It’s almost a rite of passage for Hollywood celebrities to tell people in flyover country how to think and for whom to vote.

At least one A-list celebrity had a suggestion for them: stop doing that.

In a recent interview, two-time Oscar nominee Mark Wahlberg made it clear he was not a fan of actors opining on politics from their soapboxes.

“A lot of celebrities did, do, and shouldn’t,” Wahlberg told Task and Purpose while promoting his new drama Patriots Day in New York.

Wahlberg said Donald Trump’s recent win shows “that people aren’t listening to that anyway,” and implied it was arrogant to think that voters would place the opinions of “out of touch” celebrities ahead of their own ideas and interests.

“[People] might buy your CD or watch your movie, but you don’t put food on their table. You don’t pay their bills. A lot of Hollywood is living in a bubble. They’re pretty out of touch with the common person, the everyday guy out there providing for their family. Me, I’m very aware of the real world. I come from the real world and I exist in the real world. And although I can navigate Hollywood and I love the business and the opportunities it’s afforded me, I also understand what it’s like not to have all that.”

I found Wahlberg’s take rather refreshing. Celebrities of course have the right to share their opinions like anyone else, but there seems to be a touch of narcissism in their assumption that people actually care what they think about politics. This is often made worse in the way they communicate their opinions.

Rarely do celebrities say I support Candidate John Doe because x, y, and z. More often, it’s in the vein of, How the *uck could you support that guy?! This is often followed by (empty) promises to leave the country if the unwashed masses elect the wrong person.

Wahlberg’s point of view is not exactly one that will play well in Hollywoodland, so extra kudos to him for piping up. For that, we’ll even plug his movie.  

Patriot’s Day, directed by Peter Berg, traces Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis’s actions following the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. In addition to Wahlberg, the film stars Kevin Bacon, Melissa Benoist, Michelle Monaghan, John Goodman, and J.K. Simmons.

How’d I do?

[Image Credit: David Torcivia [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons]