Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
I wrote a piece for the Telegraph Blogs yesterday on Sean Penn’s absurd demand that Britain return the Falkland Islands to Argentina. Argentina probably has a better claim to the Isle of Wight (there’s a lovely little tapas bar in Cowes), but Mr Penn still feels that the British presence on “the Malvinas” is evidence of an “archaic commitment to colonialist ideology.” Parodying Penn’s anti-imperialism, I demanded that he return his Malibu estate to the Mexicans. This blog is the first I have ever written that won universal acclaim on both Left and Right. It even got an approving write up on the New Yorker blog. I know – who ever thought the New Yorker office had internet Wifi?
What is silly about Penn’s remarks isn’t their ersatz liberalism. It’s the attempt by a man of limited expertise to comment on something highly complex that has nothing to do with him. Had it been a moral cause, we might have forgiven his naivite (an actor demanding that China free Tibet is going to have no impact but is welcome nonetheless). But in this instance he mistook the absurd claims of an ailing government over a spot of land populated almost entirely by foreigners for a cry of national liberation. Sean Penn over-extended himself.
I’m working on a long-term (and far more scholarly than it sounds) project about the impact of Hollywood networks on national politics. I’ve spent a lot of time in Los Angeles and one thing I’ve noticed is that its liberalism splits into two camps. On the one hand, there are the serious activists who engage in local causes and have a very savvy approach to politics. Quite often, they originate from the East Coast and lack a family background in show business. They stick to one issue and plug the heart out of it. They are hard headed and, importantly, they know their limits.
What defines the alternative variety of liberalism is its comparative lack of limits – the belief that they have an answer to everything. This is the product of Hollywood’s culture of high expectations. It’s a town where if a man told you “I’m going to build a elevator to the moon!” the correct response isn’t, “Get off my porch” – it’s “Good luck and save me a ticket!” Angelinos are used to outrageous ideas being ignored on for years until, by sheer luck, they fall into the lap of a producer and are suddenly catapulted to success with a budget of millions. In a culture without limits, where imagination is leverage and intellectual property has real value, people are actively encouraged to delude themselves. I once hitched a lift with an actor who told me that he was working on a new charitable project. “Is it aimed at animals or children?” I asked. “No poverty," he said. "Where?” “Everywhere.” “Really? Everywhere?” “Yeah. I’m gonna end world poverty.” (He didn’t, by the way).
The grandiosity of a chosen cause usually increases in relation to the star power of the activist. Stars aren’t human beings, they’re a managed brand. Around them whirls a collection of publicists, hair dressers, personal assistants, political directors, and con men. They exist to promote the brand. To preserve their unique access, they cut the star off from outside opinion and validate their every utterance: “You are great, your brand is great, you can do no wrong, you don’t need anyone else’s opinion.” The celebrity reaches a point where no one will tell them that they are being an idiot.
Sean Penn has reached that point. On the one hand, it can be a good thing. It takes a particularly entitled kind of arrogance to fill a private jet with doctors and medicine and fly it to Haiti to help people post-Apocalypse. On the other hand, it means that he is a man with an infinite brief. There is nothing that Penn won’t do or say. It’s the product of an embarrassment of social riches.
It’s important to stress that not all of Hollywood is like this. There are pockets of conservatism (Robert Duvall, Jon Voight, Vince Vaughn) and there are liberals who are super smart (Warren Beatty is quite brilliant and surprisingly conservative). But its liberal internationalism can never be entirely avoided because it is a product of environment. Life in Hollywood is bizarre, and it produces bizarre ideas.
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Jun '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Nobody on Earth has a stronger claim or a better deed to a piece of land than Israel does, but it doesn't seem to help them either.
Aug '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Spicoli may actually get his talking points from Chavez, who has a deal with Media Matters for the spanish speaking constituency.
New Yorker is way modern dude. You might be off a little, because I think that they are still on dialup at 54 kbs.
Mr Shawn ?......Mr Shawn ?.............
Sep '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Life in Hollywood is bizarre, and it produces bizarre ideas.
Is that the trajectory? Or is it that people with bizarre ideas (sometimes also quite interesting and creative) flock to Hollywood and there produce a rather bizarre life. I'm very interested in the mechanics of these things.
(Great post!)
Aug '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Don't forget, Sean Penn's father was a blacklisted director who refused to accuse others to the House Un-American Activities Committee.
That goes a long way to explaining Sean's knee-jerk hatred of conservatives and Republicans alike.
Jun '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
This is precisely why the Irish claim to northern Ireland was similarly foolish. Ireland had no more claim to Northern Ireland simply because it was on the same landmass than Canada has to Alaska or Florida for that matter. Conquest and history mean something. Let the spanish colony of argentina look elsewhere for land to steal.
Mar '11
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Damn. I was sure that was going to work.
flownover, you're gonna need to take the cup off of the mike on that handset or you'll never get it to fit into the acoustic coupler.
May '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Yeah.
