Hollywood's smartest - and dumbest

Reuters

WHAT HOLOCAUST? Melanie Griffith's grasp of history underwhelms.

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George Clooney isn't happy just being rich and handsome. He also wants to stop the Iraq War and prevent genocide in Darfur. Sharon Stone, who became famous for wearing no knickers in 1992's Basic Instinct, can now be found wearing sensible trousers and visiting Israel to promote peace.

But these people are actors, not politicians. They're paid a truckload of money to look good under strong light. Why are they lecturing us on social issues?

Of course, Hollywood actors live in a democracy and have the right to speak their mind. It's just that some actors are flakes, and there's a suspicion they're just adopting fashionable causes to appear smarter.

And let's face it. Some actors seem as thick as bricks. For every scholarly type like John Malkovich, who gives the impression he's wandered onto a movie set on his way back from a Mensa conference, there's a knucklehead like Ashton Kucher.

Brad Pitt is another example of someone who is, as they say online, BBHOHM (better before he opens his mouth). He looks good, but in interviews appears to be working overtime to sound like a deep thinker.

Then there's Melanie Griffith, who once amazed a reporter by claiming she'd never heard of the Nazi Holocaust.

But not every famous actor is a thicko. Some had distinguished academic careers before Hollywood. David Duchovny has a PhD in English Lit from Yale. Matt Damon went to Harvard, and Maggie Gyllenhaal graduated from Columbia. Besides being smoking hot, Natalie Portman has a psychology degree from Harvard and speaks fluent Hebrew, French and Japanese.

The debate continues over who's a brainiac and who's an imposter. America's Entertainment Weekly once put together a "50 Smartest People in Hollywood" list that included George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Ben Stiller, Ben Affleck and the rather controversial inclusion of Angelina Jolie.

The New York Daily News responded with a "50 Dumbest People In Hollywood" list, which included Lindsay Lohan, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Charlie Sheen, Russell Crowe and Mel Gibson. This time there were howls of outrage that Angelina wasn't on the list. Ah, well. Jolie may not be a deep thinker, but that hasn't stopped her addressing the World Economic Forum, and at least she's pretty under those lights.