can't even begin to understand. And think what you may about that, but I'm certain it's not because his genius is so superior to mine.
We insist that our celebrities be role models, but then ask that they model our values rather than their own. These are real people, many of who never asked to be famous. Let's not take away their right to an opinion.
Did the petition of Dec. 10 did make a difference? Although I can't begin to think of anyone who really cares what Bonnie Franklin thinks, I think bringing visibility to dissent has made an impact. Maybe the alignment of the stars has had nothing to do with the change of tide, but one thing's for sure - a mere four and a-half months after the protest-free September 11 2002, signs of protests are everywhere.
--alicia grega-pikul, 30 January 2003
