In a recent interview
with Playboy, actor/director Ben
Affleck discussed his political support for Democrats such as Al Gore, Elizabeth
Warren, and Barack Obama. “People now know me as a Democrat, and that will
always be the case to some extent.” For an actor, that’s courting a problem.
The interviewer pursued that point by asking Affleck if he
thinks that audience awareness of his politics “polarizes” viewers. “It does,”
replied Affleck,
and you can bifurcate your
audience. When I watch a guy [onscreen] I know is a big Republican, part of me
thinks, I probably wouldn’t like this person if I met him, or we would have
different opinions. That shit fogs the mind when you should be paying attention
and be swept into the illusion.
Exactly right. Actors on either side of the political fence who
overly politicize themselves risk alienating at least half their audience. This
is America, so actors, like other citizens, certainly have the right to their
political opinions and the right to express them publicly. But unlike
“ordinary” people, and unlike even other artists such as musicians or writers,
an actor’s job is to lose himself or herself in a role sufficiently to enable
the audience to suspend its disbelief.
In the movie theater, one part of our mind is aware, of
course, that we are watching movie star Matt Damon as Jason Bourne, but to lose ourselves in the movie magic we need
to be able to shut down that part of our mind and believe that Matt Damon is Jason Bourne. Actors like Damon who develop
a very public, polarizing, political persona risk overshadowing the characters
they are paid to bring to life onscreen; once that happens, it takes audiences
out of the story or even prevents them from watching in the first place. Once
Damon’s or, say, George Clooney’s politics get in the way, the illusion is
broken. Such actors do a disservice to their art, to their audiences, and to
the movie projects they are involved in.
When I raised this point in private conversation with a
conservative actor friend, he asked if I were suggesting that actors –
particularly conservatives, a distinct minority in Hollywood who often face serious
repercussions for being politically outspoken (see Dash, Stacey) – should keep
their heads down politically. But that isn’t my argument. I don’t encourage any
actor to suppress his or her political beliefs, especially not for fear of discrimination.
Actors lend their celebrity power to causes and politicians all the time and
should feel free to do so. I’m merely pointing out that there is an artistic
cost to becoming more activist than actor.
Damon and Sean Penn, for example, are so outspoken politically that I believe their careers are suffering
as a result. Damon hasn’t had a hit since The
Bourne Ultimatum in 2007, Penn not since Mystic River in 2003. That hasn’t stopped either of them from continuing
to get work or garnering award nominations, but outside of the echo chamber of
Hollywood where their views are largely celebrated, their political
aggressiveness has driven many theatergoers to say, for example, “I’m never
going to see another Sean Penn movie.” That’s
the disservice I mentioned above.
Again, I am not advocating
for or against actors putting politics ahead of art. That’s their choice, and
I’m sure actors like Penn and Damon consider their activism more important and
thus they’re willing to take the hit. Nevertheless, that choice has adverse consequences
for their work and legacy as artists.
(This article originally appeared here on Acculturated, 6/10/14)
