Several of my co-workers recently had to go to the White House for a work event. Now considering I work for an arts related, non-profit organization in New York City, there is a good probability that 99% of the people who went are not fans of W. or his administration. He was not at the event, but the First Lady was. I was disgusted to learn that one of my co-workers has posted photos of herself with Laura Bush on her Facebook account. I think this is:

a. in very bad taste (not to mention one of our interns last summer got fired for blogging about one of my co-workers who is "famous", so isn't this similar?)
b. beyond hypocritical (because I'm fairly sure this girl is not a W. administration fan).

I don't care if it is the First Lady--her husband is the worst US President in recent history and his administration has made a mockery of the Office and wrecked havoc on the "free" world--why would you want your photo taken with her?


So Orgers, I ask you:

-would you have your photo taken with someone whom you dislike or disagree with what they stand for just because they are "famous"?

-for those of you who have, why did you do it?

*Mods, please don't move this to P&R--it is not about politics, it is about whether people would hypothetically compromise their principles around celebrities.

No I would not.

Stymie said:

Nor would I.

I dislike Kim Kardashian. And by dislike, I mean mildly annoyed by. But if taking a picture with her was the starting point to sleeping with her, I'd do it.

Yeah, I think so.

violator said:

Pig.

Only if it gave me the opportunity to rant them into a corner and make them feel like dreck!

JustErin said:

So you won't be taking any pictures with Carrielee anytime soon????

JustErin said:

oink.

Sowhat said:

Oh hell ya, I would! The photog could get that precious moment when my fist makes contact with her face on film for us all to laugh at.

I just don't get it. I mean--if it was a group photo and not being in it would cause a scene that would reflect poorly on the company, fine; but I sure as hell would not be lining up for a photo op. The girl who sits next to me, who is definitely anti-Bush wanted her picture with Laura too. I work with a bunch of celebrity whores.

My boss used to work with Tim Gunn and I had to have a department photo with him--I didn't even know who he was at the time because I don't have cable. But at least he's not fucking up the world.


The only "questionable" thing I've done was to have Eldridge Cleaver autograph my copy of Soul on Ice. I say questionable not b/c he was a Black Panther, but because in the book he talks frankly about how he used to rape white girls to get back at "the man" (I'm a whte girl). But I also know that by the time I met him (late 1990s), he had changed a lot (I think he was a Republican ), and even though I obviously didn't/don't agree with rape; I respect what he & the Black Panthers did for civil rights.



.
[Edited 7/18/08 14:08pm]

Hell no.

violator said:

RenHoek said:

Excellent....that would probably be the only way I'd do it, too.

What principles were compromised in the case of your friend? Laura Bush is not her husband and is not, in fact, a member of the "Bush administration."

Maybe your friend was genuinely excited to go to the White House and found, upon meeting the First Lady, that she was a warm, kind human being. Someone with whom she wanted to have her picture taken. What, exactly is wrong with that?

Sure, it's hypocritical to shine up to someone you don't like. But deciding you hate a woman you've never met because you don't like her husbands politics is pretty lame, too.

Genesia said:

Firstly, the girl who posted the pics is not my friend. She is a co-worker. Laura may be a nice woman, but she was not at the event as Laura Bush, librarian, mom, friend. She was there in the role of First Lady of the Bush administration.

I'm sure the co-worker was excited to go to the White House (why, I have no clue, it's not that exciting) and it's not about deciding you dislike a person. It's about wanting to be affiliated with something you do not agree with.

And just for the record--no where in my post did I say anyone hated Laura.


Finally, please don't turn this into a Bush administration/politics thread b/c I don't want it to get moved to P&R.

DevotedPuppy said:

Excuse me? Who's the one spouting all the vitriol here? It was you who couched a question in a lot of anti-Bush rhetoric - not I.

It's very obvious that you believe politics trumps everything - including being gracious and polite. If your co-worker feels differently, what business is it of yours?

Only if I could put my nuts in her mouth after punching her husband.

