Scarcnet News Summaries (Advocacy Institute)
Abstract
An editorial in the WALL STREET JOURNAL questions Hollywood celebrities who speak for good causes while the entertainment industry presents so many negative images: "Election Day is fast upon us, which may explain why we are again hearing Hollywood celebrities plugging various good causes, not of course including cleaning up the mess in Tinseltown itself. Rob Reiner, for instance, made a guest appearance on CNBC's 'Hardball,' barely containing himself as he attacked tobacco chieftains. His cause was California's Proposition 10, a ballot initiative that would raise the tax on a pack of cigarettes from 50 cents to 85 cents. . . . 'Who do you trust?' asked Mr. Reiner. 'The tobacco industry or protecting young children?'. . . [I]t looks to us as if cigarettes, horsemeat and other causes are just, well, smokescreens that allow them to avoid dealing with the real issues. When it comes to the fire in its own backyard, Hollywood doesn't want to know. . . . That's why we'd rephrase Mr. Reiner's question to ask: When it comes to the health of your children, who do you worry about the most, tobacco companies or Hollywood? Now there's a proposition worth considering."
Source: Editorial, "Smokescreen," WALL STREET JOURNAL, October 30, 1998, p. W11.