Should GD Be A Celebrity-Free Zone?

[MineralMan]

Bristol Palin, Lindsey Lohan, and the like are what I'm talking about. When they do something with zero political characteristics, should all posts about them be moved to the Entertainment Forum?

[LiberalAndProud]

1. Hide thread is a nice feature.

[Javaman]

2. Define celebrity. nt

[MineralMan]

3. Anyone famous for nothing having to to with

political matters.

[Javaman]

16. redefine "political matters"...

because what was once considered "non-political" is now fair game in the political echo machine.

and as for the famous for nothing, there are plenty of congress critters that do nothing but take up valuable space and waste oxygen who but are considered political celebrities.

failin quitter comes to mind as do many other right wing air wasters.

sadly we live in an era of "being famous for nothing" is considered a viable occupation.

[MineralMan]

19. I guess my question really lets each person decide before voting.

Definitions vary.

[1monster]

4. No. It is GENERAL discussion, not Politics Only discussion.

You don't wanna read celebrity posts? No on is forcing you to do so.

[Little Star]

5. If people are not interested in so called...

celebrity news the thread dies a quick death. Otherwise, I would assume that people like discussing many different subjects.

My question is why do some people try and control any discussion forum?

[raccoon]

22. I second that emotion! nt

[tnlefty]

35. Smokey Robinson and The Miracles...now I have an earworm..

Admittedly, this time it's not a bad one. :thumbsup:

[DrDan]

6. "General Discussion" - pretty easy to understand that, actually

[bullwinkle428]

7. How do we qualify "celebrity news"? I'm thinking about the "Jackass" guy

and his fatal car crash, where he was drunk out of his mind and killed his friend as well.

[BeFree]

8. Eh?

You don't like that DU is becoming the greatest chat room on the web?

The chit-chat here is winning, get used to it.

[City Lights]

9. Are you confusing GD with GDP?

If you don't like the subject matter in a particular thread, just hide it and move on.

[Erose999]

10. Only if we move all Palin posts to entertainment too. Since she hasn't formally declared she's

really nothing more than a reality TV star.

[DefenseLawyer]

11. Skip over and read the next one.

I'm just a caveman, but that seems like a pretty easy fix to your dilemma.

[MineralMan]

23. It's not really a dilemma. That's exactly what I do. It's a question.

So far, it's getting a range of answers. Thanks for yours.

[DefenseLawyer]

38. I have very little interest in celebrity "news" but it does rank higher than when someone's cat dies

That's not to say that I don't empathize with the loss of a pet and I certainly don't begrudge anyone whatever cathartic or healing effect posting the news of a departed cat might bring to the bereaved. But that's not really something that I'm looking for when I come to DU, so I usually skip those.

[Jackpine Radical]

12. I'm so far out of contact with the mainstream culture

that sometimes GD is the first & only place I hear about some of these alleged celebrities.

I can't decide if I'm better off with or without that knowledge.

[Fumesucker]

18. Casey who?

I know just what you mean.

[stuntcat]

25. without :)

from what I glean,
the references I've seen,
we are better without.

[mucifer]

13. mixed feelings on it. Sometimes I see threads and think "why isn't this in the lounge??"

But, I don't feel it's worth making someone feel bad by posting that.

On the other hand, sometimes I'd rather see a few celebrity threads than scores of Anthony Weiner threads that say the same thing.

[Bluenorthwest]

14. Your question is confusing. You mean 'free of stories about

celebrities'? That is different from 'free of celebrities'. Hard to enforce the sort where you bar participants for being well known.
Plus the idea of yours that cultural issues and stories lack political implications or uses is your own framing. It is far from true, at best it is a relative thing. I have read DUers complain about stories with Lady GaGa in them, even when GaGa is speaking at a political event, on the basis that they do not like her. So. That which seems to you to be devoid of the political might be devoid of the political, or your perception of it might be lacking. This is the glory of public discussion, you hear other people's opinions on all manner of things.
Lohan. Not political? Really? Well, she was exploited as a child worker, now tossed aside and expected to be some balanced adult, used by her elders as an example of ruin. Who placed her in line for ruin? Elders who made money off of her looks and talents. Not only her industry, but also her Union have a long history of being a bit too casual toward their minor workers. Child labor and the results of such labor, suddenly that has 'zero political characteristics'? In your world and from your pov, perhaps. One out of 300 million.

[MineralMan]

21. It's just a question.

When Lady GaGa is speaking about politics, unions, human rights, or anything else of that nature, then it's political. I figure people will vote in this poll based on however they define the terms. It's not a big deal, and I really just wanted to see how people felt. I'm not advocating anything, really.

