Paul Bond comments on peoples' reactions to anti-war celebrities in The Silent Majority Strikes Back.
The comments from people like Sean Penn that they are victims of censorship are ridiculous. People are free to see any movie or listen to any musician they wish. I'm not guilty of censorship for not buying a ticket to Sean Penn's latest movie anymore than I'm censoring the author of the book I didn't buy at the bookstore today because I wasn't interested in it. As for the claim that he's the victim of a blacklist, that's ridiculous too. The people who make movies are interested in making money. If they think they'll make more money if they hire someone other than Mr. Penn, they've got a right to make that choice. It only becomes censorship when someone else comes in and tells them they can't hire someone because of their views, or worse, when people get put in jail for their views, but last I heard Sean Penn's a free man. Criticism is not censorship.
Same thing goes for people participating in political protests. Counter-protestors are not opposed to free speech for anyone, they just want to be sure both sides are heard. Again, criticism is not censorship.
Posted by joelfuhrmann at May 16, 2003 07:04 PM