Dec '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
The piece that I've never been able to grasp is - who really cares what these knuckleheads say? Obviously the MSM grovels over them and then spews out their idiocy, but... are there voters who really think Sean Penn or Ted Danson are fabulously well informed political pundits?
Wait a minute. Don't answer that.
I put zero stock in what they say, but then I don't pay any attention to the political preachings of Vaughn, Duvall or Jon Voight either.
Pat Sajak is a different story. My first inclination was to ignore him like all the rest. After hearing him on a Ricochet podcast, however, I thought "Hmm, maybe this guy is informed, has thought things through." So him I'll pay attention to.
Jul '11
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
I'm going to build an elevator to the moon. When that type of liberal is encountered you must run because they want your money and effort also.
Apr '11
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
How strong is their claim really. I mean the last Jewish state before this one was more than 2,000 years ago (right?). Many Jews that came to live in Israel came there from Europe through out the late 1800's and then following World War II. I mean most of them had only tenuous cultural connections stemming from their shared religion. Aside from that they were either Germans, Russians, Romanians, Hungarians, and so forth. They have a nation because they carved one out and defended it. Which is the only real claim one needs, historically. If the Palestinians can claim it all back by force they'll have just as good a claim.
You can only keep what you can defend, that has always been the truth of borders and nations, right or wrong.
Jun '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Valiuth
How strong is their claim really. I mean the last Jewish state before this one was more than 2,000 years ago (right?). Many Jews that came to live in Israel came there from Europe through out the late 1800's and then following World War II. I mean most of them had only tenuous cultural connections stemming from their shared religion. Aside from that they were either Germans, Russians, Romanians, Hungarians, and so forth. They have a nation because they carved one out and defended it. Which is the only real claim one needs, historically. If the Palestinians can claim it all back by force they'll have just as good a claim.
You can only keep what you can defend, that has always been the truth of borders and nations, right or wrong.
That's my point. When it comes to nations, history doesn't count for much. If Israel didn't have their arsenal, they couldn't rely on history lessons to save them.
May '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
LIKE!
May '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Valiuth
How strong is their claim really. I mean the last Jewish state before this one was more than 2,000 years ago (right?)...
That's my point. When it comes to nations, history doesn't count for much. If Israel didn't have their arsenal, they couldn't rely on history lessons to save them. · 12 minutes ago
I assumed that it was because Israel is both an historical homeland and a product of a UN mandate.
I'm not sure if I get this. Compared with typical "Do as I say, not as I do" Hollywood hypocrisy, sending doctors and medicine to people in need seems constructive and generous.
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
How does a guy like Sean Penn wake up one day and decide that today is going to be the day that he adopts completely irrelevant and obscure cause #1,369? Did he read about the Falklands War in some magazine? Is this a result of seeing Meryl Streep in Iron Lady? It seems so completely random.
Aug '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
He is officially an Ambassador from Haiti now.
boy, talk about sans portfolio...
"Why yes Madame Secretary, absolutely ! Let me put this down and grab a pen. So, do I call Mr Brock or will he email me ?"
May '11
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
I’m working on a long-term (and far more scholarly than it sounds) project about the impact of Hollywood networks on national politics.
You realize, of course, you run the risk of James Tarantaros linking to it as one of his frequent nominations for The Shortest Book Ever Written.
Jul '11
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Southern Pessimist: I’m working on a long-term (and far more scholarly than it sounds) project about the impact of Hollywood networks on national politics.
You realize, of course, you run the risk of James Tarantaros linking to it as one of his frequent nominations for The Shortest Book Ever Written. · 14 minutes ago
The Hollywood Progressives Book of Ethics?
Apr '11
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Many years ago (1988, to be precise) my wife and I spent a winter in Buenos Aires one summer. We heard the official Argentine line regarding "Las Islas Malvinas" time & time again. I would ask, gently, "Who lives there?" "English people." "How long have the English been there?" "Quite some time." "Is the land particularly valuable?" "No."
Then I would get the officially taught analogy in answer: Say you owned a house and were away from it for a long time. While you were away, squatters took up residence in your house. Does that make it their house?
Back then, I did not see the holes in the logic of the analogy. Now, of course, I could make a much better argument for not worrying about the Falklands.
My point? I was in my early 20s back then. Now I am more informed and reject the Argentine national fixation on the Falklands. Sean Penn is at least as old as I. What's his excuse for not seeing logic on this, and many other, matters?
Aug '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Depending on how long the owners were away and allowed the house to fall into disrepair, yes.
Dec '10
Re: Sean Penn's Liberalism is a Product of his Environment
Diane, Penn is in the thrall of Chavez and Chavez is behind stirring this up. It doesn't hurt that studies indicate that there are offshore petroleum resources available in the vicinity Falklands and that, as the islands are more than 200 miles off Argentina's coast (beyond recognized territorial limits), this gives Argentina a line of attack for claiming those resources. Penn is, as always, a dupe.