Celebs long on advice, not smarts
Doug Robinson
Cusack is an actor who's acting as if he knows who we should vote for in the presidential race, featuring Barack Obama, who plans to fix the country's problems by giving lots of cliche-riddled, football-coach type speeches — "We've got to pull together!" — and John McCain, who plans to fix the country's problems by beating them into submission. (Not that he has a temper problem.)
Like most of the roles they play on screen, celebrities really get into the roles they play off the screen, studying for years to learn to play the part of being themselves. Some — teen divas, for instance — rarely get the part right.
In his latest off-screen character, Cusack plays the role of a political commentator who's utterly convinced that he's got some enlightenment that the rest of us don't have, even though it sounds straight from a script. (In one interview he actually used the term — I kid you not — "military-industrial complex.")
If you couldn't guess which candidate Cusack is endorsing, ask someone to hit you over the head with a weed whacker.
He means this is a bad thing, not good.
Personally, I'm waiting to see what Paris and Nicole have to say before I make up my mind.
I can't remember the names of Cusack's movies, so possibly they were what we critics like to call "forgettable." But he does have name value and money, and that's enough to give him a forum.
I don't know why anyone would care what an actor thinks about anything beyond movies, but I do find it entertaining when celebs try to pass on their wisdom — if you'll pardon the overstatement — whether it relates to a political candidate, the environment, marriage and parenting advice, or other political causes. Of course, they lost me when Sheryl Crow made a plea for everyone to use only one square of toilet paper per visit to the restroom. I'm all for a clean environment, but hands and bottoms come first, sorry.
Anyway, as I was saying, I enjoy when celebs offer advice to the unwashed masses because essentially what they're saying is this: "Sure our personal lives are train wrecks, but let us show you the best way to live and think."
Despite the trappings of drugs, alcohol, divorce attorneys, money, visits to the Betty Ford Clinic, infidelity, paparazzi and so forth, they believe they have much wisdom to pass on.
Kate Hudson, Patrick Dempsey, Snoop Dog and Madonna, for instance, have all dished parental advice. Madonna once told KulturSpiegel magazine that she won't let her children watch TV or eat candy because, "Children need limits, otherwise they go off the rails."
Recent comments
I think Mr. Robinson and I are like minded on both celebs in politics...
Defending Cusack (as an actor) | June 19, 2008 at 5:22 p.m.
Some of the other comments about Dougy Doug were more appropriate...
fortune cookie | June 18, 2008 at 2:21 p.m.
Oh, how the glorious wisdom of Doug Robinson ranks right up there...
Opinions are like . . . | June 18, 2008 at 10:33 a.m.
