Hollywood Star Mark Wahlberg to Celebrities: Keep their Mouths Shut about Politics!

by:Onan Coca
Hollywood star Mark Wahlberg has been the lead in many major blockbusters over the years, but he may be laying the groundwork to become even more popular. While many celebrities use their platform to spew their political beliefs and denigrate the beliefs of others, Wahlberg has taken a different path… he keeps his mouth shut about politics. He wishes more in Hollywood would follow his example.
When it comes to talking politics, Wahlberg recently told the military-geared news outlet Task & Purpose that, “A lot of celebrities did, do, and shouldn’t.”
Wahlberg explained that the preachy celebrities who get on their high horse and talk down to people who disagree with them, don’t actually do any good.

“You know, it just goes to show you that people aren’t listening to that anyway. They might buy your CD or watch your movie, but you don’t put food on their table. You don’t pay their bills.”

Wahlberg continued by pointing out that it seemed as though most of liberal Hollywood couldn’t even fathom that a large number of Americans might disagree with them, because they were trapped in the Hollywood “bubble.”

“A lot of Hollywood is living in a bubble. They’re pretty out of touch with the common person, the everyday guy out there providing for their family. Me, I’m very aware of the real world. I come from the real world and I exist in the real world. And although I can navigate Hollywood and I love the business and the opportunities it’s afforded me, I also understand what it’s like not to have all that.”

I agree with Wahlberg on this, but I’d go another step further. The decision to become activists simply because they’re celebrities is also hurting their own cause. Americans don’t mind supporting people of various political ideologies – we’ll attend a play, we’ll buy a movie ticket, we’ll go to a concert, we’ll eat at a restaurant, and we really don’t care about the ideology of the people we are patronizing. However, if the actors, entertainers, chefs, etc. begin proselytizing their political beliefs, or even worse, if they begin demonizing their political opponents… we’ll stop attending.

It’s the reason that during the Bush administration anti-war movies flopped, because they were slanted against the Bush-led government. (Interestingly, while President Obama has not had a day of peace during his administration and while he has bombed more nations than Bush… the anti-war film trend has slowed.) It’s the reason that the Dixie Chicks went from being the hottest country music act in America one day, to disappearing the next. It’s why Matt Damon’s anti-fracking movie was seen by almost no one, but his Bourne films are blockbusters.

We can think for ourselves. We don’t need celebrities telling us what to believe, who to support, or why we are wrong. I’m glad that Mark Wahlberg gets it, I just wish more in Hollywood and New York did too.
By the way – Wahlberg and Director Peter Berg (who made the movie “Lone Survivor” together) have a new movie coming out about the heroism of Boston police in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon Bombing. This looks like the kind of movie we should all support.



Article posted with permission from Constitution.com