Why do we care what actors think, anyway?

As a followup to the posting below:

Every time some pop singer or actor makes some flamingly-ignorant comment about foreign policy, the inevitable point is raised: Who cares? Why are this person's opinions of any more interest than those of any randomly-chosen, equally-uninformed individual you might run into on the street, just because he's a big name in show biz? It's a fair question.

Strictly speaking, they shouldn't be. Being highly talented in a particular field is no evidence of expertise in an unrelated field. To take a much scarier example, these days we have no shortage of politicians and pundits (people quite insightful in their chosen fields, too) who are flagrantly, unapologetically, embarrassingly ignorant about science. Being a good singer confers no expertise in the intricacies of Iraq military strategy or Lebanon's political situation.

At the same time, the human fascination with celebrities is part of our primate heritage, and railing against it is probably useless. Everyone wishes they could get a wider audience for their opinions, and you can't really blame celebrities for taking advantage of the fact that millions of people are interested in any story with their name attached to it. You or I would do the same. In some cases, this actually does good, as when famous people try to raise money for causes or draw attention to neglected injustices. The anti-terrorism declaration is another example. If it makes even one conservative reconsider the demonization of "the left", it will have been worthwhile.