Celebrity doesn't always equal stupidity

I've been reading about Trey Parker and Matt Stone's new movie, Team America: World Police, for a couple of months now. If you haven't seen the commercials, it's about a US government team that fights terrorism, and it's all done with puppets like Thunderbirds, a show I'd never heard of until they remade it this year as a live action movie. I like South Park, Parker and Stone's TV series, and I think they're funny guys, but in interviews they talk about why some celebrities are portrayed in the movie as villains who assist Kim Jong-il: they had the nerve to go on TV news and talk shows to express their views.

It's interesting to me that Parker and Stone think being a celebrity should automatically disqualify one from being taken seriously on any subject not related to their celebrity. From what they've said, their thinking appears to go like this: "Such-and-such actor/singer/etc is only being interviewed on this show because they're famous and will draw ratings, not because they have anything to contribute." I haven't been watching said interviews, but it seems to me they're missing the irony in the fact that they believe themselves qualified to judge these other people's opinions as meritless, when they are "just celebrities" themselves.

I'm not saying we should give any more weight to a star's opinion on the war in Iraq than a relief worker's or a general's, but we shouldn't necessarily give it any less either. It depends on how knowledgeable and trustworthy the person is - what's being said is more important than who's saying it. "My point exactly!" they might reply. But then why complain about their famousness rather than debate their argument? Does becoming wealthy and well-known erase the ability to read and learn? If Sean Penn traveled to Iraq and met Iraqi civilians, isn't he in a better position than you are to tell us what they said or about the conditions they're living in? Not in as good a position as someone who speaks Arabic maybe, but how many politicians being interviewed on these shows speak Arabic? Or have been to Iraq? Just because someone gets the opportunity to disengage their brain doesn't mean they always do so. Ben Affleck got interviewed about the Red Sox, too. He grew up in Boston, so I gather his knowledge of the team is more extensive than, say, Dan Rather's.

Parker and Stone also said in at least one interview that people who are uninformed shouldn't vote. That's one way of putting it. Another way would be to say people who have the opportunity to vote should get informed. To the extent that anyone listened to these celebrities' opinions, they got the message implied by the first way: butt out. If they had put it the second way, maybe I'd be more willing to believe they had America's best interests at heart. But then, that would mean believing two entertainers making a puppet movie could have a valid opinion on what America's best interests are.