Mike Ferrell: Actor, Activist

Found at AlterNet:

The following is an excerpt from Mike Farrell's memoir, Just Call Me Mike: A Journey from Actor to Activist (Akashic: 2007).

Preface

"So what do we call you, actor and activist?"

"Why don't you just call me Mike?"

It happens -- usually when I'm about to be interviewed on television or radio-because these days the discussion may not be only about M*A*S*H, or Providence, or Hollywood. Since we're as likely to talk about war, or peace, or human rights, or maybe even how I could possibly object to executing some fang-toothed, slobbering monster, they want to fit me into a category.

But I don't want to be put into somebody's category. I'd rather just talk and let whoever's listening take it in, see if it fits and figure out how they feel about it-and maybe even why. Pigeonholing does the public's thinking for them, and kind of insults them in the process.

I don't want to be part of that. Because it's been quite a trip, this journey of mine. So if someone wants to discuss -- or debate -- the issues, I'm happy to do that, but I'd rather not start off with a label that sets someone's teeth on edge.

Say I'm a "liberal" and some think they know my views on everything. They start dialing the phone or writing an angry letter without even knowing what I'll say. Or others think we agree, when we might not.

I've been around the block a few times now, and I think I've learned some things. A lot of these things have surprised me, and many have been painful, but mostly what I've learned is how lucky I am. This is some world we live in. I've been privileged to see a fair amount of it, and the more I experience, the more I realize the special place we inhabit in it.

Being an American, as I've discovered, is often a great privilege. Being a privileged person in today's world -- a world where much of what we take for granted here is unknown elsewhere -- makes you think. It's made me think about the invisible people who live a quiet life of misery -- and about those whose misery has made them unwilling to remain quiet.

THE REST