Oprah and the enviroment (Page 2)

AMEN!!!!

Okay, first of all, THE PLANET IS FINE!!!   The people are messed up.  The planet has endured a lot worse than us.  It's been through ice ages, volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, tidal waves, meteor showers, the magnecit reversal of the poles.  Lots of things worse than us and it'll be here long after we're gone.

If people want to take this seriously I think it needs a new name.  SAVE THE PLANET isn't working cuz not enough people care about the planet.  SAVE OURSELVES might have a better ring because that's what it boils down to....

That my $1.05 worth of George Carlin rant.

They don't confuse their status with credibility, they recognize it for what it is: capital.  The argument that people with fame shouldn't use it to forward their political/social/spiritual/whatever beliefs doesn't hold water in a free, capitalist society. Using that logic, the same argument could be made that wealthy people/corporations/organizations shouldn't be allowed to use their financial capital to forward their political and social beliefs.

How is the Audobon society or Exxon/Mobil spending money on advertising and lobbying politicians any different from Leo DiCaprio talking about environmental issues on Oprah or Ted Nugent talking about gun rights on a TV show?

Now THAT is more to the point. Good job, Ty. How's the little tyke?

What I don't understand is why more people aren't asking for my opinion on these matters!!!

I've got lots to say about lots of things - just ask me! 

You've never been around someone truly famous for any period of time. Celebrity does equal authority. Famous people demand things and get them. Sylvester Stallone could walk into almost any place of business in North America, ask to speak to the most senior person there and it would happen. He can command the attention of powerful people solely because of his fame. He can walk up to total strangers on the street, ask for their wallet or cell phone and they would give them to him, just because he's famous.

The words fame and fortune have been used together for a long time. In sufficient quantities and used wisely, each can be wielded to great effect. They're forms of power.

Here's a good recent example: Bono recently met privately with Pres. Bush to discuss debt forgiveness for undeveloped countries. He's a private citizen of a foreign country, but he got a meeting with the POTUS to discuss a political issue he personally cares about. He got that meeting through effective use of his capital: his celebrity. Others get that meeting through campaign contributions.

Why don't we all jump on the Scientology bandwagon while we are at it.  Tom Cruise says its GREAT!

I hate when that happens.

If I hear a celebrity talking about something like this I tend to tune them out simply because I believe a) they are simply regurgitating something someone has told them and b) they are simply using it as a vehicle to get their name out for whatever upcoming movie, tv show, or album they have coming out.  Triple that feeling if it happens on Oprah.  I didn't see the show, but if I'm not mistaken, were they not promoting a documentary that Leo just happens to be doing the voice work on?  I would be much more inclined to pay attention if it were on OLN, A&E, the news etc.  I have heard people talk about GW being cause for all the hurricanes hitting North America the past couple of years and that the polar ice cap is slowly melting.  You can look at history and see that hurricanes hitting North America are not on any kind of weird upswing and there are some who say the polar ice cap has actually thickened in recent years.

And then, you have Madonna speaking out against the materialism of the American public????  Isn't she living in some big castle in Scotland or Ireland or something like that??  And didn’t' she make enough money to live that way by being known as the "material girl" and preying on pre-teen and teen girls to buy her albums and concert tickets????