An actor is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor’s interpretation of their role—the art of acting—pertains to the role played, whether based on a real person or fictional character.
In other words, a “good actor” is a person who is good at pretending to be, and holding themselves out as, someone other than who they are in reality.
A close look at the background of many of our most successful actors discloses that (a) they usually are not highly educated; and (b) they often come from troubled family background. So, becoming an actor, and being paid to pretend to be someone other than who they really are, is a great escape.
But how did we get to the human condition in which actors, of any sex, somehow get treated as if they are sage moral arbiters?
Of course, in America and under our glorious Constitution and its First Amendment, anyone can say pretty much anything, without fear of being thrown in jail, as might happen in some countries, or even being sued except in the most egregious situations. Anyone in America can have, and express, an opinion on anything, including things about which they really know virtually nothing. Opinions are just that- opinions- nothing more, and they are often misguided or just plain wrong.
It seems to have something to do with the fact that our society provides actors with platforms via the mainstream and social media, with great public followings, that are usually and generally unavailable to most ordinary people. And being on those platforms seems to convey some element of an expectation that the opinions being expressed should be respected and treated as true.
Thus, if some ordinary Joe or Josephine publicizes their views on politics, crime, immigration, society, or anything else, the only people who might hear or read those views are those in their immediate vicinity or their close circle of “friends,” and in many cases, their views can simply be ignored and attributed just to “crazy old Uncle Joe.” But apparently not so much with actors.
The mainstream media seems to give actors enormous platforms from which to articulate their views, no matter how puerile, nasty or ridiculous.
Thus, we frequently are subjected to feeds from the mainstream media in which actors, mostly of the left stripe these days, pontificate on all matters of morality, politics, criminal activity, immigration, personal behavior, medical issues, and the like. And it can be reasonably assumed that some of our population actually pays some attention to what is being said, if only because the words are coming out of the mouths of actors on those media platforms.
But when listening to some of the drivel that comes from actors, it pays to remember what actors do for a living- they act- they pretend to be something other than what they really are- and the words they spout are usually written for them in a script (if we are lucky) or they usually originate from uneducated, troubled minds.
