Do Movie Stars Influence Our Political Opinions?

It is interesting to listen to a voice-over on a commercial. We've heard that voice before and wracked our memory trying to figure out who it is. Some voices to listen for are Sam Elliott, Donald Sutherland, Gene Hackman, Antonio Banderas, Richard Thomas, and Alex Baldwin. These are just a few of many movie stars who lend their famous voices to commercials. (More up front are the women stars who lend their beautiful faces and hair to beauty products. We don't have to strain to recognize them!)

Is there a reason advertisers use these famous male voices?

Certainly. One reason is that their voices are attractive and match the product in some way. The second reason is because they are actors can inject their voices with a certain persuasive emotion, be it comfort, confidence, pride or any particular characteristic that advertisers decide is needed to influence their audience. Well-known actors are hired over the usual ad actors because they are the best at their craft.

Have movies been influential in changing thought about social and cultural issues?

With convincing emotional performances onscreen, such issues as discrimination against black Americans and the gay and lesbian culture, promoting ecology, denigrating politicians and capital-based economics, actors and ideas have been persuasively presented to the American public. In so doing, public minds and opinions have been changed; attitudes altered.

Studies have shown that Hollywood has been responsible for instilling new values into the American psyche: some good, some worthless, some destructive.

The importance of evaluating credibility.

Good actors will take on a variety of roles. We appreciate the degree of talent and effort that goes into a stellar performance. If an actor submerges himself into a role, he often tells an interviewer it takes some time to let go of the persona. Other actors admit to playing themselves, using various aspects of their personality and experience. It is important to remember these admissions when they are standing up for one cause or another, because they can easily call on their acting experience for persuasive expression, and many of their beliefs have their origins in a strictly emotional response. It should also come as no surprise that, somewhere in their lives, is a large contradiction to their words.

There is no "Movie Stars are Us" store.

How many of us walk in and out of a fictional setting on a regular schedule? How would it affect our thought process? It is also wise to remember that movie stars, as much as they would have us believe the opposite, do not live the lives of ordinary Americans. They may touch the fringes occasionally, but their chosen profession prevents them from becoming involved in bake sales, PTA, worrying about job security on a week-to-week basis, nor do they worry about the mundane routine of punching a clock and turning out a certain number of widgets every day.

The next time we hear a movie star speak on subjects near and dear to our hearts, should we question whether they speak from personal experience or mere personal opinion, perhaps influenced by a role they've played, or a cocktail party conversation they had one night? From an actor, very likely, what we hear speaking is a display of emotion, minus the thoughts and values of every-day participation in American life.