On Sunday, “film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and political activist” (per Wikipedia) Rob Reiner and his wife, Michele Reiner, were murdered at their home, allegedly by their son.
“Celebrity” deaths inspire various public reactions. Mourning, obviously. Praise, sometimes overstated, for careers. Moralizing of various kinds. And, unfortunately, celebrations by their political opponents.
With Reiner, the most prominent attempt at such a connection comes from U.S. President Donald Trump via his social media platform, Truth Social.
Reiner, Trump says, passed away. Cause of death? “Reportedly due to the anger he caused others through his massive, unyielding, and incurable affliction with a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME.”
It’s true that Reiner led a politically engaged life, generally disdained the Republican Party and specifically opposed Donald Trump.
So what?
I’m not going to work up a laundry list of Reiner’s political positions; some of them I agreed with, some of them I vociferously disagreed with.
Again, so what?
Did Reiner’s politics in any way diminish the entertainment value — nay, the greatness — of (to name just three of my favorites) “The Princess Bride,” “When Harry Met Sally” or “A Few Good Men”? I say no. His chosen job, for more than half a century, was to entertain us. He did so, and he did so well.
I could probably name 50 entertainers whose political positions I find odious … if I bother to notice those political positions. I mostly go out of my way not to.
Is there any compelling reason to deprive ourselves of great films or great performances from Oliver Stone, Jon Voight, Jane Fonda, Sean Penn, James Woods, Susan Sarandon, Oliver Stone, Spike Lee, Leonardo DiCaprio — the list goes on and on — just to indulge our political disagreements with them and maybe cost them a buck or two in box office sales, TV residuals, etc.? The idea smacks of cutting off one’s nose to spite one’s face.
As for speaking ill of the dead, even dancing on their graves … well, I’m not against it in the case of particularly unsavory characters. But over political disagreements? No. Tom Smothers wasn’t Charles Manson and Pete Seeger wasn’t Joseph Stalin. They enriched our lives whether we liked their politics or not.
It’s a truism that politics ruins everything, and that’s a good argument for abandoning politics altogether. We should at least seek, in our personal choices, an intentional separation of politics and entertainment.
Thomas L. Knapp (X: @thomaslknapp | Bluesky: @knappster.bsky.social | Mastodon: @knappster) is director and senior news analyst at the William Lloyd Garrison Center for Libertarian Advocacy Journalism (thegarrisoncenter.org). He lives and works in north-central Florida.
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