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Mar 4, 2003 A few years ago, I portrayed Tom Robinson in a community theater production of "To Kill A Mockingbird." You can imagine the challenge I felt, transforming from an articulate, well-read Black man to a poor Southern sharecropper from days gone by in a manner pleasing to the rest of the cast and audience. It seems as though another actor has transcended his role. Or, should I say, transformed into his role, in his mind? Martin Sheen, who plays the President of the United States on NBC's "West Wing", has cut a commercial condemning the impending war with Iraq. It's an interesting piece of advertising, in that not once are you being told it's Sheen. I'm sure when an avid fan of the television show hears his voice, wouldn't you agree they would think they were listening to the president? "He's not my president," intones a button worn by a Colorado schoolteacher that's creating controversy in the conservative talk radio circuit. I want one of those pins, so I can remind liberals that no, Sheen is NOT our president. He just plays one on television. I'm sure Mr. Sheen is well-read, educated and of sound mind, but to impinge on his celebrity status (playing the PRESIDENT, no less) and endorse such a commercial in such a manner smacks of deceit. Actors and actresses have always enjoyed their ability to endorse goods, services or causes in an effort to sway their fans to buy a certain soda, visit a certain website or save America's wild places. But wasn't it just fifty years or so ago that actors and actresses were blacklisted for endorsing "un-American" causes like communism? Should Mr. Sheen, Alec Baldwin and the rest of the actors who see Bush as an ogre, and who no longer desire to speak lines but to speak out against American interests be blacklisted? Should NBC cancel their Emmy-award-winning show, citing patriotism? Should we send Mr. Baldwin packing out of a country that has paid him handsomely for being so handsome? What has happened to the educated American? You know, the ones who knew the answers to "21", or "Jeopardy" and had an opinion that originated from within, and not from a fictionalized West Wing? Americans who voted with their ballots to effect change, and not vote with their Neilsen box to change effects? I submit that since we've heard from Mr. Sheen, whose voice rumbled from my radio as stridently as if he were filming another episode, we should hear from other actors who played statesmen. Nick Nolte, who played Thomas Jefferson, should speak to us about our civil rights being slowly eroded by draconian legislature engineered by the right. James Earl Jones, who played the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, should dictate how we prosecute the war in the Middle East. Heck, Sigourney Weaver, who played the president's wife, should be rallying the masses and making her presence known. Hollywood must stick to what it does best-- create fantasy characters and fantasy realms-- and ensure that when those among their ranks see the lines between fact and fiction blur, indict them with swift and sincere censure. Only then can we be assured of rational thought and discourse for our nation. About the author: Chuck Tyler is a freelance writer and journalist based in South Bend, Indiana. His credits include coverage for the South Bend Tribune (www.SouthBendTribune.com) of a triple homicide trial and a town hall meeting of concerned citizens and local officials for the Herald-Palladium (www.HeraldPalladium.com) following 9/11. Email him at: tyler_1420@yahoo.com ------------ Comment on this column in the forum. ------------ |
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