Genesia said:

You are misunderstanding. Firstly I brought up politics because it was directly related to the situation. I never implied or said politics should trump being "gracious & polite". In fact if you look at my other post, you'll see I said if declining to be in a photo would reflect poorly on the company or cause a scene then fine, do it. This was not the case--she wanted to have a photo with someone for no reason other than it's someone "famous" despite the fact the co-worker probably disagrees with what that famous person's stand for. In my book, that's grade A hypocrisy, something which I have little patience or respect for.

Furthermore, it is my business because her posting the photos reflects poorly on our company.

Finally, all this is not even close to me "spouting vitriol"; trust.

I think some people get hypnotized by fame and don't care about their own tastes or opinions when they're in the presence of a celebrity, because "OH MY GOD THEY'RE FAMOUS AND I MUST HAVE A PICTURE WITH THEM AND THEIR AUTOGRAPH TOO OMFG!!!!"

i think a lot of it has to do with some people coming from a very isolated environment, where they don't normally see people in real life situations who also happen to be actors, anchorpeople, successful musicians, etc.

so in these situations, i think logic flies out the window and people just go into an autopilot "OMG!!!" mode. it's kind of weird. everyone should have to live in new york for a couple of years and experience stuff like standing in line behind a famous actor at the grocery. eventually you realize they're just folks.

people who i actually admire, i will STILL swoon over, though. get me around john waters and i'll start talking like porky pig every time.

I would not. I can think of MANY that if it were no line and free, I still would say no.

JustErin said:

Anxiety said:

I agree with what you've said. My mother is a government worker. She can't stand George Bush, but was really excited when she was able to go to some event where he was in the same room. She was so disappointed that she didn't have her camera with her.

I LOVE John Waters. Have you met him before?

RUHip2TheJive said:

i've met him a few times at book signings. he's extremely nice and chatty. every time i've had him sign stuff, there was always a very friendly, very memorable exchange. he's good with the banter.

I don't think it's fair to say she compromised her principles when you don't know her well enough to know her politics. Besides, no matter how she feels about the president, it doesn't necessarily apply to the First Lady. And a lot of Americans have immense respect for the office of the presidency, even if they don't for the person holding it.

Plus, this happened in the course of her employment, so maybe it's a career move to post it. In my line of work, I've interviewed George Bush (the elder) and Jimmy Carter, one of whom I respect a great deal and one of whom not so much. But I talk about both when I'm promoting my work experience.

Anxiety said:

I can imagine a conversation with him. I've been trying to find a way to meet him for a while, but he's been busy, it seems.

I'm trying to imagine a celebrity (or even government official) I dislike so much that I would be appalled having my photo taken with them...none come to mind. I guess I don't put enough energy or emotion into famous people in order to be effected too much either way.

I do, though, remember when a bunch of Democratic congressmen (and women) all mobbed George Dubya after a State of the Union address, and were acting all excited at being able to shake his hand...even asking for his autograph lol (they didn't know they were being taped). It was a crack up because many of these same congress men (and women) were blasing GW in the press, then behind the scenes were acting like 12 year old girls seeing the Beatles for the first time ...

DevotedPuppy said:

From wikipedia: By the 1980s, Cleaver had become a conservative Republican. He appeared at various Republican events and spoke at a California Republican State Central Committee meeting regarding his political transformation. He endorsed Ronald Reagan for President in 1980 and in 1984 embarked on an unsuccessful campaign to win one of California's seats in the United States Senate, failing to win the Republican Party's nomination.

No, I'd barely ever ask to have my photo taken with someone I really did like anyway. Only done it a couple of times during designated photo/signing sessions and they were people I specifically liked a lot.

I have a picture with this guy, standing outside a bar, shaking his hand. I'm not really a huge Chelsea fan, but I know someone who is, so I decided on a quick snap

Byron said:

exactly
you all read the change your mind about a celeb thread.
we don't know these people enought to know we don't like them as people.
I don't even really LIKE any celebs.

ACTUALLY I thought of one I don't like

that nasty Gretel Killeen she was mean to me.