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Celebrities have a pretty bad rap these days.

Deservedly so.

It seems like every entertainer out there, for all their talents, whether they be musician, actor, or author, has political views that gag the vast majority of us.

And it seems that the more talented they are, the more beloved we are of their works, the more repulsive their views are.

And we can’t tear ourselves away from them.  Because we love their music, their novels, or their roles in movies, we are forced to separate their performances as entertainers from the rest of their persona.  We have to make exceptions for them.

A shame that Hollywood has been hopelessly hijacked by the elite lunatic fringe.  Or more likely, it’s always been that way, just the people know we’ll always pay to see them no matter how repugnant their politics are.  So they continue to spout their drivel, knowing they have a captive audience.

A lot of faves of mine unfortunately fall in this category.

It’s no secret here that I’m a huge fan of Stephen King.  My favorite author, and although I can’t say I liked every one of his books, I can safely say I like every ten of his books for every one I dislike.  He has a writing style that few can touch, and has this talent for immersing his readers so far into the stories that they can almost subconsciously experience what they’re reading.  The Stand, IMHO, will always be his greatest masterpiece, and while everybody else was devouring the Harry Potter series I was anxiously awaiting the final books of his Dark Tower series.

But it’s a good thing that he rarely does interviews or speaks publicly, because often lately he’s spouted off some unpopular stuff, particularly about “America’s pathological love of guns”.  Given that one of his most popular stories is about a futuristic gunslinger and his weapons, that’s almost surprising.  Or maybe not, since he is a true born-and-bred New Englander, well steeped in their liberal politics.  Then again, many of his stories deal with the innermost darkest hearts of humankind, so maybe I can forgive him for his understandable, if misguided, points of view.

Oh well.

Another one is Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders.  One of my favorite artists and bands fron the 80′s, a subject of at least one of my Musical Interludes and likely more in the future.  Few rock singers can convey the range of emotions that Chrissie Hynde does, whether she’s singing dirty little ditties like “Precious” or “Bad Boys Get Spanked”, or more soul-searching tunes like “Thin Line Between Love And Hate” .  One of my personal faves is her live performance of Radiohead’s “Creep”.  Absolutely poignant and beautiful.  Hard for me to listen to without tears rolling down my face.

Unfortunately she also happens to be a first-class moonbat, and isn’t afraid to loudly proclaim it.  She’s a hard-core PETA and “animal rights” supporter, and has often been seen in concert footage wearing a shirt that says “Tax Meat”.  Because of this I sorta have to hold my nose a little bit (or at least dab a little Old Spice around my nostrils) while praising her, or at least her talents.  Chrissie, I love your music, but quite frankly your politics suck.  Loudly.

But not enough to make me quit listening.

It takes a lot (and I mean a LOT) for me to renounce completely an artist or celebrity’s works because of their politics.  Or moral issues.

I included the last because of the furor regarding Roman Polanski.  The only sympathy I have for him at all was that he was once the widower husband of the late Sharon Tate, victim of the Manson family.  Other than that I don’t have much of an opinion of him at all, other than the fact he did a nasty, despicable thing and fled like a coward from justice.  I have no interest in his latest movie (why would I want to see something where the most memorable scene is allegedly about projectile vomiting?), but I confess I am a fan of the original Rosemary’s Baby.  And will likely sit down and watch it again when I see it on our TV schedule.

Basically it would take  something truly horrific, like finding out they are a serial child killer or rapist, or were directly involved in the 9/11 plot, before I’d burn all my books, CD’s, or DVD’s featuring a particular celebrity.

So what is your breaking point?  How low would a celebrity have to go before you would honestly and totally boycott them and all their works, no matter how much you loved them in the past?

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