Ishaan Nandwani, Opinions Editor
A few weeks ago, I was scrolling through my Twitter feed and noticed that Evangeline Lilly was trending. Lilly, an actress known for her roles in “Lost” and “Ant Man,” is someone I’ve admired for years, given my teenage “Lost” addiction and affinity toward Marvel. Thus, I was naturally excited to see her name in the media spotlight once again.
However, I was disappointed upon learning that she was trending for all the wrong reasons. Lilly shared an Instagram post on Jan. 27 in which she discussed her attendance at an anti-vaccine mandate rally in Washington D.C. in support of “bodily sovereignty.”
The post received immediate backlash, and some Twitter users went so far as to suggest that Lilly’s decision to speak out with such a controversial point of view would lead to her being “canceled” and the end of her career in liberal Hollywood.
Lilly’s initial Instagram post and the ensuing response signifies a larger trend that has emerged in recent years of celebrities being highly involved in politics. This calls into question how our society should approach high-profile public figures being very vocal about political issues and endorsing certain candidates for office.
I don’t personally agree with Lilly’s perspective regarding vaccine mandates, but I can respect her freedom of speech. At the same time, her decision to voice her opinion on an issue that poses a public health risk is dangerous, given her large following and fan base.
This creates a difficult situation in which we’re forced to consider both the rights of celebrities to express their beliefs publicly, but also the greater responsibility they have when doing so.
Personally, I believe that celebrities should avoid public discussion of controversial political topics. This especially applies to delicate issues of nuance and range in which they are not experts, and their decision to speak out may have harmful consequences.
However, the issue with celebrity involvement in politics isn’t restricted to celebrities speaking out about individual issues, but also includes their significant participation in political campaigns.
For example, Biden’s campaign for president heavily relied on the massive platforms of celebrities to promote their cause. Lady Gaga and Alicia Keys performed and spoke at Biden rallies, Miley Cyrus did an Instagram Live with Kamala Harris and Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson was memorialized on Biden’s official YouTube channel for his endorsement. There are too many examples to cite.
While I supported Biden in the 2020 election, celebrities were the face of his campaign far too often; moreover, the campaign seemed to focus more on an idealized vision of a better America rather than concrete policy or change, propagated by the famous faces that headlined it.
Moreover, musician Kanye West’s bid for president back in 2020 further shows the influence that celebrities can hold on elections; West ultimately collected 60,000 votes in the election. Although this number seems small in comparison to our country’s population, considering the fact West did not appear on the ballot, there was clearly still a group of devoted fans willing to blindly follow him despite his lack of experience.
I think I speak for most Americans when I say that I prefer my entertainment and politics to be separate. Sure, it’s fine for a celebrity to support a certain candidate, but excessive celebrity involvement in campaigns or vocalization of opinions surrounding issues they do not fully understand can have harmful consequences given the size of their platforms.
At the end of the day, politics should be about our elected leaders and what they can offer our country. Celebrities certainly have a right to their political opinions and freedom of speech, but given their significant following and influence, they also have a greater moral responsibility than the average citizen to be mindful about what they post and how they choose to involve themselves in political discourse.
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February 23, 2022 at 10:03PM
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