[Bluenorthwest]

26. As usual. Advocating nothing, really.

How about my Lohan point? How about the point about one person's perspective being rather not the same as yours?
Here is a story that might be enlightening. Your Senator Al Franken was once a celebrity with scant political content. He dressed up like a gorilla and such. But Al was always very informed, in particular about the dull process of the Congress. So one day, back in the Great Jurassic, when we were all relatively young, I was around some of Al's long time co-workers, and his name came up. I mentioned his political acumen and said I'd like to see him run for office one day. Waves of derisive laughter ensued. "Al? Head Writer of the most coked out show in history? Run for office!?? Are you kidding me?"
He was a celebrity, not all that big of one, with a public image built on, in and with a show some called 'radical'. Stewart Smalley for Senate? It defied logic, flew in the face of reason, it was seen as absurd by those who knew him well.
When the laughter died down, I said "Well I'd vote for him."
So for many years, my personal interest in the 'celebrity' Al Franken had to do with thinking he had a future in politics, when others thought he had a future writing jokes for SNL movies.
I was kind of sort of right about that. He's United States Senator Smalley now.

[MineralMan]

29. When Al Franken announced that he was running for the Senate,

he suddenly became political news. When he spoke on political issues, as in his book on Rush Limbaugh, he also became political. I know Al Franken. I worked to help get him elected to the Senate. I admire him greatly. He IS a political figure. Lindsey Lohan is patently not a political figure. It's not hard to tell the difference, really.

I wasn't advocating anything. It's a poll. It's a question. People are answering, according to their ideas.

When I advocate things, I do not put them in the form of a poll or question. I say, "I think" or "I believe" then follow that with my advocacy statement.

[Bluenorthwest]

32. Once Al was just a celebrity.

Sorry if that is an issue for you. He is a political figure now, in part because of lots of people who helped build his image in that regard long before his run for office. Without 'celebrity' would Franken be a Senator? Maybe. He does have those good looks to work with. But fame sure helped him. A year on AAR. The books, why did they get published and promoted, or more to the point, how? They were promoted with Al's face and name, SNL Comedian Al Franken writes a book. A celebrity. The methods he used to build his political image were open to him because he was a celebrity. And because of his talents which brought him celebrity status, of course.
Al gets more press than most Freshman Senators, in part because of his sterling work as a Senator, but also in part because of our dear friend Stewart Smalley. That is the fact of the matter, and it serves us all.

[MineralMan]

33. It's not an issue for me. I'm not sure why you think it is.

Again, this was a poll. I was curious about how DUers felt, so I posted the poll.

You needn't tell me anything about Al Franken. I was a fan before he ran for office or published his books, and I've been an active support since. He's my Senator, and he's doing a great job. We don't disagree.

[Bluenorthwest]

36. See? You were a fan before he ran or pubished. My point

exactly. He did not 'suddenly' become political. It was an ongoing process that made use of his celebrity. This thread is about the value or lack of value in having any stories about 'celebrities'. It was on this I was commenting. And I told you a story from my life. So did you. That's how it works.
My other point is that the personal and cultural is often political in ways that might evade me, but which might be apparent to another. Even a story that really is devoid of politics can be used to illustrate a political point at times.

[Aerows]

15. Particularly Sarah Palin

She's just a celebrity. She pretends to be in politics, like her daughter is now doing, but really they are doing nothing but capitalizing on their celebrity. I'm not even sure why Lindsey Lohan is even discussed anymore - she's not even a celebrity, in my opinion, because the only appearances she's made in several years have been in court.

If Palin decides to actually run for an office instead of trotting across the country and quitting halfway into it, then it's appropriate to talk about her.

[MineralMan]

17. Lots of variety in the results so far. It's interesting.

Please note: It's a question, not an opinion, on my part. I'm just interested in seeing what people think about this.

[raccoon]

20. No--don't open the thread if it's about a celebrity. Or hide it. nt

[stuntcat]

24. if it would mean no more threads about the Palin family

whoring themselves out for all they can get.

[WilliamPitt]

27. Controlling content in GD is like trying to push molasses up a sandy hill.

You need a poll choice for "Good luck."

[LeftinOH]

28. It would also be nice if celeb stories/scandals, etc would be left out of the MSM;

unthinkable, I know.

[mwooldri]

30. No, because we then can't have our say about the celebs on Fox News Entertainment. nt

[LynneSin]

31. It really depends on the situation

If some dingbat celebrity marries a 16 year old - that's lounge material

But if a celebrity does something that aligns themselves with the party - whether joining us in a cause we support, protesting with us with something we oppose or doing something that in general makes them a really good person (like donating millions to help rebuild a town devestated by natural disaster) - then I think there is some merit to putting it in GD.

[Bombtrack]

34. If it's celeb free Jake Byrd won't post here

[pinboy3niner]

37. LEAVE THE CELEBS ALOOONE!1!!

:rofl: