Actors, brainless and generally heartless, should stick to acting

In the May 9 issue of the New Yorker’s Talk of the Town, actor Ted Danson talks to Elizabeth Kolbert—the magazine’s environment expert—about his work in the field of oceanography and marine conservation. He talks about the protection of oceans and marine life, about his concern over the fact that a year after the BP oil spill, offshore drilling is again being promoted. (Though why he should be disappointed by politicians being politicians and wealthy companies getting away with murder indicates naiveté more than anything else.) I was surprised at Kolbert–a great and thorough journalist–who wonders about whether an actor shouldn’t stick to acting. Yes, that’s the common attitude toward celebrities putting their weight behind a cause. Elizabeth Taylor and AIDS, Sean Penn and Haiti, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon in their heyday as all-round activists,