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Jewish World Review August 17, 2000/ 16 Menachem-Av, 5760

Kathleen Parker

Kathleen Parker
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Consumer Reports


Hollywood divine?
AlGore is miscast

http://www.jewishworldreview.com --
POOR AL GORE. Uncomfortably wedged between loyalty to his president and the ardent wish that The Big Creep would go away already, the candidate is stuck forcing an insincere smile as he waits his turn. He looks like the ignored good-boy trying to be gracious while the popular kid who cheats on exams gets the cutest date to the dance anyway.

Add to Gore's discomfort the unfortunate selection of Los Angeles as the site for this week's Democratic convention. Next to the stars -- and treading in the titanic wake of Bill 'n Hillary -- poor Al already has been upstaged. He's out of his league.

Not only do they steal the spotlight, they're preemptively draining Hollywood's coffers. A breakfast brunch hosted by Barbra Streisand reportedly produced millions for the Clinton library. Stain removers. So expensive these days.

No, Al should've had the convention in Peoria or some other heartland city where talk of "family values" and "working families" has more resonance. On the same news pages offering convention coverage this week Madonna announced the birth of her new baby. Second child, second relationship, still no marriage. Well, at least there'll be no divorce.

As for working families, it's hard to sell yourself as the voice of regular working folk when your supporters' paychecks come in the millions. Not for, say, building -- did Gore say combines? -- but for pretending. Not by their acts, but by their play-acting. Not for their deeds, but for their performances: "I did not have sex with. ..."

Not that I don't love actors. I'm a fan. I have a subscription to People. I want my son to grow up to be a fabulously wealthy movie director who takes his mother to the Oscars.

But I don't expect him on the basis of his blockbuster success to influence public policy.

Or to sleep in the Lincoln bedroom. Or to hug the president. If they were once college roommates -- or once shared a foxhole under hostile fire -- I'll make an exception. But to watch actor Tom Hanks hug President Bill Clinton because, oh I don't know, because they both love Steven Spielberg, sends me searching for Dramamine.

We love Tom Hanks. Why? We love him because he's a fabulous actor and because we love the characters he plays. I mean, Sleepless in Seattle? Big? Saving Private Ryan? Stop it. We love Hanks so much, we've made him our favorite spokesman for veterans. Because he's a war hero? No. Because, more important, he played one.

When did actors become reliable vendors of public policy? When did our nation start turning to Hollywood for direction? When did we begin to confuse thought with entertainment?

Barbra Streisand, responding once to similar questioning, said: "Why shouldn't I hold opinions? Why does my being an actress suggest that my opinions are less valid than anyone else's?"

Actors should and do hold opinions, of course, and Hollywood can and does inform public opinion in artful ways. We are entertained and often educated by movies.

But Hollywood's glitzy wealth and exhibitionist glamour is inconsistent with the serious business of running the world's most powerful country.

Just as I don't want a cute doctor with a cuddly bedside manner, I don't really want Martin Sheen in the West Wing.

The problem for Al Gore, of course, is he's a bad actor. He doesn't have Clinton's pizazz, charisma or star quality. Celebrities may throw money at him because he promises to continue Clinton's policies, but Gore will do poorly against Hollywood's star-spangled backdrop.

He will do poorly because -- unlike the president he hopes to follow and to his credit -- he's uncomfortable pretending to be someone he's not.


JWR contributor Kathleen Parker can be reached by clicking here.

Up

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