are actors and/or acting looked at as worthless?

Question

"dont talk down to me your JUST AN ACTRESS"?
what do you all think of this question/comment?

Answer 1

Um.... no.
They're not worthless, my precious dear Simone!
What sodden, surly soul has not been uplifted by the arts of the actor! He is the conciousness of the goodly son, and the cruelest warrior - the pious priest and the wanton, lascivious sinner! The lover true, the emboldened, spirited heart in every hero - the comical sprite, and the twisted, moustachioed uber-villian....
My dear girl... the Lord has given us the wisdoms to be found in this beautiful, tortured world - the actors give them a face! A voice! To rival any lions roar! To enchant with every supple whisper of the night entwined... Good God, my beloved, ACT! ACT! ACT!

M'kay?

Answer 2

Depends on who you ask. If you are a director trying to cast your play or movie I garantee that good actors are worth a lot. I think the average person on the street dosent have much experience with actors, probably dosent even know any so he makes up his mind about actors based off of what he has heard. Almost everyone watches TV and movies, they see actors performing all the time through these forms of media but they never get to know any personally because most people dont live in LA or New York where these Shows and movies are mostly made.
If you do hear about an actor it is usually something bad like drug abuse, a divorce/break up, or an actor trying to give a misinformed speech about politics. So most people assume that all actors behave like this.

Answer 3

In the movie "My Favorite Year," there's a great scene where Peter O' Toole, playing the famous actor "Alan Swann" (a takeoff on Erroll Flynn) is dangling from the top of a tall building, held in place by a length of fire hose.

Some snooty society type glances over his balcony and sees him. He turns to his friend and says: "Alan Swann is beneath us!" To which his friend replies: "Well, of COURSE he is; he's an actor."

Sure, the perception is out there that acting is a frivolous pursuit and that actors are somehow unworthy of respect, but...it's nonsense, of course. The problem is that way too many actors buy into this crap themselves. It's really no different for actors than for anyone else: if you respect your own craft and training, then you'll encourage/require respect of others.

Answer 4

At one point in history they were looked at as worthless. Especially women who performed.

Now a days is different of course. Actors are some of the worlds most revered and influential people.

I think it all depends on who said it and why it was said. You didn't give the back story so I can't really comment.

Answer 5

I suggest you read "Respect for Acting" by Uta Hagen. It was written in 1973 and is still very true today.

I think the above comment is just childish. Those that view actors as useless probably couldn't even to a single scene onstage.

Answer 6

The hollywood community has done this to you by sticking their collective noses into places they dont belong.They insist on commenting on politics and other issues.The mainstream of America thinks they are self important a holes who need to shut up and do their job......act ! Are actors worthless? Of course not they entertain us.Its when they decide that a good box office draw makes their opinion better than the rest of ours that they get a bad rap...and rightly so!!

Answer 7

Who cares if you're an actress, actor, lighting designer, minor deity, street sweeper, or CEO. It's childish and rude to invoke someone's position in an organization as a way of justifying your behaviour towards them.

Actors and acting aren't seen as worthless, but actors can get a little bit... what's the word... drama queeny at times, and often non-actors don't quite get why actors have to be such pains in the butt all the time. We're just having fun, usually. :) So yeah, it's easy to make fun of actors, because we're always running around talking about our motivation or having a panic attack because a shoelace broke in the middle of a scene, but hell, everybody's got something you can make fun of. Actors are nuts, that's why others love us AND hate us. Get used to it but don't go overboard on it.

Answer 8

the Puritanical heritage of our country has always considered acting and actors as worthless. Indeed, throughout history actors and acting has been considered immoral they do not make a product and the serivce they render is suspicious, so actors have always had it diffiuclt. years ago they were denied Christian burial. Today the antics of Paris Hilton and her ilk have continued the suspicion agains the profession.

Answer 9

It's hard to understand how this question gets asked in today's celebrity-worshipping culture, but---

They're only worthless when they make asses out of themselves, or betray their ignorance of important subjects when promoting political causes.

Everyone has an opinion. I might have an opinion about mathematics, but since I don't know crap about math, my opinion about it would be...WORTHLESS. And I should definitely keep that opinion to myself, if I want to keep the respect of people who do know what they're talking about. :D

Answer 10

Usually the ones who are talking down to actors are the same ones who rent movies so they can watch them by themselves...alone...when no one is watching. :)