A Small Rant From my Soapbox

The passing of Rosa Parks got me to thinking about boycotts. Her refusal to give up her seat on that bus so many years ago led to probably the most important boycott in U.S. history. The whole of society changed because of that boycott and that boycott would not have occurred without her.

I've had a personal boycott going for the past several months. I am no Rosa Parks and I do not expect to change society, but I find it important to stand up for what I believe in. After Tom Cruise publicly disparaged Brooke Shields for her use of antidepressants following her post-partum depression, I have refused to watch any film starring him. And because so many other Scientologists came out in support of his hurtful words, I have refused to watch anything they are in as well. To call her crazy and assert that vitamins and exercise alone (not therapy or medication) could cure her of her problem angered me. Andrea Yates probably took pre-natal vitamins for eight straight years (seeing as she had five children in a row) and look where it got her.

I've given up probably ten percent of what I was previously watching, which is not a bad thing because everyone should watch less television, but it sure is hard. I've had to cut out "King of Queens" because Leah Remini is a Scientologist. So is Jason Lee, so there goes one of my new favorites, "My Name is Earl." Forget old reruns of "JAG" because Catherine Bell is one, too. And I can forget about all the movies with Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley, Anne Archer (ie: "Patriot Games" and "Clear and Present Danger"), and Giovanni Ribisi (Phoebe's brother on "Friends"). Do you know how many movies on TV today star those people? I never realized how many celebrities are Scientologists and how hard it is to keep up with a boycott. Below is a link to a website listing "Celebrity Scientologists."

http://www.scientology-kills.org/celebrities/celebrities.htm

Of course, they have every right to believe in whatever they want and say whatever they want; after all, we live in America, where everyone has the freedoms of religion and speech. However, I have the right to not support their opinions or the work they do. It's tough, considering how much I love movies and television, but I'll soldier on. Boycotts do no good if you give up after a few weeks; Rosa Parks taught us all that.