Freedom of speech issue?
- Thread starter dwayne
- Start date
I can see what you mean about not wanting to pay for her opinion- (still am amazed taht people pay to ssee her at all 
) But stomping out seems a behavior bordering on insane to me- boo, fine, leave, insane. For instance I was in line at the grocery store the other day and when I was checking out I saw a sticker on the register that said "Talent for small business" Personally, I can't stand talent. And if I had my own business I certainly wouldn't find it appropriate to advertise one way or the other. As a bare bones analogy if I had seen that sign, flung my groceries across the store and demanded a refund it would have been the same thing. That's not a rational way to behave. I don't think what Linda Ronstadt did was appropriate. I also don't think that the reaction was in porportion to the offence, however.
) But stomping out seems a behavior bordering on insane to me- boo, fine, leave, insane. For instance I was in line at the grocery store the other day and when I was checking out I saw a sticker on the register that said "Talent for small business" Personally, I can't stand talent. And if I had my own business I certainly wouldn't find it appropriate to advertise one way or the other. As a bare bones analogy if I had seen that sign, flung my groceries across the store and demanded a refund it would have been the same thing. That's not a rational way to behave. I don't think what Linda Ronstadt did was appropriate. I also don't think that the reaction was in porportion to the offence, however.
In either case you are paying for a commodity- what 's the difference? if I go buy milk and am accosted by unwanted opinions or if I go to a show and am accosted by unwanted opinions in either case, the service I am paying for has nothing to do with the political opinions of the person providing that service. It's like long time said, I have no need or desire to see another ad when I'm just out minding my own business.
Believe me, I understand this one. My areas "local TV stations" are located in Toledo, Ohio and interestingly enough; a study that recently came out says that Toledo gets the most TV ads for the upcoming election.
Toledo? That’s what I thought too. But Ohio is a battleground state, so I guess it makes some sense.
Anyway yeah, I am sick of the ads too.
The test of reason
The reaction of the hotel management would be reasonable.. if they had specifically told her to not get political, for it is certainly likely that they might have anticipated it.
Had they anticipated it and told her to skip the politics, and she then got political, then their reaction would be reasonable.
On her part, it may be that in her eyes she was talking about a filmmaker, not a politician, and so she may have felt she was skirting any ban on politics; obeying the letter of the contract while violating the spirit of it.
The danger in doing that is that honor is lost, agreements that were made in good faith are now broken and niceties fly out the window... like the free room and board that the hotel had apparently offered in good spirit.
I suspect that in future engagements, she will find herself bound in legalities at every turn. The lawyers get rich and she has a few less play dates.
Yeah, free speech... it still is not good to **** off the people who are paying you.
The reaction of the hotel management would be reasonable.. if they had specifically told her to not get political, for it is certainly likely that they might have anticipated it.
Had they anticipated it and told her to skip the politics, and she then got political, then their reaction would be reasonable.
On her part, it may be that in her eyes she was talking about a filmmaker, not a politician, and so she may have felt she was skirting any ban on politics; obeying the letter of the contract while violating the spirit of it.
The danger in doing that is that honor is lost, agreements that were made in good faith are now broken and niceties fly out the window... like the free room and board that the hotel had apparently offered in good spirit.
I suspect that in future engagements, she will find herself bound in legalities at every turn. The lawyers get rich and she has a few less play dates.
Yeah, free speech... it still is not good to **** off the people who are paying you.
Ah, yes, this is really the Heart of the matter isn't it? Who does go to see her, at $100/pp or more? Older adults with money to spend to remember their youth when Linda Rondstat was tops. People who earn $50,000 or more a year. People who have come to Las Vegas to escape from the ordinary world into the magic and fantasy of a casino and big-name entertainers. It was very stupid of her to intrude on that fantasy-land.
Las Veags is the adult Disneyland. How would you feel if Donald Duck started spouting off about gun contol or some other political thing during your (very expensive) disney vacation?
I find her quote about hoping to upset them so they will not hire her again to be very interesting. So, who is she actually rebelling against? Her manager? Her accountant? Why is it that she works when she does not want to?
To everything there is a season, a proper time and place. Were it my dream vacation to Vegas with tickets to see Linda Ronstadt and she acted out like that I'd be very upset. I don't care about her political views, not Zigfreid and Roy's, not any singer or magician, there are political (humor) shows for people who want that. I want to see the show, period. The proper place for her political views is in People magazine, or Biography, or Newsweek, or whatever news show she can get on.... but not on stage when she was billed as a singer at $100+/pp.
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I agree that there is a time and a place- and if I had little enough taste to pay for such a concert I would of course, hope that she would stick to what she was paid to do instead of providing commentary- but at the same time I really can't see caring that much about what she has to say. That's why I don't understand why there is such backlash about celebrity viewpoints- it's their right to say what they think, sure but why on earth is anyone listening? That quote about hoping they don't hire her was really odd- I wasn't sure what to make of that either. The whole thing is just very odd. If, hypothetically, politics was not forbidden in her contract then the whole thing is insanely wrong, in addition to being an overreaction. If it was, then she made her choice but I still think the thing about her being thrown out of the building is extreme.
I think what the hotel was within their rights. Lately celebs have been using their entertainment venues to spout the political beliefs. While this is their right to do so, they shouldn't just expect other people to sit back and do nothing about this. Let people say what they want, but realize that there are consequences to those words.
I can see if the room was part of her deal and she breached her contract and was fired where the hotel would be within their rights to make her pay for the room- but do you really think they are entitled to just boot her without allowing her to collect her own things? I understand the point about backlash- yeah, of course you are responsible for what you say and you should be prepared to deal with the consequences- but I guess my question is how far should that backlash be allowed to go? At what point does it become discrimination?
for instance, there was the deal about the dixie chicks last summer. while I again could care less what they say- I did think the debate surrounding it was interesting. I thought of course it was within the rights of the consumer not to buy their products as a result. To me that's acceptable backlash- but when radio stations stop playing them because of it I really think that is too far.
for instance, there was the deal about the dixie chicks last summer. while I again could care less what they say- I did think the debate surrounding it was interesting. I thought of course it was within the rights of the consumer not to buy their products as a result. To me that's acceptable backlash- but when radio stations stop playing them because of it I really think that is too far.
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