Celebrities Should Stick To Being Celebrities

This past Monday, singer Barbra Streisand, had a sold-out packed performance in New York City but she isn’t getting publicity for her singing performances. Why would she? She after all is just a singer. Instead, she has been getting attention for her onstage mocking of President Bush and the man in the audience who unfortunately had showed up expecting a music concert.

“What is this? A fundraiser?” The man that has now been labeled as ‘the heckler’ shouted. Barbra responded with the utmost politeness. “Why don’t you shut the f**k up! If you can’t take a joke, why don’t you leave and get your money back.”

News this morning is that now Streisand’s publicist suggests that the heckler was a government stooge, someone the right-wings planted at the concert. Of course that makes sense! Because the man couldn’t have possibly been a fan of the singer’s who just wanted her to sing. Maybe he just wanted to leave politics out of something for once.

But no. This hasn’t been happening – not recently anyway. Remember the barrage of celebrities during the 2004 election, all making speeches and voicing their political opinions at the drop of the hat, even when no one asked for them? That got old real fast. I’m the kind of person to keep my political beliefs to myself. I wish others would do the same.

Oh! Well, I didn’t know that Zach Braff thought like that. I guess I should too because I’m a completely mindless drone that has no thought process of my own. Or I don’t want P. Diddy personally coming to kill me since he threatens Vote or Die. Just because Ben Affleck traveled with the John Kerry campaign didn’t make me pay more attention to it. My heart wasn’t broken when George Clooney announced that he wouldn’t run for any type of political office. You want to know why? Because I’m one of those crazy people that think celebrities should stick to acting or singing or modeling or whatever it is they do that earns them ridiculous amounts of money and enough publicity.

I’ll admit. I was amused when Arnold Schwarzenegger ran for governor of California but that was for obvious reasons. The terminator himself was running for office. I wonder if when he was a boy growing up in Austria, he envisioned being a governor in the States. My former roommate, still best friend, Melissa, is from California and though I won’t reveal who she voted for – and yes I know because I was with her when she received her absentee ballot which had about three full pages of candidates running – she was amused by the situation too. This is Danny DeVito’s bodybuilding Kennedy clan marrying twin for goodness sakes! It was entertaining whether you like or hate the man. But honestly, I didn’t really like the fact he was running. Why was he running? Arnold’s Conan the Barbarian, not Governor.

Maybe I’m the only one who thinks like this. Maybe people love going to concerts expecting music but hearing political beliefs instead. Maybe people buy magazines when their favorite celebrities are on the covers, not wanting to read about what they put on top of their waffles but instead what political statement they’re going to be making next. All I know is that I really wish everyone would just do what they originally start out doing. Trust me. Paris Hilton telling me to register to vote didn’t do anything for me. Of course, when she herself forgot to not only vote, but REGISTER to vote, I laughed to myself. Served her right for doing something other than she usually does – which is nothing in the first place.