From A-lister to Aid worker: Does celebrity diplomacy really work? Rock stars," asked Homer Simpson, with his customary sagacity, "is there anything they don't know?" Only these days, of course, it's not just rockers but movie stars and businessmen – and indeed anyone with an above-average public profile – who, for one reason or another, are intent on telling the rest of us how the world should be changed for the better. Or at least, that's how it seems. So much so that a conference of eminent professors of international relations assembled recently in The Hague to explore the modern phenomenon of what they call "celebrity diplomacy", amid fears that it has reached the point where superstar lobbyists are damaging the traditional workings of international diplomacy and global politics.
posted by infini on Jan 16, 2009 - 16 comments

Fans of Joss Whedon are being asked to shell out thirty-five bucks a piece to hear Buffy's creator answer questions over a speaker phone, and remind them to vote for Kerry. Meanwhile "Buffy" herself is known to pose for the other guys. One might wish people really tune out celebrity opinions on politics. Does it change minds or are they already made up? Even when the facts are fiction. Should celebrities shut up or do they have the right to speak out? What, or rather who, influences you?
posted by ZachsMind on Oct 19, 2004 - 26 comments

Top 25 Celebrities Turned Politicians
posted by Rastafari on Jul 19, 2004 - 8 comments

Stop. Selling. Che. Doctor, Revolutionary, Murderer? Whoever he was, it don't mostly matter when he's this generation and the last's favourite rebelposterboy. Does it even matter, any more, the history behind such powerful brand semantics? It is, apparently, enough to be a symbol nowadays, even if in the end you're one of only ignorance. Is this the ultimate in simulacra? And will They ever stop marketing our martyrs? So who was Che Guevara? And what does he want with our children?
posted by armoured-ant on Mar 1, 2003 - 42 comments

MN Governor Jesse Ventura announced he will not run for re-election -- Ventura said, "You've got to have your heart and soul into these types of jobs. You've got to want to do it. * * * I feel that it's time to go back into the private sector." (He also said that his decision was "partly tied" to allegations by former employees that his 22-year-old son had thrown parties in the governor's residence.)
posted by subgenius on Jun 18, 2002 - 15 comments