Banksy

[laurence]

Please don\'t dislike me!

To totally contradict myself I agree with what you have to say MPJ.

Maybe I\'m confusing liking what these people do with actually liking them as human beings. I guess it\'s that celebs spend a lot of time in the public spotlight so many people may feel that they really know these people. Also it\'s undeniable that celebs help sell products. Hey if Eric Clapton \'GOD\' likes Armarni clothing then I like it too.

I think that it\'s wrong to critisise others especially when you don\'t really know them.

 

[Legacy Account]

Hehe!

He\'s worth his weight in gold is Banksy purely to see the no-brainer \'spend-it-on-the-kids\' responses he illicits.....

I\'d gladly pay a premium on my council tax for him to come and put some stuff up in Bradford. I\'d rather my taxes went on paint stripper than bullets anyway.

 

[Dragonsreach]

Originally posted by Spacemunkie
Hehe!
I\'d gladly pay a premium on my council tax for him to come and put some stuff up in Bradford.

Wouldn\'t that class as Urban Improvement and he could get all sorts of cash from the European Union.

 

[Legacy Account]

Lol!

Exactly!

 

[philologus]

Originally posted by MPJ

Originally posted by laurence
...And I don\'t agree that you can\'t really dislike celebrities based on you not knowing them personally. That\'s a rediculous statement! By that line of reasoning you can\'t really like them either.

Sorry, but I can\'t see how you can \'like\' or \'dislike\' someone without knowing them either. To form an opinion on someone you don\'t know you have to go by what other people want you to hear or see and, well I prefer to make up my own mind not have the celebrety press do it for me.

Now you can dislike the \'type\' and you can definatlly dislike the \'image\' but to dislike someone personally it really needs to be personal and you can\'t get that through the TV.

As an example: Brad and Angelina seem the freaky, hippy, left wing type (babies in Africa, buying paintings by weirdos, etc...) and typically I don\'t care much for that type. However I\'ve never met Brad or Angelina so I really can\'t comment on my specific feelings towards them. I could say \'I don\'t like them, not one bit\' but maybe they are really swell people and I\'m throwing out bad joo-joo for no good reason?

EDIT:

Lets take it one step further sall we...

By reading my posts, espically in this forum, I\'m sure a few people are thinking \"That MPJ, what a frigging arse.\" (and they\'d be right sadly). But in reality I\'m a pretty easy going and friendly sort who plays well with others, I just like a good arguement from time to time and I\'m rather opinionated (but I respect others opinions no matter how daft). Now it would be pretty darn silly to not like someone because of their thoughts on some \'artist\' who\'s a bit touched (read as mental in case \'touched\' doesn\'t translate to other countries versions of english or is to outdated).

I don\'t know them personally, however they are in a unique position for informing the entire world what they\'re about. I don\'t know many of my coworkers personally but:
I know the quality of their work.
I can observe, by their actions, how they treat others and what seems to be important to them.
Based on these things I know generally whether or not I like them. We all do this everyday with people.

What irritates me a little about the cult of celebrity in the US is this: A short perusal of actor/actress biographies will reveal some interesting things.
1. Most are less educated than I am.
2. Most of them display disdain for the things I hold dear; i.e. marriage, family, religion.
3. Most have not served the public good in any capacity that doesn\'t involve throwing large sums of money at the latest flavor of the month cause celebre
If I observed these qualities in a coworker or acquaintance, I could say that I don\'t like them. If they are hiding some \"secret\" good quality, then I\'m not sure it would outweigh their other quite significant character flaws. Does that make me bad? Maybe. But it also makes me human.

I know this: whoever runs the Hollywood STD clinics have got to be some rich folks.

 

[vincegamer]

1. degree of education could be an indicator of a lack of a desire to learn. However, it might not. The former may be a reason not to feel extra affection toward someone, but lack of opportunity instead of lack of interest would not (nor would expressed interest outside formal education).

2. Personal disagreement on values is valid reason for you personally not to like them, but would not qualify as a \"character flaw.\" (though some of what you allude to could suggest dishonesty, which is a character flaw) (edit: I don\'t think the same applies to organizations. I dislike the boyscouts because of their views on homosexuality and atheism, though I have several friends in the organization and disliking gays and atheists is not a character flaw per se).

3. This I simply don\'t get at all. Are you suggesting that rather than hold a concert and give the proceeds to say Habitat for Humanity, Beyonce should grab a hammer and start nailing 2x4s together?(purely hypothetical example)
If so I utterly disagree. I could not understand that football player who gave up a multi-million dollar career to join the army and get killed by \"friendly fire\" in Afganistan. Everyone was haling him as a hero, when to me he just looked like an idiot. He could have done far greater good in the world by using his money well and continuing to earn it than by becoming one more finger on a trigger.
So I say throw as much money as you want at whatever valuable charity you want.